"Hmm.." Maurice seemed to be in thought for a bit before he looked at Bertram. "You're quite right, brother. I've been silent on this for a while now. I didn't think what I'll have to say would be particularly useful... But I managed to realise something important from this."

"To begin with,I shall reveal what my role is", he started. "Bertram, do you remember our days as children when we used to play hide and seek? I used to be quite good at it especially. I always managed to hide in a spot successfully without anybody even detecting my presence, and then I'd come out to surprise you all. Those were the days... and in a way, not much has changed. In essence, my ability is that I can visit someone and hide in their room for the entire "twilight", as it were. I do this without anybody being able to detect my presence at all. However, if the person whose room I am in dies in some manner or another, then I also die with them. This was why I said earlier that visiting Wyn cost me my life in the story. And... this was also why I kept trying to visit you, Bertram", he revealed. "Hiding in the same room with someone who was apparently immune to witchery? It would guarantee my survival. Or so I thought, anyway."

"Before I continue, let me make it clear who I visited before this." He cleared his throat. "This will help make something readily apparent."

"In the story, the first person I visited was Lucine. The second was Archer, and after that I tried to visit Bertram for his immunity... but then visited Wyn instead. Then finally I visited Wyn, but as you know, thanks to my misunderstanding I thought I would be visiting Bertram still through the swap, thus costing my life there."

"Now, coming to reality. This is straightforward. I have tried to visit Bertram the first two "twilights", then Asher today."

"I know something sticks out, but let me continue here. Anyway, the problem with this is that it's hard to really be of much help to you thanks to the nature of my skill. I always visit my targets without them knowing at all, so it's not as though they can corroborate me at all. I have zero alibi of my own. If you noticed, I said I visited Bertram before James and Basil died, but he didn't notice anybody visit him at all. Of course, I lied about not visiting him at the time so as to not arouse his suspicion, but this was the truth. Keep in mind Archer wasn't there to swap anything at all either. So it seems that my hiding skills are superior to his watching powers. So, in short, even people who keep an eye out for me will fail to notice me. Only I can attest to my presence there. This also applies the other way. I put all my effort into hiding, but I never keep watch on the person inside the room or what they're doing. I do not interact with anybody at all during my hiding, in other words. So if you're asking for what I have on what they did... I simply have nothing to offer." He shrugged. "My presence there doesn't even mean anything significant, ultimately."

"So far you might be saying that this is quite a useless ability to possess. And I would agree! However, I've managed to piece together something important from all this. I should have realised this sooner, frankly, but... I visited Asher tonight. I doubt either him or Mickey noticed my presence, especially since not even Bertram could tell I was there. But recall my role- if the person I visit dies, then so do I. And as you can see"- he gave a smile- "I am quite alive and well."

"Therefore, this can only mean that Asher did indeed fake his death tonight!" He declared. "So Mickey most likely kept his promise, and is probably innocent! There is no need to vote for him. This only makes Asher more suspicious. He is most likely responsible for one of the other deaths here. And if anything, considering his fake death throws suspicion on Mickey, it feels as though he got set up... He is most likely a witch as well. And if you don't trust my word... Lucine, you can check on "Asher's body" after this, and you will only confirm my hypothesis. And if I'm wrong, feel free to strike me down with a bolt from the heavens!" He boldly proclaimed, as lightning sounded loudly behind him.

"...That is all. Thank you", he bowed.

---

Bertram was silent for a few moments, bewildered by something. "But... You visited me last night," he said, baffled by the implications. "It seems I was mistaken in the story, as I was able to notice you visiting me after all. But you visited me last night, not the twilight before that..."

"Prattle on about how I am suspicious, for all I care. I am telling the truth and you are the ones who denied yourselves the opportunity to investigate me."

“Maybe Maurice was delayed by Robin.” ‘Mickey’ theorized. “It’s hard to say. There are so many contradictions no matter what route we choose. Just a suggestion to consider while we discuss things, but we can always vote for Asher. If he is dead then it is the same as a no lynch. If he is not, we are probably killing a witch.”

"Hmm... yes, maybe it was someone else, though probably not Robin. Maybe whoever has Briggs' role now. Or the hippie even", Maurice agreed with Mickey. "But I did try to visit you the night before this, Bertram, that much I'm sure of. Not today, though. Perhaps I did get entangled in their shenanigans somehow... But I can promise you I'm honest about who I was visiting, or at least whom I intended to visit. Like I said, I don't get any information from the people I try to visit. I don't even know whom I end up visiting thanks to that, just who I wanted to visit. I only know that I managed to survive or not by the end of it all." He clarified.

---

"Briggs's shenanigans will bring ruin to us all..." Bertram groaned. "Let's think this through. On the first twilight, Archer swapped me and someone else, so Maurice was redirected. I didn't see him because of that. The second twilight is where it gets complicated: I didn't see him then either, instead I saw him in the third twilight. This would suggest he had been delayed, but that's only possible if Robin was lying yesterday."

"Actually, wait!" Maurice shouted. "I think I made a grave error here. I had originally intended to visit Bertram last night, but at some point I wanted to visit Asher. However, I never actually committed to it fully, meaning that I ended up visiting Bertram instead of Asher anyway. That... was a foolish blunder on my part. But this means I visited Bertram "normally" last night and not Asher. This would add up with what he saw and save us some confusion at least. As for before that, the first time Archer swapped the rooms and prevented me from seeing Bertram, as we know. As for the previous day... either the hippie or somebody with his role visited me and in turn caused me to visit them instead, once again preventing me from hiding in his room. And thus, the matter would get resolved." He seemed quite embarrassed by his rather elementary mistake.

---

Bertram sighed. "Yes, that would make sense. This brings us back to square one, though.

"...We should go check on Asher," he then said, turning to leave. "I'd rather not stay in this forsaken room any longer, anyway. Not while we still have to deal with the witches, at least. Come on."

‘Mickey’ quickly investigated everything and waited for his findings to load as he gave his next theory.

“Uncle Maurice’s stupidity aside, I believe my ability was stolen and that I now have Ash’s ability. My lighter was stolen the same night James died—could be a coincidence but maybe Briggs could clarify this. I’m not sure Ash would be able to fake his death with his ability gone, and if my ability is gone then he is probably gone from this world anyway.”

"That's possible, certainly," Bertram nodded. "Briggs swapped with James, James with you, then you with Asher. If Asher's really dead, that means Briggs's ability is at last gone.

"There's something I feel I should mention," he then said. "We are only seven now. If things go as the story did and the witches kill 3 more of us, then if we let Briggs get away with poisoning another two people, we will definitely lose to the witches. If he can't hold back his homicidal urges... I say we put him down now, before he can cause any more harm."

"Why would he poison people now if he's not a witch?" Violet questions, "Surely, even he must understand that we're all dead if he keeps on randomly murdering us."

"It is counter intuitive that we must lynch a mortal like this... But if brother is no longer a sure option, I will vote for Mr. Briggs." Lucine said. She didn't answer Violet because she knew there were things that as a character she wasn't meant to question.

“I personally do not have a choice but to use my power. Also whether Briggs is truly pure of heart is still shrouded in darkness—he could be colluding with Luce. I would like to hear what he has to say, but I doubt he knows whether he can use his power or not. Assuming I stole Ash’s ability, I received no information about it.”

He paused before adding, “Also I will attempt to use the power I have tonight. If there are no objections.”

"...Oh, well, do what you want," Briggs yawned. "My innocence is proven, after all. There are plenty more suspicious targets, however. Sir Zachary for one."

"I have no idea if your talent is stolen," he added to Mickey.

Zachary couldn't respond to any of the discussion that was happening due to still being passed out near the bodies in the study.

---

Some people go downstairs to check Asher's body by the front doors. He doesn't have anything interesting on him at all. Looking at the blood, you suppose it could be make-up, and his cheeks are sewn to be smiling. That said, there are no vital signs at all. He definitely looks somewhat disheveled, like maybe his corpse was looted. He looks like he's been outside for a long time, maybe over six hours.

Some people search the study. After searching it for a while and finding various war journals, they piece together that this is some sort of secret study that Peregrine used back when he was alive. There are old photos of him from his war days, and everyone can see some cute pictures of Peregrine in peak physical condition with little Gloria sitting on his shoulder as he flexes his muscles. There's a diary, and they decide to briefly flip through it. One entry in particular catches Maurice's eye.

Peregrine notes that he learned that day that Gloria accidentally had a child with some other hot guy back when Peregrine was off doing the war. Peregrine describes being sad that she put the kid up for adoption, since he loves taking care of children and would have gladly raised the boy.

Disgusted by his mother's cheating behaviour and also realising they hadn't looked at the other bodies in detail in detail, Maurice left in a huff to the attic.

---

(the attic and Peregrine's study are the same room)

Maurice takes a look at the three corpses, opening the window to let some fresh air in. The sound of the rain beating the roof overhead is soothing, even as the display of death is deeply horrifying.

Of course, Billy has the weed on him that he got from Mickey, as well as some of his own stuff. He also has a letter from Gloria inviting him to the Manor this weekend, and a silver pocket watch engraved with the Moonview Crest and "William Moonview." His throat under his beard is cut by something razor sharp, like a knife. Seems like he didn't feel much pain at all.

Robin's body, despite the disfigurement, doesn't have many other signs of attack. Whoever removed her jaw did so after she died. It seems like she wasn't really visited by much of anybody, even though the room she's in has been heavily trafficked.

The blood on the corner of the desk seems to match the wound on Jackie's head. Otherwise, she looks exactly the same as she did six hours ago. She's the only person still in her night clothes.

The cool draft and the sound of rain beating against the roof was enough to draw Zachary out of unconsciousness. Zachary groaned as he stirred and sat up, luckily facing away from the horrific scene in the study.

"Ngh . . . What . . . happened . . . ?" Zach asked, his voice low and gruff from tiredness. He struggled to take deep breaths to prevent himself from falling unconscious again. "Right. We found Asher, and the three of . . . them." He dared not look behind him.

As Zachary was being helpfully filled in on what had been discussed over the last half hour, he sat there thinking about what needed to happen next.

"I suppose . . . if it means guaranteeing more of us stay alive until the end, I will also vote for Briggs."

---

"So this is the turn this is taking?" Violet says, with a disappointed sigh. "I'll vote for Briggs as well, then. For now."

Briggs let out a disappointed glare at the others.

"...So even after my innocence is proven by that creepy girl, you choose to send me to death. Why am I not surprised?"

"Nothing personal, we just have to make sure that we'll have enough people to survive by the end of this. Would you like to write a will in the meantime?"

"You don't need to tell me twice. I'll gladly shoot that wife-murdering son of a bitch," Bertram spat. "I vote for Briggs."

"I...would have nothing to say," Briggs said, crossing his arms. "I've walked from family to family, doing nothing but stealing from the rich for my own personal gain. There's nothing I would be able to write."

Briggs pulled out a cigarette, starting to light it. "...Besides. It sounds like this part of my life would be nothing but a story, anyways. I don't plan on these being my final words. That's not what the universe wants for any of us. At least not right now."

“You have a strong spirit, Briggs. I am saddened you will die with nothing left behind, but it seems that was your destiny here and thereafter. Your Name means ‘Dweller by the Bridge’—it is for those who have no place to call home. For those who are afflicted by life in such a cruel fashion that they have no choice but to leech off others.”

He closed his eyes in silent prayer. “I am hoping to gain any insight on my new power. To see if we are able to stay your fate with an alternative.”

"I'm sure there's a seat reserved just for you in Hell." Violet says.

"...Thank you for your compliment, Sir Mickey. You are not like the others. However, you've mistaken one thing about me."

Briggs pulled out what was likely his final cigarette in this current life. "...As cruel as my life was, I didn't have to stick to the bottom and steal from the top. I steal from you Moonviews because I believe you all deserve a parasite like me. That's all."

"To pretend that you all live a holy life...it's laughable, really."

The reality of the situation began to hit Briggs, his face softening considerably. "If you're watching over me, Sir Archer...go easy on me once we meet again. I meant you or the boy no harm..."

Briggs cracked his neck. "Well then? What's the hold-up? Let's get this over with. Unless you all have a better idea."

[THEME MUSIC]

The ground shakes, everyone's ears ring with the deafening sound of the gunshot.

Briggs shakes his head.

He falls to the floor of the attic, in a pool of his own blood.

Well...

That's that...

The six remaining members of the Moonview family choke on their words for a few seconds, the suddenness of the shot, catching them like a gut punch.

Reeling from the execution, everyone starts considering what to do next.

"I don't think we got much time before making a decision." 'Mickey' sighed. "But the shit I've learned is whack. Badly unhelpful. I meditated to anyone listening, trying to see what I could do tonight. I don't think I can target myself or do nothin'. But that might be a non-answer, I don't know. The universe can be a vague-ass. If Asher was telling the truth then shouldn't I at least be able to fake my death? That'd be targeting myself."

He once again sighed heavily, but this one carried the exhaustion of the day with it and not his current predicament. "I don't know if there's anything I can do except get lucky. But if any of ya can do something about this... now ya know." His last words had a tinge of uncharacteristic desperation.

Bertram shot the 4th wall into pieces so he could say, "I believe Asher could only fake his death up until the 3rd twilight, after which he would start his little assassination spree."

He sighed, pocketing the gun. Shooting Briggs hadn't brought him quite the satisfaction he'd hoped. "Target Maurice, Mickey. By the time your... borrowed homicidal urges arise, let's say, Maurice will be in hiding and you should get away with not having to kill anyone at all." He then moved toward the desk with all the bodies around it, trying to move Jacqueline into a more comfortable and peaceful position.

"I think that might work", Maurice agreed. "I won't say who I'm visiting tonight though, just in case somebody tries to target me through that. The last thing we need now is a double kill when we're so low in numbers..."

---

[It sounds more like he couldn’t kill until the third twilight but he doesn’t really mention a fake death restriction so idk: viewtopic.php?p=1455157#p1455157]

He nodded in agreement. “I thought about that, didn’t know it’d actually work. Maybe I really should look into getting the wax outta my ears.” He chuckled but it wasnt as ominous or earnest as his usual as his usual laughs. He had a grim expression on his face as if he knew this could be the end.

The Fourth Twilight

[THEME MUSIC]

The moment the family makes it back down to the library, they realize someone has gone missing.

Lucine and Mickey are still with the uncles, but Violet is missing.

Lucine mentions something about the witches taking her. Zachary swallows hard, not wanting to say anything too soon. Bertram insists that Zachary and Maurice go look for Violet, while he watches his kids.



Zachary and Maurice find a locked door on the first floor. Both of them recall that this door led to some sort of ballroom back when they were kids. They swear that they could hear footsteps inside just then, but no matter how they call out, they get no response from Violet if she's on the other side.

Zachary leaves and comes back a short time later with a crowbar. Zachary and Maurice do their best to pop open the door when Bertram appears, mentioning something about a strange noise he heard.

The three uncles work together to crack the door open, just when Mickey and Lucine descend the staircase behind them...

[SCENE MUSIC]

The dark ballroom is lit by sunbeams coming in through a couple of high windows.

The ballroom is adorned with a colossal red circle. A huge red cross runs across the center of the wood floor, and at the intersection of the cross is Violet, her lower jaw missing from her skull, making her look like a blood mess. Her eyes are swollen shut from some sort of bludgeoning to her face.

Violet is dead.

Five remain.

"This has to be the same person who killed Robin..." Maurice murmured. "What is their obsession with jaws? Good lord..."

"I think we need to hear from the others. What did you all investigate?" He didn't mention who he visited, probably because he thought it didn't matter.

---

“You. As planned.” He didn’t seem to have much else to add. Insert Violet grief here.

Another missing jaw. Great. Zachary looked away the instant he saw Violet, but he could already feel a palpitation coming on.

"I-" Zachary gasped, then tried to take deep breaths to catch some air so he could continue, "I visited Violet and Mickey last night. Violet had visited Mickey twice; Mickey hasn't visited her. S-So, we can eliminate Mickey as a suspect . . . I think."

He paused for a moment, considering what this meant. "Th-That leaves Lucine, Maurice, myself, or . . . a s-self sacrifice. I can't see the witches doing that last one. What . . . does everyone think we should do from here?"

---

"We seem quite low in numbers here, but it seems one witch remains. It could still be Asher, though..." Maurice paused to think. "Perhaps we shouldn't lynch anyone, we're low enough in number already. If I did have to suspect someone here though, it would be either Lucine or Zachary. The possibility that Zachary is a witch still does technically exist... But if we get it wrong, there's a decent chance the witches would secure victory from us."

---

"Since Pops is innocent that means there are anywhere from nada to three witches left." He explained the below scenario in 'Mickey' language.

Three witches: 2 vs 3. Nothing we can do, we already lost.

Two witches: 3 vs 2. Whether we lynch or no lynch, a mortal can die this next twilight and we lose. I can't really think of a way to win in this scenario.

One witch: 4 vs 1. If we lynch a mortal, we will lose if the witch kills someone. If we no lynch, we will win as long as the witch has one kill. If we lynch a witch, we win.

Zero witches (Violet was the final witch): 5 vs 0. Whether we lynch or no lynch, we win.

"These numbers change if Ash is alive. But there doesn't seem to be much reason think that."

"I decided to investigate uncle Billy's death. I can say that uncle Billy was not killed by witches, which might mean Asher is innocent." Lucine said, moving over to take a closer look at Violet's corpse.

She then explained these scenarios in a Luciney way, because she was jealous of her brother getting to do exposition in her place:

Four survivors and a witch victory: 2 to 3 witches present.
Four survivors and a mortal victory: 0 to 1 witch present.

Three survivors and a witch victory: 1 to 2 witches present.
Three survivors and a mortal victory: 0 witches present, giving us 2 new confirmed mortals.

"... All of this assuming father lives, of course. The way I see it, victory or no victory, three survivors has a much greater potential for information. With that in mind, wouldn't it be worth lynching one of us to reach that number?"

"So Violet visited someone after all. Twice, no less. Her claim is looking increasingly suspect, not that any of us really believed her I'm sure," Bertram said, trying not to look at the grisly sight in the ballroom.

"If we assume witches will always kill someone if they can, I believe we shouldn't lynch anyone. In the best case scenario all of us alive now are innocent, so by the end of this we'll have 5 confirmed innocent people. If, instead, there's at least one witch left, we will at least know as much when they kill someone later. Admittedly, there is a reasonable chance that Zachary may actually be a witch, according to the story. I do find it hard to believe his ability is particularly helpful to a witch, though."