Alice had been walking for a while and stopped to catch her breath.   By now she had made her way deep into one of the corridors, but the light was running out with each passing step.  She reached under her dress and pulled out her Rambo knife, unscrewed the compass, and grabbed for the matches. Striking one, she took a mental note of her direction on the compass. As the match burned out, she felt along the wall until finally coming across an old dusty bookcase. She pulled on it with all her might, causing it to swing out.

The staircase led to a small skinny door. As she pushed, she could feel it give way and start to open. Peering out, she spotted the chandelier. Not seeing anyone around, she pushed harder and stepped out from behind the grandfather clock.  Placing the clock back into position, she tip toed to the stairs, and made the mad dash to her bedroom.

To the bedroom

Once inside, she grabbed for her bag and started stripping from her eveningwear.  She then carefully removed the combat fatigues and turtle neck from her overnight bag. Unzipping the back, she pulled out her combat boots. Once changed, she turned and looked in the mirror. As she glared back at herself, wearing her war face, of course, her hand would come up and sporadically swipe camouflage face paint about her cheeks and neck. She finished off her look by tying a red piece of cloth around her forehead, and securing her knife to her leg.  She was about to get to work but as she looked into the mirror one last time, she said, in a bad Sly Stallone impersonation, “Go ahead. I don’t shop here.” But then she thought to herself, “No, that can’t be right. Oh Alice. That’s not from First Blood, that’s from Cobra.”  Realizing she didn’t have time to debate the subject, she shrugged it off and took a low stance before making her way back down to the clock.

To the dinning room…

Bette: “I am so sore. Do we have to stay seated or can we roam around?”

Tina: “Not sure.”

Shane: “I’m thirsty.”

Jenny: “Me too.”

Dana: “I’m sorry, I have to stand up.”

Dana got up and Jenny followed her lead. They went around the room looking for something to drink when Dana spotted the wet bar and walked behind it.

Dana: “Hey, there’s soda. Anyone want some?”

Shane: “I’ll have a glass Dane.”

Tina: “Me too, please, Dana.”

Bette: “I’ll help you guys.”

Bette stood up and as she walked past Marina‘s body, she lightly kicked at her leg.

Marina:  “I guess I’ll have water, if you could find some, Bette.”

Bette nodded and lightly kicked Harrison.

Harrison: “Water’s good.”

Jenny walked over and kneeling down next to Marina, said

Jenny: “Hey, I’m really sorry about the contract lineso much for adlibbing, huh?”

Marina: “Oh don’t be silly. You can read the full story on my website and see that I’m the one who turned down that stinking contract.”

Jenny:  “Really?”

Marina: “Eh, Mas O Menos.”


Alice carefully made her way behind the grandfather clock and flew back into the corridors. She decided to go left, but the further down she went the smaller and smaller the corridor had become. She was practically crawling when she pulled out her flashlight and studied the map. She then opened a can of food with her knife and ate it quickly; taking a swig of water, and turning the bottle on her face before continuing her crawl to safety.

She was now on her stomach, almost dragging herself as the corridor’s ceiling began closing in on her. It was then that she started to hear the voices. She squinted and saw some light coming in from an old, dust covered vent. She pulled herself on over to have a look.

As Alice peaked through the dusty grate, she noticed Francesca Wolff (with two F’s) talking on her cell phone.

Alice:  “Oh my god, Francesca Wolff (with two F’s)??  Hmm, not so hard to figure out that you’d be behind this. Well, get ready to pay the piper bitch, because your ass is mine!”

Alice was too far away to actually hear Francesca’s phone conversation.

Francesca:  “Well, yes, it’s kind of like an acting gig. Marina‘s little whacky friend, yes, the nut-job. We’re playing one of those stupid mystery games on her. Anyway, see you in Prague on Friday.  Ta”

Back in the dining room

Shane:  “I wonder what Alice is doing right now.”

Tina: “I don’t know, but I would pay a lot of money to be a fly on that wall.”

Bette:  “Me too.”

Dana:  “You guys don’t think she’s going to be mad at us, do you?”

Peggy: “Fuck no, she wanted a mystery and that’s what we gave her.  Right?”