Ally Arrives Late

It seems that, despite arriving the night before, everyone else had beaten Ally to the foyer. All eyes turned to her and Jenny as they stepped down the grand staircase, rushing to make sure they weren't excluded. It must look -- Ally thought -- like they were princess, descending the stairway while everyone looked at them. Two days ago, she would've hated the attention. But today... she felt herself harden, just a little, beneath their collective gaze. She adjusted her skirt to make sure no one could tell.

Like her grandfather said, there appeared to be three factions present: First, Ally recognized the two women from the Church of Dyer -- Sister Enna, the small brunette she'd rejected, and Sister Lucille, the blonde goddess. The smaller girl stared daggers at her, while the taller of the women simply nodded with a sort of silent grace that was far more terrifying. Both wore their same, white habits, covering a modest amount of their bodies, though they looked in no way worse for their silky robes.

She noticed next a few, separate individuals who all seemed to carry the same gravitas: The Syndicate. She was able to identify them for the fact that they'd all dressed extravagantly, and they all seemed to be from different areas of the world. She noticed a short, Egyptian woman with a golden headband and necklace; a tall black man and woman, perhaps a couple, standing a few paces away, dressed in some sort of ceremonial robes including a pelt of fur Ally couldn't identify; a woman of Japanese descent in a bathrobe-like kimono; a Latina woman dressed surprisingly casually compared to her compatriots; and others who appeared to have traveled the globe to be in this room at this moment.

And lastly was Ally's own, sorry faction. She saw her sister and Danny, standing together, trying to make conversation in the otherwise silent room. Ally and Jenny slid in alongside them, while Danny frowned at their arrival. Ally would have rolled her eyes, but she understood -- Ally did just steal his girlfriend. She was surprised Danny stuck around at all. Though, with a ton of enemies now filling the house, she was glad to have someone as tall and broad-shouldered as Danny, to stand between them and whoever might attack.

"You're late," Kate said.

"Late for what?" Ally asked. "There's no, like, master of ceremonies or anything, right? What actually begins the challenges of the day?"

"That's what we're hoping you would answer," a voice called to them from outside their circle.

Ally turned to see the Latin woman approaching her circle, hand on her hip. The woman was gorgeous, Ally couldn't help but stare as she walked towards them. Her hair was a dark brown that bounced into blonde around her shoulders, while the T-shirt she wore did nothing to hide the size and shape of her bust, giving Ally a generous amount of tanned cleavage to stare at. She was on the taller side of the woman in the room, standing around five-five, which put her an inch over Ally herself. Her eyes were fiercely dark, like that of a hyena staring them down. Ally didn't know if she should lick her lips or cower in fear. When she spoke, it was almost entirely without accent -- she'd either been born and raised on the East Coast, or she was very good at mimicking.

"What's the deal, here?" The woman pressed. "I'm beginning to think this was all some sort of big trap. Me sabe male, chica."

"Fuck off," Kate offered, stepping between their group and the woman. "We don't know any more than you do."

Instead of backing down, the woman stepped closer, getting right in Kate's face in a way that made Ally hot even just watching. She did lick her lips, now. She sort of hoped they kissed.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," the woman said, lowly, right into Kate's eyes. "I suggest you back yourself up. Andale."

"No need to fight!" Jenny called quickly, putting a hand on both women's arms in a way neither appreciated. "I'm sure we'll figure it out. Something'll happen to, like, cue us in right? Otherwise why have us all gather here to begin with?"

"To put us under some sort of fucking group hypnosis," Sister Enna said, joining the conversation with a scowl. "We have reason to believe dark magic is at work in this house." She glanced at Ally's waist, and Ally adjusted herself again so no one else would figure out she was hard as a rock beneath her skirt. Sister Enna didn't look away. "I think you may be right in believing we walked into a trap."

"And who are you?" The Latin woman asked her. "Who are these Church mice walking around like little puppets?"

"Better to believe in something other than money," Sister Enna countered. "We know exactly who you are, Isabella Hernandez of the Syndicate."

"Oh?" Isabella replied, leaning close to the small woman. "Tell me about myself then. Tell me something I don't know."

Ally saw the Latin woman's hand reach towards her waist for something concealed, while Sister Enna brought her hand to the talisman around her neck. Ally could feel the tension sparking between them -- and wondered if she wasn't about to see magic or **** before her very eyes.

"Enough!" Ally called out, finding her voice. "We can't all be killing each other over nothing. There'll be time for the later, I'm sure. For now, we have to figure out the first steps, to begin the ceremony. My invitation came -- as I'm sure many of yours did -- in a small, black envelope. Perhaps one has been set out for us to find, here. That's my best guess. Can we spend five, fucking minutes looking for an envelope? And if we find nothing, we can all have a nice breakfast and then kill each other?"

"Five minutes," Isabella agreed, with a small, sly wink. "Then it's every girl for herself."

Ally sighed, thankful for the time she bought herself. Now, she just hoped she was right.

The search for the envelope began in a sudden rush -- now that it was possible for someone to have information over others, everyone in the room scattered across the foyer, attempting to find it. Ally was shocked by the massive rush of bodies about the room; it was impossible to track anyone with any consistency. Even if she saw Sister Enna's eyes locked on her like a bloodhound the entire time.

Ultimately, it was Jenny who found the letter, hidden on the bannister of the staircase.

"Got it!" She called, loudly, to the room, as if the thought of keeping it secret hadn't occurred to her at all. "Everyone stay put, I'll read it out here -- and then anyone who wants to look at it can, to prove I'm not lying. Not that I would. Okay. Here we go:

'Competitors, allies and enemies alike, welcome to Scream House from beyond the grave. My name is Theodore Scream, as many of you know, and if you are reading this, I am deceased, as many of you know.'

"Oh, he's funny," Jenny commented. "Anyway:

'In order to acquire the deed to the house, and the secrets that lie therein, one must survive for seven days and seven nights beneath the roof of the manor and it's surrounding fields, pools, and caves. So long as you are on the thousand-acre property, you are considered a member of this competition. Do not take this challenge lightly: If you would like to leave now, you may.

'For those who remain, this is your first task: Pair up with another contestant from a different faction than your own. The numbers should easily accommodate that sort of arrangement. It is vital both members of your pair survive until the end of this task, otherwise it will be unsolvable. You must work together to find the next envelope, using only this statement as your clue:

One eye of the storm is calm and blue, the other is angry and violent as the sea.

Look to the West of the manor at dusk, and there, it seems, I'll be.'

"That's all it says," Jenny finished, offering the letter down for whoever wanted to read it. "I guess we should all get paired up, don't you think? Does anyone nice want to be my partner?"

Ally hid a smile beneath her hand. Even in the midst of all of this, Jenny really was so cute. Ally wished she could just partner with Jenny or Kate and have it be done with -- why would her grandfather make her choose a partner of a different faction? She had no idea.

And it seemed no one was particularly keen to partner with her, either. Save for one, short church girl.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight again," Sister Enna said, crossing her small arms in front of her as she stared up at Ally's face. "So that should make us partners."

"Hold on," Ally said, arguing back. "I don't agree to that."

"Who else will have you, Scream girl?" Enna said, gesturing to the room ignoring her. "It looks like you don't have any other options."

"I'll partner with you, chica," Isabella said, approaching from the sidelines. "I don't get what's going on between you and this religious bitch, but I do feel like it'd be good to partner with someone who knows the house inside and out. Plus I won't preach at you." Isabella winked at her, at which Ally blushed. She thought of how close Isabella and Kate had been, the heat of that moment, and found it hard to swallow.

Then again, Ally wouldn't mind keeping an eye on the religious faction either... the benefit of paring with someone like Enna would be to make sure the Church didn't pull a fast one on her. Plus, it seemed like the Church girls knew something about the magic of the house... Ally felt for the pills in her pocket, wondering if she should try and slip one to her partner, whoever it may be. But which pill? She wished the demon had actually told her what they did...

She looked between her two options, understanding that picking one would definitively insult the other. But the Church hated her anyway. And it wasn't like the Syndicate was her friend, either. Plus, what was that saying about doors and windows? When one closes... something, something...