Writer: @EverydayAwkwardness

Marie's nose crinkled with disdain as the door to the mansion opened.

Before her was a man who appeared fairly younger than her with cloudy gray eyes and a chiseled jawline. He was dressed in a crisp tuxedo, and would be handsome if not for the patch of baldness on his head.

Marie valued beauty and youthfulness even in older people. Those traits showed that you had a fairly good self-esteem and were confident in yourself. This man probably couldn't prevent his balding, but a cap could have been issued to him.

He smiled a little too widely for Marie, his dimples proving to be quite deep, and greeted her, "Welcome to the Rue Manor, Madame. I am Giles, the butler of this establishment." He bowed and looked at a clipboard in his hand with matching photos. Once spotting her portrait, the man took her coat and gestured for her to enter.

"Miss Chambers?" The butler queried.

She nodded to him, watching her coat to see where he would put it. Often times measly butlers like him would check the pockets for spare change. Marie wouldn't be fooled by him. Yet, he set it on the rack and began escorting her around the mansion.

"This will be your home for, at the most, a month or two. We thank you for coming and leaving your everyday life to enter this game of smoke and mirrors. You are the first to arrive, but by this evening all the rooms will be full with your competitors. Learn their names well, because you will have to work with them." He spoke like a gentleman, using the correct hand gestures and pauses between sentences. He was trained well.

The mansion was very pretty in a regal way. Dim lights in chandeliers lit the grand foyer, and a large carpet and sets of couches framed a fireplace. It was much bigger than Marie's apartment, but had a musky old person smell that she didn't want to be accustomed to just yet.

"Your room is upstairs, the second one on the right. And here is you key." He handed the golden key to Marie, their hands briefly touching. "If you need me, I will be here greeting the other guests, or in my chambers behind the dining hall." He smiled one last time, his eyes crinkling at the edges. "Enjoy your stay."

The butler left Marie at the bottom of the spiral staircase and moved to the door, staring at the oaken wood, his smile ever-present.

Marie frowned. He seemed nice, but she decided she definitely wouldn't want to be alone with him. Who knows how long he's been alone in the mansion. Marie didn't want to be the one he gets attached to. To win, she must stay focused, and having any ties to him would be a bad idea.

And so, Marie left Giles and ascended the staircase to her room. Upon entering, she collapsed on the bed and stared at the pale blue ceiling. This is going to be one hell of a ride, and she had no clue what Giles had in store for her. There's only thing she was sure of; If she was going to win, she might have to get her hands a little dirty.

That's when she heard a scream. Marie couldn't tell if it was feminine or masculine, but it stopped her heart cold.

The competition had begun.

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Writer: @MollyMoynihan

As the car swung around the hill I saw a glimpse of the manor I would be staying at. It was even bigger than my childhood home. Four or more stories, old, with dark paint peeling off the shutters. The car pulled in at the large detailed front door. "This is the place." The driver said getting out of the car. In my eyes this was all very strange and suspicious.

About 2 weeks ago I received a blood red letter addressed to my dorm which said "you have been cordially invited to stay at the prestige Rue Manor for this Spring Break." Of course at first glance I immediately thought that I would not go. But, after thinking about it, I decided I would much rather go to a strange unfamiliar Mansion than have to visit my parents... Yep, priorities. I lifted my hefty bag out of the black mini limo which had been waiting for me after getting off the short flight from San Francisco. I walked up to the door leaving my driver and my sanity behind. I grabbed the wrought iron lion head knocker, and banged on the door. An old man wearing a tuxedo opened the door. "Ah miss Charlotte Jones. We've been expecting you, welcome to Rue Manor. I'm Giles." I walked into the house and was immediately struck with a uneasy feeling.

The house was old and beautiful, although it had a strange aura, like it was about to burst with all the secrets it kept. I noticed I was not the first one to arrive. There were already several other guests in the parlor sitting down or grabbing a plate of the appetizers on the table. When I entered they all stopped and stared at me. I felt quite awkward in the situation, seeing as I have no clue who any of these people are. Yet I will be staying with them for the next week. I set my bag down and stood in the doorway. "This is Charlotte Jones our 5th guest." Giles bent down and took my bag. "I'll take this to your room." He said as he handed me a key with the number seven etched on it. I guessed that was the room I would be in. When I entered the parlor, I sat on love seat in the corner. The room was covered in interesting and exotic knick-knacks and paintings. As I looked at them, I felt the presence of someone standing in front of me. "Hi! I'm Lillian. Lillian Jones." I looked up and there stood a girl, a few years older than me with her hand outstretched. I slowly took it and she firmly squeezed it. "Hi. I'm Charlotte." I said back cautiously. She sat down right next to me, causing me to have to scoot over. She told me that she was a Physicist, but not much else. Although she seemed very interested in me. She asked me many questions about myself, when a saving grace finally arrived, another guest. As they stepped into the room we suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream that pierced my ears. I looked in in disbelief at the others faces.

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Writer: @TheUnexpectedVictor

As soon as I step outside the car that drove me hear, I know I am in for something big. What stands in front of me is a grand mansion, with elaborate designs. Sculptures and plants surround the front. From the inside I hear noises, I'm not the first one to arrive, but judging from the volume of the voices I'm not the last either. I clutch the side of my light blue dress, to release any nerves I may have, before letting go of it and swinging open the large door. As I step inside four faces greet me, with different reactions and judgement. The first man, is the man most close to the door. Dressed in an old fashioned suit, the old man extends a white gloved hand towards me, shaking my own.

"Hello." He says, in a cheerful british accent. "My name is Giles and I will be your butler for the duration of your stay here at Rue Manor."

So, Rue Manor is the name of the breathtaking place around me. With fine decorations, stunning architecture and beautiful furniture. I could stay here forever, judging by the looks of the place.

"Please make yourself comfortable. The manor includes a great room, which you along with the other three guests are standing in, a grand kitchen, and a dining room. Along with bedrooms upstairs. Above that is an attic, and below that a morgue. Outside you'll find the pool. Feel free to explore as much as you like...you'll know when you have to come back." With that Giles, extends his arm, pointing to where the other four people that have arrived are standing. I make my way over to them briskly. Why in the world does this place have a morgue?

"Hi." I say quietly, to not break their conversation. They all fall silent and look at me. "I'm Alice, Alice Tridane."

"Hello Alice." A man, looking to be mid to late twenties with a french accent replies in a flat voice. "I'm Cyril Marinescu." He looks at me with bright blue eyes. Well more like looks down at me, considering how tall he is. I shake his hand.

An older woman, with a tight face introduces herself next, standing to Cyril's left. "I'm Marie Chambers." She says briskly, pursing her lips.I I'd be lying if I didn't say she intimidate me a bit. Marie, looks ready to start a fight, and if she did I wonder who'd win. She looks athletic and muscular enough to take me on, even though I've had years of athletic training as a gymnast.

"Hi Marie." I put my hand out, but she doesn't make any attempts to shake it, so I quickly put my arm back down, so it rests at my side.

The final person speaks up. Another man, who looks quite young, but physically appears to be only a couple years younger than me. "Nathaniel Tybalt." He smiles. I can look straight at him, because we seem to be the same height.

"So...Alice, was it? Tell us a bit about yourself." Cyril says. "You're the first one to come in a while, so we've already all introduced ourselves. Marie is a Lawyer." Marie nods. Figures, it seems like and occupation to fit her. "I'm a language teacher. And Nathaniel is taking a year off after graduating I believe."

"I'm a competitive gymnast." I say.

"Really? Thats interesting." Nathaniel says.

"Well I was anyways. I'm currently focusing on my college career." I look down at the polished tile floor. It hurts to say sometimes, that I was a competitive gymnast, that I gave it up after passing my good years.

"So then you're basically just a college student huh?" Marie says sharply. That's a way to be pessimistic about it.

"Yeah...I guess, but soon I'll have a real job because I'm in my third to last year."

"So then you must be what, twenty one? twenty two?" Nathaniel asks.

"Twenty one."

"Looks like Nathaniel is still the youngest then." Cyril says. "He's nineteen and I'm twenty seven." He stops there, not including Marie. I'm assuming she hasn't told anyone her age, and doesn't plan to."

The four of us make small talk for a while, waiting for someone else to come through the door but after a couple minutes we stop. "So...what should we do?" I ask, out of boredom.

"We could explore the manor." Marie shrugs. "Hopefully it will be more...interesting than this room." Just like that some of my excitement dies out. I'm in a room, with three very...hard to approach people, and I can feel tension between them as they all try to take control. That's what I'd take away from the last few minutes of idle chitchat.

"Sure." Cyril cuts in. "We should go upstairs and check out the bedrooms. That is where we're going to be staying after all."

We head upstairs to the bedrooms, opening doors and poking around. Overall they seem very nice, with a big shower, plush bed and a different picture hanging in every room.

"I counted thirteen rooms." Marie mentions, as we make our way back downstairs into the dining room.

"Which means thirteen guests." Nathaniel offers. As we enter the dining room, I can already hear more chatter nearby.

"I guess the others are here for the same reason we are. To play a crime game." I shrug. "Speaking of which do you guys have any idea what we're doing exactly?"

They all shake their heads, telling me they have just of much of a clue as I do. Suddenly, and ear piercing scream rings throughout the manor, and as my newly found acquaintances and I run to the origin of the noise, I can only hope one thing. That the scream I just heard wasn't the answer to the question I had. And if it is, I can only imagine what I've just gotten myself into.

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Writer: @elizabeth_w55

Barely knowing the world at 21, Sabrina Laurence decided to go to the Rue Manor. Pulling into the driveway Sabrina noticed the fancy, high class hotel. Although to her it looked creepy to. As Sabrina first walked in chills crept up her back. Looking around at all these people made Sabrina a little nervous. She felt awkward in this huge hotel with a dozen random men and women. Sabrina didn't feel comfortable in the bunch of people, but she decided to dust it off her shoulder and talk to someone. She went up to a friendly looking man, looking only one year older. He smelt of spearmint bubble gum. Sabrina liked it actually. He introduced himself, very pleasantly. Osias seemed like a brilliant guy. Sabrina and Osias made small talk about why they decided to come. Sabrina really enjoyed talking to him. He made her relax a little in this mysterious place. Osias started to explain that he was a lawyer and how he just graduated. But Osias was soon interrupted by Giles. It was time for them to learn the hotel. The butler talked about each room, one after the other. After about thirty torturous minutes of Giles, the butler, babbling on about the hotel, everyone was finally released to their bedrooms. Sabrina and Osias said their goodbyes and parted way. Sabrina couldn't wait to go into the privacy of her own room and relax after the long trip to the Manor. She had an early morning yoga class, and the rest of the day were private sessions. One by one Sabrina worked out, for 8 private lessons! She felt awful and as disgusting as the average boy... Sabrina jumped into the shower. Feeling the nice water pressure and the warm temperature she began to wash her hair. After getting out of the shower Sabrina realized how much time she wasted just sitting there. Sabrina picked out her pajamas, brushed her long tangled hair, and brushed her teeth. She then threw all her things into the corner of her room, and then herself to her bed Sabrina immediately relaxed. Her stiff muscles settling to a small ache. Her breathing slows, her thoughts simmering to dreams, her body preparing for sleep. She was comfortable, for once in this hotel. Until she heard a blood curdling scream. She sat up her heart beating through her chest. The creepy look, the awkward feeling. Sabrina Laurence knew that something wasn't right about this place Rue Manor.

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Writer: @maddieannxo

I arrived in the big gloomy mansion. The limo driver, who I named Mr. Grouchy Face, dropped me off. I remember getting on the plane. My husband, Carlos and my daughter, Felicity gave me tearstained hugs as I was about to board my plane. Once I was seated, which was about 20 minutes later, I grabbed out my kindle and put in my headphones. I started reading a fanfiction called, "The Three Best Friends" by some writer named queenbeexyz. It's about these 3 girls who grow up in different classes, low, middle and high, who meet in high school and become best friends. I don't know why but I'm addicted to this book. After about 35 minutes, the attendant announced that the plane was stopping because of "danger" in the air. We landed in San Francisco about 2 hours away from the mansion. I looked at the card one last time before putting it in my black carry on bag. I grabbed my luggage once the flight landed and was dismissed. I raced out the double doors, trying not to be caught or seen, no luck. I was asked a couple hundred times to sign stuff. I hurried out after signing about 30 or so of them. I called a "taxi" and we drove for 2 hours in complete silence. A couple of times he would glare at me if I made a slight sound. He let me out and out came a handsome man with black hair and a green tie. He told me his name was Giles.

He announced my name as Hagan Humpfrey, guest number 7. I started talking to one of my old university friends, Osias Whitley. He's a yer older and a lot smarter. He waltzes up to me with a big grin.

"How's university Hagan?"

"Pretty good. I got Mr. Macintosh again." I replied gruffly.

"Oh really? I hated him!" Osias exclaimed.

"Yeah same. I have him for the math stuff." I said sadly, wishing I had gotten Mrs. Karlten like the last few years.

"I'm sorry." He said kind of blandly, like he didn't know what to say.

"No it's fine," I assured him, "it's kinda weird without you in class this year." I was a math level ahead of normal and I took the senior class when I was a junior.

"Oh well I didn't know I brought all the attention."

"Yeah! I laughed, "Well here's the next guest. I think I'll go greet them. Bye Osias!" I called back. "Bye Hagan. I think I'll go talk to Layla or Charlotte." I walked around a bit. Choosing a bedroom and unpacking were just two of the thousands of things we needed to do before dinner. Giles is such a nice man for inviting us all. We were sitting in the dining room and we heard a gunshot. All of a sudden I heard a shrill high pithed SCREAM and I jumped, knowing one of us would face the doom of death.

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Writer: @__elizabethanne

I arrived at the end of the week. It was a Friday and like every Friday I get the mail. This day in particular was the day that the black letter came in. The letter was stamped closed with red wax and a skull. It was addressed to me. I read it in shock. I was invited to this mansion 300 miles away! I asked my boyfriend Jackson about it and he said I should go for it. I went and packed. The next day, I woke up at 6 am to make my flight. The airport was crowed and many people asked for pictures and autographs. I got on the plane with my pink Vera Bradley carryon bag. It contains: my laptop, my cables, my phone, headphones, a book and some chargers. I had already pulled out my kindle. I turned it on and put in the password. It binged quietly with 1040 new messages, 128926 comments, likes, tags, tweets and anything involving social media, and my favorite app ever, iMovie. It's where I've made video edits and audio swaps and many more! It was about three hours into the flight when the flight attendant asked me if I wanted anything. I responded with a coke and she came back minutes later. After about 2 more hours I dozed off and woke maybe 30 minutes later. The flight had landed. Hello San Francisco. I arrived in a big, black limousine with my 3 other bags. Besides my carry on, I had a total of 3 bags. I met up with one of the models, Hagan. We talked a bit and then it was time for dinner. "Hey Hagan, I love that dress on you." I complimented her. She was wearing a yellow floor length dress with a pretty black necklace. "Thanks! I love your sparkly one." She responded, complimenting the new black and gold floor length sparkly gown Jackson had bought me. "Did you meet the other guests?" She asked me.

"I met a few, Charlotte I mean. I only talked to a couple since I was the last one here." I said.

"Yeah well I'll see you at dinner." She said after a while.

"Yeah bye." And so we did. We were in the middle of eating when there was a gunshot and a scream. I jumped and screamed as well.

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Writer: @misslivi17

"Hello, welcome to Rue Manor. Come in, come in, make yourself comfortable. Now, the rooms are down here, and all of the guests are throughout the house. Go mingle, and call me if you need me." As I walked in, my breath was taken away by the elegant grand staircase and the beautiful foyer before me.

I heard voices from the room to my right, and decided that now was the best time to make some friends, or at least try to.

Walking into the parlor, I saw many people of different ages, ethnicities, and genders before me. One person caught my eye right when I walked in though, causing me to head over to their spot.