Chapter 2: (Ab)Normal Days

Claire stepped into the elevator along with the rest of the kids. "Well, if it's going to give me more room to keep away from murderers, I suppose this can only be a good thing."

It was eerily more easy to keep from being cramped by students in the elevator with three less people. Claire sighed and clutched her arms, waiting to go down.

Lisa rolled in after two, trying to be as un-obstructive in the limited space as possible.

Jordan stared at the bear long before she even glanced at the elevator. She entered and, hearing Caleb, she spoke up, "Imagine a huge new library..." She almost got excited, "That would be pretty nice."

Ruby snickered at Jordan's words as she followed the others into the elevator.

"I can only hope the books are in Swe'ish. I'd be happier if they had a dance floor," she commented.

Cobalt glanced around. After a moment, he pressed the button labeled "2" and waited.

The button lit up and the elevator lowered the remaining students three floors down. After a chiming sound, the doors opened up again and the students found themselves at the second floor of the mansion.



The students also noticed that the staircase leading upwards to the third floor was barred off like a cell, while the stairs leading downstairs to the first floor were now cleared out.

Jaden glanced at the screen that lit up on his wrist for the new floor. "Aw, no dance studio?" he moaned. "Ah well, a fitness room is as good as anything." He got out of the elevator and made his way past the stairs, towards the fitness room.

He turned around and walked backwards, calling back to the other students. "Anyone wanna get fit with me? I need a workout buddy!"

Cobalt stepped out of the elevator and glanced at his bracelet. He looked to his hands and, after clenching his fists, made a beeline for the closet.

Miranda practically slithered out of the elevator, making sure to not hit anyone too hard as she got out and started to walk forwards. She didn't really want to comment, but she went straight ahead, wanting to go into the room that was labelled Botanical Garden.

Jordan forgot all about the library when she looked at the new map.
"Spa...Botanical Gardens...whatever a media room is..." She clicked through it and turned to Claire, "I can't make up my mind. Where do you think you're going first?"

Lisa exited the elevator and then turned to wait for Martin and Jason.

"Do we wanna stick together?" she chimed, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Jason looked from his wrist to Jaden, darting his eyes. "I-in a minute!" He squeaked, wanting to see if the closet had something else he could wear. "I wanna see something."

Quickly, he darted out of the elevator, speedwalking to the room in question so he could check out and see what was inside.

Jason looked at the maps and bounced a little bit. "Oh, oh, oh, there's a billiards room! And a garden, and, and hey, a spa? I'm cool with all of these rooms!"

He looked towards Lisa and Martin. "Yeah, let's stick together. Where do you wanna head off to first?"

Ruby frowned a bit.

"Damn, no place to dance. Or spin records. Still..." she pondered. "I could use a trip to the spa."

She patted her face a bit for emphasis before swishing her head around.

"Anybo'y wanna join me? We can do the cu...cu...the green thing with our eyes," she giggled.

Claire feigned anguish sarcastically. "Oh dear. I have three Sitting Rooms to chose from?" She furrowed her brow as if in deep thought. "Truly, this Monobear fellow is a master of subtly breaking down his victims. How can I possibly make up my mind?"

"Aw hell! Miranda! Cobalt! Dammit wait!" Aris jogged out of the elevator, flopping her hands down when she noticed both had gone off.

"Aw fuck, guess weight room it is. Can't let her beat me again!" She said, an evil glint going into her eyes as she trailed behind Jaden.

Jaden made a face when he saw that Aris was the only one taking him up on his offer. "Oh noooooooo..." His voice trailed off, and he turned back around.

Grabbing the door handle, Jaden tried to open the door to the Fitness Center.

Martin scrutinized the map, actually feeling some energy flow back to him.

"Yeah!" He heard Jaden's call to the fitness room, and realized how little he had moved around the past few days. Then he heard Lisa, "Uh, sure I'll explore a bit, but..." He shrugged, "I gotta get some exercise in."

"Since some of the other stuff seems covered already, how about we hit the Billiards Room? I mean, there'll be time later to just do stuff, right now we gotta know what's up."

She shrugged.

Cobalt took the doorknob for the closet in his hand and tried to open the door.

He nodded. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

He looked back down at the map and, using it as a guide, headed to the Billiards Room.

Caleb barely looked at the map for two seconds before heading straight to the media room. He could already visualize mountains and mountains of classics stacked high before him.

Aris was more than distracted when she went into the fitness center. "Hell yes! Weights!" She hissed, making a beeline for them and picking out the heaviest ones she could see. Huffing, she brought them over to one of the benches, where she sat down, draped her coat over the bench, and started to lift.