Frustrated and angry, I lashed out with a kick at Dylan, then turned my attention back to the screen with a sense of panic.
True to his word, ten minutes later, the lights in the escape room flickered on... For a brief three seconds, the floor was awash in blood... and bodies.
The man in the mask was dead. James seemed to be injured as well, with a stab wound on his thigh.
But the lights went out quickly, leaving them unable to even remember where the attacker had been.
Once plunged into darkness again, they hesitated to move, fearing they might accidentally harm one of their own.
"Shoulder to shoulder, call out your names!" In the dark, Colin's voice rang out, instructing everyone to link up by touching shoulders and announce their identities.
"Robin."
"Stella." Stella's voice quivered with fear.
Stella reached for the person in front, who responded, "Dexter."
"Melody."
"Finn…"
"James…" James' voice sounded strained, likely due to his injury.
In the darkness, James spoke again as he touched the shoulder in front of him. "Name yourself! Why aren't you speaking?"
In that moment, the room was thrust back into darkness. "Hmm!"
James had the misfortune of encountering the murderer or, to put it another way... the person set on killing him during those fleeting seconds of light.
His target was James.
I feared that at this point, James was probably dead.
With James' death, the killer would be exposed, and Robin and Colin could seize the chance to subdue him.
But the room was pitch black, and it felt like Schrödinger's cat scenario; without the lights on, it was impossible to predict what might happen next.
I lost control, throwing the mouse across the room and turning to confront Dylan. "What do you really want? The people from the orphanage who hurt you are almost all dead! What more do you want? Colin is innocent, that cop, Stella, they're all innocent!"
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