Rosenblum Hall (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
facultwist) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rosenblumhall2025-04-26 10:30 am
facultwist) wrote in rosenblumhall2025-04-26 10:30 am
Entry tags:
second trial
"And that's time! Everyone, please meet Isabella back in the conservatory to head down to the trial room."
You probably hoped you wouldn't have to go back. At least not this soon, not for this motive. But there's nowhere else to go but down, is there?
Isabella is silent as she leads you back into the tunnels. If you listen closely, you might even hear the gates changing positions as you head in. The lights that have been on all week have gone dark, so once again the only light comes from Isabella's torch as you move.
The trial room is just as you left it, mostly - apart from the circle of writing desks, three more of which have now been covered.
You're armed with the evidence, now all that's left is to wield it against whichever of you did this.
You probably hoped you wouldn't have to go back. At least not this soon, not for this motive. But there's nowhere else to go but down, is there?
Isabella is silent as she leads you back into the tunnels. If you listen closely, you might even hear the gates changing positions as you head in. The lights that have been on all week have gone dark, so once again the only light comes from Isabella's torch as you move.
The trial room is just as you left it, mostly - apart from the circle of writing desks, three more of which have now been covered.
You're armed with the evidence, now all that's left is to wield it against whichever of you did this.
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we hear the storm and it hears us
as the door opens, she sees her desk. flanked by misty's. still facing sayo's directly. she draws in a deep, shaky breath, resting her hands on top of the desk for just a second. ]
It's time again, huh...?
[ and, yeah, she takes her seat. ]
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[She takes a long sip of her travel mug of coffee, making the face of someone not used to taking it black.]
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I - I didn't look at Lottie-chan, I couldn't. But I went out to the quad, and it looked like a fight happened over there. Some of the chairs were tossed around, and a table was flipped over.
There was also some blood, and someone's hair.
I took some pictures with my phone, if anyone wants to look at them.
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No one has said that the space is off-limits, after all.
It's nothing terribly exciting: a hot kettle, a number of cups, and a collection of whatever snacks Kohaku could quickly gather from the cafeteria and throw onto the remaining space. It's mostly prepackaged cookies and the like, though there are also some granola bars if anyone would like anything marginally less sugary.
With that done, she returns to her own desk and says without preamble: ]
There were a few hairs left behind on the cafeteria floor. I have them here.
[ She produces a small, clear bag holding the hairs in question, should anyone like to examine them. ]
mods;
[Usagi will take out her own collection of them; do they match?]
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They're reddish-blonde, huh? And short, but people have layered haircuts all the time.
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Mods?
[Are these hairs human? They’re really short after all and no one has that short of a haircut here… Satsuki will take out the hair if needed.]
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I’m assuming it’s just hot water.]
... hair everywhere. And it’s not Lottie’s.
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I found a pair of sneakers in the cafeteria trash. Kohaku touched the inside to get it into the bag [she doesn't sound impressed by this but it's facts] but didn't smudge the blood on it.
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[So do the treads match the print Dagr found?]
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They exhale slowly once they reach their desk. Nothing for it but to get into it. They know the stakes, after all. Winners get to go free. Losers die.]
I looked around in the chapel, where we found Lottie. Some of the pews were shoved around with one being overturned. I tested their weight, and while they aren't exactly easy to flip, it can definitely be done with enough force.
[No superhuman strength needed here!]
I also found some blood trails and marks. There was one leading from Lottie out towards the door. Another one from the altar to Lottie; this one in particular looked strange, like maybe she - or someone else - moved her to that position. There was also a bloody mark on the ground near her body. Given that she had blood on her finger, I think it's pretty likely that she made that mark herself. I've also got pictures of these if you guys need 'em.
[Said pictures are carefully cropped so that Lottie is not in frame, which is a bit more difficult with the last one, but they did their best.]
Finally, I found a strange mark that looks like it could be part of a footprint - the tread of a shoe. Didn't match Lottie's, and the size seemed to be pretty average? Definitely smaller than my feet.
[Though that's not saying a lot given their height...]
That's all I found, but I know others were checking things over in the church too.
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[Horrifying.]
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[God, this isn't some drama. This is reality. Still, she has a reference for it at least.]
The letter "M" maybe? Unless Lottie knew some kind of secret code.
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Evidence Report:
The altar had a series of lit candles on either side of the stairs leading up to it. They were at different lengths, but using an unburned candle as reference they shouldn't have been burning for longer than fifteen hours. On the altar, there was a piece of meat, which was probably retrieved from the kitchen. There was also a bloody knife, as well as a pot of twenty wilted lilies, along with two pieces of paper. The lilies and one of the notes were mentioned by Lottie at the meeting previously, but the other note appears to be new. The arrangement was photographed, but it didn't seem like they were arranged in any particular pattern. Both of the notes have been brought along for possible reference.
[And she does have the two notes available for anyone who wants to take a look.]
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[Well, better steak than something else.]
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She takes a seat on top of her desk and folds her arms across her chest, looking down at the floor as opposed to anyone else.]
Satsuki, Dagr and Tiera had things handled in the church by the time we got there but there was blood on the altar, on one of the corners.
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I'll get to the overall state of her body but first, as everyone who went to the church said, there was a lot of blood and I can assume that it came from Lottie. She had a big impact wound on the back of her head, breaking the skin. Scalp wounds bleed a lot. It wasn't bad enough to kill her instantly but--it fractured her skull, too. You can't see that in the picture but I felt the wound--as the other people around me probably noticed--and you can feel if bones are broken. Not instant death, necessarily, but it would be fatal without treatment. We can probably safely assume this caused her death. I could tell you the possible reasons why but, um, I don't think we need to go into that.
Secondly, I found a few bruises on her body. Notably on her torso and hands. Her knuckles were bruised and scraped. I think they could be defensive wounds but I don't know. She could have struck something with them, too.
[There's a pause while Satsuki sighs again.]
I can't tell you for sure how long it's been but probably a few hours. So sometime after lights out. That's all I can say.
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So that's probably where that blood on the altar came from...
She must have hit her head during a fistfight of some kind, right? Lottie was a linebacker--uh, whatever they call the defense part of soccer. So whoever fought her probably got hurt too.
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cw catholicism??
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SHOE CHECK
Alright, alright! Everyone-- [Maiko gestures to the by now un-bagged blood shoe.] we're going to get in a single-file line. We are not wearing the shoe. Take off your own shoe and line up your foot with the evidence. If anyone would like to take notes, do so.
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Re: SHOE CHECK
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HAIR ON CLOTHING CHECK
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Re: HAIR ON CLOTHING CHECK
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cat(dog)herd
She slides off the top of her desk and, using the chair as a step stool, stands on top of it. Her bearing has shifted entirely from jokingly trying to ease tensions by calling herself a werewolf to standing tall and determined. Hawke brings two fingers to her mouth and whistles sharply, cutting through the noise- the same kind of whistle she uses to get the soccer team back in line.]
Alright, alright- it's time to focus! I got us distracted and I'm sorry for that but like Rinne said, Lottie is dead and even if it was an accident we need to work together as a team. If we don't, we're going to fail. [The phrasing almost feels silly, like their collective GPA is going to crash, but they all had the dream. They all know what she means.] If I get anything wrong, correct me.
Lottie was found in the chapel with a fractured skull. There was a lot of blood but scalp wounds bleed a lot. It looks like hitting her head on the corner of the altar was what killed her but not immediately. She had scrapes and bruises on her knuckles and the rest of the chapel and into the quad looked like there was a fight. Based on the blood on her finger, she left a message. It could be an M or a W or a 3, it's hard to tell.
There were candles on the stairs leading to the altar that, based on how melted they are, were lit and burning for less than fifteen hours. There was a chunk of bloody fresh meat and a bloody knife on the altar, twenty wilted lilies, and the two notes Lottie had found earlier this week. Dagr found a partial shoe print and Mariko found bloody shoes in the cafeteria trash. Usagi and Kohaku found hairs in the quad and cafeteria respectively that, as far as we can tell, don't match anyone here. [Including her dog.]
When we checked the shoe, it was closest to fitting Usagi, Mariko, Kana, Kohaku, Mei, Mafuyu, and Alena.
Does that sound like a good summary so far?
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cw vague disassociation ref
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ARM CHECK
Hey! Let's just start easy, okay? Usagi, Mariko, Kana, Kohaku, Mei, Mafuyu, and Alena? Why don't you roll up your sleeves for me to check you? I can check the rest of us afterwards.
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[she rolls up her sleeves and flexes. showing off all the angles. there are no bruises.
...
she also takes off her hat and flips her hair for good measure because she's still kind of stuck on Wig Check.]
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Re: ARM CHECK
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Nah, it's just a sad girl, holding onto her notebook and wishing this nightmare could end.]
...it was all my fault. We crossed paths last night, and she thought about this 'god of the wilderness' and I thought to myself 'that's not a real thing, is it?' Except she heard that thought too and started yelling at me, and then I started yelling back, and then we both got mad and started fighting-
[She looks down to the letter she's written. She picks up a pen with a shaky hand and adds the last part, her signature.]
I didn't mean to kill her. I thought we would just fight for a bit until we ran out of steam and then talk it all over. That's how it's always gone in the past, but when I hit her in the church she fell wrong and hit her head. There was so much blood...
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[if she had a second hoodie to wrap around a sad girl's shoulders she would be doing that]
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VOTING
Before we get to the next part, I want to remind you: the rules are the rules. I think you've found your culprit. Time to vote. Same as last time.
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The Interim Headmistress
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Re: VOTING
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EXECUTION - enixe conatus et feliciter gessi
You’re right. The Hooligan is responsible for the death of The Evergreen. You know what comes next.
[ Just like last week: the lights die, the culprit vanishes, and the projector whirs to life. The Headmistress doesn’t gloat, doesn’t say anything more.
It’s outside, somewhere in the woods. The snow has built up in drifts and piles all around, and Mafuyu stands shivering in the wind. A message is carved into a nearby tree, scorched black to stand out against the white.
WITHIN ROSENBLUM HALL LIES THY SALVATION
And so, once again, the culprit is sent to struggle against… the elements, this time, in addition to direction. But as Mafuyu tries to make her way, there’s a soft sound on the wind - the howl of a wolf.
You never see them directly, but as Mafuyu continues onward through the white, there are signs - shadows moving in the distance, or the glint of reflective eyes behind a bush. It’s not long before it’s clear to Mafuyu and all of you that she’s being hunted.
When the wolves make their move, Mafuyu turns to face them, ready to fight. The camera doesn’t capture the action, but she strikes a couple of them, and you can hear the whimpers and growls of pain. She puts up a good fight, but more shadows move out of the darkness.
It’s impressive. Mafuyu is impressive. But it’s not enough to escape the judgement of the Wilderness.
The feed only captures the blood on the snow, not the struggle itself. The audio, too, mercifully cuts out. But there’s only one conclusion that can come from the finality of it, and the shadows of the wolves on the snow gathering around one point as they are.
Mafuyu Kurosaki is dead.
When the lights come up, the Headmistress speaks up. ]
Isabella will… you know where to go. Get some rest.
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WHY THE FUCK DID SHE BRING UP WEREWOLVES THIS IS SO FUCKED UP]
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cw unintentional self-harm, dissociation
cw infant death allusion
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