ATONEMENT: How to escape from a bloody survival game?

The Red Shoes Chapter 6: First Blood

Cleverdent Castle was very large, so the cathedral tower was located at the back of the castle. A place that supports ceremonies for the Cleverdent family. The design structure consists of two parts: the Cathedral - where they currently stand and the bell tower in the back. The bell tower is a bit far from the cathedral, but you can still walk there. Both the cathedral and the bell tower are covered in moss green, so they are easy to recognize. Currently,  the players are trying to collect clues in this place.

If you want to enter the bell tower, you must have a key, just now Theo did not see anything on monk Edmund. He thought it was kept somewhere in the cathedral for easy access.

As he watched the statue of God stay aloft for a long time, he noticed the statue's eyes looking straight down at the podium. He stepped up and looked around - Nothing special. Under? Theo stepped on the floor a few times and felt his feet clenching.

Theo turned the carpet under his feet and immediately saw the dusty copper key. He quickly grabbed the key and went to the tower to open the door, just as John came from nowhere. With a familiar historical figure, John reached for the key.

“You want to go up the tower? Shall we go together?"

Theo nodded - Two people are still better than one, it's only the second day, John can't harm him right now.

Theo smiled and handed John the key. The lock is black, rusty, and covered with dust, so opening the door is quite difficult. After a long struggle, the lock fell to the ground. A stream of musty, stinky air poured down, and dust and a few rats ran out.

Fortunately, because it is daytime, the tower is lightly lit, and the conditions are quite good to visit inside. John and Theo agreed to go up.

The bell tower is different from the castle and cathedral, it still keeps its original condition from before. In this century, the bell tower is designed in the shape of a cube cylinder, with many angles. The stone material is quite solid, the inside is damp and there is a thin layer of moss, it seems that no one has come to this place for a long time.

The spiral staircase upward was paved with gravel, it seemed that it would be easy to slip here. The space inside was not well ventilated, so Theo felt a little breathless, he wrote a few words to John:

- Check quickly and then down, the air in here is little, and it's not good to stay for a long time.

John nodded, stepping forward to lead the way. Walk for a few minutes to the top of the tower where a large bronze bell is located. Surrounded by dirty and many cobwebs. The bell tower here has been abandoned.

Theo looked around and saw a small room, he was a bit surprised, why is there a room here? The entrance is a bit low, it seems to be for children. - Theo pulled his shirt to get John's attention, he also agreed to take a look at this room.

Inside there was only a small bed and sundry toy chests, moreover, it was too tight. No air or light, not suitable for raising children. So what to raise?

John looked around and found nothing of value, so he suggested going back outside. After checking the surroundings, there was no way to go, so he agreed to follow.

As soon as he stepped outside Theo felt immediately at ease. The refreshing fresh air made him happy, staying in this bell tower for a long time was not good.

“Hey, John!” - In the distance, most of the players run to them. "The cathedral did not find any clues, is there in the bell tower?"

John stood in front of Theo, he smiled modestly: "We didn't find any clues earlier, but there was gold on it. You can take it outside, you guys can try it.”

Under contempt - Gold? There is dust and spiders, but where is the gold!

John pushed Theo to the back, he made way for the new group of players - the lambs. “I don't need gold, see if you need it. It's a bit stuffy in there, let's go one by one."

The other male player Theo was also a bit impressed, named Leo, John managed to lure him.

“Oh, it's okay, we have a lot of people, get it and then take it out. Didn't stay long.” - Leo happily laughed, gold that who doesn't like.

Jenny also came from afar, as soon as she heard there was gold, she enthusiastically demanded to go up with the boys. John saw this and smiled politely without objection.

Theo felt that these sheep were not very intelligent, John said a few sentences that would have made them obedient. Theo sighed and walked away to take a walk, he didn't want to stay here for long. Theo feels that the distance from the cathedral to the bell tower is also a bit far. This point is not reasonable, even if it is a church, the bell tower will still be located on the premises of the church, or the bell is placed on the top of the church. Why is it so far away?

After walking for a few minutes, he turned to the bell tower to look. The red tile roof is covered with dust, so it is no longer bright, and the openings used to ventilate the tower are not many. Moreover, near the top of the tower, there are many pieces of wood to patch up.

The sky is gray today, and the wind is standing still, and although it has snowed, it has stopped now. This bell tower is also not covered with snow, the feeling of gloom covering it makes Theo uncomfortable.

Suddenly he discovered a strange point. Just now inside the tower, there was a small room but there were no windows. So what is that attic window? He and John could not find the way up to continue. Where is that place?

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The players, after listening to John's sweet words, decided to go upstairs, but Jenny said it was dark and stuffy inside, and each person would be better.

John continued to make peace: “There is a lot of gold up there. There is still enough for everyone, don’t worry.”

Hearing that, the others nodded, letting Leo and Jenny go first. The eager girl quickly moved ahead of Leo, behind her unbeknownst John's cold smile.

Leo ran up the tower, not in time for the brown-haired girl's footsteps, he said loudly: "You go slowly, I can still catch you if you fall."

“If I go slow, you get all the gold?” - Jenny left the sentence and sped up.

Leo angrily muttered, "Bitch." - He also quickly chased after Jenny

A few minutes later the two of them reached the top of the bell tower, Jenny tripped up the last step in her haste. As soon as her feet firmly landed, at the same time there was a sound that scared the two of them.

From the top of the bell, a ladder was dropped, and dust flew. Leo looked at the rope ladder in amazement and then at Jenny, who exclaimed, "Where did you just touch?"

Jenny stammered: "I don't know."

Fearing danger, the two stood together for a while, but still seeing nothing, Leo ventured, saying: "I don't mind, perhaps John and Theo haven't found this place yet. There's more gold up here, shall we climb first?" He had a greedy thought that if Jenny took more gold he would kill Jenny, take her gold and pretend she fell down the stairs.

Jenny was calmed when she was reassured by Leo's words, she became greedy. If there is more gold, then she is rich. She didn't need to flatter arrogant men like John, so she nodded: "Good, we'll take a lot and then tell them later."

The two quickly climbed up, the attic was dusty, and the stone walls were patched with many different, overlapping wooden boards. On the floor were dozens of wooden chests, from large to small. This made Jenny and Leo happy, eyes shining, they quickly sat down to open the chest.

Fortunately, both of them opened chests filled with gold and glittering jewels at the same time. They looked at each other with joy, at the fastest speed they tried to collect as much gold as possible and stuff it all into their clothes. Because they were so focused on their valuable possessions, they didn't notice, that above them, there was a sleeping creature. It was being disturbed by the sounds of rummaging and talking.

With the sound of gold clashing, Jenny's cheerful laughter resounding in the attic, the monster huffed, it was uncomfortable to wake up. Since it has no eyes, it slowly takes a deep, fragrant breath! It's been a long time since anyone really fed it, it's been sleeping for a long time. Is this food?

With its large body, it slowly clung to the wall, moving behind Leo and Jenny. Open your mouth wide and… bite.

Leo looked at Jenny excitedly and saw the image of her upper body being eaten away. Blood splattered across Leo's face, his smile not fading, but terror is showing in his eyes.

In front of his eyes was a monster with pale, gray wrinkled skin. It has four arms with sharp-clawed hands. The huge mouth on the stomach was chewing on Jenny's remains.

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In the distance, Theo was contemplating the tower, wondering why there were windows in the attic but no way up. Screams rang out from the players at the tower at the same time as Theo's vision was in the sky.

In the middle of the gray sky, after a loud scream rang out, a familiar blue screen appeared with a very lively notification sound.

[First Blood!

Number of survivors: 12]

With his pupils constricted, Theo panicked as he watched the players frantically running towards him. Followed by blood splatters everywhere, filled with cold white snow.