Figuring Things Out

Thomas sat down to think for a minute. He put down a disposable cloth to not stain his pants with the dark liquid on the ground.

"What do I know…" Thomas pondered.

He recollected all the information he could gather from the first time he got killed in here since arriving. Tim's body had a certain decay but it was odd now that Thomas got more time to think about it.

"A decay like that must have taken hours to accumulate…" Thomas tried to remember the smell and it made him feel slightly nauseated.

The next step was comparing it to the smell of the other corpses. Not a pleasant thing to do considering it comes down to imagining all of your friends dead and figuring out the cause of it.

"Maybe the system can help…" Thomas uttered.

[Arcane System Awakening]

[Recalibrating memories based on smell]

[First victim: Tim]

[Second victim: Emily]

[Third victim: Ashley]

[Fourth victim: Corbin]

[Final victim: Thomas]

"Yeah thanks for the reminder…" Thomas said sarcastically on the final victim being analyzed.

These things made sense smell-wise, but Thomas could not underestimate things based on that alone as a factor. But apart from that, his only leads were the ooze-like liquid which scorched his clothes and upon contact with the skin, boiled one's blood from the inside.

Thomas came to remember the demon's lullaby-like song.

"Human rinds snack…" Thomas shivered as it gave him the creeps to even think about.

The demon sang that it preferred boiling their blood to drink it and have their skin as a snack. Now that Thomas thought things through, the state of the corpses made sense to the lullaby, the bodies were scorched to the bones, without any blood or skin in sight.

The only one that had blood surrounding it was Emily's corpses, a sign of her fighting back. Thomas made sure to check the system for two more things before heading back to Tim.

[User: Thomas Rosemary]

[HP: 9/10]

[Quest: Defeat The Demon]

[Reward: 50 Exp]

He gulped, his HP was already down by 1. Thomas could not tell if it was going to escalate like the other time and was not too enthusiastic in finding out.

"If all possible I would like to end this before any more deaths occur," Thomas said with a firm voice and headed back.

Back at the camp, Tim waved him welcome back.

"I take it you did not encounter the demon?" Tim timidly asked.

Thomas shook his head, "How about you?" He already knew the answer.

If everything plays out as expected, Tim was likely to be killed first. Tim shook his head in a similar fashion to Thomas.

"I am going to provide Emily with some backup, wait here for the rest of us, and if you see anything head towards me," Thomas told Tim who gave off another nod.

"Be safe…" Tim replied back.

Although Thomas did not have it in his heart to say the same if his predictions were to be correct in how things would come to unfold. Thomas chased down Emily and managed to catch up to her since she was walking slowly with precaution.

"What is up Thomas? Already done on your end?" Emily was not even surprised at Thomas' arrival and watched him catch his breath.

"Good, I think Ashley needs backup, we can come and explore yours later," Thomas lied and grabbed her hand to head back.

"Why? You could have backed her up yourself or waited by the camp with Tim if you are scared!" Emily joked when she noticed Thomas' hand was trembling a bit.

Thomas turned around with a serious look in his eyes and she knew there was no time for jokes.

"Sorry," Emily apologized.

Back once more, to Thomas' surprise, Tim was still safe.

"Thank god… the timeline with the smell adds up," Thomas uttered to himself.

He took a moment to think things over before heading over to Ashley's corridor.

"On second thoughts, Emily, do you mind waiting here with Tim? I will go grab Ashley," Thomas said and headed for the next corridor.

Emily grabbed Thomas' hand.

"Do you mind explaining?" Emily stared intently but Thomas quickly withdrew his hand.

By his own experience, any information shared regarding the event would have a downside effect on him. How would he sell his lie in order to keep them safe?

"I have a hunch since my corridor was short. If I am correct it is a trap and it is best we gather everyone," Thomas lied.

Thomas chose to revert back to the idea the two girls were most comfortable with, even though the guys opposed it. This way he could hopefully convince Emily.

"Fine… but we should have stuck to this plan from the beginning!" Emily pouted by inflating one of her cheeks and then walked back to Tim to sit down and keep watch alongside him.

"Thank you, I will be right back," Thomas pretended to walk casually and once out of sight sprinted towards Ashley in the third corridor.

Everything was going according to Thomas' plan. If Corbin was the last one to be attacked, this would work and get them all back in time to fight the demon together.

It took a few minutes to reach Ashley and compared to Emily, she was surprised when he tapped her shoulder.

"Do not scare me like that! Gosh, Thomas!" Ashley punched Thomas' left shoulder.

He explained things to Ashley, and thankfully she was easy to convince like always. Now it was time to head back and all that remained was to grab Corbin. Once the corridor's exit came into a view they heard a grunt and a blade being swung.

"Do not tell me!" Thomas rushed the corner together with Ashley and saw a shocking scenery.

Tim was already a disintegrated corpse, blackened to his bones without. However this time, there was still some skin and blood left on the ground.

"TIM!" Ashley yelled and dropped down on her knees sobbing.

The demon had a hold on Emily who turned her head and looked at them.

"RUN! Get Corbin! This bastard already ate Tim, save yoursel---" Emily's throat was crushed and her eyes popped out.

The demon grabbed the eyeballs on the ground and gulped them in one go like a small snack.

"Yummy!" The demon was thrilled and turned his head to the two newly arrived.

"You are next!" He slowly began approaching this.

Thomas cussed repeatedly and Ashley was still in shock, completely useless next to him.

"This cannot be happening! It is too early! Dammit!" Thomas unsheathed his sword and grabbed Ashley to make a run for it.

All the meanwhile, the demon was slowly closing in right behind them on their tail.