Chapter 1

Oliver woke up with a gasp, shaking and shivering. His face was beaded with sweat, his hands holding the blanket tightly. He sat there, on the bed, until he could calm down. He looked at his pale and bruised hands. He didn't know how he had gotten those bruises, or why he looked so unhealthy. He looked around, at the brightly decorated walls and curtains of silk, then at the big and fancy bed he laid on, with an intricate design of a field of flowers. The whole room had big white walls, black curtains, empty black frames, chairs that were black and white. The only color in the room was the bright red roses in white vases and wrapping around table legs, it's petals scattered on the floor.

Oliver was in abnegation at the view in front of him. The room was designed so… unnaturally. It was such a silly design. Nevertheless, he stood up, got out of bed, and stood on the cold marble floor. He found a mirror, gasping as he looked at himself. He wondered if his eyes were apocryphal, or if that was how he really looked. His hair was white, pure white. His eyes were also the same shade. He looked like a ghost. He was so skinny, too. How did he turn out like this? His pale skin did not help. He touched the mirror, running his pale hand over the cold glass. His fingertips turned a little red. Red like the roses.

Suddenly, the white wooden door opened with a loud "bang," and a girl with an air of alacrity charged in, bouncing on the tips of her toes. She stopped when she was in front of Oliver, her bright red eyes matching the roses, and her wavey brown hair rolling down her shoulders. She was dressed in an anachronistic dress, one that you would probably find on an old creepy doll, with a long red dress, black gloves, and a red hat. She had a big bag on one shoulder.

"Hi there! I'm Rose!" She smiled at Oliver. Oliver nodded.

"I-I'm Oliver." She was a little shorter than Oliver, but her personality was the antithesis of his. "Nice to meet you, Rose." Oliver tried to smile. Rose laughed a little, then her expression dropped into a more serious tone.

"Oliver. You look very ugly right now." How offensive. Oliver voiced his opinion. Rose frowned. "Hmm, I'm going to fix you up, Oliver." She grabbed a comb from her bag and pushed his shoulders so he would bend down. Oliver tried to struggle against her, but she was too strong.

"W-wait. I don't even know you-" Then, she grabbed a white collared shirt and white pants, shoving him into a changing room that appeared out of nowhere. But, the clothes were not to her approbation. She tucked a rose behind his ear, and threw rose petals on his face. She handed him gloves, saying they would cover the bruises on his hands. Then, she sprayed some rose perfume at him. This girl... really liked roses.

When she was done, she smiled at him, admiring her hard work. Oliver had taken the time when she dressed him up to alleviate himself of his shock and try to recollect himself.

"Oliver, you're much more compliant than my other guests," Rose told him.

"I give up easily," he replied. "Anyway, now that we're done with my dress up... can you tell me where I am...?" Rose nodded enthusiastically.

"You're in the Rose the Puppetter's Mansion!!" She said proudly.

"So... how did I get here?"

"Hmm, you'll find out later. For now, let's go to the dining hall, where all the other guests are located!!" Then, she leaned into his ear and handed him a strange artifact, shaped it a vase. was antediluvian, with rusty brown edges and a hazy design. "Inside there, you'll find your role. Never reveal it to anybody." He gulped and nodded, sensing the seriousness in her voice. Slowly, he took out... a knife. Oliver's understanding of things had diminished.

Her smile returned. "Great! Let's go to the dining hall then!" She grabbed his hand and rushed him out of his room.

His room was the Red Room, according to the sign on the wall. It was annexed to the commons area, which was lit with dim candles and dotted with old cushions and pictures of people he recognized as anathemas, murderers, psychopaths, and people whose simple problems were aggrandized by society. Oliver himself was in one of the frames.

The common room had many doors, most Rose saying leading to different bedrooms. The biggest one led down a musty hallway with even more pictures, the air arcane and frigid. At the end of the hallway, near the door, was a picture of an amorphous shape, dull and dark, with bright red eyes and brown hair, the glass of the frame shattered, a little blood dotting the edges. The girl in the picture reminded him of Rose.

The dark hallway was a big contrast to the bright and shining dining hall, with a big long table in the middle and chairs made of shining metals, wrapped with red roses. There were more paintings and pictures of people, but their eyes were ripped out in a strange way. Roses sat in vases and in baskets hanging from pillars. Rose couldn't be more ardent about her love for roses.

"Hello, everybody!!" Rose said loudly. Oliver counted nine other people, all around middle school to early high school age, sitting at the table with girls on the right and boys on the left. They all wore white suits and dresses, similar to Oliver. "White Rose is here!!" ...He was given an alias.

One of the boys, with light pink hair, asked, "...so, is this all?"

"Of course not, Salmon! There's still me, the OG Rose!!"

"...what?" A blonde boy asked, looking confused.

"Shut up, Yellow." Their names were very awkward to say. A girl with blue buns tied tightly on her head was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh, while another boy with dark red hair and a scary demeanor glared at everybody cautiously.

"Well, anyways," Rose continued. "We already have a white, so O- I mean this guy is gonna be Red." She clapped her hands together and smiled. "Great! Everybody is here. Let me introduce to you the game!"

She motioned for Oliver to sit down, and he did so at the last available seat on the boy's side.

Rose handed everybody a sheet of paper, with scribbles adumbrated in a way that was illegible to read or understand.

"Here are the rules to the game!!" She announced, sitting at the front of the table in the big chair. "Welcome to Rose the Puppeteer's manner. All of you have done something horrible, to have come here and participate in this game!"

...What? Oliver didn't remember doing anything. In fact, he didn't remember anything at all. The others seemed to think so as well, but Rose quieted them down.

"Anyway, perhaps you'll learn about yourselves later? I thought you guys already knew each other. Hmm... Well, let me explain the rules of this game."

"Rose, I don't want to join your game. Please let me leave," A girl with long lavender hair said with a frown. Rose shook her head.

"No way, at least, not now. Alright, here are the rules. If you want to escape, kill eight people in this room."

"W-what?" The lavender girl was taken aback. "N-no way..."

"Let me keep explaining. There are ten participants, and if there are only two remaining in this mansion, you can leave. But, there's a catch:" She paused for dramatic effect. "All of you were given different roles when I saw you. If you kill the "Knife," then everybody escapes but the Knife. If you kill the person with the "Stem" role, everybody but the "Knife" role dies." Everybody flinched simultaneously.

"What?? This whole thing is ridiculous!" the boy with salmon hair shouted.

"Tsk, let me continue," Rose sighed in exasperation. "If you kill the "Leaf" role, all food supply stops. If you kill the "Root" role, no water or light for you! and lastly... if the "Eye" watches you kill someone or sees the body or anything that could logically point to there being a body, you all die, and the Eye escapes!!"

"Augh... my head hurts," a blue-haired girl said, rubbing her head.

"W-wait. Aren't we going to address how ridiculous this is?? Rose, this game isn't funny," a cream-haired boy frowned.

"Haha, aren't you just bummed your name is Cream? At least it's not Salmon, hahaha," Rose laughed. The cream-haired boy didn't look amused. Rose didn't seem to mind, though. "Oh! And, did I mention that you have to kill somebody at least every three days?"

"What?? Rose, this is fucked up!" the salmon boy shouted, hitting the table with his hands. You want us to do this messed up shit?? Aren't you the one that got us into this position??"

"Shh, don't raise your voice, Salmon," Rose replied casually.

"Rose, this isn't right. We can't kill people," the purpled-haired girl argued.

"Right. And, can't you explain what you meant by "we all did bad things," or whatever?" the cream-haired boy asked. Rose shook her head firmly. Standing up.

"Hmm, maybe that's for you to figure out." Before anybody could stop her, she was gone, the only thing on her seat being roses.