Before starting , remember you are Max . In the story whenever it says "you" it means Max but it doesn't refer to Max when someone is talking except me . Thank you .

The Nightmare!

You open your eyes . You are lying on the ground and your head hurts . You don't know where you are or what you are doing . It is really hard to see anything because it is dark and your vision is a bit blurred . Suddenly you notice that a red light is flashing . You are still on the ground and suddenly a black figure appears in front of you . You cannot make out anything of the figure but it looks like the figure is giving it's hand out to help you stand up . Without thinking you grab the hand and stand up . You look around yourself , it seems you are in a hallway and there are red flashing lights . The walls and the floors are made out of concrete as it seems . You cannot remember how you got here and while you were thinking , you hear a woman's soft voice asking " Are you alright ?" . You turn around towards the shadowy figure . Your vision is still blurred , you cannot make out the face but you can see that it is wearing a green dress with dirt stains on it . You assume that the shadowy figure is a woman and you answer with another question" I am fine , my head just hurts a little . Well can you please kindly tell me , who are you and what are we doing here ?" . The woman says with a angry and frustrated voice " Sir , this is not place to joke ! Come on we have to get out of here !" and she suddenly starts running forward in the hallway . You also start running , after running for a while you see that she steps on a floor tile which seems to be a pressure plate and before you had time to react , saws come out of the walls and cuts the woman into pieces . The blood of the woman spills all over the floor and walls . You see guts coming out when her blood splashes onto your face and you... open your eyes , in real life . It seems that it was just a nightmare but everything felt was so real , the hand , the hallway , the blood . It took some time for you to realize that there was a loud beeping sound right beside you . You look at the night stand beside your bed . Your alarm clock was ringing so you turned it off . You rub your eyes and look at the time on your clock . It was 6 a.m , time for you to get ready for work . You get off the bed and start getting ready .

At The HQ , 7 A.M .

You are sitting in your office and reading the newspaper , your attention goes to the headline "Detective Max caught The Serial Killer Tyson Wales" . A bit excited to see your name , you start reading it . The newspaper says " The popular detective Max Watson caught The Deadly Serial Killer Tyson Wales after a case that lasted for two months . Other detectives and officers were unable to catch the killer since it's first murder that happened 13 years ago but Detective Max was able to catch him in two months of his investigation ." , but after that you stop reading and think that how close you have came to fulfil your dream to become a detective as Sherlock Holmes . Suddenly your chief Noah , comes inside your office and asks " Are you happy Max by your work on the last case about that serial killer ?" . You reply " I am . In fact I want to investigate one more case before having a vacation ." , after hearing that Noah replies " Well it seems you are in luck because we have new case and you have been assigned for it " . You follow Noah to his office for reviewing the case . As he explains " There have been reports of missing people in the town of Misville and it is slowly becoming a ghost town . So what you have to do is just find out what or who is the cause of the people going missing and try to stop it or report it . You will live there until your investigation is done and if you complete the investigation , you will be promoted to a senior detective . Now you have to plan your investigation . Here is the case file , you can go now . Your flight tickets are in the file , your flight is tomorrow . Best of luck ." You take the file and leave...

What happens next ? You will find out in the next episode of Max and The Death Room . Thank you for reading .

By Bali Mukhiya

The story of this episode starts from the next day of the events of the first episode.

**The Midnight Murderer **

You reach the airport in your taxi . You look outside the taxi's window , you become surprised to see your chief Noah at the main entrance of the airport . You get off the taxi and walk towards him . " Hello sir , what was the reason for the effort ? Are you here to wish me luck ?" you ask him but he nods no and says " I am really sorry Max but your flight was cancelled for some unknown circumstances .The heads are really sorry so they booked you a luxurious sleeper cabin on a train to Misville . I know you might have questions but we don't have time because your train leaves in 30 minutes so you must get going . Here's your ticket ." and then hands you the tickets . Before you ask anything , he gets in his car and leaves . " Well that was unfortunate." You mutter in a low voice and then take a taxi to the railway station . You reach the station just two minutes before the train leaves . Without wasting time you board the train and proceed inside your cabin . The sleeper car was just like a normal sleeper but everyone had their own cabin with a really comfortable bed inside . Many cabins are on the left side aligned in a line and there was a single hallway from where you can enter the cabins . There were many more bogies but the one that you were in was strangely quite . You get inside your cabin and lock the door for keeping unwanted guests out . You spent your day by looking at the beautiful scenery outside your window as you pass them at great speed . You didn't have anything to do so you go to sleep early .

You are suddenly awakened by a strange sound . You look at your watch , it is 12:53 . " What is happening in the middle of the night !" You mutter in frustration , then you unlock your door and go outside . A bit away from you , in the hallway there was a person sitting on the floor with his back towards you and there was an axe on the ground . You see blood on the ground so you become cautious . It is good that you always carry your gun with you under any circumstances , so you pull it out of your holster . " Sir?! Are you alright , Sir ?! " you ask him in a loud voice . The man stands up and grabs the axe off he ground . " Sir , please drop the axe or I might have to arrest you !" You shout at him , then point the gun at him . The man now turns around and you can now see his face . It is all deformed and he has many scratches on his face . " Sir , please drop your weapon or I will shoot you !" You warn him again . He suddenly throws his axe towards you with brute force , you try to dodge it but it hits your hand and it tears your hand apart from your body . You fall down in pain , the pain is worse than a bullet shot . The man walks towards you and he bends down . He opens his ugly mouth and says " Officer Max , you shouldn't mess with something you don't know about !" and then stands up and swings his axe on your neck but before it hits your neck , you... open your eyes . It was just an another nightmare . You spent other day the same and had the same exact nightmare again .

At The Misville Railway Station , 10:59 A.M

You reached Misville at last . After getting off the train you realized , you don't have no clue where you will be staying or where is the nearest police station . Suddenly a man in his 50s approach you and says " Hello officer Max , I am Alfred , the caretaker of The Lakeside Hotel . Sir Noah told me that you will be staying in our hotel . It is our honor that a great detective like you will be staying in our hotel . Please hand me your luggage and follow me to your carriage ." You thank him for the compliment , hand him the luggage and follow to the carriage . Inside the carriage , you read Misville newspaper . A picture caught your attention , it is a image of the same man from your nightmare that you had on the train . The headline under it says " The Midnight Murderer " , you are startled by it . Can your nightmare be true ? You might have to ask Alfred or other townsmen .

Who is this midnight murderer ? You will know in the next episode of Max and The Death Room .

Thank you for reading .

By Bali Mukhiya .

Sorry for this episode coming so late , I was a bit busy with my exams because I am a student but I am back and here's episode 3 of ' Max and The Death Room ' . The story of this episode starts right after where the story ended in episode .

You were so lost in your confusion after reading that headline , you stopped thinking what was happening around you . You were brought back to the reality by a knock on your carriage . You look as the door swings open and Alfred was standing there . " I hope your journey was comfortable , sir . We have now arrived at The Lakeside Hotel . You luggage will be transported to your room so you do not have to worry about it . Please follow me so that I can give you a little tour of the hotel ." Alfred says so you follow him . The hotel is really gigantic and it's entrance is beautifully decorated with flowers . The lobby is so huge with the reception desk and there beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling . There is a grand staircase to the left of the reception desk which leads to the rooms . The hotel has a kitchen right to the reception desk and there's a little room entrance behind the reception . Alfred takes you inside the little room . The room has a green paint on it's walls and had a white concrete floor . There was a desk in the middle with the name plate of Alfred on it . The room also contains many cabinets and lockers which you assume are full of documents , clothes , etc . " This is my office . You can find me here most of the time during a day . " Alfred says as he hands your room keys . Before leaving you ask him , " Alfred , I read about some midnight murderer in the newspaper . Can you tell me more about him ?" . He looks shocked and asks you to take a seat , he starts telling the story about The Midnight Murderer after you sit in a chair . " The Midnight Murderer is the nickname given to the serial killer Thomas Bridgett , the 13th Mayor of the Misville Town . He killed more than hundred people . Rumors have it that he transformed into a large man with a deformed face whenever he was out on he hunt but it was later found out that he actually wore a mask . He used an axe to murder people during the night . He was shot dead by the sheriff of the town . His axe was never found but his mask is preserved in The Central Museum of Misville . Townsmen of Misville celebrate his death in a form of a festive called , The Midnight Festival . The festival keeps going for a week from the day when he was killed . But it is nuisance because Thomas Bridgett died like 50 years ago . But if you are interested you should go to The Central Museum . " Alfred tells about the Midnight Murderer . You thank him for the details and head to The Central Museum .

At **The Central Museum , 2:46 p.m**

You reach the central museum by an hour because it was hard to find the way without getting lost in a strange town . The museum is magnificent but you need to focus on the mask . You ask the staff and fin it soon . The mask is placed inside a glass case which is really hard . The mask really reminds you of your nightmares from the train . The mask is the exact same looking , the same deformed face and scars but something feels off . Suddenly you notice a little hole just under the name plate . It is really small but a twig might get inside . You rush and get a twig small enough to get inside that hole . You find a matching twig and insert it in the hole and suddenly the name plate starts to shake a little and it slides to the left . You can see a small compartment which was just behind the name plate . You reach inside to grab whatever was in there . You grab something that felt like a little book . You take it out . It looks very old and dusty . You take it the hotel and read it . After reading for a while you realize something so you leave the book on your desk and run back to the museum . You take the permission from the museum and open the glass case . You start inspecting the mask closely . "This is fake ! It is not real ! " you shout when the staff disagree " It is not possible , this mask was kept here by the very own sheriff who killed Thomas . " . " The real mask was made out of leather while this just looks like leather . The mask was real when it was brought here but it was replaced recently . someone stole the mask ! " you answer . Suddenly something struck your mind so you run back o the hotel , you rush inside your room and... the book that you kept on your desk was gone . Something is really going on in Misville . What was written in that book ?

You may find out in the next chapter of Max and The Death Room .

Thank you for reading .

By Bali Mukhiya .