Moth to a Flame

**Moth to a Flame** is the fourth episode of Season 1 and the fourth episode overall of Act 2.

## Episode Description

The night - and Bear’s Bluff - is heating up, and a winged creature takes flight! Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so hold your head to the sky, guests, and keep moving. Will you brave the heat, or become a moth to a flame?

## In the Lounge

Maxwell's arrival stirred division amongst the group as he riled Jasmine, Buck and Xalvadora about their pasts. He quickly revealed that Xalvadora wasn't a police officer but an enforcer for the mob and, as he put it, didn't solve murders, but committed them; however, Xalvadora admitted that she didn't have a choice and now her sister, Dukinea, was in trouble. Elsewhere, Buck confessed his troubled upbringing, Jasmine revealed she had a son - Enzo - on the outside, to Joanna, while Endou and Nastasia continued to bond, and a few words of wisdom encouraged Reggie to act.

## Episode Summary

With the volcano smoking in the distance, the guests agreed to waste little time in following the compass to it; however, the compass soon led them to a small house just outside of town, on the trek to Bear's Bluff. A few of the guests tried to sneak inside but Xalvadora kicked the door down, charging through. Inside were a number of paintings, suspended mannequins and creepy dolls, all with bright red eyes. In a far corner was the shack's owner: an old, paranoid painter. He angrily shouted at the guests, especially those wearing red like Scarlett, but Joanna comfortingly reached him. The man expressed himself as Keith Coles, the town's painter, whose son, Lonnie Coles, had been kidnapped by a winged creature with glowing red eyes. Keith was painting a canvas of how to kill the creature. Jasmine and Buck analyzed the paintings and realized the creature wore one of the stones around its neck, before they heard creaking by the window and inspected the scene. Red eyes stared back at them. Jasmine knocked Buck over and ordered the other guests to hide, as the creature crawled through. It instantly slashed Keith's painting into three, so Nathan tried to stop it. After firing a shot that wounded it, he was betrayed by a falling doll which revealed his location and left him as its captor. It grabbed Nathan and the pieces but was forced to flee by Scarlett's crossbow shot.

Buck identified the creature as the Mothman. Some of the guests, especially Joanna and Nastasia, resolved to retrieve Nathan from the Mothman, while others were more concerned with recovering the painting pieces. They chased the silhouette to the mountain range of Bear's Bluff in the distance, where it flew around the volcano. Upon arrival, the guests reluctantly agreed to head inside the volcano. A man swiftly brandished a shotgun at them and instructed them to leave his land, much to their confusion. He explained that he owned the mines of the volcano which closed up when the sawmill did, so he hadn't been able to mine the emeralds left in the lava fields. The miner then exposed his painting piece, holding it near Reggie, and told them he'd give them the painting piece and the emeralds they found if they agreed to retrieve them. They all soon changed into miner's gear, prompting a lewd comment directed at Joanna which she countered with her disgust.

Down on the lava fields, the guests were told they had to mine the emeralds from the rocks on the other side of a lava river, which they could only get across via a minecart. If they overloaded the minecart, it would fall into the lava and everything they mined destroyed. They soon set to work, slamming their pickaxes into the stone. Joanna and Buck soon fell behind as they found nothing, forcing them to search elsewhere; Joanna was able to find some diamonds, while Buck only found a few. In contrast, Naomi and Xalvadora were finding many consistently, while Nastasia found large pockets of them. Xalvadora's minecart nearly toppled, but she was able to keep it steady. In the end, she and Naomi had the most at eighteen, and Buck the lowest at four.

At the top of the mines, the miner aimed another lewd comment at Joanna and prompted Jasmine to threaten him with her makeshift spear, so he moved on. He then gestured to two trapdoors: they had to split their findings across the two. One trapdoor would double whatever placed in it, while the other would destroy it. He then asked if they wanted to play it safe or take a risk for a great reward. One person who took a risk was Endou who willingly put all sixteen of her coins on one trapdoor. Unfortunately for her, the trapdoor opened above the lava and destroyed all of her emeralds. Scarlett also lost a large number of them, Nastasia's risk paid off as her coins were doubled, while Buck and Xalvadora played it safe. In the end, Nastasia had the most, so she won the painting piece and was given a secret advantage to be used later. They were also instructed to keep their emeralds safe, as they would need them again later on in the night.

Meanwhile, Nathan was dropped into the Mothman's chamber where he met Lonnie. Lonnie explained that he'd tried to escape but it was no use; the only way to gain freedom was to charm the Mothman, who only wanted a friend. If he charmed the Mothman, he would receive immunity. If he failed, he would be sent into the challenge with no vote. Nathan opted to create a shiny idol out of materials he could find in his cell. He created a volcano idol with a glowing stone to resemble the lava, and bits of bread to resemble stones. While waiting to present it, he saw a painting piece left on the floor by the Mothman, which he was able to reach using the mechanics of his tie, as Lonnie somewhat recognized the locket he found earlier. Nathan was then called to present the volcano idol. What he didn't know, however, was that Nastasia's advantage was to choose whether he won immunity or was sent into the challenge. Due to their unknown history together, Nastasia opted to save him. The Mothman then kept the idol and flew Lonnie and Nathan back to their friends.

The guests reunited happily, relieved Nathan was unharmed, while Lynne crossed a rope bridge to claim the third and final painting piece. It revealed the Mothman's red eyes open wide towards the light - the light of the volcano. Maxwell then read aloud from a note: they needed to vote on two to head to the volcano's summit and cause its eruption. That was the only way to kill the Mothman. The loser, however, would be lost to the heat. The guests prepared to vote once more. While they did so, Lynne spoke with Lonnie privately. Lonnie revealed to her that the insignia on the back of Nathan's locket was for the Harroway family, who disappeared at the turn of the century and caused everything in Willow Ridge to go awry. Lonnie went to tell the guests, but Lynne stopped him and claimed she'd already told them, much to Lonnie's suspicion. Once the votes flooded in, Maxwell drew two names: Xalvadora and Reggie.

Maxwell led them to the volcano's summit, where they met with twelve minecarts, six each. The task was simple: the volcano was rigged with explosives and the detonator inside a locked box. They had to search their minecarts to find the key, and the first person to do so would survive. However, some of the minecarts required different skills. Maxwell gave the pair a choice: let him toss a coin to give one of them a heads-start of one minecart. Xalvadora and Reggie ultimately agreed, and the coin landed on heads, giving Reggie the advantage. He chose #4 and struggled to smash the rocks; when he eventually did, he discovered nothing. Xalvadora then chose #1, while Reggie moved to #3. They were both met with a combination lock which Reggie quickly solved; however, both once again found nothing. Xalvadora then moved to #2, where she sifted through oil to find the key. She did and ran to the detonator. However, Reggie searched #6 and found his key too. It was a race to finish line which Xalvadora finished, igniting the detonator. A pillar of bright lava erupted from the summit, leading the Mothman to fight. Xalvadora, using a pickaxe from the minecarts, broke the stone free from the Mothman's necklace. While she ran back to Maxwell, Reggie was cornered and lifted into the air by the Mothman. The creature then flew directly into the lava, burning them both to ash. Maxwell and Xalvadora fled the erupting volcano together, with Xalvadora taking Reggie's saxophone as a trophy.

The guests had little time to mourn Reggie as the volcano continued erupting, spewing lava across the surroundings. They fled, returning to the quietness of the lounge where Lonnie waited to reunite with his father. Xalvadora triumphantly placed the stone and commented that Reggie was expendable if it meant she could live, angering Buck who believed she viewed them as nothing but trophies. The pair continued arguing over the morality of the competition, with Xalvadora commenting that Buck was weak, while Buck insisted Xalvadora was heartless. Joanna too involved herself, stoking the fire against her perceived competition, Xalvadora. The argument was interrupted by the appearance of Xalvadora's box, which she quickly decided to open: inside, the box glowed red, and she received a disadvantage, with Jasmine commenting that Xalvadora had grown too confident. Finally, Lonnie reunited with his father, Keith, as the pair agreed that they would leave Willow Ridge as soon as possible. Before he left, however, Lonnie told the guests about the Harroway family, much to Lynne's fear. He also explained that Lynne insisted she had told them already. As the guests confronted Lynne over her lies, the helper angrily retorting, the mirror in the lounge began to ripple... and a hand pushed through!

## Characters

* Buck Channing - The Storyteller
* Davian Rhoades - The Courtesan
* Endou Chiaki - The Rock Star
* Jasmine Winters - The Burlesque Dancer
* Joanna Garcia - The Serenader
* Nastasia Delacroix - The Lunatic
* Nathan Pierce - The Troublemaker
* Naomi Hollister - The Opera Singer
* Reggie Stevens - The Jazzman
* Scarlett Wilde - The Supernatural Hunter
* Xalvadora Marchesi - The Enforcer
* Lynne
* Maxwell Smythe