ESCAPE

Chapter Four

Chia puts the small case down. I can see she doesn't want to be the one to spin the colours in place while Luke calls out. I take the case, giving her a little nod with a small smile. I haven't decided if I'm pissed off with her, yet. Surprised, for sure. I think in time, and in another place, I would have a go at her as much as Bella is, but a part of me knows that I should keep focused on this bloody game. It'll do no good to attack each other even more than we have been.

It just felt really strange for one of us to have kept a secret like this. Bella, Chia and I were meant to be really close. We told each other everything. I would say that I was a little closer to Bella than with Chia, but all three of us had been good friends for more than ten years.

"Ready?" Luke calls. His voice is muffled but I can just about understand him. I call back that I'm ready.

Silence follows for a long moment before he calls out, "There are three red splashes. Two blue..."

"Wait, wait," I call back. "Hold on. I don't know what order to do them in."

"Huh?"

Will helps by standing outside the door and calling out to Luke.

Another long silence before Luke says, "Okay, try this. There's one yellow. That one first."

Will repeats what he said for clarification.

I spin the first colour to yellow. It looks like there are nine colours in total, and that someone has stuck the coloured stickers over the numbers.

Luke calls out, "There's two blue. Try that next. Then red, and... there's four greens. That's the last one."

This time I only hear some of what he said, and I'm glad that Will repeated things for me. I set colours in place. The latch snaps open, startling me. "It worked."

Will calls for Luke to come back.

Inside the case is a large, ornate metal key. It looks very elaborate, like a prop from a fantasy film, with intricate engravings.

I turn as Luke comes back into the room. "What do you guys think?" I ask, holding the key up.

Will says, "We can try that locked door we saw earlier."

I was thinking the same thing. I nod to him, glad that he and I are on the same page.

We go back into the tunnel in silence. I can still feel the awkward tension from Bella and the others, but I'm determined to focus on getting us out of here.

As we come to the door, Will says to me, "Are all escape rooms like this?"

I give him an unamused look and simply say, "No."

The large key fits perfectly into the keyhole. The door unlocks with a loud click that sends a spike of panic through me. Is this the door that's hiding a maniac killer? I shove that thought away as I push the door open.

We enter what seems to be a storage room, around seven feet wide and four feet deep. Cleaning supplies are on the shelves along with buckets and mops in the corner. The small room fits us all snugly. The smell of disinfectant is in the air. Another door is on our right.

I pause when I focus on the items around us. It's not just various cleaning supplies. My heart races as I look upon things that should not be there.

A purple A4 notebook with the initials AM on it. A radio that once belonged on a bedside table. A lamp also from the same bedside table. A trophy for a swimming competition with my name on it. My head feels heavy. The room is suddenly too confined, the air too thick. I try to breathe but my heart doesn't want to keep going.