"We are finally here!" Shikhar squealed excited when he saw the mela.
Virat, on his part just wanted to get out of the car and stretch.
And that was when he saw the cotton candy.
"Cotton Candy!"he squealed and ran towards it when he was pulled back.
"Listen. If you want to go somewhere, then tell me okay? I'll go with you. Don't run of like this. Hold my hand!" Rohit said sternly. This was his first outing with his brother without the elder brothers and he didn't want to tell them that he had lost their younger brother.
"Do you understand, Virat?" Rohit asked sternly.
"Yes. I won't run off again." Virat replied as he held Rohit's hand. The others caught up with them and they all went to eat cotton candy after which they went to the 360 degree ride that only Virat seemed to enjoy. Even Shikhar and Jaddu were a bit blue on the face but Virat seemed to be absolutely fine.
"Hey! You guys want to go to the escape room?" Jaddu asked.
"Yeah!" The boys cheered.
Jaddu quickly went and bought tickets for themselves.
"Okay, so here are the rules boys... We will be given some riddles that we have to solve. These riddles will be written in a piece of paper and hidden in each room or something like that. It keeps changing.
Once you solve a riddle, the door to another room will open up. There will also be some obstacles along the way." Jaddu explained.
"We should stick together." Bhuvi said and all of them agreed.
They walked into the cave like structure into a big room.
They looked around for chits of paper when Virat spotted it.
"Rohit, I saw the paper." Virat said as he poked Rohit on his shoulder.
"Toh utha na!" Rohit said looking at Virat.
"Udhar chipkali hai" virat whined. He hated lizards, sue him.
"Hatt" he said as he moved Virat aside and went to pick up the lizard.
"Rohit! Don't pick it up!" Virat whined but he was ignored.
Shikhar used the distraction to snatch the paper and read out the question.
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?"
"An echoe?" Bhuvi answered and the door to the next room opened up.
The second room was a bit dimmer than the other one and didn't seem to have an immediate danger until the lights went off.
Then suddenly, a question projected on a screen... With a timer that read 3 secs.
"You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I'm quick when I'm thin and slow when I'm fat. The wind is my enemy."
"A candle " Rohit answered confidently.
And the other door opened. This was an illusion room.
"I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?" Came a voice out of nowhere making Vi flinch.
"A map!" Jinks answered as yet another room opened up.
In this room, you had go walk on wooden planks. and if the answer was wrong, you'd fall off.
"What is seen in the middle of March and April that can't be seen at the beginning or end of either month?"
"The letter R " Shikhar replied confidently.
"How do you guys know these answers?" Virat asked curiously. Were they really this smart?
"We have all come here a few times before and failed miserably. But we know some the answers." Bhuvi told Virat.
"Well, we got kicked out once too because Jaddu's scream sacred the other people off!" Shikhar complained.
Another door opened up,but it gave the illusion that they are floating around in the air.
"You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don't see a single person on the boat. Why?" They heard the AI voice again.
"Mujhe nahi pata yaar. Do you know the answer, Bhuvi?" Rohit asked.
"No... Jinks?" Bhuvi asked.
"Neither do I. Sonu?" Jinks re directed the question.
"Even I am not sure about this. Rohit?"
"Abbey! Maine hi toh pucha tha!" Rohit exclaimed.
"Must be the work of samudra chudail!" Jaddu exclaimed.
"Samudra chudail? Kon?" Rohit asked totally confused.
"Yes. Jamnagar mein-"
"Jamnagar tales off for now. We have only 3 seconds to answer this!" Bhuvi interrupted.
"Because they were all married." Virat answered when he saw the timer move to 1 second.
They took a step and they were taken to another room through an escalator. And on the wall, in blood red ink, the question was written.
"A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain."
"Uhh.. The woman was a witch - sacrificed the husband to the devil - I don't know how she had dinner with him though...." Shikhar said thoughtfully.
"Maybe she had two husbands?" Jaddu gave his input.
"No. She took a picture of him and developed it in her darkroom." Sonu answered.
"How did you know the answer to that one?" Jaddu asked curiously.
"Zak pa and Irfan bhai had already asked me that question." Sonu answered.
They moved to the next pathway that had opened up. Suddenly, creepy music started playing.
"Oye, question udhar hai!" Sonu said aa he saw a pot on top of a paper chit.
"What disappears as soon as you say its name?"
"Silence." Shikhar answered.
"Something you and Jaddu do not know how to maintain." Sonu replied snidely as Bhuvi and Jinks snickered.
"This is the farthest we have ever come, boys!" Rohit exclaimed as they walked into yet another room.
"I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms. You can enter, but you can't go outside. What am I?" The AI seemed to have taken a creepy tone.
"Keyboard ." Virat answered quickly. He did not want to stay in that room with the creepy metallic voice.
"Good job, Vi!" Rohit exclaimed as they headed through the door.
But this time, they did not see any other doors, just an exit sign.
"Wohoo! We finished it!"Rohit exclaimed happily and all the others cheered.
"But how do we open the gate?" Jaddu asked.
"Maybe we should pull the lever?" Virat answered as he went to pull it.
Just then, a cosplay artist dressed as a zombie looked at him. Virat looked back at him. The cosplay artist looked ready to yell and scare him but instead, it looked like Virat's scream scared him more and he ran out of the room.
"Aaa" they both yelled running in different directions. The cosplay artist out of the room and Virat, into Rohit's arms.
"Arey! Tu dar gaya? Woh toh bas cosplay artist tha yaar. Dekh, mein idhar hi hu. You're fine!" Rohit whispered reassuring his little brother as the others patted his back.
( Imagine them in casuals).
The boys then walked out of there.
"Bhai, bhook lagi hai!" Jaddu whined as they walked around.
"Bhook toh mujhe bhi lagi h!" Rohit agreed.
"Bhaiyya, chole bature! " Virat exclaimed excited as he almost ran towards it but stopped himself when he remembered his promise. Rohit just shook his head at him and the group walked to the small dhaba. It was quite late, so they decided to go back home. This time though, Jaddu was on the driving seat.
"Mar gaye!" Rohit muttered as he saw Jaddu grinning in the driver's seat.