“Oh god,” said Cruz, before turning and vomiting onto the floor.
The director’s voice screamed through their earpieces, bringing the game to a halt. “What thehell?”
The team gaped—first at the coffin, and then at Sierra, standing with the velvet clutched in one hand and the wooden stake in the other.
Staring down at the unnaturally still, unnaturally pale body of her older sister.
SIX MONTHS LATER . . .
Audition Video: Carter Kelly
THE ESCAPE GAME
SEASON FIVE
The girl sits as still as a mannequin, her hands clutched in herlap. To her right: an old-school chalkboard covered in mathematical equations and pi written out to far too many digits. To her left: book-shelves displaying pyramids of textbooks; a pastel-colored Rubik’s Cube; a large stuffed snail; and a gallery of framed prints showing the center of a sunflower, a nautilus seashell, a pineapple. Everything is illuminated by fairy lights.
The girl herself has brown skin, tight curly black hair, and a constellation of freckles across her full cheeks.
“Hello, producers, casting directors, and anyone else watching. In case you don’t recognize me . . .” Her hands tremble as she holds up a pair of glasses with large round frames. “Maybe this helps? If not—then I bet this will.” She snaps her fingers, and her image dissolves in a waterfall of neon-green numerals.
The girl has disappeared. In her place is a cartoon version of herself. The cartoon is poised, in a plaid minidress and thigh-high boots—a far cry from the girl’sScooby DooT-shirt. Her curls are now fire-engine red, and the thick round glasses are perched on the end of her nose.
“I’m Kick It Carter,” says the avatar. “The highest-ranking Solve Specialist on the Domain.”
She holds a palm flat, and a graphic is superimposed above it, showing a scrolling social media feed with videos of Carter’s avatar exuberantly explaining various puzzles and codes, opening complicated locks, interviewing past contestants. The effects look professional.
“I joined the Clue Masters as an intern in the third season and have built a platform with hundreds of thousands of followers. I’m super excited to give them a sneak peek behind the scenes ofThe Escape Game. But that’s not why you should pick me as a season five contestant. You should pick me because I live for puzzles and logic and problem-solving. I’m captain of the chess club, I took my school to our state’s math competition last year, and in my spare time I am also an amateur photographer. My passion?” The cartoon gestures, and photos appear around her. Sunflowers. Seashells. Pineapples. “The Fibonacci sequence! Isn’t it beautiful?”
She winks. “Millions of likes and comments don’t lie. Together, we’re going to makeEscape Gamehistory. Ciao!”
The cartoon pretends to pull down a blind, and her image is replaced with the real Carter Kelly again, still anxious. “So that’s my audition video. Um. Thanks for watching!”
Producer notes:
Too bad we can’t get the cartoon instead of the girl
Overachiever, goody-two-shoes vibe . . . pair with a rule breaker for drama?
Math whiz. Check with V—how much math involved this season?
Built-in fan base doesn’t hurt
Alert costuming department—makeover needed
01
Carter
“Which makes this one a three . . . and seven here, and eight . . .five . . . two, and done!” Carter hit the stop button on her phone’s timer. Her momentary elation fizzled. “Three minutes and fifty-four seconds? Pathetic.” She ripped out the page from her sudoku book, crumpled it up, and tossed it at the trash can in the corner of the classroom. It bounced off the edge, skittering across the carpet.
The bell rang as Mrs. Melnyk walked in. She’d had no qualms letting Carter eat lunch in her classroom this semester, and if she suspected that the request had more to do with Carter’s dismal social life than her need for peace and quiet while she studied for the next math competition, she didn’t let on.
Carter checked her emails again. Still nothing.
As her classmates took their seats, she wondered for the millionth time which of them wereEscape Gamefans. W hich of them had accounts on the Domain, the most comprehensive fan-run website about the show. Which of them followedher.
Kick It Carter. Highest-Ranking Solve Specialist. It was an honor that filled her with giddy pride. It was also an honor that meant absolutely nothing in real life. No one here knew who she was.
