Page 28 of Escape

I shook my head, trying to regain focus as I studied the letters again. There were three dashes, a slash and then another four dashes. The E had been placed in the 5th dash, she’d drawn it backward on her end so I could read it. The consideration tickled in my belly.

“Okay…” I readied my fingers for my next guess. “C?”

I knew it was a stupid guess the second it left my mouth. The masked demon shook her head again, drawing a line under the head for the body. With another press of the button, the rope pulled Ariana up by her neck again. I could see her face twisting and screaming in fear as she was forced up to the bare tips of her toes.

Kel shot around, slamming her index finger to her lips like she was telling Ariana to be quiet. Depending on how Kel played this game, I potentially only had 4 more guesses until it was game over. 4 more guesses that could lead to Ariana being killed in front of me.

After a few more guesses, I had gained two arms in wrong guesses and filled in two Ts, an L and a P. Ariana was now standing on top of the backrest of the chair. Her toes gripped onto the edge as she tried to steady herself. One more wrong answer and she would be swinging from the ceiling.

Panic was trying to take over, but I pushed it down and tried to focus on the letters I had filled in already. I had already killed my husband, who deserved it, but I didn’t want another body on my hands, no matter what she had done to end up here.

“T…P….top?” My gaze shot up to her. “Is the first word ‘top’?”

I spelled it out with my fingers and she smiled again with a slight nod, filling in the first word. I was left with an F and T at the end of the second word. Ariana stayed in her spot on top of the chair.

“FT…soft…top soft? No, there’s no O there…” I mumbled to myself.

But before I corrected it, Kel had already hit the button and Ariana’s feet lifted from the chair. Her legs flailed around, causing her to swing through the air. Every cell in my body tightened. My eyes bulged wide and I banged on the glass again.

“No! No! Stop! Kel, stop! You’re going to kill her!”

But Kel remained calm. She didn’t even look back at Ariana swinging and screaming behind her. She remained focused on the game, pointing at it and waiting for me to guess again.

“Fuck. Oh my god. Uh…FT…left…LEFT! TOP LEFT!” I screamed as I hurriedly shaped it with my hands.

She filled in the correctly guessed phrase and turned away, raising the remote. Seconds later, the rope gave way and Ariana’s body dropped to the floor, frantic but alive. Before I could recover from the horror I’d just witnessed, the mirror went dark again.

My own reflection stared back at me. The sight of my own face startled me. It was definitely me, but I looked…different. Under the blood splattered on my face, which I’m sure was Jared’s. Under the splotchy red flush on my cheeks, there was a new certainty that settled in my features.

I didn’t know what was going to happen to Ariana now, but I took comfort in knowing that whatever it was, I didn’t cause her death. Even if it was only for a few seconds, I’d saved her.

But the same dark thoughts that I’d had in the room with Jared flooded in. What if she deserved it? What if I just saved her for nothing? Was she hurting people and I just let her loose?

Swiping a hand over my face, I pushed the thoughts out. That wasn’t important right now. What was important was me getting the fuck out of here.

I lifted the hem of my dress and pressed it over my tongue before scrubbing the blood droplets off my skin. When I was satisfied, I thought over the phrase again. Top left. I planted my ass on the edge of the desk and it hit me.

Top left…drawer?

I scrambled for the top left drawer of the desk and squealed in excitement when I found a folded piece of notebook paper. I didn’t know where the smile that spread across my face came from. The switch from my panicked mood only a few minutes ago was unsettling. Maybe I was just hyped up about the thought of getting closer to the end…whatever the end meant.

Or maybe I was just as fucking deranged as the demon holding me captive here.

I didn’t know if this stupid escape room had a time limit, but I needed to take it in for a moment. I clutched the note to my chest and settled on the floor against the wall.

What would really happen when I reached the end? If I reached the end. My leg started to bounce on its own. I sucked my lip into my mouth and tasted blood as I chewed the soft skin.

I killed my fucking husband. Ariana could very well be dead in the next room over, whether I won the game or not. Even if I did make it out of this high school and the masked demon Kel miraculously let me go…what would I go back to? How would I explain it? Was I just escaping one prison for another? For all I knew, I could walk out of this building only to be met with flashing lights and a sure prison sentence waiting for me.

My skull thunked against the wall and I let my tears fall down my cheeks and neck. Part of me wished I had never accepted the stupid invitation, but the other part wondered if I would have ever known about what Jared did or if I would have continued to live with a murderer my entire life. I guess I would either way, considering I was now a murderer.

I sighed, dropping my head down and finally unfolding the note.

Janitor’s closet. 4th period.

It was just like the letters Kel and I used to pass to each other in algebra or as we passed each other in the halls, but there was something different about the one I held. I didn’t know why she would keep it so long, but something about it warmed my aching heart.

Assuming that ‘4th period’ meant ‘now’, I pushed to my feet. I didn’t know what was waiting for me when the night ended, but there was another mystery unfolding that I was determined to solve.