Bella's horrified screams fill the small room.

Luke grunts and curses as he pulls his hand away from the wall. A six-inch metal spike remains there, covered in his dripping blood. Luke keels over, holding his bloody hand, as Bella puts her arm over him.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Bella repeats over and over.

"It's okay," Luke gasps, gritting his teeth. "It's okay, babe."

I wish I can do something to help, but can only look on as Bella tries to comfort Luke. Will has tried to make his way closer to his gym-buddy but he's on the other side of the room and there's little space to move around each other.

Bella grabs a handful of the hem of her top and yanks it until she manages to tear off a long piece. She takes Luke's hand, which is pooling with blood, and wraps the fabric around his hand. He winces and gasps while she sobs, but they manage to wrap his hand up.

I stare at the bloody spike in the wall. The reality of our situation hits me like a slap in the face. This definitely is not just a game. I brought us here and put us all in danger. This is all my fault.

"Hey, hey," Will says urgently beside me. He's bent down with a hand under a shelf. "There's a switch here." Before we can say anything, he's flicked the switch. Something unlocks from inside the door.

"Let's get out of here," Luke says with a grimace. Blood has already soaked through the fabric around his hand.

We hesitate as we shift closer to the door. Bella and I are nearest to the door, besides Luke. I can see there is no way she will reach for the handle to open the door. I don't want to, either, but I will myself to be strong. I got us into this mess and it was up to me to get us out of here.

My hand is shaking as I wrap my fingers around the handle. Part of me is waiting for something to shoot out at me or explode at any moment. Taking a deep breath, I pull the handle down, push the door open, and stride into the new room as though I have no fear in the world.

I catch sight of a long, dark room that looks like a kitchen area before I turn back to the door and hold it open for the others. Bella and Luke rush through, both hunched over and stumbling. Chia and Will follow and look around the room with me. Will flicks a light switch by the door, turning on overhead fluorescent lights.

Pots and long ladles are hanging over a marble counter in the centre of the narrow room, with workstations and deep sinks along the walls. The area is filthy; floor tiles cracked and moldy. Everything is rotten. Dark shapes of rats scuttle around the work surfaces, knocking over empty jars as they hide for cover.

"Oh, rats," Chia says. It's probably meant as a pun, but there is no humour in her voice.

"Great," Bella groans, throwing an arm out towards a door at the far end of the room. "Another door to get through. Just... great." Her eyes bulge, and for a moment I think she's going to be sick, but then she puffs out a heavy breath and wheezes. "God, this place stinks."

"I'll look around for whatever I can find," Will says. Chia joins him.

I find myself wondering about the room we'd just left. There hadn't been any puzzles to solve. All we had to do was find a switch to open the door? That didn't sound right. But then, nothing about this place was right. I have to remind myself that we aren't in an actual escape room. Whatever this is, it's something's sick, twisted idea of a game. I can't even begin to imagine why someone would do this to us.

I can still picture all of my possessions back there. The thought of someone having been in my house and taking my stuff twists my stomach. I can't help but feel like someone is targeting me, in particular. I try not to get lost in my chaotic thoughts and force myself to focus on the room at hand.

Luke has dropped to his knees, hugging himself. I can see the sweat dripping off his face.

Bella is patting him on his back. "Oh, baby. Baby. I'm here. Oh, god. I'm here, baby. It's okay. It's okay."

She sounds delirious, but I take her comforting as a good sign that she still cares about Luke. Her earlier anger at him seems to have been replaced with tenderness and concern, which makes me feel a little better.

I step around the central aisle, looking over the area. There are large fridges which I don't want to open, and shelves that have mostly been cleared, with only a few old cans and cartons left. My stomach grumbles, reminding me of the table we had booked for lunch after this. According to my watch, we've only been down here for twenty-five minutes, based on the time slot we had originally scheduled. It feels like we've been trapped down here for an entire afternoon.

"Chia," I say as a thought comes to me. "Can I ask... why was your name China Girl? In your messages with Luke?"

From the other side of the central aisle, she turns to me and frowns, looking as though she might cry. She even looks a little terrified, which gets my heart racing.

"It's what we called each other," she says in a dull voice. "Black Beauty and China Girl."

"I know, but you're Japanese. Not Chinese."

Her face twists into a pained grimace. I can see that it's hard for her to speak.

"My family are from Japan." Her eyes glance over at Luke and Bella. "But I was born in China, and raised there until I was two. Then my family moved to London. My parents are Japanese, and my brother and sister were born in Japan. But I was technically born in China."

"I never knew that," I say, looking at her as if for the first time.

Chia shrugs. "I've never really told anyone. I just say I'm Japanese to keep things simple. I didn't think it was a big deal that I was born in China."

"That map," Bella says, looking up from where she's crouched over Luke. "The one in the first room. It had a connection between Jamaica and China."

Chia slowly nods. She still looks like she's about to burst into tears, her face ready to break at any moment. I've never seen her so distraught before. She's usually the funny, happy one.

"I didn't want to say anything, but it did seriously worry me. I guessed it was meant to connect me and Luke together. I was just glad that everyone thinks of me as Japanese."

"Wait," I say. "But then who knows you were born in China?"

"Just Luke," she says, shrugging. "I just told him. I don't think anyone else at school knows."

I can't help but stare at Luke, hunched over and clutching his bloodied hand. His face is lined with pain and distress. He was the only one that knew Chia was originally from China. No one else could have made that connection on the map. No one but Chia.

My head throbs with a pounding headache. I try not to think about Luke or Chia being involved in any of this. It just wasn't possible. Why would either of them, or both of them, bring us down here and expose their affair? Luke got a spike through his hand. There's no way they could be responsible for any of this. I'm definitely going crazy down here.

There must be a better explanation for everything.

"Hey guys." It's Will.

I turn to see him by a mirror on the wall. "I've got something," he says, pointing at a label above the mirror. It's a simple white masking tape with a message written in black marker. Will reads it out as I make my way to him. "Time to face your truth. Stare at yourself closely in the mirror until a ghost speaks to you."

The words send a shiver through me. Everything sounds menacing, now. Once again, I think about May and what we did to her.

"That doesn't sound good," Bella says.

Chia steps up to the mirror. "Well, I don't believe in ghosts. And all my truths have been exposed, so I've got nothing to worry about."

"Careful," I tell her. "We don't know what's going to happen."

Chia meets my eyes with a stern, determined look. She nods sharply. "I know. I've got this one." She steps up to the mirror and leans closer to it.

I think she's crazy, but I can see that she's keen to look into the mirror. She wants to take on this potential danger for us. As she leans her face very close to the mirror, I can't help but imagine something bursting out and plunging into her head. Glass and blood splattering everywhere.

A tense moment fills the silence as she stares at herself. Every muscle in my body is tense. I'm ready to jump towards her if anything goes wrong.

Nothing happens.

Chia sighs and turns away from the mirror. "I don't see anything."

"Wait, look," Bella says, pointing.

Chia turns back to the mirror. At first, I don't see anything, but then realise that Chia's sigh against the mirror had fogged it up a little. Within the cloud of fog, some lines can be seen. Like they've been smeared by a finger.

"Oh, I see it," Chia says. She breathes over the mirror, moving her head to cover a large section of it.

She stands back and looks at what she's revealed. Three letters show within the fog. I, N, K.

"Okay," Chia says. "So ink is my truth, I guess."

I tell her, "There's probably an inkpot in here somewhere that has another clue on it."

Chia, Will, and I search the area. Bella remains by Luke's side. He looks weary but seems to be holding on strong. I hope that Bella is feeling better, noticing that she hasn't complained so much about feeling sick lately.

I pass by deep freezers, not wanting to look inside them. My mind races with images of frozen dead bodies. When I come to the door at the end of the room, I see the handle looks odd. Some kind of scanner has been placed on the thick handle, with a pad to place a finger. It reminds me of something from a spy film. "Hey, there's something here. I think... I think it's a fingerprint scanner. On the door handle."

Luke is standing now, keeping his bad hand under an armpit. "Okay, so we find the right fingerprint."

I say, "I think we need to look for an inkpot, and then press our fingers into the ink and imprint it on something else. Like how the police take fingerprints."

Chia nods. "So we need to find the right fingerprint to use."

"No."

We all turn to Bella. She's standing by the corner with both hands on her stomach, looking disturbed and uncomfortable. Her jacket and top are splattered with Luke's dried blood.

"What is it?" Luke asks.

Bella frowns with a big pout. "You need my fingerprint for the door." She points her chin to the mirror. "I had a feeling that I, N, K meant me, but I didn't want to say anything. But, when I saw the fingerprint scanner, I was sure. I am sure. Now.

"Babe, what are you talking about?"

She narrows her eyes at him. "Lucas. I, N, K. That's my initials. Isabelle Neptuna Khau."

Despite the tension in the air, Chia lets out a grunt of a laugh. "Your middle name is Neptuna?"

"Shut it, you," Bella says, but there is a hint of a smirk on her face. She laughs and shakes her head. "Anyway, I'm coming."

She makes her way to the door at the end of the room.

"You sure about this, babe?" Luke asks, following her along with the rest of us.

"Nope," she says. "But I think this is the only way. We have to play the fucking game, right?"

"What if you're wrong?" Luke says. "What if the wrong fingerprint does something very bad?"

Bella shakes her head as she comes to the door. "We'll find out." She seems exhausted and numb, her voice hollow. She reaches for the handle, positioning her thumb over the plate. Then she pauses and takes her hand away. "Oh god, I can't. I can't."

I take a step closer to her. "It's okay, Bella. You can do this. You just have to open the door. Then we can work out a way to get out of here. We just need to keep moving forward."

She frowns, uncertain. Her hand hovers in the air.

"Bella," Will says. "I know you can do this. I believe in you."

She still looks hesitant, but nods. Taking a deep breath, she steps forward and grips the handle, pressing her thumb against the scanner pad. She lets out an uncomfortable, frightened groan and holds the note as she turns the handle.

The door clicks and opens. My shoulders sag as I breathe a sigh of relief, feeling the tension leave the air. I smile at Bella and she smiles back.

Her face suddenly drops. I wonder what's wrong as fear grips my chest.

Bella keels over and spews out a fountain of vomit. Her face is horribly pale when she looks up at us with pleading, fear-stricken eyes. 

2313 words (12025 total words)

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Thank you for reading!

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