"Luke, what the fuck?" Bella glares at him, breathing heavily.

"Babe, listen. It's nothing. I-"

"This is not nothing, Lucas!" She runs her hands through her hair and steps away from him, pacing as she tries to take everything in.

I had no idea that Luke and Chia were having an affair. I'm even more surprised that Chia was able to hide it from us. Usually she was the first to share news. I'd always considered her the most open person I knew.

Chia is shifting through the papers of text messages, shaking her head. She looks up with wide, trembling eyes and says, "Bella, I'm-"

A pointing finger stops her. "You just stop. I can't believe this."

Luke raises his hands to calm Bella. "Okay. Okay, babe. We messed around a little. But, I promise you, it's over now. We both regretted it, and it didn't mean anything."

"It was over as soon as it started," Chia adds.

Bella has her hands on her head as she paces. She looks like she's going to be sick.

I want to say something to comfort her, but I know there's nothing I can say to help.

She finally turns to them. "How long was it going on for?"

Luke swallows. "A month."

"It's over now," Chia says quickly. "We ended it weeks ago. I promise."

Bella lets out a strained laugh. "Oh, you think your promises mean shit to me? How could you do this, Chia? I thought we were friends." She charges to the nearest wall and pounds her hands on it. "Ugh, I just want to get out. I can't even look at you both."

I go closer to her. "Bella. We all want to get out. I'm so sorry to bring us all here, but I think we just have to solve the puzzles to get out."

Bella wheels on me. "It's your fault we're in this mess." She starts gasping for air as though she's having a panic attack.

Will steps toward her and places a hand on her shoulder, which she violently shrugs off. "Hey, hey," he says soothingly. "I know this is shitty. Just breathe. Breathe."

Bella shakes her head but she does take deep breaths. I find myself marvelling at Will's quiet confidence and how soothing he can be. It's like watching someone calm a wild stallion. I'm glad there's someone here that can keep their head.

Eventually, Bella's shoulders sag with a big outbreath. "I just want to get out of here." Luke reaches a hand out to her but she slaps it away. "Don't you touch me. I mean it. Look, okay, we have to solve these fucking puzzles to get out. Okay. Just get on with it. I'm so done with this place."

Chia is by the briefcase on the desk. "Hey, guys," she says, reaching into the case. She pulls out a small box, long and thin, that looks like a jewellery case of some kind. This is also chained to the inside of the case, like how the case is attached to the lockbox. "There's a four-digit lock on it. But they're colours instead of numbers." Her voice is timid and hesitant. She's still shaken from her uncovered affair, but I see that she's doing the only thing we can do: keep playing the game.

"I've got it," Luke says without triumph. "There was a painting in the first room with coloured splashes on it."

"I remember that," Chia says.

"Great," Bella says through her teeth. "You two make a great team together."

They ignore the comment and Luke goes out of the office into the tunnel. He calls back to us, "I'll say what I see."

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.

"What is all this?" someone says. Maybe Luke.

My eyes lock onto a perfume jar. Shampoo. Toothpaste. Face wipes.

"This..." I start to say, needing to work moisture into my mouth. "These are all my things."

A yellow box with old lifestyle magazines is in a corner. A spice rack - my fucking spice rack! - is on a shelf.

"Huh?"

My pulse pounds in my temple. Even my TV remote is there. I can't comprehend what is going on. The room feels like it's tilting.

"Holy shit," Bella says with awe. She must have recognised a few of my possessions.

"These are your things?" Luke says, inspecting a Hello Kitty keychain I got from a trip to Brighton.

Bella tenses beside me. I follow her eyes and my heart stops. My hand reaches out, as though it's moving through thick jelly, and reaches for a stuffed animal. For a second, I don't believe it's there. My hand will wrap around the empty air. But reality comes crashing down on me as I pick up the black and white stuffed cow.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Bella starts muttering. She sounds like she's going insane.

I feel my face break into a twisted grimace as I stare at the furry animal. Nothing feels real.

"What is it?" Chia asks.

It takes me a long time to answer, with Bella still muttering quietly. I say, "This was given to me as a present. From May Van DeSeer."

"You mean, May who..." Chia says, but she can't finish her thought. She doesn't have to.

"Yeah," I mumble.

"What's it doing here?" Luke asks.

I don't have an answer for him.

Will asks, "Who's May?"

It feels like a loaded question. I can't look at anyone as I think.

"A girl from school," Bella says.

I finally turn to them in the confined room. They all feel way too close. Like I can't get away from them. I swallow and say, "She was bullied at our school. And she... she killed herself."

"You were friends?" Will asks. His voice is devoid of any emotion or judgement.

"Kind of," I say, and then admit, "no. We weren't. We were okay. Until she started getting bullied. Then everything changed."

"What happened?" Will asks.

I can't believe this is happening. I look away, unable to meet his eyes, as I tell him how May was teased and taunted for secretly being a lesbian. How the taunts turned into vile comments and horrible actions. Everything went so bad, but it was impossible to change the tide of school rumours. Chia and Luke knew the story of May, but no one knew it quite as well as me and Bella.

I hold the cow teddy up to them. "May gave me this, as a way of... as an insult to Bella."

Bella looks pale. "She used to call me Bella Cow. Because of my surname, Khau. And because she kept saying how much weight I'm putting on."

Chia carefully says, "You guys always hated each other." It was a simple, matter-of-fact statement.

Bella nods solemnly, looking away.

"Why is it here?" Will asks. "What's all your stuff doing here?"

I wish I knew what to tell him. I shake my head and say, "Someone went through my house." The thought sends a chill through me, shaking me to my core. I can't believe any of this is happening. "I..." it's hard to speak. "I spread some of the rumours about May." My eyes fill with tears.

"So did I," Bella says, her voice hollow and unrecognisable. "We both did."

"We didn't know what would happen," I say. My own voice sounds alien. "No one did."

"It was everyone's fault," Bella says. "And no one's fault. Everyone spread the rumours. They all had a good laugh about it."

We had a good laugh about it.

I shake my head, feeling numb. I can't help but feel bitter remorse as I look up at Bella. Her tanned skin is flushed, a thin sheen of sweat on her face. Her full lips are pressed into a pout.

"What was this... a year ago?" Chia asks.

"Nine months," I tell her.

Bella clutches her stomach and groans. "Oh..."

Luke puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

She tries to shake his hand away but she looks too weak and disoriented. "Oh..." she says again, grimacing. "I don't feel so good."

"Let's get out of here," Luke says. "Get some room to breathe." He shuffles past me to the door on the side. It's a simple grey door like the others have been.

I go to Bella and put my arm around her, hoping to comfort her. She feels hot, and looks like she has indigestion or something.

Luke tries the door handle and finds it locked. He then pauses and leans closer to the door. "What's this?"

I see a small, black dot on the wall. Luke puts his eye right up to it.

"Is this a spy hole?" He says, voice muffled by the wall.

"A camera?" Chia offers.

Luke leans back and huffs. "I think so."

Bella says, "We're being watched?" She still has a hand on her stomach.

Luke looks around the room, growing agitated. He sighs harshly and grabs the door handle. "I've had enough of this place." He pulls on the door handle, trying to break it off.

I tell him, "Luke, don't."

His frustration gives him strength as he presses a hand on the wall to help him pull against the door handle.

"Fuck these games," he grunts between yanks. The door shakes but stays firm.

"Luke, leave it," Bella says weakly.

He continues to pull and then slams his shoulder into the door. The sudden jolt causes me to jump. He presses his hand firmly onto the wall beside the door as he keeps pulling with everything he has.

Something sharp suddenly plunges out the back of his hand, spraying a fountain of blood. He cries out, frozen in the moment.

I look on in horror at the sight of the bloody spike sticking out of his hand.

Bella screams. The others call out and shout. I remain immobile with panic, feeling the dots of his blood that splattered on my neck. 

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Thank you for reading!

So, that escalated! What did you think of the spike through the hand?

Now they know this is definitely not just a game - any ideas what could happen next, where this is going?