We arrange ourselves on the floor panels in the order of our names from the clue. Luke stands closest to the door, with Bella behind him, followed by me, Will, and Chia. I still can't understand how the escape room company knew all our names, or why they would use them in the game. A very disturbing feeling has begun to build up in my stomach but I don't want to voice my fears and worry everyone even more than they have been.

A green light comes on beside the door and mechanisms shift inside it. The door opens slightly, inviting us to go through.

"Okay, next room," Luke says. The hesitation and fear in his voice is clear. It feels like we're about to walk into a room with a chainsaw-wielding maniac ready to chase us. Only for real, this time. I get images from horror films flashing through my mind.

Luke pushes the door open. We follow him into a narrow corridor with pipes running along the ceiling. It looks like a kind of underground tunnel, dark and grimy. The air is thick and hot, mixed with something possibly rotting nearby.

"Where are we?" asks Luke as he leads us down.

Thin strips of lights are in the top corners of the tunnel, but otherwise, it's pretty dark and the way ahead is hidden in an eerie gloom. Our steps thud dully on the filthy ground, sounding loud in the quiet tunnel.

Something squeaks and scuttles by Bella's foot. "Oh my god, a rat!" She shrieks and bumps into us. The little blurry thing darts into a crack in the tunnel. Luke puts a comforting arm around Bella. His tall build always made it look like he was enveloping Bella's curvy frame when he held her.   

"There's no timer," Chia mumbles under her breath.

"What's that?" I ask.

Chia's long, dark hair is framing her face, hiding most of her features in shadows, but I can see she looks concerned. "There's no countdown timer to tell us how long we have left. Usually, it's an hour time limit. But I haven't seen one yet. Have you guys?"

We all tell her we haven't.

"So that means..." Bella says, gulping. "That there isn't a limit? We could be trapped down here?"

Luke shakes his head. "We don't know anything yet. Let's just be cool until we have a real reason to worry." His voice sounds strained and I can tell he's trying to sound confident and authoritative, but he's probably just as concerned as the rest of us.

"Andi, where did you find this escape room?" Chia asks.

We come to a simple grey door on our left. Luke tries the handle but finds it locked.

"I saw it online," I tell her. "It had loads of good reviews. I swear, it all sounded good and legit. They've been around for years. Here, I'll show you the email."

I bring out my phone and notice I have no reception. "There's no signal down here." I can't open the confirmation email without it. This must be the right place, though. The business card of the company was in the first room. We went to the address I was given. I can't understand where I went wrong. If we have, indeed, gone to the wrong place.

The others check their phones and confirm that they don't have a signal, either. Bella starts to stress out and make whimpering noises. I put a hand on her shoulder and give her a look that says everything is going to be alright. At least, I hope that's what it looks like.

Several steps ahead on our right is another door. Luke tries the handle and sees that it's not locked. He pauses and gives us all a firm nod, his eyes telling us to be on our guard, then opens the door.

We go into what looks like an office. A long desk is against one wall of the square room, beside a tall filing cabinet and a wooden shelf unit. The floor is carpeted and makes the place feel the warmest and most comforting so far. But I take little comfort from our situation.

"Look for a landline phone," Luke says as we all spread out and look over the room.

"Who would have an office down here?" Chia asks.

Will shrugs beside me. "The owner of the antique shop, maybe?"

That building sense of dread keeps eating away at me. I can't help but feel really bad for putting us in this crazy situation. I keep telling myself that everything is fine and we're all just overreacting. After all, we didn't really have a reason to worry, yet. I hold on to that thought.

As Chia looks over a series of small pipes along the ceiling, she turns to us and says, "Oh, we could bang on the pipes and someone will hear the echo. Right? We keep banging on them and someone will hear?"

"What are you talking about?" Bella says. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Chia's face drops. She stays silent.

"Hey, it's not that stupid," Luke says. "Relax, babe."

"Don't tell me to relax." Bella scowls at him. "Of course it's stupid. Who's going to hear us banging on pipes? We're trapped down in the middle of nowhere."

"Just, go easy," he says. "We don't need to start snapping at each other."

"Why are you defending her?"

"Hey," I say firmly. "Come on, guys, we need to work together. We're all just trying to figure things out. We can't start fighting each other. Remember: teamwork."

Bella sighs and nods. She mumbles an apology without looking at anyone. Chia still looks a little shaken but she goes back to searching the room.

"Here's a lockbox," Will says.

Under the desk is a metal box around two-feet high, like a small safe. A thick padlock is keeping it closed.

"Looks like we need to find a key for the lock," Will says.

"On it," says Luke.

There are newspapers scattered on the desk. I pick some up and scan through them. They're all several months old, and range from red-top gossip rags to high-brow independent papers. My guess is that there might be a relevant article highlighted or some kind of clue within the pages.

My heart stops when I come across one article. I feel the sweat dripping down my back as my mind tries to reorientate itself, having just jumped out of my body and back. This can't be happening.

I read through an article about the death of May Van DeSeer. May went to our school. She'd been bullied for months before she took a razor blade to her wrists. Just thinking about those days makes me feel sick. My heart feels like it's going to explode.

The rumours were that May was secretly a lesbian. There were so many stories going around about her. It was taken as just a bit of fun by pretty much everyone, even though I thought the taunts felt pretty excessive at times. No one knew how much it had been affecting her until we heard she'd killed herself.

I consider showing the article to Bella but then think strongly against it. It was well known that Bella and May hated each other. I try and figure out why this newspaper is in the room. Is it just a coincidence? They're all dated around nine months ago, close to the day of her death.

I've thought about May almost every day since then, wishing I could have done things differently. Everyone kept saying that we just had to move on, keeping her memory in our hearts. Stuff like that. None of it helped.

It takes me a moment to realise that people are talking.

"This is ridiculous," Bella is saying. "What the hell are we doing here looking for clues? Let's just find a way out of here."

Luke turns around to her. "I think this is the way out, babe. We gotta find clues to get us out of here."

"Screw the clues. I just want to get out. I'm not playing anymore." She folds her arms over her considerable breasts.

Luke raises his hands to calm her but is cut off by Will. He's over by the tall shelf unit.

"I got something guys." Will raises an open book he's holding. A square hole has been cut into its pages. He pulls out a key. "For the lock, you think?"

"Go for it," I tell him.

Will bends down under the desk and fits the key into the padlock. It snaps open with a click. He pulls the door open and then pauses.

"What is it?" Bella asks. She has both arms wrapped around Luke's side, as if protecting herself from what might come out.

Will pulls out a black briefcase and places it carefully on the desk. The case is attached to a chain that's coming from inside the lockbox, so we can't take it far.

There's a four-digit wheel lock on the case. Luke reads out the label above the lock. "No more days follow this one."

"What's that mean?" Bella asks.

Chia visibly shudders. "I hope it doesn't mean today."

Luke shakes his head. "Nah, it's just a riddle."

Will glances around the room. "I guess the answer must be here, somewhere."

"Maybe there's a calendar somewhere?" Bella suggests as they all fan out and search the room. The slight progress seems to have spurred everyone on.

I stay where I am, lost in my thoughts. A cold shiver has held me in place. I don't want to admit that I know the answer to the riddle. I don't want my suspicion to be true. I try and say something to the others but my mouth is glued to the roof of my mouth.

It can't be what I'm thinking.

I step closer to the briefcase, feeling like I'm walking the plank and at any moment I could fall into an abyss. I can already feel myself getting lost in the darkness.

I spin the wheel lock to the numbers zero, nine, one, zero. The ninth of October. The day May killed herself. No more days follow this one.

The catches snap open. My shoulders are heaving with my panting, shallow breaths. Somehow I find my voice. "Guys. I got it."

They gather around me.

"Whoa," Luke says. "How'd you figure it out?"

I shrug and shake my head. "I was just messing around. I guess I got lucky."

He frowns at me. I don't think anyone believes me, but they can't deny that the case it now open, and that draws their focus.

"Nice one, hun," Bella says. "Now, let's keep going and get the hell out of here."

I can feel them all around me as I set the briefcase on the desk and open it. A yellow folder is inside. Taking the lead, I open it and expose the documents inside. There are several sheets of text message print-outs. On a quick look, it seems to be an exchange of two lovers, flirting and making plans to see each other. The names are Black Beauty and China Girl.

"Let me take a look," Luke says. Before I can react, he's snatched the top two papers from my hand.

Several photos come loose and fall onto the desk. They fan out and allow us to see them all.

Heavy silence comes over us. We all stare at the photographs of Luke and Chia. Having lunch together. Sitting on a bench. Laughing. Hugging. Kissing. Luke with a hand riding up Chia's top.

A shiver runs through me as we all hesitantly turn towards Luke and Chia.

Bella's shrill voice cuts through the air. "What the fuck is this?!"

1976 words (6853 total words)

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Thank you for reading!

What do you think about Luke and Chia's exposed affair? 

Any theories about what's going on yet?