ESCAPE ROOM

 

Pitch-black darkness surrounded me as I plummeted deeper and deeper into the ground. 

“JONAH!” I screamed, reaching my hands out into the darkness, but not too far in case my hands would hit the wall. 

“I-I’m right here!” Jonah screamed somewhere nearby me. 

Relief filled me for only a moment before the overwhelming terror set in again.

 “Look, light!” Jonah shouted, his voice getting carried away due to how fast we were falling. 

Looking down, I saw that he was right; the hole we were falling through looked like it was finally ending. 

As we plummeted closer, I realized that it opened into a room. And by the rate of how fast we were falling, we were going to fall, splat onto the floor.

“Oh god-no, no, no!” I cried, arms and flapping around. “Jonah-“ I could hear his breath quickening and felt his hand grip tightly around my arm. 

Closer and closer we fell, the white-light of the room brightening, the hole widening, the floor growing. I shut my eyes, expecting to get squashed flat... but instead, I felt my body halt in midair, and a loud humming hit my ears.

 Confused, I opened my eyes to see that Jonah and I had stopped a foot above the floor, hovering in midair. 

Turning to the left wall, I spotted some sort of device attached to the wall that seemed to be emitting a vibrating radiance that had frozen our bodies. The vibrating radiance suddenly stopped and the humming sound cut off. Jonah and I cried out in alarm as our bodies dropped to the floor, me, landing painfully on my face. 

Groaning, I brought myself up to my hands and knees, shaking out of adrenaline and fear. 

Beside me, I heard Jonah make a horrible retching sound and vomit splattering on the ground. holding my stomach, I willed myself not to throw up as well. Blinking dizzily, I stood up to my feet and observed my surroundings. 

We were standing in a square stone room that was lit with white lights circled around the hole Jonah and I fell out of. 

I stared up in the hole, wondering how far we had fallen... the thought made me nauseous and I had to look away to make my head stop spinning. 

I turned to Jonah, who was observing the room with wide eyes and a pale face. My stomach turned as I stared at his blood-soaked clothes. 

Catching my eye, he approached me, strings of his curly dark hair falling over his eyes. “Where did they put us now?” 

I sniffed, crossing my arms around my middle. “I don’t know.” 

Jonah groaned, turning around in a full circle, staring up at the roof. Suddenly, he started to scream, causing me to jump and squeeze myself tighter.

 “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?! ALMOST OUR WHOLE GROUP IS DEAD FROM THE LAST FIVE ROUNDS!” His face was twisted into fury, eyes glistening with tears. “AND NOW THIS IS THE LAST ROUND, ISN’T IT?! SEEING IF ME OR KARLA IS THE SMARTEST, HUH?!”

 I turned my back to Jonah, bending over with sobs. Not just because Jonah’s screaming scared me, but because what he was saying was true. 

Whoever had trapped us inside these cruel mind-games had already gruesomely killed  five of our friends in the last two hours. 

The last round, replayed in my mind: Jonah, me, and Tracy, had been surrounded by hungry lions that were chained up to the metal walls while we had to find five missing numbers to a code.

 We had been back to back, clock ticking, as we desperately scanned for any clues in the room.

 I remember the vicious lions how they gnashed their teeth at us whenever we got too close, drool splattering onto our faces and the floor. 

I remember pointing up at the roof to a number I hadn’t seen before and yelling “EIGHT! IT’S EIGHT! THE LAST NUMBER!” 

I remember accidentally bumping Tracy by my sudden movement. 

I remember her screaming as she stumbled backwards towards a hungry lion. 

I remember screaming. 

Reaching for her. 

Staring into those terrified green eyes. 

That paper-white face. 

The blood. The dark red blood. 

The approving beeping sound that meant we finished the round and the floor opening under Jonah and I as we plummeted into the next level—this level. 

“Karla!” 

Sobbing uncontrollably, I cried in alarm as I felt someone grab my arm.

 “It’s okay, it’s just  me—“ Jonah grabbed my other arm, staring intently into my eyes, as he knelt beside me. 

Hiccuping, I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest, realizing that I had collapsed onto the ground. He pulled me close, picking me up in his lap and shushing me, like a big brother would.

 “Oh-oh Jonah,” I sniffed, not sobbing anymore, but tears still running down my cheeks. “Tracy-she-she-“ 

I leaned into Jonah as I felt him stroking my hair.  “It’s not your fault, Karla. It’s not, okay?”

 I hesitated, wanting to shake my head but instead I nodded and a small part of me believed it.

 I wiped my eyes as he continued to stroke my hair, rocking me back and forth. 

A moment of encouragement in the void of doom. 

After I had calmed down, Jonah lifted me off him and grabbed my shoulders, looking sternly into my eyes. “But right now, we have to finish this level. Remember, they’ll let us out of here if we just finish their game.” 

I began to shake my head. “Jonah... only one can make it out... they said so themselves.”

 “We’ll find a way out, okay?” his grip tightened. It wasn’t a question. It was a promise. I searched his eyes for doubt, for the hopelessness I felt.

 If he had any, he hid it well; I only saw determination and courage. 

I nodded. Jonah let go of me, sighing. “Good.” 

He stood up and offered me his hand. After a moment of hesitation, I took it and he lifted me to my feet. 

At that moment, a booming voice filled the room. “Well, well! Wasn’t that heartwarming! I hope you guys are ready for the last round.” 

My heart pounded against my chest, muscles tensing, waiting. There was a sudden whirring sound to our left and when I turned, a small metal plate appeared on the wall. 

“You’ll have thirty seconds to unscramble this five letter word.”

 My stomach turned over. Thirty seconds. I can’t. I can’t do it. Jonah grabbed my hand and practically dragged me behind him as he darted to the rectangular plate on the wall.

 “The roof above will begin to collapse until you solve this puzzle.” 

Jonah and I stared at each other in terror then slowly looked up at the roof. The roof was made of dirt, loose dirt that had already had small rocks and dust crumbling from it.

 “Once you think youve got the answer, make sure to shout it out. Now, good luck.” 

There was a clicking sound, like someone had turned off a a mic. My heart raced as I looked up at the crumbling roof above me. 

Turning to Jonah, I panicked. “I don’t think we can do this!” 

“Shut up and help me with this!” He shouted back, squinting at the metal plate on the wall. Groaning, i looked about the room; at the hole with the lights, the opposite stone wall, the crumbling roof. Seeing no other way out, I returned to my friend’s side. “Fine.” 

The plate on the wall, i noticed, was made out of copper. Engraved in the metal was five letters: NRNEWI 

“N, R, N, E, W, I?” I cried. “What could that even be?!” 

Jonah shushed me and continued his intense muttering as he squinted at the wall. 

I groaned, glancing nervously at the roof. I was never good at unscrambling words. But I had to get good if I wanted to escape.

 Pacing, I began to repeat the five letters to myself. N, R, N, E, W, I. What could it be? Maybe Rennwi? 

“No, that’s not a word.” I scorned myself then shrieked in alarm as a large rock fell from the roof and crashed right beside me. 

I stumbled backwards until my back hit the wall. Shaking, I stared up at the roof, realizing that the roof was now crumbling into bigger rocks.

 “Are you okay?” Jonah shouted at me. 

Taking a deep breath, I nodded and approached him. “I think we’re running out of time! Have you figured out what it could be yet?” 

First, his face twisted into fear, then worry, and finally anger. 

“No!” He bellowed, kicking the wall furiously. 

I jumped, watching as he kicked the wall again and again and again... the feeling of hopelessness began to overwhelm me and my heart dropped into a dark void. 

I put my hands to my ears, as the rumbling and rocks crashing to the floor got louder. 

Everything felt hopeless. All my friends had died for nothing. Hopeless. There wasn’t going to be a winner. No winner to these cruel mind games.

 My eyes caught on the metal plate on the wall.

 Slowly, I dropped my hands from my ears as I realized... 

“Jonah!” I swiveled around to find Jonah sitting against the wall, face relieved of all courage and determination that had been there before. 

But that didn’t stop me. I ran up to him. “I figured it out!” 

He watched the crumbling roof for a little while longer than turned to face me. “Figured out what?” 

I beamed, hope beginning rise within me. “The scrambled words! It’s WINNER!”

 Jonah stood up in protest as I ran to the middle of the room, despite the crumbling roof. I stared up into the dark hole, opening my arms wide. “IT’S WINNER!” 

The rumbling in the room grew distant and the crumbling stopped.

 I half-laughed half-cried out of relieve and spun around to face Jonah. 

He smiled at me and laughed. “You... you did it.“ 

I beamed back. “I did it.” We both stood there, smiling. And maybe... maybe everything was going to be all right. 

There was a cracking sound and a sly voice filled the room. “We have a winner.” 

Wait. NO. 

Jonah must have realized it to because his face fell. I stepped forward, opening my mouth to shout his name. But I was too late. 

There was a dreadful rumbling sound above us and the roof above Jonah crumbled, crushing his body. 

Dropping to my knees, I stared at the spot he was just standing. 

“JONAH!” I wailed, bringing my hands up to my mouth. “NO!” 

I made to stand up and run to him but the lights that had traced the hole suddenly dropped down, followed by a glass container that trapped me.

 I slammed the palms of my hands against the glass, dread filling me. 

“No, no, no.” I pounded my fists against the glass, staring at the pile of rocks where Jonah lay. 

“LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” 

There was a whirring sound and the glass container that trapped me began to rise up into the dark hole, except this time, the white lights lit up the darkness. 

Sobbing, I slid to the ground, a hand still on the glass. 

“Jonah...” i muttered, tears running down my face. “I’m sorry.” 

Jonah was gone. Although I could wrap my mind around the other deaths, I couldn’t wrap my mind around his death. 

He was like a brother to me... ever since I was a toddler. 

Memories flashed through my mind; Always taking care of me by making me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches whenever he could. Always standing up for me at school, no matter what grade I was in. 

Supporting my dreams to go to college. I wrapped my arms around my middle, hanging my head. 

“I’m sorry, Jonah.” I sniffed, as the glass elevator whirred loudly as I rose towards the surface. 

Whoever created this game, whoever put us in here... they had their Winner.