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Magnus slammed open the door to his loft with a quick blast of bright blue sparks to reveal Catarina and Ragnor focusing intently on a game of cards.
“What now?” Ragnor grumbled, slamming his cards down on the coffee table.
“I have been enlightened with a most wonderful idea,” Magnus proclaimed dramatically. “An escape room!”
A brief pause ensued.
“Are you referring to where we are now? Because I would like nothing better than to escape this pigsty you call a loft,” Ragnor snarked.
“Aw come on, let's give it a go,” Magnus pleaded.
“At least explain it first,” Catarina smiled over the cup of tea she had been continuously sipping.
Magnus proceeded to then explain the concept of an escape room, accompanied with wild hand gestures and even some vivid imagery materialising through the help of blue sparks. Eventually, Ragnor looked convinced.
“I guess we could give it a try,” he reasoned. “I hear it’s very in nowadays”
“What would you know about stuff that's ‘in’?” Catarina said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, it’ll take us ages to find one.”
“First,” Magnus stated. “We have all summer. Second, we’re not finding one, we’re making one!”
“How so?”
“Simple, we can go to a mundane fair and hire a stall. Then we just establish the building with a teensy bit of magic. We could change the scenes every day and have hospitals, prison cells or a circus. The mundanes love being spooked and we can take off our glamours since we’ll match the themes. And boom! We have an escape room!”
“No glamours?” Catarina asked.
“Spooking mundanes?” Ragnor smirked.
Catarina and Ragnor turned to each other with looks of agreement. Magnus grinned, knowing he had won them over just as Catarina and Ragnor grinned back at him.
Ragnor stood up briskly, “Well we only have this summer, so what are we waiting for?”
The three of them raced out of the apartment, Catarina closing the door behind her with a quick flick of her wrist.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
“I can’t believe the rent price for one stall costs almost two-thirds of my rent! The rent for my apartment!” Catarina fumed.
“They might have overcharged us,” Magnus shrugged. “But you can’t haggle here with people, Catarina!”
“I haggle all the time.”
“Yes, but this is New York dear,” Ragnor pointed out.
“Anyways, we’ll probably get the money back in profit later,” Magnus added.
“I thought we were here for fun, not money.”
“Well,” Magnus smirked. “Sometimes the two go hand in hand.”
Catarina crossed her arms but continued to walk down to their designated stall location. An array of food stalls lined the road selling things from hot dogs to ice cream. The sweet cinnamon smell of freshly toasted churros wafted through the air, enticing market goers. Magnus breathed in the scent. Bright children's toys flashed from tables and long bohemian dresses swayed in the breeze, suspended from metal clothing racks. The main walkway led to the middle of the market, which was set out as a picnic area. Picnic blankets lay atop the fake grass, bean bags strewn across the floor. A couple sharing an ice cream sat on white deck chairs and a small group of children danced in front of a bubble blower machine.
“It’s a nice atmosphere huh? A lot different from say, the Shadow Market, but a different nice altogether.” Catarina said.
“Wouldn’t go as far as saying the Shadow Market is ‘nice’,” Ragnor mumbled.
They turned from the centre of the market, off down a smaller lane. Here a vendor was selling a range of jewelry some made of leather, metal and resin. Magnus stopped at an empty stretch of land between a stall selling hair ribbons and one selling an array of potted plants.
“We’re here!”
“This is a big area for a stall,” Ragnor put in.
“Well I’d like a big escape room anyways,” Catarina said.
“It’s an escape room, not an escape labyrinth.”
Magnus surveyed the area. “We should start by putting up some tarps to hide the room.”
With the help of Catarina and Ragnor, black tarps made of a thick waterproof fabric had been set up along the perimeter of their land. Steel poles held up the material, making it look like a small marquee. They gathered inside the tent, Ragnor holding a bright ball of flames illuminating the darkness.
“Okay, so escape rooms have to have themes. What shall we go with first?” Magnus asked.
“Castle,” Ragnor suggested.
“No,” Catarina said, shutting the idea down.
“Why not?”
“Because I think a space station would be a much better idea,” she smirked.
“Yes, yes!” Magnus snickered. “And you two can be weird aliens!”
Catarina gave him a look of mock offense before lapsing into laughter.
Ragnor summoned sheets of aluminium metal and held them aloft whilst Catarina welded them together with blue flames. Bright white lights blinked from above, where Magnus had installed them. They shone off the metal, creating the cold atmosphere of a space station. Catarina set window frames on the walls and swapped out the glass in them for images of moons and stars. Black carpet was rolled out along the floor. Magnus placed large prop touchscreens on top of irregularly curved tables. The black curtains of the tent opened as Ragnor stuck his head outside but no sunlight shined in.
“It’s evening,” Ragnor announced.
“We should be heading back,” Catarina nodded.
Before leaving, Magnus raised his hands and cast a few simple protective wards around the marquee.
“To protect against robbers and stuff.”
“I can’t believe we’ve just wasted a bunch of magic on creating a space station escape room,” Catarina said, half laughter half worry.
“Don’t worry! We’re on a break!” Ragnor consoled.
With that he looped his arm around Catarina’s shoulder and pulled Magnus roughly to his side and with that they headed off arm in arm.
As soon as the door to Magnus’ loft opened, the three warlocks collapsed on the couch in both laughter and exhaustion. They promptly fell asleep in a tangle of legs and limbs.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
Sunlight streamed in through the windowpane across Magnus’ eyes. He squinted and rolled from the couch out of Ragnor’s tight hold onto the floor. Catarina, sitting at the table, had to stifle her laughter to prevent waking him. Magnus staggered over and gratefully grabbed the cup of coffee Catarina was offering.
“Mmm,” he sighed. “You know, we should start to create the puzzles today.”
“Woah slow down, you’ve got to wake up first,” Catarina teased.
After Ragnor finally woke up, the three crowded around a large sheet of paper and created a series of elaborate puzzles. They quickly set off back to the fair to add the final touches to their escape room.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
The puzzles were added easily and the room was open by the afternoon. A group of teenagers lined up outside and Magnus opened his cat’s eyes wide at them.
“Welcome to your day of intergalactic adventure! Your team of weary travellers needs to escape the alien space station in order to get back home.” Magnus said with a flourish as he collected their money.
If the mundanes had thought anything odd about his eyes, they did not mention it. Evidently, they believed them to be a part of the act.
“Careful, you may even meet an alien or two,” he grinned, pulling aside the curtain to let them in.
Inside the room, Catarina and Ragnor stood unglamoured. The group marvelled at their ‘costumes’ and proceeded to struggle in solving the puzzles. After a few hints from the ‘aliens’ the group were on their way raving about the quality of the escape room, leaving behind a howling Ragnor and Catarina. Magnus popped his head in through the curtains, grinning as they laughed.
“So we’re definitely doing this all summer?” he asked.
“All summer!” Ragnor choked back.
Word about the spectacular escape room spread throughout town by the end of the week. People marvelled at the way the theme for the room changed each day and at the realistic costuming of the actors. Now each morning before they opened, a small line of people had formed out the front of the stall. Even other downworlders, namely, a few young werewolves and a faerie couple, had shown up. With every change of theme, the warlocks switched their roles.
“I will not be playing another talking tree,” Ragnor protested as they arrived home that night.
“Yeah, I don’t think that role suits you. Maybe a grasshopper or a stick insect next time,” Magnus teased.
He pulled out a bottle of expensive liquor they had bought using their profits. Catarina summoned a shot glass, filled it up and tipped the glass back.
“I particularly enjoyed watching Catarina play that tropical fish. Let’s dress her up as a giant blueberry to be that girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Ragnor added.
“Now why would we do that?” Catarina asked. “When we could make Magnus the Cheshire Cat.”
Ragnor scoffed, almost upsetting the bottle.
“I think we’re getting way off track here,” Magnus said. “This is an escape room, not a movie production!”
Catarina snatched the bottle from his hands and poured herself another glass. They laughed as they planned the next day's worth of themes. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon and the bright city lights flickered outside, drowning out the light of the stars. They talked into the night, only heading off to bed after Ragnor had fallen asleep during their argument on whether pineapple or watermelon was the better fruit. Magnus collapsed on his bed while Catarina staggered to the bathroom.
“Night!” she called.
“It’s morning actually!” Magnus shouted, before nodding off to sleep.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
“Have you heard about the downworlder business happening in that mundane fair in Brooklyn?” Alec asked, frowning, showing a letter from the Clave to Isabelle.
“I heard about it, but it didn’t seem to be doing harm,” she replied.
“Hm, Clave doesn’t seem to think so. Apparently, some warlocks have been reported revealing parts of the Shadow World to some mundanes. They want us to check it out.”
“I bet it's nothing, probably some sort of magic show or something.”
“Still we should check it out.”
“It wouldn't hurt,” Isabelle shrugged. “We’ll check it out after lunch though.”
Alec strapped on his weapons belt and put on a light gear jacket. Isabelle came wearing black skinny jeans along with a leather jacket which Alec suspected was lined with blades.
“No gear?” He pointed out.
“No, I don’t think we’ll be fighting.”
“Still though,” Alec said worriedly. “You still got more than a few daggers though, right?”
“Of course.”
With that Isabelle whipped out a long seraph blade concealed in a sheath strapped to her back.
“Glamours on?”
“We’ll be fine,” Isabelle insisted. “It’s the weekend, lighten up.”
“We’re Shadowhunters. There’s no ‘weekend.’”
Alec sighed but followed Isabelle out through the institute doors.
Outside, the streets of Brooklyn were flooded with people off work for the weekend. The weather would have been nice had they been at the beach or in the countryside. But in New York, all the sunlight did was heat up the trash inside alleyways and highlight odd stains on the pavement. Despite this Alec still enjoyed the way the sun lit up the glittering glass windows in the buildings above him. The thin street opened up into a larger, green area. A mundane fair filled up the area in front of them, stalls of varying bright colours, blinking in the midday light. Alec followed after Isabelle down the wide open paths.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
“Hurry up!” hissed Ragnor. “I’d like to put on a stunning performance.”
Today the escape room had transformed into a hospital room, plagued with the mysterious green-skin illness.
“All you need to do is lay down a bit and just make some pained noises,” Catarina explained.
She proceeded to make loud exaggerated groaning sounds which Ragnor attempted to copy. Magnus fell back laughing while the sheets he had spent so long getting on, tore off the mattress, in his hands.
“Why do we even need sheets?” Magnus choked, wiping tears from his eyes.
“I don’t know! Maybe because this is my sickroom and what I say, goes. I’m the nurse, Ragnor you’re the patient with the green-skin illness and Magnus you can be the devastated relative.” Catarina instructed.
“You can come and snivel here on my right,” Ragnor pointed.
Magnus rolled his eyes.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*
“Look!” Isabelle exclaimed.
Alec looked up to the top of a tall marquee lost in a sea of people, the majority mundanes but a few downworlders, dotted here and there. The sign above the large stall read ‘Extramundane Escape Extravaganza’ in large loopy writing.
“Interesting name,” Alec remarked.
He sighed at the throng of people surrounding the stall. Although the stall hadn’t opened yet, it had not stopped New Yorkers from lining up out the front of it. Alec was getting increasingly concerned.
“It looks more serious than I thought.”
“Relax,” Isabelle waved off. “We haven’t even seen anything yet.”
Alec pushed through the crowd in an attempt to get closer to the front of the line.
“Excuse me!” A man in line barked. “There’s a line you know.”
He rolled his eyes and muttered something sounding like teenagers. Alec stuttered out both an apology and an explanation simultaneously.
“Sorry sir, we’re with the NYPD and here to investigate,” Isabelle improvised smoothly. “If you could please move aside.”
The man gave them a skeptical look but moved aside without any complaints. They reached the curtained entrance of the stall. Alec sharply pulled it open.
He gasped. It looked as though they had been teleported to a scene from inside a hospital. A green-skinned warlock who was groaning dramatically on a bed stopped abruptly at the sight of the two shadowhunters and tapped his blue-skinned friend who was splashing fake blood across the floor. He looked towards the back of the room where another man was wrestling with a pile of white bedsheets. The man turned around and gold-green eyes made contact with Alec’s own.
“Alec?”
“Magnus?”
“You know the shadowhunters?” the blue-skinned warlock cut in.
Isabelle laughed. “The Clave called us to make a report on… this?”
“Mind you, this is a magnificent escape room!” Magnus shouted. “What brings you Nephilim barging into our stall?”
“You’re not wearing any glamours and are breaching the Accords by revealing the nature of the Shadow World,” Alec explained.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” the warlock lying on the bed muttered.
“Well, actually that’s where you’re both wrong,” Magnus smirked. “First off, this is an amazing escape room and a splendid idea. Second, you’ll find that we’re actually not breaching the Accords. We’re not revealing the nature of the Shadow World at all. Trust me, I know how the Accords work, I helped make them,” He winked.
Alec gaped.
“Well, guess we’d better be on our way,” Isabelle shrugged. “I, for one, also think this is an awesome idea.”
Alec sighed. “I’ll be keeping an eye on here.”
“I’m sure you will,” Magnus said with another wink.
Alec averted his gaze. “Uh sorry- and uh goodbye.”
He left the room hurriedly, Isabelle following him after.
“I can’t believe we got out of that one,” Catarina laughed. “Get back in bed, you’re terribly ill,” she added, pushing a grumbling Ragnor beneath a blanket.
Magnus tossed the bedsheets to the side of the room, finally admitting surrender. “Are we finally ready to open?”
And so continued their summer filled with escape rooms and escaping the Clave, but sadly, Magnus noted, no more glimpses of a certain Lightwood.
*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*