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“Cici, I swear to the fucking Witches, if you jumpscare me- I will slap you,” Daisy warned. The heterochromatic blue eyes danced to the golden eyes of the younger lady, the eyes crescenting as the blue jester cackled, “Come on Daisy! You’re no fun! It’s just a room!” Radley snorted as he threaded his fingers behind his neck, his lava-like pupils looking up to the sky, “Right… ‘Just a room’.” His voice filled with a mocking tone but it fell on the deaf ears of Cici. The overly joyful jester bounced up to the door of the escape room lobby.
Despite the cloudy sky, the group thought it was the perfect weather for a weekend- they knew most others would prefer a sunny day to play or get work done but the five college students had no care. They were free from their jobs; Sal and Petunia had the weekend from their meditation classes workshop, Radley had the weekend and Monday off from his metal workshop, Daisy had the same schedule as Radley from the animal shelter, and Cici had the weekend and the upcoming week off.
It was something the other four wondered how the blue-haired student was able to get so much time off. They mostly pay for the food and rent, the group isn’t sure how they do it but the group simply accepts it. The blue jester opened the door and mocked bowed to the four roommates to enter the room. Sal rolled his garnet eyes while Petunia giggled softly, the other two huffed and chuckled and then all five were in the room. The room was big, there were four tables set off to the side with puzzles on the table to entertain any guests waiting, there was a big tv with the weather forecast news playing, and there was a small hallway which more than likely led to the rooms. Off to the group’s left, a long desk with a lone attendant occupying the desk. They had long bloody-dyed hair, her eyes blinked up to the group and a gentle smile spread across her face. “Hello there, dears. Are we checking in?” Cici bounced up to the lady, his smile dazzling as he bounced on the back of his heels, “Yes madam! It should be under Cici!”
The lady clicked her fingers across the keyboard and hummed, “Found you. Looks like you booked-” Before she could finish, Cici hushed her quickly, “Oh no! Don’t spoil! I want it to be a surprise!” He giggled with a hint of malice in their undertone. Petunia and Daisy immediately shivered while Radley grumbled, “I swear to God Cici, if you pull some shitty prank…” The ruby-haired male muttered. Out of the three boys, Cici and Radley butt heads often and it makes for a good laugh for everyone but sometimes, it gets out of hand. Cici dramatically sighed and turned to the red-hair metal apprentice, “Oh! Calm down Red! It’s nothing bad! I just want to keep it a surprise!” They spun back around and leaned over the desk to talk back to the receptionist.
Petunia hooked her arm around Daisy, shaking her head and tugging the other woman’s arm, “Let’s sit down for now.” The two women dropped to the furthest table in the room, both taking a keen interest in a wooden 3-D block puzzle. Sal nudged the auburn student and crossed his arms as he watched the back of the jester as he spoke in hushed whispers to the woman. The quietest member of the group stood behind the eccentric student, the receptionist giggled as the other titled his head when she stopped talking. The mix-colored sapphire eyes met with the deep hues of purple, they perked a smile as they shook their finger in front of their friend, “Nah, huh, ah! You can’t even know!” The joyous student gently pushed his friend back to the others, still rocking on their heels. The woman stood and moved to the group, handing over a tablet to Cici as they adjusted his costume’s hat. “All I need you to do while we get the room set up is to look over the disclosure and make sure all of our bases are covered.”
As she is about to hand over the tablet to Sal, Cici tries to snag it but the woman is smart enough to pull back and hand it over to Radley, “I’m still keeping it a surprise, dear. But I need to make sure they feel comfortable going in. It’s against the rules to force someone into this.” She said with a firm stare. Cici raised his hands in the mock surrender and he nodded his head jerkily.
The group of four went counter-clockwise; Radley rolled through the tablet and eventually signed off the form without much thought, Daisy read the first few paragraphs and signed off at the bottom, and Petunia took a little more time with reading the form- her brow furrowing at one line but she signed off the form, but it was Sal who made note of a few things. ‘What mean ‘live actors’?’ His left hand signed as he looked at Cici.
“Oh nothing! It means that there will be voices over some comms that’ll help us along if we need hints!” Cici replied, hands flying sporadically as he bounced his head back and forth- almost dismissing the question. The silent student raised a brow, his hand signing another question, ‘Afraid touch contact from worker here?’ The blue-haired student squints a little harder and drops to the flats of his feet. He closed his eyes and sighed, the group already sensed the “dramatic act” coming on. “Sal. Sally. My friend who somehow teaches yoga and knows the best places to kill someone quickly. Please. Trust me.”
He opened his eyes and slotted his hand on the other’s shoulder, his tone dropping to a normal octave, “Please just trust me. I wanted us to have fun today before everyone goes back to work this week. You all will be busy and most of you will be at work or school. I’ll be alone most of the time so let me have some fun before I’m all alone.” Lips pulling into a pout as his blue eyes glisten with tears. The studious instructor sighed sharply, he nodded his head and no one dared to mention the small smile that graced the lips of the silent student. He handed the tablet back to Cici who squealed and wrapped his arms around the taller, squeezing him tightly and bouncing to the receptionist who took the tablet with a nod of her head.
Radley snorted as the smaller male bounded to the desk. The women giggled as they watched the other return to normal. “Only Cici knows how to get you,” Daisy noted. She stood as Petunia waved her over to join Cici and the receptionist. ‘He know, concern me sometimes.’ Sal signed with his smile a little wider as the jester stood back to his side. “Everything looks great so I will go over the rules and we’ll get started,” the receptionist said.
She pointed to herself, “My name is Faye and I will be your Escape Room “Master”. I will be observing you to make sure everything goes accordingly. And if you have any questions about the rules or just in general before we go into the room, then please interrupt me to ask.” Faye gestured to a small poster that displayed four written signs with two others noted on the bottom. “First, please do not climb on any of the props. I know they look like they are meant to climb on but I swear everything is ground level. Second, please do not take anything that doesn’t look like it needs to move. If it doesn’t move, then keep it there.”
She drops her hand to the next two rules, “There will be no voice, video, or other recordings allowed in the room. I will have you all place your phones inside a locker which you will only have the key to, and fourth, there will be no food or drinks besides water. And since your friend has signed you up for our limited-time Halloween event, I will go over these last two rules for this room specifically.” The group read the final two rules and their faces all snapped over to Cici who turned their head away to avoid the glares, the dressed-up jester pulled out his phone and handed it over to Faye and the others followed- still glaring at Cici. “The first rule is that please do not grab or touch the live actors. They are here to help make the experience more fun and they will not touch or grab you so please don’t touch them. And then there will be slight flashing lights. Your friend did ask if we can cut the flashing lights altogether and after I spoke with my manager, they have agreed to dim the lights rather than the flashing lights going off. Any questions?” She asked.
Petunia raised her hand, “Will there be any help?” Faye nodded her head as she gestured to the hall where the rooms were located, “You will have an assistant in the room. They are very nice but please do not try to get them down from their perch.” Radley crossed his arms as he asked, “Did other participants try to get them down?” Faye nodded, her smile faltering as she looked between the five, “There will be no problems, correct?” The group nodded immediately, “We won’t touch anything unless it helps us get out.” Radley swore. The group heard a door creak open and a new face joined the lobby. Their eyes were a bright ivy green as their outfit matched a Victorian doctor. “This is my manager, Olive, they will be guiding you to the room,” Faye said.
Cici waved at the manager while the group spoke their greetings or nodded their heads. “Are we all ready?” Olive asked, a smirk dancing along their lips as they narrowed their envy-green eyes to each of the group members. “They know the rules. Oh!-” Faye turned to the group as she pointed to a headboard behind the desk, “On the board is how many have failed and succeeded in this room,” she said and there was only one tally on the winning tally side while there were thirteen marks on the opposite side. Daisy wrapped her arms around Radley’s crossed arms as she blanched “Is it that difficult?” Olive shrugged, “Faye and I have beaten the room in a different location but here, only one has beaten the room in a record time.”
Four of the five members turned again to glare at the blue and black dressed up jester and blinked in surprise when Cici was not by their side. He was standing by Olive, arms tucked behind his back and rolling on his heels, “It’ll be okay Daisy! It’s an intermediate level, not too hard but also not too easy!” Petunia sighed and dropped her head on Radley’s shoulder, her arms linking around his other crossed arm, “I’m starting to regret this…” The bubblegum woman muttered as she looked over to Sal who only shrugged his shoulders.
“Come along! Your time starts soon~” Olive smirked as they led Cici and the group through the hall. The hallway was covered in photos of fake newspapers for a few rooms like ‘a murder on the loose’ or a photo of a pirate ship, and the hall had posters for other rooms plastered next to doors which might be other rooms. Sal made note of a room that seemed to be a metal door akin to an asylum door, and across from it was a wooden door you would see in a hotel room. They turned a corner and found one door that was covered in furs and with an ox skull on the front. Olive spun around and gestured to the door as they spoke in an eerie high-pitched voice, “You were archaeologists who were looking into a sighting of a demon artifact and you got kidnapped by a cult who worships a deep sea demon. Your mission is to escape… or to join them.”
They waved over Faye who stepped from behind Sal and gave over a set of handcuffs, “Now I need two volunteers to enter first!” Olive chirped. Cici shot his hand up and turned to the others who looked ready to run. He huffed, grabbing Radley and Sal’s respective hands- the blue jester pulled them forward. The other two sighed in defeat and nodded, Olive placed one set on Sal and placed the shared set on Radley and Cici’s wrists, “Now close your eyes and follow me.” Olive took their hands and with the three walking with their eyes closed, the two girls clung onto one another as the three were led into the room. Petunia turned to Faye and hesitantly asked, “If we are to ever feel overwhelmed, can we exit out?” Faye nodded her head as she fully turned to them, “If you feel like you are in any danger, simply exit the room. But we do have to warn you that once you leave, you cannot enter again. We will make exceptions for bathroom breaks.”
Daisy seemed to have been soothed by this fact and then asked to use the restroom before she entered, Petunia stood in the hall while waiting for Olive or Daisy to come back. Olive appeared and cracked the door open, they looked around and turned to Faye, confused. “The other guest ran to the bathroom before they entered. I gave them the heads up about the bathroom breaks and the mental health priority.”
Olive nodded and leaned against the doorway, Petunia brushed her hair behind her ear and fidgeted, wishing for Daisy to hurry up. It seemed like Cici or Radley was also growing impatient because someone shouted, “Can we open our eyes yet?!” Olive leaned into the room and responded, “Like you didn’t already open your eyes!” Whoever yelled went quiet but someone responded with, “Sal didn’t!” Thankfully, Daisy turned around the corner and latched onto Petunia. “Ready?” Faye nodded to Olive, who offered their hands to the ladies to take, and with a hesitant nod- they both entered the room with their eyes closed.
Faye guided the duo gently, her hands on their shoulders as she directed them to where they needed to turn. Soon the girls were placed in their place and they waited to open their eyes. Olive stepped back and waved off Faye who peered into the other cell where the boys were held. “Now! Open your eyes!” Olive shouted. The group opened their eyes and immediately Radley shouted, “The hell?!” Olive flung their arms in the air and started to explain the mission, “To survive, you need to get out of the cell! Get one of the cells open to have your team look for the key for the other cell and there, you should look for a way out of here before the Cult members sacrifice you to the demon! You have one hour and thirty minutes to start now!” Olive dropped their hands and disappeared and before they closed the door, they quickly added, “And if the cult members come in, best to stay in a corner to hide!”
Then the door closed.
“Yay! Let’s start!” Cici cheered. The cell the trio was in was cramped but open, Sal looked around and made note of the fake blood on the cave walls, Radley gripped onto the cell bars and made note of a pin pad, “Found a pin pad, needs a three-digit number code.” Cici nodded along, not really touching anything as Sal was moving around the cell. The silent male noted a small basket with a fake disembodied hand inside and four train cars. He picked up the cars which were painted brown with letters on the side. The gold sheen of the letters were misorganized but he grunted- Radley turned and titled his head. “Okay, we have a set of train cars, we need a three-digit code, and possibly a code from the train cars that’ll help us.” Cici hummed as he looked around, as if he were taking in the scenery.
Meanwhile, the girls were in a “nicer cell”. There was a large rock mound with “carved details” in the rock, a box wrapped in chains and labeled “DYNAMITE”, and finally a small cage in the corner. “Boys… I don’t like the fact that we are alone here!” Petunia said. Daisy gripped onto her friend as she stepped a little away from the box. “Is there anything in your cell that can help us get out?” Radley asked, he stared at the pin pad which the maximum number was six. There were about two hundred different combination numbers for this lock and he was not majoring in math. His strong suit is metal work and construction, the trades made more sense which was ironic that he flunked math more than once in his school years.
“There is a weird rock formation with a bunch of symbols, a small potted plant with spiky leaves, a box labeled ‘dynamite’, and a small cage in a corner.” Petunia knelt to look at the plant and she scooped it up, she found the plant to be fake but it had a nice vibrant neon green and blue hues in the leaves, or what the spindly branches could be called leaves. “Alright then… Don’t we have someone who is supposed to help us?” The red-haired member said.
“He-Ho! He caught you now!” Someone squeaked. Daisy yelped and huddled closer to Petunia who dropped the plant to grab ahold of Daisy, “Where the fuck-?” The pinkette hissed and both ladies looked up to the cage. Two green eyes blinked at them and then tilted its head as if it was watching the girls. “Hello there! My name is Dimitri! I am here to help you! Just ask away and I'll get you out!” Sal and Radley glanced at one another and Cici hummed. The shorter member of the five then shouted a question loudly, “What’s in it for you? Why should we trust you?”
Sal squinted at the jester who made an obvious attempt to look away from the taller’s stare, to Sal, Cici had some idea of how this game was going but then again, he claimed this was their first time going to an escape room so Sal wonders why Cici isn’t helping out so much. ‘Maybe it’s their way of responding to getting stuck on a puzzle.’ He thought. “If I help you get out of here, you have to help me get out of here!” The helper responded. Petunia huffed and pulled the golden-haired girl closer, “Fine then. What do we do first? I don’t see anything that can help us.” The creature cawed and blinked, “You need to find a piece of parchment that should reveal a hint to the puzzle of the train cars! It should be near the box of dynamite but be careful! That box might explode!”
Daisy squinted, doubting the creature’s words but the pinkette shuffled her feet to the box. In the dim lighting of blues and greens, it’s hard to see when you first opened your eyes but resting on the furthest corner of the box was a small slip of paper. The bubblegum-haired lady reached over and picked up the paper, she unfolded it and found a small image of the train cars with their letters written in the proper order. Meanwhile, Sal was looking between the train cars, it was a four-letter word and the more he squinted, the more annoyed he got that he couldn’t figure out what word would be spelled. The four letters were two “E”s, one “F”, and one “R”. “Hey boys! We found a clue!” He heard Petunia shout. He raised his hands to sign and then the girls shrieked.
It sounded like something either fell or clapped together, it made the three in the cell jump. Radley reached out and gripped the bars of the cell, he smashed his face against them and tried to see into the other cell. “Girls?!” He shouted. Petunia and Daisy cowered in a corner while the box of dynamite rattled and hissed, “Uh oh! You better get out before that box explodes!” Radley flinched back as his face morphed into a frown, “How is it lit?!” He shouted. “Does it matter!?” Daisy screeched. Sal shook his head and tapped Radley’s shoulder, he fluently moved his hands to sign his question and the other nodded his head and shouted to the girls. “The paper! What does the paper say?!” Petunia shakily raised the folded paper to read but her eyes were glued to the box that stopped rattling but kept hissing.
“The train cars spell out ‘FREE’, that’s all the paper says!” Daisy whimpered as the box slowly stopped hissing while Petunia wrapped her arms around the other in an attempt to comfort her. Sal turned back to the train and organized the cars in the order of the word. “Okay… Now what? Where do we-” Cici coughed and held out a rolled-up piece of paper with blood stains. The two males blinked and when Sal readied to ask, Cici tilted his head to point at a grate above his head, their jester hat must’ve covered the grate while they were standing there.
Radley swiped the paper away and unscrolled it. “The fuck? It’s a riddle or something…” The taller leaned in, his eyes reading the paper quickly and his face grimacing. “Allow me! It must be for the girls to solve!” Cici chimed, picking the paper out of Radley’s hands. “Ladies~” Cici called out, Petunia and Daisy met each other’s eyes and then turned to look out their cell. So far, they only heard Radley talking (Sal was a selective mute so it made sense he didn’t speak often) but this was the first time they heard Cici say something. “I have a riddle that might have to involve something in your cell! I’ll read the riddle aloud and I’ll repeat it a few times!” The other gleefully shouted. Petunia sighed and then shrieked when the box rattled again.
“Hurryup!Hurryup!Hurryup!” Daisy shouted. Cici coughed and cleared their throat as they shot their arms out like they were reading the paper from the medieval times which ironically tied into his costume, “The Grand Sea is big! His hands carve the trenches of the sea! His eyes see-though all who enter his domain! His powers allow him to devour stars ! His power shall rise above the waves as it is foretold in many scrolls !” Cici then lowered the parchment to show the other two in the cell certain parts of the riddle were underlined.
“Letting you girls know, there are four underline parts of the riddle. Trenches, Stars, Waves, and Scrolls. Is there anything in your room that relates to any of those things?” Radley asked. Daisy looked around the room, her eyes drifting back to the mound of rocks and she shuffled to the rock. In the blue lighting, it's hard to see but there are pictures in the rocks. There were twelve in total- the golden lady waved her pink-curled friend over and pointed at the pictures. “We need to pick out which one might correspond with the riddle!” The bubblegum pinkette nodded and shouted, “What were the four things again?!” The red-haired member grunted as he shouted out the four underlined portions again, Sal grunted and stepped back when Radley turned to look at his friend. ‘Costume, sharp, caution,’ the quiet member said.
Radley perked an eyebrow as he looked up and down at Sal’s costume who was a knight with armor and all. Daisy and Petunia squinted and looked at each picture, she pointed to one which were shaped like stars, and Petunia pressed her finger on two others which looked like rolled-up paper and three curly waves. “We’re close!” Daisy cheered. “Great job girls! I knew you were good at this!” Cici shouted, his jester hat bouncing back and forth as he rocked on his heels. Sal grunted and continued to look in corners while Radley tried to get the cell open by pressing random buttons. The group heard the door to the room open and then Dimitri chirped in fear, “Uh oh! The cult members are here! Hide!”
Two people emerged from the doorway; one was covered in a cloak and slammed onto the bars which caused Radley to fall back and bump into Sla who quickly grabbed onto the other to steady, Cici clapped and waved at the member, “Hi there! I like the cloak! Very scary!” He said. Meanwhile, the girls tucked themselves in the one corner of the room that was covered in total darkness, it was across from the rock but also next to the rattling box. The other members wore a bull skull over their faces and tilted their heads back and forth while shooting their arms into the cell to “grab” the girls. “BOYS! So fucking Witches help me, get us out!” Daisy shrilled as she pulled her head veil up to cover her face. The two “cult members” retreated back and then the door closed again.
“Girls!” Radley called out, he moved back to the cell bars and cursed out the PVC pipes as he tried to see where the girls were. Cici leaned against the wall and watched the male curse loudly while the girls fumbled around in the other cell. Sal made note of the relaxed posture of the jester, his heterochromia almost seemed to glow in the light of the blues and greens- the dressed-up knight crossed the cramped room and stood in front of Cici, his purple eyes glaring into the sapphires of the smaller. Cici looked up to meet Sal’s eyes, his smile was still on but he also felt a twinge of unease when Sal didn’t sign, the taller one only seemed to lean down and cornered him in the corner. Had this been anywhere else like at the group’s apartment, Cici would flirt and tease Sal for being too close to him but this was not the time to flirt or try to be funny.
Sal jammed his thumb behind him and squinted, conveying that Cici either helps or gets out. The shorter male nodded his head, never dropping his smile as he tried to step around the knight but the knight moved to block him, ‘C-O-D-E you know, right?’ Cici opened his mouth to object but when the taller pressed his face closer- nearly kissing the blue-haired male, the jester blinked and tucked his chin and cheeks into his ruffled collar- clearly cornered and found out that he knew the code. Sal sighed softly and stepped aside, Cici pushed himself from the wall and moved over to the angry male who was slowly getting more tempted to break the bars.
The jester patted the other’s back and the red-eyed male turned to find Cici, the blue-eyed jester moved to the pin pad and pressed in ‘3-6-3’ which then opened the door. Both Radley and Sal stepped out and moved swiftly to the other cell. Daisy sighed in relief and then screeched when the box rattled again, “Boys- seriously- get us out!” Petunia shouted. Sal looked around the cell door to find any clues to get the girls out, Radley shook the bars and hissed when the box rattled again, “Hurry! Hurry! The box will explode!” Dimitri crowed. “Shut up! We know! The girls chimed.
Cici scrunched up his nose and then heard the room to the room open, he leaned backward to where he could see the door and found two shadows, he then sighed and pulled out the key to the cell doors, he slotted himself in between the duo and unlocked the door. The boys blinked in surprise and before anyone could ask, Cici shoved everyone in the cell and closed the door- locking it and throwing the key away. “What the fu-AAHHH!” Petunia jumped back and pulled Radley with her, Daisy shrilled a scream as she latched onto Sal who moved to stand in front of everyone, arms wide and ready to fight. Cici crossed his arms and leaned down to one of the actors who jumped from the ceiling.
“Hi there! How are you doing?” The actor turned their head and two more actors came around, one holding a bat and smacking the bars while the other gripped onto the bars and shook them. Cici laughed and turned his head, “Wanna be friends?” He asked. “Cici! Would you stop talking to them!?” Daisy shouted behind Sal who looked ready to punch the actors. The actors soon stepped away and they disappeared. The purple knight lowered his arms and turned to the girls who seemed to relax once the actors were gone, Radley wrapped an arm around Petunia’s shoulders and squeezed her shoulders, “Are you okay?” He asked. The ladies nodded and Daisy moved to stand next to Sal, “I wanna go.” She stated.
All eyes then turned to Cici who rocked on his heels. “Come on! Don’t tell me you’re not having fun!” He pouted. Radley glared and placed a hand on his hip, “Cici, you haven’t been helping us. You locked us in this cell, you haven’t offered a hand to help, and you seem to know the puzzles already. So how about you just get us out and we’ll go out to eat or something.” Cici readjusted his head, his hand going to his chin and he hummed, “Hm…. Nope!” He claimed. Sal shook his head and raised his hands, ‘Cici. Stop game, we tired. You know game, finish now please,’ and the jester’s smile faltered for a moment but he shook his head again.
“Nope! No, no! We’re playing this until we win! It’s supposed to be fun!” The jester spun around on his toes and opened the cell without the keys. Daisy groaned and Radley snarled, Petunia shook her head, stepping out with the other three into the room. The high-pitched voice of the helper came back, “Good thing you guys hid! Now all you need is the rope to get out of here! You first need to get a key for the treasure box next to the first cell- there- you will be able to find your next clue!” The group nodded and started to look around; Radley picked up a smaller box than the one by the cell, making note of the key needed to open it, Daisy and Sal looked around the first cell to see if they could find anything the boys might have missed, and finally, Petunia stood on the other side of the room to observe Cici.
The dressed-up entertainer has always had a plan for everything. Perhaps, this was him trying to bond with the four of them- they all have been a little more busy with work or school so she found herself aware that the jester took this to be the best opportunity to reconnect with his roommates. The dressed-up jester rocked on his heels as he observed the others, his eyes wide with joy as he watched the others make note of what they needed. Petunia moved over to stand by Cici and leaned against him, the jester pulled the pinkette to him, brushed her long pink curly hair over her shoulder, and squeezed the lady’s shoulder. “Scared my dear flower?” Cici asked, his head falling on top of hers. “Worried if anything,” Petunia responded.
Sal glanced over to the couple, his face splitting to a small smile and then he straightened up. He saw a bookshelf behind Cici and Petunia, something that might lead to the next clue, the dark knight moved over to the duo- perking up the interest of Petunia, she opened her mouth to ask what Sal was doing until she was nudged off to the side, revealing a box that was exactly the same as the box Radley had. Sal nudged the duo to the side and sighed sharply, glaring at Cici who looked everywhere but the garnet eyes of the taller. ‘You hide box,’ Sal signed and he moved the box away which revealed a hole in the bookshelf.
The hole went down and it was completely dark, Radley and Daisy moved to the side of the knight and looked down as if they were nocturnal and could see in the hole. Cici pulled the pink-haired woman closer to him as the trio looked at the hole, “Do we have to stick our hand in there or…?” Radley asked aloud- his eyes fleeting to Sal and Cici’s eyes. Cici shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not- that’s up to you to decide,” he said. Sal shook his head while Daisy glared heatedly at the jester. “Cici, I swear to god-” Petunia hissed as she closed her eyes, tired of the jester’s antics. Sal saw Cici’s heterochromatic eyes move from the hole to the chest by the first cell where the boys were at first.
Sal knows Cici, almost too well, because despite what Cici might say- he’s not the best at keeping still. He’s good at keeping secrets, he could lie to his boss or any of their bosses with a straight face and somehow pull up proof to back his lies. Sal knows that Cici can’t stand still without revealing a hint or secret through his body language, the taller knows through experience from birthday parties or hiding chocolate from his companions- Cici will give away something through his body language. Sal looked back down to the hole and slowly wedged his hand into the hole. Petunia spewed out a garble of “What are you doing” and “Sal!”- the words meshing together to sound incoherent.
Sal moved his arm around, his eyes glazing out of their peripheral vision to hopefully see any sort of shine or glimmer in the void. Cici smiled wider, slowly starting to bounce on his toes as he watched Sal, who then pulled out a small key. “Hell yeah, Sal!” Radley shouted, pumping his fist in the air while Daisy took the chest in the other’s hand to give to Sal to open. The lock and key made a satisfying ‘click’ and the box was open, revealing a box full of spiders and other multi-legged bugs. Daisy immediately backed away while Petunia gagged, the ladies didn’t like the bugs, so Sal merely dumped the plastic bugs on the ground, and out came a scroll of paper and another key. Unfortunately, it was too small for the chest by cell one.
Cici tilted his head at the scattered bugs and he then heard for the third time- the pairs of footsteps- Dimitiri decided to remind the group of their presence, “Oh no!” It squawked. The two gentlemen looked up to the corner of cell two and the helper shrilled out, “The Warden is coming! The Warden is coming! Hide! Get in a corner and turn your backs to hide so that you don’t turn to stone!” The ladies didn’t need to be told twice as they grasped the male’s arms and shoved them into cell one, the door opened and the biggest thumps of the footsteps echoed in the room. Cici was tucked in between Daisy and Petunia while Sal covered the pinkette and the back of Radley, and the auburn metal worker covered Daisy fully while also holding Sal’s head down- all tucked together in a corner.
They all heard the gruff heavy breathing, the steady and meticulous steps of the “Warden”. Two bright green eyes illuminated the room of blues. Cici poked his head out of the group huddle and then waved as he welcomed the Warden into the cell, “Hi there! You wanna join the group hug?” Someone (probably Petunia) slapped Cici while Sal pushed the head of the jester back down, Radley hissing at Cici, “Why would you say that?! Are you trying to get us killed?!” Cici cackled as he tried to escape the grip of the others, giggling and trying to get away as the others pitched in to hold him down. The Warden character looked around the room (obviously ignoring the group while also trying to hold back her laughter) and then exited. The helper chirped out quickly, “Quick! You only have thirty minutes left! Quick!”
The five students pulled back and then looked around one another, the glares had softened to amusement as Cici started to bounce on his toes, his smile wide as he tried to hold his excitement back. “Okay- let’s make a list of what we have and what we need to get open to get out,” Daisy suggested, moving out of the cell and looking at the chest, “We have a kay that’s too small for the chest, a scroll, and a chest that might get us out. And we have thirty minutes to get out.” Sal nodded his head, his hands raising up to sign but Radley interrupted, “Maybe we should have Cici help out this time.” All eyes were on the jester who kept bouncing up and down, his eyes sparkled in the different dues of the lights, his own heterochromatic sapphire eyes glanced to every person in the room, and when Sal offered the scroll- the jester took no time to unroll it, read it, and then move around.
Cici hummed a cheerful tune, the bells on his head ringing softly as he walked in the cell with the rattling dynamite and came out with the spiky-leafed plant, he went over to the bookshelf with the hole and slotted the plant into said hole, then the group heard a click and found the chest opened itself up- revealing another box filled with spiders but this time, there was a bigger key inside. Radley picked it and handed it over to Sal. Cici bounced to the knight and handed over the smaller key- pointing to the bookshelf which now had two locks on them. “Open them up and we can go!” Cici shrugged. Sal nodded and both keys slotted into the locks perfectly, the locks came undone and when the doors opened, the knight groaned. There were three more boxes, one locked while the other two were open.
“Great job! Now all you have to do is to get the key from one of those boxes and get out! But hurry, you only have twenty minutes!” Sal reached in and pulled out two small figures in one box and the other had a carving of a demon-like Cthulhu but with more horns and fewer tentacles. Sal turned to show the others what he found, Petunia took one of the figurines that resembled a doctor, and on the back of the wood figure was a key. Daisy looked around and then saw a small opening that was NOT in the corner of the room in the first place. “Guys, over here.” The group crowded in the corner, noting the small structure and how it resembled something like a submarine. “Where did it come from?” Radley wondered, but then clicked his jaw shut when he saw bits of fluorescent lighting behind the diorama.
“Does anyone know what to do?” Sal sat on the ground as he looked inside the submarine miniature. The knight placed the two he had on the sub’s main floor while Daisy dropped the doctor inside the medical room look-alike. The auburn-haired male hummed, his eyes squinting as he looked around to see if he could help out. Petunia reached over and picked up the demon carving and rotated it around in her hands as she looked around to see if there was anything to note. Radley grabbed the other figurine which looked like the Captain and placed him at the steering wheel, Petunia placed the demon behind the Captain, allowing Radley to move it but then they all heard a click. Cici stepped aside to allow the others to see the lock on the box unlocked.
“Oh.” They said in unison. The four moved over to the box and found a small key inside. Cici turned around and smiled as he saw the feet of the actors at the door, “Guys!” He called. The sudden pounding and banging scared the group into one another’s arms, shrieking and screaming in surprise as the door opened and the Warden stepped in. Cici stood before the Warden- the tall and fur-covered beast snarled at the jester who tilted his head.
And proceeded to pat the beast’s face.
The girls frowned while the boys deadpanned. A soft laugh came from the doorway and the other attendant came into the room. “Hello everyone! I am here to say you unfortunately lost but you were so close to the end!” They said cheerfully. Olive patted the back of the beast character and the group saw the mask removed to show the receptionist. “Hi, Faye!” Cici said with a bounce. Faye smiled and left the room while Olive stepped aside to lead the group out of the room as they stumbled out. Cici skipped ahead to the front while the others rubbed their eyes, “So we lost?” Daisy asked. Olive nodded and leaned against the desk. “Yep. But you were close! We expected you guys to be stuck on the submarine puzzle but you figured it out without needing the hints!” Faye entered the lobby, her hair slightly frazzled and she waved at the others. “Did you have fun?”
Daisy shook her head while the other three shrugged, Cici pouted, “Come on! You like it!” Sal shook his head with a smile, ‘You keep secret! We struggle when you lie,’ the jester rolled his eyes, moved to the others, and dropped his head against Radley’s shoulder. “Did you at least have a little fun?” He asked, lips quivering and the others nodded. Satisfying the jester, he shot up and took the hands of Radley and Petunia- pulling them to the doors. Petunia followed Sal behind her, they bid their goodbyes and once the group was outside- they walked down the street to find somewhere to eat. As the group chatted, Radley turned to the jester, “Say Cici, how come you didn’t help out? And when you did, you seemed to know the puzzles already?”
The blue jester giggled as he hooked his arm around Daisy’s arms, “Because I was the only one who solved the room! I had Faye stay with me and I solved the whole room in under thirty minutes!” He cheerfully revealed. Radley stopped which stopped the others. “What?” He said, his tone making the question more of a statement than a curious tone. “I already went through the room,” Cici repeated. And if you looked across the street, you would then see a blue jester being chased by a cursing redhead while three others chased after, screaming with joy that would surely send chills down anyone’s back but also bring a smile to their faces.