On My Birthday

Phoebe Levinson wakes. She doesn’t recognize her surroundings. She does, however, recognize her quandary. Her hands and feet are tied to a metal chair. The ropes are digging into her wrists. She sits in a circle with five other captives. They have yet to wake. Each of them looks familiar. They are students from her social science class. To her left is Kathleen Bates. She’s miss popular, the pretty girl everyone wants to be associated with. Next is Abigaile Green. She is Kathleen’s best friend. She’s brains and beauty. Grahm Carson is next to her. He’s the stylish party boy with a sense of humor that drives the girls wild. Next to him is Derrick Nelson. Out of this group, he would be the closest thing to a friend to Phoebe. They occasionally talk about books and films before class. Last but not least is Aubry Taylor, the loner goth girl who screams if you get her pronouns wrong. One by one they begin to stir. They struggle against their ropes. They demand to know what is going on. They demand to be set free, yelling at the top of their lungs to anyone who might be listening.

“Do you think they are holding us for ransom,” Kathleen asks the group, her voice hoarse.

“I hope not. My family isn’t worth anything. I’m here on financial aid,” Grahm tells her as he surveys the room.

Kathleen looks at Phoebe. “Scholarship,” Phoebe tells her.

“They’re probably going to torture us and kill us,” Aubry puts out there in the universe.

“Audry, why do you have to be like that,” Abigaile says. “You’re always so creepy, so droll.”

“You two know each other,” Phoebe asks.

“We’re cousins, believe it or not,” Abigail says with a distasteful scowl directed at Aubry.

“Do you all know each other,” Phoebe asks the group.

“Well, Kathleen and I are best friends. We party a lot with Grahm. Derrick and Audry dated for about a year. You I recognize from class, but otherwise you’re the odd man out.”

“Is there someone we might all know who is holding a grudge against us? I read a book once where people were held hostage. They had to figure out who was the one person they all knew that they had wronged. She would give them thirty minutes to figure it out and confess what they did wrong. If no one did, she would randomly kill someone,” Derrick says.

“Yeah, I read that book too. It was very good, thrilling,” Phoebe says.

“Lovely! So, you two bookworms think that’s what’s going on here,” Grahm asks. “Great, I’ve wronged a lot of people. There have been a lot of one night stands this month alone.”

“I can’t think of a person I’ve wronged in the past ten years. Plenty that have wronged me, but none that I have wronged,” Aubry says.

“Poor Aubry, always the victim,” taunts Abigaile.

“Shut up Abby. You have no idea. You and your perfect little life.”

Ignoring the two cousins, Kathleen says, “People are jealous of me. I’ve hurt some feelings. But I’ve never hurt someone to the point of deserving this.”

“Same,” says Abigaile.

“I can’t think of anyone either,” says Phoebe.

“Ugh! It’s probably Grahm pledging for his fraternity. There’s a camera right there in the corner. He’s probably supposed to get us all freaked out. Then his frat bros will come in and scare us before letting us go,” Kathleen suggests.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but as you might recall, they are hosting a party tonight. I’m supposed to be serving drinks in a diaper right now.”

“Here, Aubry, turn your chair so that we are back-to-back. I’ll try to untie your ropes,” Phoebe says as she starts to move her chair.

The girls swivel their chairs, the metal screeching against the hard concrete. Phoebe fiddles with Aubry’s ropes.

“Is it working,” Katleen asks.

“Yeah, I think it is. I can feel the ropes coming loose,” Phoebe tells her.

Kathleen and Abigail scoot their chairs around and start untying each other’s ropes. Grahm and Derrick do the same. Once Kathleen gets her legs untied, she sprints up the metal staircase. She tries to open the door. It doesn’t budge. She puts her leg up on the wall and tries pulling again, harder this time.

“It’s magnetically sealed, Kat,” Abigaile calls out to her. “See the keypad? We need a code.”

“So, what is this, some sort of escape room? Is this some psychopath’s idea of a game show,” Kathleen asks as she comes down the stairs.

“Maybe. What other explanations are there,” Phoebe says.

“I’ve seen an escape room movie once. It started out like this. They went from room to room, each one boobytrapped. Only one person survived. She got a million dollars,” Aubry tells them. “I mean, if they were going to torture us or kill us, they would do so individually, not put us in a group and watch us. So, I think we can put that thought out of our minds. For whatever reason we are down here for, our captors want us alive.”

“They/them has a point,” Abigail says.

“It’s just they. I hate it when you call me that,” Aubry says.

“I hate that you’re mutilating the English language. Get over it!”

“No, you will respect my identity!”

 “Ladies, save it for later. Now is not the time,” Derrick says. “Aubry does have a point. I don’t think they are looking to kill us... unless things are boobytrapped down here for their own personal amusement.”

“Great, we just won’t touch anything,” Grahm says.

“I think we have to if we want to get out of here,” Phoebe tells him.

“Look around. We’re in some sort of basement storage room. Clues aren’t necessarily popping off the wall,” Grahm tells her.

“Does anyone have a watch,” Abigaile asks, staring at the clock on the wall.

“Yeah, its 8:54,” Derrick says.

“That clock has been stuck on 5:02 since we woke up. That could be our first clue.”

“Well, what does it mean, miss smarty pants,” Aubry quips.

“I don’t know! I don’t see you trying to figure anything out.”

“Look at the shelves,” Phoebe interrupts. “They’re numbered.”

Everyone scampers over to the fifth row of shelving. The shelving is four shelves high. They assume the 2 in 5:02 stands for the second level. However, from the wall there are five sections of shelving on both sides. They walk down the row hoping for another clue. Luckily, they find an X spraypainted on a box in the third section of shelving on the right side. They pull the box down. They all look at each other, not sure if they should open it. Derrick volunteers to do it. He pulls back the tape, moving his head away from the opening. Spring loaded snakes fly out and everyone screams. Once their hearts settle, they peek inside. There is an envelope and a lot of old newspaper clippings. Phoebe opens the envelope. A small key falls out.

“That’s an awfully small key. It must go to a luggage lock or something,” Kathleen suggests.

Everyone splits up, searching the aisles for luggage. Not one suitcase is found anywhere. They return to the newspaper clippings. Having a seat on the floor, they start sorting through the clippings. Phoebe comes across an interesting one. It’s dated 10/04/2023. The headline reads, Carson Rushes for Seventy-four Yards. Stallions Win!

“I remember that game. That was my best game of the season,” Grahm says proudly.

“Yeah, but how is it a clue? And what does the key go to,” Phoebe asks.

“Maybe the date on the paper correlates with a box, like row, shelf, box,” Abigaile suggests.

They go to row 10, look up to shelf four, and count over twenty-three boxes. Derrick, being the tallest, steps up on the bottom shelf and brings down the box. They all stand clear as he opens it. Nothing happens this time. To their disappointment, it is loaded with old records. They turn to the left side and pull that box down. It’s filled with kitchen utensils.

“I guess we need to go through the albums. Maybe there is a clue on one of them,” Kathleen suggests.

They sit down and go through the albums. They don’t recognize half of the bands: Creedence Clearwater, Boston, Deep Purple. “Hey, you guys have heard of Led Zepplin haven’t you,” Grahm asks.

“Yeah, they sing that one song,” Phoebe says.

“Stairway to Heaven,” Aubry tells her. “They have many great songs, but that is the one they are most known for.”

“Yeah, that song is on here. Do you think there is a clue by the staircase,” Grahm asks.

“Go look,” Aubry says. “If I’m not mistaken, there was a song on here called Black Dog,” she says taking the album from Grahm and turning it over. “I saw a statue of a black lab in the corner when we were looking for luggage. I’m going to go check that out.”

Grahm comes back disappointed and emptyhanded. Aubry comes back with an envelope. She opens it up and reads the sheet of paper inside, “2/3/4, look inside yourself to find what you are looking for.”

Over at the second row of shelving, they look at the third shelf and count four boxes over. Bringing it down and looking inside, they just find vanity items: a blow drier, curlers, some hand-held mirrors, and make-up brushes. On the other side, the box contains books, mainly self-help books on how to improve your life.

“I don’t get it,” Abigaile says. “Look inside yourself. What does that mean? All these books are about looking inside yourself.”

“Let’s shake them, and see if anything falls out of one,” Kathleen suggests.

There aren’t that many books to go through. None of them reveal a loose piece of paper or anything else tucked away inside. Frustrated, Kathleen backs away. Through her peripheral vision, she notices her reflection in one of the mirrors in the other box. She grabs the mirror to check her hair. Grahm notices that the backing is made of plastic and not fully covering the glass. He asks Kathleen for the mirror. She gives it to him. Grahm removes the glass from the mirror. A key falls out. This one is bigger than the last.

“There’s a janitors closet under the stairs,” Grahm tells them.

They jog over to the door under the staircase and give the key a try. It opens the door. Inside they find a desk with a little green box on it. The lock is just the right size for the small key.

Grahm gets excited. “This is it guys! We’re out of here!”

Phoebe takes the key and opens the box. Instead of a code, there is a riddle. “Back where it all began, clockwise the little fishies swam.”

“I guess that means we need to go root through those clippings again,” Phoebe asks.

“I guess so,” Abigaile says as she takes the message from Phoebe and reads it again. “Maybe we need to look for a fishing article.”

“What about the clockwise nonsense,” Aubry asks.

“I guess we’ll figure that out after we find the article,” Phoebe tells her.

Back to row five they all saunter. They all grab a wad of clippings and sit down. “I’m going to take mine and go sit in a chair. I’m tired of sitting on the floor,” Phoebe tells them.

“I’ll join you,” Derrick says.

“Isn’t this weird,” Phoebe asks Derrick as she takes a seat.

“Yes, it’s very weird, and oddly fun.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But to be kidnapped just to find clues that lead to us being freed. It doesn’t make sense. What does anyone gain from it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s like Kathleen said, entertainment.”

“I guess, but…” clippings go flying as Phoebe slams them down in her lap.

“I got them,” Derrick says.

“No, I’ll get them,” Phoebe says, getting onto the floor.

She starts picking up the clippings. Once she has them all she starts to get up. She notices something. There is paper taped under Grahm’s chair. She looks closer and there is a number on it. She looks at Abigails’s and Kathleen’s chairs. They both have numbers too. “Where it all began,” she says to herself. “Everyone! Come here,” she shouts as she starts to turn over chairs. “It all began here, where we were tied up. There are numbers taped to the bottom of our chairs. If we read them clockwise, that should be the code to the door!”

“You read me the numbers and I’ll punch them in,” Grahm says, taking the stairs two at a time.

“Where do we start? Which chair is twelve,” asks Aubry.

“Since the clock is on the wall behind Phoebe’s chair, I would say her chair goes first,” Abigail says.

Phoebe starts reading numbers off the bottom of the chairs. Grahm punches them into the keypad. It beeps and the door unlocks. Grahm opens it and waves everybody up. They make their way through a maze of indoor storage units to the front door. Derrick unlocks the doors. They all step out into the cool night’s air and celebrate.

“Let’s go get the cops,” Abigaile says. “I want this creep arrested.”

“Hold up. It was me.”

“Derrick? Why,” Phoebe asks.

“I’ve always wanted to hang out with all of you guys, and I have missed you, Aubry. I just wanted to do something fun on my birthday.”

“Okay, we’re not going to call the cops,” Kathleen says, speaking for her and Abigaile, “but if you so much as look at us again, we’ll slap the snot out of you,” and they angrily stomp off.

“Yeah man, you’re lucky I don’t beat the hell out of you right here, right now, but all I feel for you is pity,” Grahm says, falling in behind Kathleen and Abigail.

“Derrick, you’re a jerk. I told you that I’m not into binary relationships. I was willing to be your friend, but after this… There’s just something wrong with you. Get help,” Aubry says, and she walks off in the opposite direction.

“What do you think, Phoebe,” Derrick asks.

“I think I would have gone with you to a real escape house had you asked me. I understand not having friends and being lonely, but that was an intense way of trying to make some.”

“Well, I knew nobody would hang out with me unless I took it to the extreme.”

“I would have. I liked you.”