Escape

“Come on Skylar! Hurry up!” 

Layla squeals at me from the bottom floor. I smile at her excitement and hurry down my stairs making sure not to trip.

“I’m coming!” I yell back at her, when I finally reach the bottom I see Layla standing there with a smile on her face, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders.

“You're very slow at getting ready,” Layla laughs, I roll my eyes at her comment.

“Whatever, let's just go I'm getting sick of waiting,” I grumble, Layla grabs my hand and drags me out of my house, she had come over to get ready here for my birthday. She told me there was a new escape room in town and we should go, I didn’t want to at first but she convinced me.

I get into the driver's seat and Layla gets in the passenger seat, today is my seventeenth birthday, so Layla told me we had to go somewhere. I don’t exactly know why it’s so special, but she thinks it is. I suppose I don’t have a problem with going somewhere today, although it would have been more enjoyable to stay home and chill. 

“I’m so excited,” Layla bubbles next to me, I turn on the car and start driving, the wheels of the car screeching on the road

“Yeah, me too,” I smile hoping my tone isn’t too monotone.

It’s around midday when I pull the car into the parking lot. I hop out of the vehicle each step I take with a certain amount of excitement. Layla gets out of the vehicle slamming the door behind her with a loud thud. 

“Careful! I just got this car,” I complain as I shut my door with a much quieter thud.

“It’s not that big of a deal Skylar, chill out,” Layla snickers, skipping towards the large building in front of us. I laugh to myself and rush to keep up with her.

“Slow down Layla!” I grumble, Layla opens the door to the building and waits for me there with a smug expression. I roll my eyes in annoyance before stepping inside, the door slams shut and I walk to the front desk. Layla follows close behind me, a smile on her face accompanied by small dimples. 

“Two tickets please,” I hand over the money and she gives me the two tickets as requested. I smile and walk towards the entrance, Layla still behind me. I give Layla her ticket and we walk through the escape room entrance. I smile to myself as a large room appears in front of us, it looks as if it’s a cabin. I don’t exactly know how many rooms there are to go through, but I know it shouldn't take all day. A large fireplace sits across from the door against the wall, a table in front of it. The room feels quiet and cozy, like a real cabin.

“Alright! Now time to look for clues to escape right?” Layla beams next to me, a bright smile on her face. 

“Right,” I step towards the fireplace searching atop the mantel. I glance behind me, Layla is searching the table that's filled with candles and plates, I turn back to the fireplace, now searching the crevices of the brick sides. My finger runs across a hole, an oddly shaped hole. 

As if a key would fit perfectly inside… before I can even say anything Layla speaks up. Layla flings papers everywhere, searching for something. She smiles.

“Skylar, I found a key!” She holds up a key and I smile as well.

“And I found a keyhole,” I run my finger across the brick again trying to find the hole once more. Once my finger finally runs across the familiar crater in the fireplace I look over at Layla. She hands me the key and I shove it into place, twisting it carefully. I hear a click, the fire turns off and the fireplace moves to the side. It has a horrible screech to it, I smile and grab Layla’s hand dragging her through the dark entrance that just opened up. 

The hallway we’re walking through is dark, but I see a red light in the distance. I can tell the hallway isn't too long though. Layla squeals in excitement behind me and I smile. I can’t remember the last time I saw her so happy.

Her excitement is infectious as we step into a room with red fog surrounding us.

“Woah…” I release Layla and start walking around the room, my shoes making quiet thuds on the soft ground as I walk. 

“This is so cool!” Layla grins rushing around the area excitedly. I smile and follow her, the room is filled with boxes, but I’m not exactly sure what we're looking for.

“You search over there,” Layla points at one side of the room and starts searching the boxes on the opposite side. I follow her directions, opening a box. The box is filled with packing peanuts, I’m almost afraid to stick my hand in. I smile to myself searching through the box quickly, making sure not to make a huge mess. 

After searching various different-sized boxes, I switch to one of the larger ones, starting to search through it until my hand hits the bottom of the box, almost my whole arm is encased in the packing peanuts, and my hand moves around the bottom of the box.

Then, only a moment later my hand hits something sticky.

I blink, my hand immediately pulls out of the box, some sort of sticky substance on it. My expression turns to a grimace.

“Layla…” I pause and she looks in my direction “Come here,” Layla walks over to me, a concerned expression on her face. 

“Reach into the box real quick,” Her concerned expression turns to a suspicious one, she looks at me for a long moment. Then she reaches into the box moving her hand around, then she pulls her hand out with such speed that I almost jump away.

“Ew! What is that Skylar?” she pauses “Could you not have just told me instead of making me touch that!?” Layla gags and I nearly laugh, but I hold back for fear of getting slapped or something.

“Sorry…” I mutter, “But what is that?” I say as if she’ll know. Layla reaches into the box again, then pulls her arm out with a repulsed expression. In her hand, is a key lathered in some sort of goop.

“This is gross…” Layla gripes shaking her hand violently, goop flinging everywhere. 

“Well… did you find a keyhole?” I ask hoping she has,

“No,”

“Great… well let's start searching then….” 

I sigh, looking around, the red fog is making it extremely difficult to see. Although that is probably the point, I walk towards one of the walls, following it keeping my hand on it. Layla reluctantly follows me. The air has grown tense and the fog isn't helping. 

I feel a cold hand grip my shoulder and I jump forward. My eyes dart around the room before landing on a laughing Layla.

“You should have seen your face!” She giggles and I roll my eyes in annoyance.

“Whatever…” I grumble, scanning the room. My eyes catch on a divet in the wall, I quickly rush over to it. Layla follows close behind me when I finally reach it, there's a large dent in the wall, it's a perfectly round hole with a tree design in the middle. I run my hand across it, and I click something. A small hole is revealed, and a small smile tugs at my lips.

“Layla,” I snap in her face to get her attention, she's still holding the slimy key in her hands. I point at the hole in the wall. She stares at it for a moment before smiling and putting the key in. It takes a few tries to twist the key, but eventually, she's successful. A loud thunk goes off next to us, I whip my head around to see a large wooden board on the ground, and above it on the wall, a very large opening large enough to fit a person.

I smile and grab Layla’s hand, dragging her through the hole. Although I’m starting to feel off about this whole situation, I put the thought aside. I look behind me at Layla, who also looks a little off-put. The new tunnel leads into a bedroom, one bed, a nightstand, and… a toy box. I’m not sure if they meant for this to be creepy or not, but it sure is freaking me out.

“Skylar,” Layla looks over at me her expression unreadable.

“Yea?”

“Are you getting a bad feeling about this too?” Layla asks me, I look over at her.

“Yea…” I mutter, “Well I guess we should start searching so we can get out of here..” Layla nods in agreement.

“Uhm.. you can do the chest…” Layla decides without my permission, I grimace but start towards the chest anyway. I reluctantly open it, it's filled with children's toys… I shudder, remembering all the stupid horror movies I’ve watched in the past. But do I regret it? Not even a little bit. I carefully dig through the chest, I’m afraid, to say the least. And I think Layla is just the same as me, I keep digging.

When I finally reach the bottom of the chest I reluctantly start searching it, shoving children's toys out of the way. My heart is pounding as if something is going to jump out and tear my face off, although I’m very aware that is highly unlikely. I eventually reach the bottom, hesitantly running my hand across the flooring of the chest.

A stinging pain in my finger, I grab whatever just poked me and immediately pull my hand out of the chest stepping back and nearly tripping over myself.

I’m holding a key, with a needle attached to the other end. 

“Um…” I pause, thinking “Layla?” I look over at Layla, who is messing with the bedside table.

“Yea?” She grumbles going through the drawers. 

“I found a key,” A small droplet of blood forms on the tip of my finger.

“Oh good!” Layla bubbles, I smile, although I’m not exactly happy at this moment. This situation is starting to feel really wrong, but we can’t exactly go back now… Layla is still messing with the bedside table, I’m waiting for her to say something else but I have a feeling that's not going to happen.

“So… you found a keyhole?” I ask hoping for confirmation that I’m right.

“Yea, no,” Layla mutters kicking the table a few times. I sigh walking up behind her quietly, making sure not to startle her. I rest my hand on the side of the bedside table, thoughts rushing through my mind at an almost alarming pace. 

I grab the edge of it and tug, Layla seems to get the idea and helps me pull the table away from the wall. There’s an outline of a very small door through the wallpaper, I look at the key I’m still gripping tightly and take the needle's end, running it on the wallpaper, it tearing as I do so. 

I glance over at Layla who's half frowning. Now that I’ve removed the wallpaper there's a keyhole visible. I hold the key by the needle end and stick it inside, twisting it carefully. There’s no doubt that this is getting stranger by the room… 

With a gurgling scream, the door creaks open, Layla and I share glances at each other before she enters first. The door is so small we have to crawl through, the sides of the tunnel press against my body tightly, and it’s horrifying. The ground beneath us feels hollow as if we are going to fall right through. 

“Layla…” I mutter, she freezes, shifting her attention to me “This isn't right,”

“I know… let's just get this through and done with then we can go home…” Layla's voice doesn't match her expression, her face screams unsettled, but her voice is calm. Oh, how I wish I could stay calm in a situation like this. We crawl into a new room, they seem to be getting increasingly smaller, I’m not even sure if we have a time limit anymore. 

I think I’d rather not, seeing all the movies where the time runs out and everyone dies… I don’t even think I’ve seen one of those though. This is a completely irrational fear, or so I think. I’m not quite sure what to believe anymore. This time the room is dark, the only light is the cameras in the corners of each room. A shiver runs through my spine. I do not want to be here anymore.

Layla steps into the room and I follow close behind.

“Hold my hand,” Layla mutters in front of me, our hands struggle to find each other in the dark before finally latching together tightly. Layla puts her hand on the wall, walking around the outline of the room. I follow behind her, my grip tightening on her hand. If I weren't holding onto Layla so tightly my hand would probably be trembling.

“This isn’t fun anymore…” I mutter to Layla, who is still walking around the room. Suddenly she halts, and I walk straight into her.

“A door…” Layla mumbles in front of me, suddenly a light that surely wasn't there before catches my eye. A door, red light seeping through the cracks and spilling onto the floor. My eyes widen slightly, I’m not sure if I’m scared or wowed. 

“Let's go,” Layla hurries towards the door, my hand nearly slipping out of hers.

“Slow down Layla!” I pause, “We don’t even know what's in there! It could be the wrong door for all we know!” I protest, not wanting to get us killed.

“Relax Skylar! Nothing is going to happen!” She grumbles walking up to the door, I reluctantly follow. She cracks the door open, peaking inside. Before she swings it open with such force it bangs against the wall loudly. I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Layla!” I whisper harshly as we walk inside.

“I didn’t do anything!” She denies it, though her expression is smug.

“Look…” I pause, “Can we please just focus on the current task?” 

“Fine…” Layla grumbles releasing my hand. This room thankfully has a light, but the room is smaller than the rest… I don’t exactly know why but I have a horrible feeling about this room.

I hear gears clicking around the room.

My eyes quickly dart around the room, but nothing strange catches my attention…

“What was that?” Layla asks as if I have a single clue.

“Why would I know!” I huff.

“I-I don’t know!” Layla splutters, her hands in the air. I sigh then gears click again, my body stiffens as I listen closely looking around the room.

The walls are closing in. 

My eyes widen and I glance at Layla, who has the same expression as me. I shudder moving to the middle of the room. Layla is standing next to me.

“W-What do we do?!” My voice cracks in fear as I speak, Layla looks at me.

“We have to find a way out!” Layla looks around. The walls are getting closer and closer to squishing us into sandwiches. My eyes catch on a vent, and a small smile tugs at my lips, but I force the little bit of hope that I’m feeling deep down.

“Layla, the vent!” I utter quickly, Layla glances at the vent.

“No that won't work, we have to try something else,” She ushers looking around.

“Skylar stay close to me!” Layla grabs my hand, and I grip hers tightly. The walls are only a few feet away from us. I suck my breath in trying to make myself smaller. The walls are pressing against our bodies now. I look over at Layla.

“Layla…” I stop for a moment, thinking “Just know you were the best friend I ever had…” I force a smile onto my face as I look at her. A hole opens up in the walls light spilling through it, it's big enough for a person to fit through…

“That's my cue, by the way, Skylar, we were never friends,” My eyes widen and she crawls through the hole, she gives a smug smirk as the hole closes behind her… and then I fall through into a pit, swallowed by the dark. 

As I plummet into the abyss, Layla’s betrayal carves a deeper scar than the fear of the unknown darkness engulfing me. The last image seared into my mind is her cold, unfeeling smirk.

My eyes close as I remember all the fun things we had done together, all the fake things. My heart burns with pain as I hit the ground, my breath taken away from me.

A small tear falls down my cheek as I take my final breath.