The Scavenger Hunt

The silence is deafening. Bailey raises her grass green eyes apprehensively and lowers them again quickly. They skim across the words of the page without really taking them in. A nervous energy had followed Orion into the room about five minutes prior. He had entered the library, grabbed a book off the high shelf and had sat down opposite Bailey without so much as a glance directed towards her.

Another five minutes go by and just as Bailey is about to break the silence, Orion gets up in a flurry. He proceeds to trip over one of the white marble dog statues that he had commissioned during the construction of their house. It tips forward dangerously and hangs on a hinge that Bailey had not seen until now. A low rumbling noise fills the room, one that is alien to Bailey's ears. As fast as lightning, Orion tilts the statue back to its position and the noise disappears.

Questions hang at the tip of Bailey's tongue, but before she can get any out Orion has left the library. Shutting the book in her lap, Bailey gets up and moves toward the statues she had always abhorred. She gets down on one knee and inspects the hinges that are so adeptly hidden from sight. Glancing towards the door to make sure that Orion isn't coming back, she tilts the statue forward and looks around in amazement as the earlier noise increases.

A second passes and nothing happens. Two more seconds go by and then Bailey's jaw drops open as she watches one of the bookshelves on the opposite side of the library slowly shift. She stands and makes her way over to the now-formed gap in the wall. Disbelief smacks her senses when she sees the hallway in front of her. The intense smell of roses infiltrates her nostrils and the bright lights make her squint momentarily.

"What the hell is this place?" Bailey murmurs to herself. Her hand instinctively reaches towards her back pocket to feel for her phone. She sure as heck isn't going exploring without some safety measures. Despite being a grown woman, the following phrase she tells herself always helps her overcome any fears. "I am a Gryffindor," she breathes and steps forward shakily.

Gaining confidence with every step, Bailey follows the hallway with the muddy floors determinedly. It takes a sharp right turn a few meters ahead, and the internal map tells her that she is behind the kitchen right now. The turn leads her into a dark room. Before she can reach for her phone to use as a flashlight, her nose picks up the smell of fresh paint and mere moments later her eyes spot it.

Illuminating proudly on the wall opposite her is a poem written neatly in glow in the dark paint. Taking hesitant steps forward, Bailey notices that it is indeed a riddle, and not a poem. She goes through the riddle once, twice, and thrice with rapt attention. The gears in her head are already turning with oiled-up ease, and a smile is slowly forming.

"Welcome to the scavenger hunt,

where wit will be your most powerful tool,

and where knowledge will not be upfront,

so you could end up looking the fool.

The point isn't to make you feel daunted,

but merely follow the clues to where they lead,

and escape the rooms which feel so haunted,

in order to finish the sly deed."

With not much to decipher from the riddle, Bailey takes one more glance at the handwriting she recognizes to be Orion's and moves towards the door lit up from an outside source. Behind the door there is another short hallway, one which leads to a well-lit room with two additional exits. In the middle of the room sits a table with a note atop it. A rose lies next to it, and the smell wafts up towards Bailey's sinuses. Increasing determination fills her and she confidently grabs the note to read it.

"One of the doors before you leads to doom,

pick the correct one in order to advance,

or maybe face the possibility of gloom,

and forever lose this unique chance.

On our first date we had a serendipitous encounter,

with a British author so that one day we might

test your vigilance and knowledge of her.

Is she left-handed, or does she use her right?"

The smile that has been playing at Bailey's lips thus far fully forms. Orion and her had had a simple first date; coffee and hot chocolate in a quaint coffee shop halfway between their apartments. Just as they had sat down with their drinks, Bailey had spotted one of her favorite authors entering the coffee shop and she had quietly squealed in delight. Orion upon hearing that sound for the first time, had made a vow to himself right then and there to marry that girl. After turning in his seat to spy what had caused that noise, he too had spotted the novelist and had gotten up and walked over to her sans hesitation. Bailey had followed a second later and they had both gotten napkins signed by her.

Now Bailey closes her eyes and envisions that same day five years ago once more. She remembers the perfume the famous lady had been wearing, and it now envelops her senses, as it had that day as well. Now Bailey looks down towards the napkins in her mind, and sees that the woman is indeed a lefty just like Bailey. Her lucid green eyes snap open and she moves towards the left exit feeling an excitement mounting inside of her.

The hallway here is dimly lit, reminding her of the atmosphere of the library. Once more she opts out of using the flashlight on her phone and enjoys the goosebumps creeping onto her flesh in the chilly air of the musty dungeon-like hallway. Her instincts are failing her, and she does not know where in the house she possibly could be right now. A minute passes before she sees something towards the end of the passageway. It is a fork in the road, one with three options.

Sheer vastness fills Bailey, and she genuinely looks around in wonder and bewilderment. How had she not known about any of this during the construction phase of their house? "Orion is really going to get it," she mutters slightly angrily, but it is not true rage. She is enjoying the scavenger hunt too immensely for that. Just as Orion knew she would be.

Over the middle doorway there is a note hanging, pierced through a hook. It is too dark to make out the writing, which is when Bailey's eyes are drawn to the only source of light in the chamber. The fire coming from the torch. She closes her eyes lightly and cannot help the grin that has formed. A goddamn torch. How much more medieval could he have made this place? she thinks to herself. Taking a few steps towards it, she grabs it from the holder and her eyebrows shoot up in surprise at how little it weighs. She swings it around carefully and points it at the paper in her hand, wary as to not set it on fire.

"Some very powerful options in front of thee,

make the wrong choice and beware,

so is it doorway number one, two, or three?

Use that wit and come find my lair.

This next question is quite simple,

which day did I ask you to move in with me,

that brought out that smile with a dimple,

and we progressed from you and me to a we?"

Taking just one moment to appreciate her boyfriend's writing prowess, Bailey closes her eyes once more and deliberates. What day had it been? Memory threatens to overwhelm her. It had only been a year after they had officially become a couple. Everyone had warned her against it because it was so soon, but Orion had been very earnest and convincing. He had found a cheap piece of land and had had architects draw up plans for the house she was currently standing in. There was no way she could have refused him. Not the man she so intensely loved. But what day had it been?

She sets the torch back into its handle and then uses both of her hands to rub her temples. What day had it been? Suddenly a memory so fleeting that she isn't sure whether it is real or not lightly caresses her mind. It had been February. Six months before her birthday. Exactly six months! Six months to the day, because she had made note of that significance. It had been on the 6th of February.

Triumph courses through her veins and she opens her eyes with a grin, one that fades almost immediately. There are three doors. Six is divisible by one, two, and three. Cursing Orion once more she thinks again. What could it then be, if not math? She grabs the torch once more and moves towards the door frames to inspect the edges in case of any etchings or markings. Frustration wells up inside of her as she finds nothing. Bailey proceeds towards the first doorway and swings the torch around, hoping that something catches her eye. When she points the torch towards the dusty floors she finds her answer. A large number three is drawn into the ground. Moving cautiously towards the middle doorway, she sees the number six and smiles knowingly. Merely to confirm her theory, she meanders to the third doorway and sees the large number nine on the floor. "Damn you, Orion," she says with a small smile and illuminates the path through the middle door as she follows it.

Another circular chamber emerges on the path ahead of her and she is now sweating due to the stifling heat of the fire. Immediately Bailey spots a handle on the side of the wall where she can place the torch and does so gratefully. Then she takes a look around the room and doubt runs through her. There is no exit, only the direction from which she came. Glancing around, she notices a piece of paper tucked into a crevice in the wall in front of her. She walks forward and grabs it.

"Welcome to the final stage and room,

where you must test yourself and think hard,

and not let any unanswered thoughts loom,

or else risk being forever scarred.

When unwanted doubts fill your mind,

and make you question your power to endear,

how do I express myself so kind,

and let you know that I will always be here?"

Despite being the last puzzle, for Bailey it is the easiest. "You're the eye of the storm to the hurricane which is my life," she says aloud with a warm sensation encompassing her body. A rumbling noise so similar to the one she had heard in the library now fills the chamber, and a portion of the stone wall in front of her is shifting. Her vivid green eyes go wide in befuddlement and awe at what she sees next.

Orion is down on one knee in a room filled with roses. Not just any flowers, but roses of many colors. Blue, black, red, white, pink. They are all over the floor, the walls, and the smell is overwhelmingly sweet. Bailey scrunches her nose in some semblance of protection of her sinuses, but it does no good. The image in front of her will forever be seared in her mind.

"Bailey, from the moment I heard that squeal on our first date, I knew that I was going to be marrying you someday. You are the eye of the storm to the hurricane which is my life, and I cannot possibly envision it without you. Will you marry me?" Orion's brown eyes look up at Bailey standing frozen in one place. They are filled with so much love that Bailey almost cannot move.

Almost. After three terse seconds of silence, she runs forward with a delighted squeal and throws her arms around his neck while whispering yes over and over again. Ecstasy flows through both of them as their lips find each other in a lustful and joyous kiss.

The shutting of a book tears Bailey out of her daydream and brings her back to reality. Orion is leaving the library wordlessly, but does not trip this time. Although knowing full well that is was merely a fantasy, Bailey follows suit by shutting her book and getting up. Slowly getting down on one knee, she examines the white marble dog statues by the fireplace and notes with a jolt that one of them is indeed on hinges.

Her heart shoots up into her throat and beats wildly as she reaches forward to tip it over. She holds her breath excitedly as she does this, but nothing happens. No rumbling noise, no sliding of the bookshelf. Disappointment washes through her like waves and she tries to shake it off. "Of course there's nothing there," she whispers to herself. "So dumb," she berates herself and erects the dog once more.

As she walks towards the library door to go and make herself some lunch, she does not hear nor see the trapdoor behind her sitting chair silently sliding back into place.