I don’t have much time, so listen carefully. The police dragged me in for questioning (I didn’t fight them, if I did they’d be dead but anyway), but I didn’t do anything wrong. Quite the opposite. But I’ll get to that later. 

My name’s Skylar Sterling, if you care, but most of my friends call me Sky. I’m eighteen years old. Until a few months ago, I was living in Shady Hills orphanage, which was named quite appropriately.

 Is my life shady? 

Sure. You could say that.

I could start at any point in my unfortunate life to prove it.

I could tell you stories about getting the news my parents were dead, how I got this scar on my nose, anything.

I’ll go easy on you. I’ll tell you about the night when it all started.

Actually, I’ll go a little farther back.

As I approached the Norwood family home, I noticed the bright pink color of the door. It was hard to miss. This was the place where my best and oldest friend, Hiedi Norwood, lived with her mother.

 I knew that Hiedi's grandmother had immigrated to this country from Spain, but what I didn't know until later was that the Norwoods' roots trace back to the African country of Morocco.

Hiedi swung the door open and hugged me. “It’s been so long since I saw you last!” she squealed.

I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. “We saw each other yesterday!” I said, rolling my eyes.

“That was a long time!” Hiedi exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, grabbed her by her leather jacket, and dragged her to my blue Ford f150, a purchase using my late parents’ money, Hiedi still jabbering as I pulled her along.

When I got in the car, I was too amused to be annoyed.

An hour later, Hiedi and I met our friends at the trailhead. 

We started walking. The stars sparkled above us. Our footsteps were crunching on the dirt path. 

The forest was dark, but my friends' voices filled up the would-be silence.  The trees seemed to have faces. 

It sounds boring, but I’m used to it. Boy, did my life flip around.

Where was I?

I was relaxed and happy. My friends always made me feel that way. I remember when I could only go out twice a month in the orphanage. Elizabeth had tried to change it, but I only had two days with these guys before I got to go to school in tenth grade.

I shook away the thought. They only just learned I was an orphan and that didn’t go too well. Hiedi can tell you about it.

We walked in pairs, the path only wide enough for two. I looked at my partner, Hiedi. 

Her hazel eyes gleamed with the moon's light, her chocolate brown pixie cut mirroring the color of her skin. She was one of my best friends, and one of my oldest, too. 

One thing you should know about Hiedi is that she was our glue. Our marshmallow in our s’more. She always wore a leather jacket, even if it was 90 degrees out. She was stubborn like hell.

But once you got to know her, she was a big softie.

She was saying “Yo, Adrien!” (Look it up, kids.)

One of our favorite things to do was to quote 80’s movies like Rocky.

I laughed… and abruptly stopped. My boyf-er, friend- Jake Rockwelle, bumped into me. 

The moon illuminated a house. A big house. 

A large, navy blue house was sitting on the summit of the hill. A sign sat by the front steps that led up to the porch. It read Forest Escape House. Starts when you step inside. No charge. 

My Japanese friend, Mia Marlow, looked doubtful. 

“Are we going there, Sky? There isn’t much info,” she observed, rubbing her pale temples. “ We don’t know if we’ll ever be let out.”

 Jake scoffed, waving her doubts away with a tan, freckled hand. “No escape room does that.”

 “This is an escape house though,” I pointed out.  

Jake Rockwelle was also one of my oldest friends. We met in kindergarten. I remember thinking his hair looked like fire. There, in the moonlight, his hair looked more like flames than ever. The freckles on his skin were the same color as his dark brown eyes.

Willow shrugged indifferently. “Does it matter? We’ll get out either way.”

          That’s what I liked the most about Willow. She was always light-hearted. That night though, she was intimidating. Her lean body. Her long, curly, blond hair draped down her back. Her green eyes flashed in the moonlight. 

Anna ran up the hill at top speed. She was the athletic one around there. She was up the summit and heading toward the steps before we could even blink. Her blond hair stood out on her white lab coat-style jacket and her dark Hispanic skin. She seemed to agree with Willow.

I laughed. I did that a lot with my friends.“You heard ‘em!”  

Some still looked doubtful, but we headed up; Mia, Willow, Jake, Hiedi, and I. 

I stepped up to the door. A wave of doubt swept over me. I looked behind me and peeped, “Are we ready?”

 They all solemnly nodded except Hiedi and Jake. They nodded with a creepy smile and a thumbs-up without blinking. I give them a thumbs-up without blinking back at them. It's a whole thing. I loved those guys.

 I turned back to the handle. We all held our breath as I turned the knob. 

Nothing happened. No alarms went off, and no mechanical arms reached out to grab us, as I was expecting. Stupid. That house was nothing compared to what I’d endure. 

It’s as if that could be a normal house. But the aura was all wrong. Ugg. I’m starting to sound like Mia.

 Willow broke the silence. “So are we going inside or what? I sense avocados and potatoes!”

Let me explain. Willow was the avocado and potato queen. She loved everything avocado, even avocado ice cream. Same with potatoes. Minus the ice cream. If there is potato-flavored ice cream, Willow hasn’t found it.

Jake scrunched his eyebrows together. “You can sense avocados and potatoes?”

Willow nodded. “They are my friends, my sisters,” she explained.

Jake squeezed his eyebrows tighter, his red hair flaming as the porch light flickered.

 “How does that work?”

Willow shrugged. Anna spoke up then, her blond bangs swishing against her dark tan skin.

“Fruits and vegetables can not be our ‘sisters’. That’s not scientifically possible. The botanical definition of fruit is scientifically defined as the mature ovary of a flowering plant that is edible. The botanical definition of vegetables, though, scientists don't have a precise definition of the word vegetable, but the basic definition is “the edible root, tuber, leaf, stem, seed or flower of a plant…” She trailed off. 

“What?!” she asked.

We’re all staring oddly at her at that point. Leave it to Anna to make everything more scientific.

“Um, nothing! Nothing,” I said.

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s go inside!” Jake said, rubbing his hands together. I swallowed and stepped inside, clutching Hiedi’s hand. 

Jake was staring oddly down at our hands. It was a kind of… wistful look. If I knew what we are now… hah.

The house was decorated in a Queen Victoria style. The parlor had two sofas, armchairs, and a coffee table crowded around a fireplace. The door shut behind us.  We fanned out, my not-as-athletic friends flopping on the couch. I hung up my coat, the one embroidered with my name.
Hiedi found a note on the coffee table, picked it up, and stared at it. I came over to her. She looked at me, pale and sweaty.  

“What is it?” I asked. She tried to stutter something out  but failed. Shakily, she handed it to me.

In this escape house, you won’t be solving riddles. You must use brute force to get out or use the items around you. The food and water are limited, so you will most likely die in 3 to 4 days. Good Luck.

                        ….

Scary, right? I thought I played that about right.

Anyway, everyone started crowding around the note. A few hands went up to mouths and a few gagging sounds. Then, for a moment, there was an unfamiliar silence. Anna broke it by running to the door. Locked.

I reached for my phone, hoping to make a call or send a message for help, but as I unlocked the screen, I remembered that there was no cell tower close by. I scanned the area, but there was no wifi router near me either. With no means of communication, we were stuck in the house.

We gathered in the center of the room. I flopped onto a couch and screamed into a pillow. Mia sat down on the floor and put her head between her knees. Willow went off to find her ‘sisters’. 

Jake went into the large kitchen and came out with a slip of yellow folded paper.

It isn’t another note. It's a map of the house, in all its glory. There are 3  floors with a rooftop garden. That’s where the Garden Girl is headed.

Jake sighed, disappointed. “It's too high to jump. I was hoping for a 1 story, possibly 2.”

I stared at him, appalled. “You’d jump off a 2 story building?”

“Only if I had to,” he said as if that was reasonable.

I rolled my eyes.

“What?” he asked. “I do all my own stunts, but never intentionally.” 

By now, everyone, except the Garden girl, was crowded around the map and muttering amongst themselves.

I sighed. Maybe they were deciding who to eat first when we ran out of food….

“Look.” Anna pointed to a room on the second floor. “There’s a sports room.  We might find–”

“- stuff to break the windows!” Jake finished excitedly. His eyes gleamed with anticipation. Oh,  God.

I waved my hand at him, shooing him away.

“Go on, find some hockey pucks to break the windows.”

He grinned. As Jake and Anna scampered up the stairs, I  remembered something.

“Break a window down here!”  “Don’t jump out of a window on the second floor!” I yelled after him. 

“Can’t hear you!” he cheerfully called back.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Again. I will never understand boys. 

Mia knit her eyes together. “Will he be okay?”

I smirked. “Anna will take care of him. Jake's already not okay. Mentally, I mean.”

Hiedi nodded. “ He’s a little strange.”

Mia and Anna shrugged at each other. Hiedi and I are the only ones who knew Jake. Not that that’s a particularly good thing or anything…

Anna studied the note. She looked up and said something about Pi, E=mc2, and the quantum jump.

 We all blinked. She sighed. “I mean that we have to use our brains to get out. Also using  (Insert science words here).” 

“O–kay… Let’s do… whatever Anna just said,” I said, still confused.

Jake came running down the stairs in full hockey gear, with a stick in one hand and a bucket of pucks in the other.

Anna trailed behind him with 2 soccer balls. 

Jake bounced up and down in anticipation. “Can I go first? Please, please, please?”

I raised my eyebrows. Heidi intervened. “Let’s do the soccer balls first.”

Jake pouted in the corner, his auburn eyebrows puckered into a scowl.

 Anna set down her soccer balls, aimed at a fragile-looking stained glass window, and kicked. The ball must have been going 30 miles per hour. 

The window didn’t break. Anna frowned. 

“Let me try,” I said. I kicked the remaining ball at the window.

Again, it didn't break. Jake stepped forward. He aimed.

“Is that outfit essential?” I asked sarcastically.

Jake raised his stick. He brought it down hard. It flew right into the lower corner, the weakest part of the window. I wonder if Jake knew that, or if it was just a lucky shot.

It hit the window. And bounced right off. It shot back and hit Jake right in the face. He fell to the floor. 

We ran over to him. We looked for injuries and saw he had a black eye.

He opened it and grinned weakly at me. “Guess this ‘outfit’ really is necessary.” 

I rolled her eyes. Hiedi helped him up and into a chair. Anna went off to find a first aid kit.

Anna tossed me an ice pack she found in the freezer. I handed it to Hiedi and she put it on Jake's eye. Like I said, Hiedi and I were the only ones who knew Jake. 

I remember when us three met. Boy, were we troublemakers. Hiedi was always the more responsible one if you could call it that. 

Why don’t you talk to Hiedi about this? She has a better memory than I do.

During our kindergarten days, Sky and I were the only ones who knew each other. Our mothers were friends before we were even born.

 At school, Sky and I would stick together, which was a bit unusual as we were quite different in appearance. I was an African-American girl and Sky had the stereotypical Californian look with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. Our old school was not very diverse, so it was quite noticeable.

One day, Jake came crashing into us with a toy plane in his bright red hair, yelling, “The plane’s on fire! Eject, eject, eject!” 

It was an unusual entrance, to say the least. After a long argument about whose fault it was, we finally agreed that it was Jake's fault.

 However, instead of sulking, he helped us up and said "Sorry!" before running away. That was quite unusual for a kid in kindergarten as no one usually said sorry without being told. 

The three of us started hanging out, and life was good.

Then Skylar stopped coming to school.

Jake and I were distraught. They weren’t answering my mom’s texts. We went to her house with our moms, but they weren’t living there anymore. The owners gave us the address they were now living at.

We came to a dreary old gray building the size of a hotel, with a sign that, being in kindergarten, I couldn’t read. 

We went inside and waited for a while, with Jake and I arguing in the corner, and our moms were too tired to break us up.

And then we finally saw her. Skylar. 

She looked tired and stressed, which wasn’t easy for a 5-year-old. She had a new blue baseball jacket, about ten times her size. She still wears it today.

When she saw us, she brightened.

We chattered away while this lady with a perfect body and weird face talked quietly to our moms.

Finally, we had to leave. 

Every day after school, Jake and I biked to the building and met Sky behind the building. We never went to the front of the building, in fear of being caught. Sky wasn’t treated badly, per se, but it wasn’t exactly a five-star hotel.

When we asked what the institution was, Sky replied, “A place for special people like me.”

Jake and I respected that she didn’t want us to know what the gray building was and why she was there, but we couldn’t help but be curious.

Jake and I both met other people, and we had fun, but it wasn’t the same without Sky. 

Eventually, Sky was allowed to go to school in tenth grade. She quickly became friends with my friends.

Jake started drifting away from us. Then Skylar realized what was happening, stormed up to him, slapped him straight across the face, and quickly dragged him back to us (literally and figuratively).

One day in 12th grade, about 3 months ago, Jake and I were biking up to Sky’s place when Jake veered off to the right to the front of the building, instead of going left to the back.

I quickly pedaled after him and saw him stop in front of the hotel-sized building. The sign said Shady Hills Orphanage. 

Jake turned angrily to me. “This is what Sky has been hiding from us, Hiedi! She lied to us!”

I was speechless. 

But then Jake started cursing Skylar with all the cuss words under the sun. That snapped me back to reality.

“Shut up! Just shut up, Jake! She freaking lost her parents! What did you expect? Would you just openly tell us that your parents died in kindergarten?!”

Jake just turned furiously and stormed away.

That night I asked my mom what happened to Sky’s parents, and she told me.

Sky’s parents had been filthy rich, but they had chosen to live in the simple townhouse where Skylar and I had all our playdates. They did own a big underground warehouse, with a giant mansion built on top of it.

Apparently, a lot of people thought they were hogging space and money in the mansion.

The night Sky’s parents died, they were having a big fundraiser in the mansion.

The poorer people had had enough and threw a torch at the house.

The mansion had been engulfed in flames, and Skylar’s parents had perished in the fire, trying to get their guests out first.

I realized what a hard time Slylar must’ve had dealing with this as a five-year-old. I was having a hard time  wrapping my head around as an 18-year-old.

The next day, it was Skylar’s 18th birthday. That meant she was a legal adult and would leave the orphanage.

Jake totally ignored her at school and Sky was mad.

“Listen, you jerk,” Sky yelled when she confronted him in the hallway, “I don’t know who you think you are, but you will tell me why you’re ignoring me!”

“Because we  know what you are!” Jake shouted, turning on her.

“And what is that?” she challenged.

“You’re an orphan!”

Sky went white in the face and just stared at him.

They had had their fights, and I had always fixed their disagreements, but this one took much longer.

I had a sneaking suspicion that Jake had always wanted Skylar as more than a friend.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, Sky had just put the ice pack on Jake’s eye.

That was the time when the Garden girl decided to show up. She was laughing to herself, looking extremely cute, but immediately stopped when she saw Jake's eye.

“What happened?” Willow asked timidly, or rather, normally. She’s always been shy.

The girls led her to the corner and whispered the prior events.

 Anna appeared with the first aid kit. She tossed me some swelling-prevention cream. I dropped the bottle onto Jake's waiting hand. He applied it. 

“Why do you always do this to yourself?” Sky asked, shaking her head.

“Why do you always NOT do this to yourself?” he shot back.

I gave him a funny look.

Mia came over to us then and clapped her hands loudly. “Okay, idiots, we’ve gotta get out of here!”

We gathered around the fireplace. Anna managed to set a log on fire. She was in Girl Scouts starting in kindergarten.

“Okay. Brute strength didn't work. What else does the note say?” Mia asked, fiddling with her hair.

Anna unfolded the note. “It said: ‘You will either need to use brute force to get out or use the items around you.’ That’s it. We can’t break the windows. They must be bulletproof glass. Any ideas?”

Willow raised her hand meekly

“Well, the door is Cuban mahogany, the rarest type of mahogany, and Cuban mahogany is wood, and, tell me if I’m wrong, wood is flammable,” Willow concluded.

“You are a genius!”  Anna exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together.

“I know,” Willow said modestly.

 Anna took a match and struck it against the door. It ignited quickly. We all cheered. We were finally getting out of there! But, of course, it sputtered out as fast as it ignited. We groaned.

“Any other ideas?” Anna asked half-heartedly. 

“We could stargaze to see where we are,” Mia said, apprehensively.

“What good would that do us?” Jake asked from his chair.

“If we’re near a town, we can light a signal fire.” She glared at him, daring him to argue.

“And there is a rooftop garden with all the fruits and veggies you can imagine!” Willow ventured.

“Let’s gather supplies before we go up there. We don’t know if we’ll be trapped up there,” Anna said.

I took out the map. On the first floor, it was just the kitchen, dining room, living room, bedrooms, bathrooms; the basics. On the second floor, there was the sports room, a science lab, a library, a writing study, and stables. On the third floor, an instrument room, arcade, movie theater, art studio, and a room dedicated to taxidermied raccoons. At that last one, Jake burst out laughing. On the roof, the garden, a grill, a pool, a hot tub, a changing room, and an outdoor shower.

Jake whistled. “This place is decked out!”

I smirked. “Yeah.” I stand up.

“Where are you going?”

“The library.”

“No surprise there,” they said together. 

I grinned. I was a known bookworm. Playing the clarinet didn't help much. “Guilty as charged.” I headed up the stairs.

I passed the sports room, chock full of supplies for every sport you can imagine, even underwater basket weaving.

The science lab, with microscopes and bubbling chemicals.

I arrived at the library. It was a room the size of a football field. On the back wall, there were floor-to-ceiling windows. I didn’t try to break them. On the other three walls, were giant bookshelves.

I grabbed a bag from the rack on the wall. I headed for the young adult fiction section. I picked up all three books of The Hunger Games. Next, I headed for the mythology section. I added Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus to my bag. I used to want adventures like theirs. Stupid.

I brought my loot to a desk near the back of the library. An automaton librarian checked out my books for me. She (at least, I think it was a she) warned me to bring them back in two weeks. Or else.

I nodded and headed out. I went across the hall to the writing study. It was small, with a desk in the middle of the room, with a chair, back to the window on the back wall. Two chairs were on the other side of the desk. The sounds of the forest were amplified in the study by some unseen speakers.

I looked out the window and realized it was dawn. We had been awake the whole night. 

The forest was bathed in the warm hues of the sun as it rose up into the sky. The sight of the forest coming to life was nothing short of breathtaking. 

I watched in amazement as the birds perched on tree branches, stretching their wings and taking flight. The squirrels were busy climbing up and down the trees, collecting food for the day. I even caught a glimpse of a deer gracefully bounding through the forest, its hooves barely making a sound on the ground. 

As I watched the animals, I couldn't help but feel a longing to join them. I took a step towards the window, but my exhaustion caught up with me and I stumbled off course. I quickly caught myself on the desk and took a moment to catch my breath. It was then that I realized how tired I truly was. 

I made my way to the nearby chair and sat down, still holding onto my books. As I leaned back, I felt my body sink into the comfort of the chair. The day's events had finally caught up with me, and I drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

     ….

I woke up to a bright light and a shaking of my shoulder.

“Ugg…” I moaned as I groped for whatever it was.

Something gently pushed my hand down. I blinked rapidly, clearing my vision.

Jake and Hiedi were standing over me. I looked behind me to see the sun high in the sky. I blinked again, willing my mind to wake up.

“How long was I out?” I asked, my fatigue lingering.

“A few hours at most,” Jake replied.

I nodded. I looked down. I was still clutching my books. I set them on the desk and stretched.

“Are we ready to go out?” I asked.

Hiedi shook her head. “We have until dusk. Also, Jake wants to see the taxidermy raccoons.”

“But Hiedi won’t let me!” Jake whined, pointing his finger at her like a toddler accusing another of stealing his toys.

I yawned. “Why not, Hiedi?”

“Yeah! Why not, Hiedi!” Jake exclaimed.

Hiedi sighed. I sat up. Jake had three Nerf guns hanging from his belt and a hockey stick strapped to his back.

“Who are you gonna fight with that stuff?” I asked.

“We might need protection.”

“With Nerf guns?” I smirked.

“Hiedi wouldn’t let me use real ones,” Jake explained, sending her a dirty look.

I laughed, stretched again, and stood and ruffled Jake’s hair.

 “Come on, Jake. Let’s go see those raccoons,” I said, striding towards the door.

Jake stuck his tongue out at Hiedi and followed me.

We passed the science lab on our way to the stairs, where Anna stopped us.

“Where are you going?” she asked curiously.

“To the raccoons,” I said, rolling my eyes.

          “Mind if I come along?”  Anna asked.

           Jake shrugged. 

We continued walking down the hallway to the stairs. Jake ran up the stairs, while I dragged myself up; I was still groggy.

We paraded past the music room, arcade, movie theater, and art studio on the third floor. I heard Hiedi on the stairs.

When we got to the taxidermy raccoons, I backed away slowly. The stench was horrible. 

“Come on, the smell isn't that bad,” Jake wheedled.

“You wouldn’t know,” I grumbled, covering my nose. “You almost smell worse.”

Jake ignored that and paraded inside.

Anna grimaced and followed him inside.  She must have had a stronger stomach than me. I sighed, took a deep breath, which I immediately regretted, and stalked after her.

The room was bright, hideously yellow. But the raccoons. The raccoons were horrible. They were stacked on every available surface. On the floors, on each other.

“This,” I gagged, “is why I’m vegetarian.”

“It’s… not that bad, Sky…” Jake wheezed feebly. I scowled at him.

Anna gazed around weakly. She focused her stare on a particularly gruesome pile of raccoons. She suddenly lurched forward and clung to it.

I threw up then.

“Calm down!” Jake yells. His hands were outstretched, like he wanted to help, but didn’t know how. His eyes were full of concern.

“I told you, I’m vegetarian!” I shrieked at him, days of pent-up anxiety rushing out that I instantly regretted.

“Chill out, both of you!” Anna cried, loudest of all.

I turned my glare on her. Then my expression eased. She was not clinging on to them, she was about to move them. 

Suddenly, she did. Anna turned and started tossing them behind her. One hit me. Another wave of nausea flowed out of my mouth.

After I was done, I looked up and saw Anna had uncovered a desk with a small computer on it. The screen showed a 3D replica of the house. It had everyone’s location marked.

Hiedi was in the stables, brushing the horses. Willow on the roof, tending the garden. Mia was in the library, studying astronomy. And us, in that revolting room, watching every movement of each of our friends. 

We all turned to stare at each other with wide eyes. The gears in my brain were working double time. I had to sit down. Jake patted my back.

“Someone is tracking us,” Anna noticed warily.

“We have to get out of here,” I said anxiously, glancing around the room.

 My mind tried to bring everything into reality: Currently, me and my friends were stuck in an escape house, and if we didn’t get out, we’d all die. Oh, did I mention that some creepy person was tracking us and– 

Wait. There was something in my boot. It was long, and cold to the touch farther down, like metal.

“Ahh!” I stifled a scream of pain. The metal was sharp on the edges. A sword or dagger, most likely. 

I wiped the blood on my jeans. I focused my attention on what the others were saying.

“-- Should keep a scout here. Make sure whoever’s tracking us stays away,” Jake was saying. “I’ll take the first watch. You two go warn the others.”

“On it.” Anna sprinted out of the room.

“Don’t hurt yourself again,” I said, indicating the black eye he got from trying to break that window. 

“Why ever would I do that?” Jake joked. 

“This isn’t something to joke about. Here. Don’t tell Hiedi.” I hand him the wicked-looking dagger from my boot.

Jake's eyes widened. He slid his hand down the blade. The way that doesn’t draw blood. 

“Where’d you get this?”

I was wondering the same thing. “In a book in the library,” I lied. I’d tell him the truth once I knew the truth.

“Don’t damage anything with your new toy.”

Jake wasn’t listening. He was already swinging around the blade, occasionally checking his reflection in it.

I rolled my eyes. Typical boy.

I turned and walked through the door. “I’ll bring air freshener!” I called behind me.

I couldn’t tell for sure, but I thought I heard Jake's boyish laugh behind me.

        ….

Willow was happily tending the plants, though her expression hardened when I told her about the computer tracking system. 

We rushed down to the living room, where everyone was gathered, besides Jake, of course.

They took one look at me and insisted I go to bed. I guess I looked pretty bad after that day.

I chose a small, modest blue-walled room. I flopped on the bed and fell asleep immediately.

I dreamt about an old man, stalking me through the darkness. A pruney guy, with too many wrinkles on his forehead alone to count.

 No matter how fast I ran, he was always right behind me. I can always see his bloodshot eyes.

I woke up sweating. I found a can of air freshener and went into the kitchen.

I ate a breakfast consisting of an energy bar, savoring what could be my last meal.

Sorry. Got melodramatic there.

“Don’t eat too much,” Hiedi reminded me.

I nodded and trudged up the stairs to the 3rd floor. I walked past the instrument room, arcade, movie theater, and art studio.

I walked into that revolting room and sprayed. And sprayed. And sprayed. That room smelled inferior.

“That smells better. Where were you? You said you would come back up last night!” An unexpected voice complained jokingly from behind me.

I froze. That didn't sound like Jake.

I turned around and was face to face with a stranger.

     ….

I shrieked and jumped back.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?” the stranger asked. His hands were outstretched, like he wanted to help, but didn’t know how. It was a familiar gesture.

That’s when I realized; it was Jake. He looked completely macabre, with gray skin and bloodshot eyes.

“Jake… is that you? What happened? ” I asked, fearing the worst. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Wait-No. Agh! My brain keeps telling me different things!” Jake yelped.

He started shaking. I flung my arms around him, steadying him.

“Has anyone come in here? Besides me, I mean?” I pressed, anxious.

Jake had to think about it. “...Yes… I think so…” he said hesitantly.

“Who?”

“A m-man.”

“Can you describe him?”

“Short. C-cane. About n-ninety.”

“Anyone else?

“You… That’s it… I think.”

“Go find a bedroom. Sleep.” I squeezed his hand and then dropped it.

Jake handed me the dagger and staggered out of the room. I put the dagger in my belt. Right next to a sword…

I slouched into the desk chair. The old man Jake described sounded exactly like the one from my dream. He must have been the one stocking me with the weapons.

I turned to the screen. Everyone was still in the living room. Jake's icon was stumbling down the stairs. 

Something caught my eye. A crooked-looking icon had appeared in the blue bedroom. My room. The figure moved straight up– to the writing study.

I then knew how this guy got to the bedroom, the study, and the room I was currently in without being detected.

Wait. The room I was currently in…

I turned abruptly and froze. 

Two floorboards lift. A silhouette rises.

I flipped on the light switch.

The figure was the old man from my dream. He was shorter than me, around three feet. His skin was so wrinkly, that he looked like a sunbleached, overgrown prune.

He had a single hair on his head, combed back in a failed attempt to cover up his baldness. 

Dude, that is not helping, I thought.
Ever heard of hair plugs?

He leaned on a mahogany cane, most likely fireproof, like the front door. 

“Are you the one tracking us?” I asked, trying, and probably failing, to hide my fear.

His face, however, was an expressionless mask. “Yes,” He answered simply.

“Why?” I asked, trying to distract myself from my uneasiness.

He seemed to notice this and smiled. “ ‘Fear is just another word for ignorance,’” He quotes. 

I scowled at him. “I asked, ‘Why?’”

He sneered at me. “Are you dunce? To know where you are. What are they teaching children these days?”

Dunce? “I’m eighteen.”

“Oooooh. I’m so scared.” 

This man was clearly trying to provoke me. “Why did you create this escape room?” I asked, drawing my sword.

“Because at my age, there’s not much to do.”

“Watching people slowly die is entertaining to you?!” I was getting agitated.

“Just wait until you get to my age.” He waggled his finger at me.

I grit my teeth. “What’s your name?”

“Earl Gray the 3rd, Esq. What’s yours?

“I think you already know.”

“Correct, Skylar Sterling.”
I shivered. Then I composed myself. “Is this house rigged? So we can’t get out?”

“No, but that is a good idea.” He seemed surprised that a blond, blue-eyed, eighteen-year-old girl could come up with a good idea.

“No, it’s not!” I exclaimed angrily. “It’s a horrible, revolting, devious, evil idea!”

“Eh. Since you know about me and my…er…endeavors, you aren’t allowed to live.” REAL creative line, Earl. I’m so proud.

“I’m not going down without a fight,” I said, hefting my sword. 

He tapped his cane on the ground and a spear point protruded from the end of it, then leaned on it, as if that was a perfectly normal occurrence.

I backed away. No way was I getting impaled by a spear–cane- thing with an old prune–like man on the other end of it.

“That’s right, little girl. Be afraid. Very afraid,” Earl scoffed.

I remember the moment vividly. My heart was pounding in my chest as I charged towards Earl with my sword raised high. His eyes locked onto mine, and I could see that he was ready for my attack. I swung my sword with all my might, but Earl sidestepped easily, leaving me vulnerable to his counter-attack. In one swift motion, he slashed my nose, leaving a deep scar that I still bear to this day.

But I refused to let the pain stop me. I was seething with anger and determined to take down my opponent at any cost. So, I charged again, this time more recklessly than before. I managed to land a deep cut on Earl's cheek, but before I could dodge away, he slashed me across my chest with his own sword.

The pain was excruciating, and I felt myself falling to the ground. But I refused to give up. I mustered all my strength and raised my sword once more, my eyes blazing with a fierce determination to win this battle, no matter the cost..

“Oh, good. Entertainment for Earl!” He squealed.

“This is like the Hunger Games,” I sighed.

“Is that by Mark Twain?” Earl asked, confused. 

          I used that teaching moment to punch him in the nose. After breaking Earl’s nose, I slashed his chest and kicked him down.

“No, It’s by Suzanne Collins,” I said, answering his question, as I kneeled and looked him in the eyes.

“By a girl? Preposterous!” He claimed, clutching his nose, broken by a ‘little girl’.

My mind was taken over by my anger, setting it in some sort of trance. “Soon you’ll be saying, ‘Killed by a girl? Why me?’” I sneered.

“No, please!” Earl pleaded. He tried to kick me off.

“Goodbye, Earl,” I said, without any remorse.

My dagger dug deep. His eyes went lifeless.

Suddenly, I snapped out of my trance and felt a tsunami of regret. I had just taken someone’s life. What happened to being vegetarian and humane? And after my parents died in that fire…

I closed his eyes with my fingers. I stared at my dagger, still embedded in Earl’s chest. The same one that is now under inspection in the next room over. Yeah. Use that information to your liking.

I looked at him. If I am the cause of his death, don’t I deserve death too?

Maybe…I could have made it fair.

I reached for my sword, which was still lying on the ground.

I froze.

I heard footsteps. Then panicked voices.

“I heard a scream!”

“Is she alright?!”

“Oh crap!”

“Sky!”

“Skylar?”

“SKYLAR?!” 

Jake and Hiedi burst into the room, sweating. They stopped when they saw the body. Jake went pale.

That g-guy! I know him!” Jake stuttered, growing paler. “He d-did  stuff t-to my brain!”

I wanted to ask what exactly he did, but I didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself.

“He’s gone now.” I looked down, avoiding what I knew were their disapproving expressions.

“Did you do this?” Hiedi asked gently.

“I’m sorry. I’m just as bad as him! 

Can I go now? Why not? Is it important for national security? This is hard, okay? No, you don´t understand. Fine. I will keep going. Just not willingly. Where was I? Oh, right.

I buried my head in my hands, sobbing.

I felt arms enveloping me. I looked up. Through my tears, I saw everyone, even Jake, had me in a tight hug.

“Aren’t you mad at me? For what I did?” I asked reproachfully. 

“Didn’t you do it to protect us?” Mia asked, As I watched the light bulb flicker and dim, I couldn't help but notice how her dark hair caught the last rays of light, making it shine in a captivating way. Her hair reached down to her waist, and I found it trendy and alluring. Her skin was almost ghostly pale, reminding me of freshly fallen snow.

 But what stood out the most was her red, puffy jacket, which was the color of blood. She always wore it and it added a pop of color to her otherwise monochromatic outfit, making her stand out even more.

“Yeah…,” I said carefully, studying their faces.

“Then you don’t need to worry about it,” Hiedi said confidently.

“Let’s get out of here,” Anna said, studying the raccoons fearfully.

“Is this house rigged? So we can’t get out?” Jake asked as we walked down the hall, Anna staying behind to try to figure out the computer system.

They all looked at me then, which is fair, I guess since I was the one who killed him.

“I asked him. He said no. That’s what Earl said.”

“Earl?” Jake said, trying not to laugh.

“Yes. Earl Gray,” I responded, feeling hollow.

A snigger escaped his lips, and Willow glared at him.

“Let’s go with the original plan for right now. Stargazing. Signal fire,” she said, still giving him the stink eye.

Mia said excitedly, “There’s a whole astronomy section in the library! And a telescope!”

She ran out of the room.

“I can go make ropes out of the vines in the garden!” Willow suggested and raced out.

Anna went down to the science lab.

Hiedi, Jake, and I sat with our backs to the wall in silence.

After a while, Hiedi broke the silence. “I know what you’re thinking. Why we aren’t mad or repulsed? We just know… you’re not evil or dangerous.”

“Yeah. I remember you stopped me from shooting a squirrel with a Nerf gun,” Jake added.

“That’s different.” I walked down the stairs to the second floor glumly. I stopped at the study to pick up the library books that were still there. 

I walked into the library, waved at Mia, flopped into a tight corner seat, and started to read.

Two hours later, I was halfway through the second Hunger Games book, when Jake burst into the library.

“She’s done it! Anna’s done it!” He screamed joyfully to the world.

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the automaton librarian hissed across the room.

“Sorry,” Jake muttered and then turned to me.

“What has Anna done?” I asked him quietly.

“She’s turned off the escape room thing!” Jake howled.

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the librarian urged.

“What?!” I asked, jumping up, grabbing his shoulders, and shaking him.  “Really and truly?!”

“Y-yeah!” Jake shouted back at me, just as enthusiastically. 

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the automaton demanded.

“Okay, Okay, Sheesh,” Jake muttered, rolling his eyes. “Oh, and also…”

“Hello, everyone!”  Anna’s voice rang out from both nowhere and everywhere at once

“... She figured out how to use the loudspeaker,” Jake finished.

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the librarian screeched to the ceiling as if Anna could hear.

“Okay, geez,” Anna’s voice mumbled. “Anyway, I figured out how to turn off the escape room lock mechanism!”

Cheers rang out through the building. I joined them.

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the librarian pleaded.

“Bad news though… By my calculations, the computer will finish loading in about three days. Exactly the amount of time the note said one person would survive.”

Groans instead of cheers now.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Why don’t we just survive off the garden?’ Well, Willow has discovered that once she picks a plant, nothing grows back in the same place. We will need to ration the supplies. Hiedi, please gather all food items from the kitchen. Mia, get all the supplies we might need for sleeping, stargazing, and making a signal fire. Jake, gather things we might need for hunting,(sorry, Hiedi and Sky, I know you two are vegetarian) and everyone, gather anything you think we might need. All of you, brainstorm ideas to get out of here! Meet on the roof at dusk, and bring all necessary items. See you soon. ”

We all plunged into a now familiar silence. It felt wrong. Poisoned. Awkward.

“So… What’re your ‘necessary items?’” Jake asked after a long pause.

“Books.”

“Shoulda known.”

“What are you bringing?”

“The hockey gear, hunting supplies, Nerf guns… that sort of thing…”     

I sighed.

“What is it?” he asked worriedly.

“It's nothing.”

“Oh. Okay…”

A long silence.

“You better go collect all–” I shuddered, “- your hunting things. Lucky you have a useful skill.”

“You have useful skills!”

“Name two.”

“Well, you are our best strategist.” He put his index finger up to stop my protest.  “Let me finish. Also, you are a better fighter than all of us. Except maybe me.”

“You have something to say to me, hockey boy?”

“You’d probably kick my butt.”

“You know I’d kick your butt.”

“Though not in hockey.” His eyes twinkled mischievously.

“You’re on!” I smirked.

“Oh! I forgot to show you! Come on!” Jake exclaimed quietly, glancing at the suspicious librarian as he sprinted out of the room.

I waved at Mia and curiously jogged after him.

Jake headed down the hall to the sports room. Once inside, he made a beeline to the hockey gear.

“Are you going to mingle among the hockey gear?” I mocked him.

“Haha. But no. Watch.” He pressed a button under the Zamboni. (A Zamboni wets the ice after a game, filling the ruts made by the skates.) I didn’t know why that was there. There’s no rink to–

The wall shuddered, then split open. It revealed a full-size hockey rink, complete with penalty boxes and bleachers.

Jake grabbed a bag of gear and handed me another one.  I started to open the bag to check sizes, but he stopped me.

“The gear auto-adjusts sizes to fit you perfectly,” Jake informed me. 

I nodded. After the past two days, that wasn’t too surprising. He pointed me to the girls' locker room.

Lockers lined three walls, with shower stalls on the other wall. Benches sat in the middle of the room.

I threw my stuff in a locker and headed for a shower. I washed up. Fresh clothes were waiting for me. I changed and laced up my skates.

When I was all geared up, I stepped outside and found Jake waiting at the top of the bleachers. I ran up the bleachers, barely tripping over my skates.

“Took long enough.”

“I haven’t taken a shower in three days.”

“You get showers in your locker room?!” 

“Yeah.”

“Can we switch locker rooms?”

“Sure, why not?” I laughed.

Jake leaped down the stairs. “Then, let’s play!” He stepped into the rink and immediately started skating laps around the rink.

I ran after him. I stepped into the rink. Jake passed me and I raced after him. 

After beating him in races, we scrimmaged. I was the faster one, but Jake was better with a stick.

I snapped back from my thoughts when Jake passed the puck to me. I tried to catch it with my stick But, I was not focused, and the puck slid away.

“You’ve got to get your head in the game, Sky,” Jake lectured, gliding over to me. 

“I know,” I sighed. “I’m a bit distracted right now.”

We skimmed over to the penalty box. I sat on the bench and Jake leaned against the wall. We stayed that way for a few minutes, thinking.

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Jake said quietly.

“But it is!” I screamed at him. He looked up at me, startled. “Everything bad that’s happened to us here is my fault.”

“How could you think that? Sure you killed Earl, but otherwise we’d all be dead! If you hadn’t let me go up to the raccoons, we wouldn't have known about anyone tracking us! Then he would have killed us off, or watched us die, one by one!”

I glanced at him. His expression looked sincere. I smiled. “Thanks, Jake, that made me feel a lot better.”

“Don’t mention it.”

A thought struck my mind like lightning. I abruptly stood up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got to get a piece of paper!”

“Why?”

“I’ve got an idea to get out of here!” With that, I bolted out of the room.

….
I can see Jake right now through the glass door. I can read his lips. You know what he’s saying? 

No?

 I’ll translate. 

Ahem.

 What did you do with Sky? Ugg, can’t believe it, captured by cops, disgraceful.  Answer your questions? Tell me where Sky is first! 

 So that’s Jake for you. Overprotective as always.  If he wasn’t such an idiot, my idiot, by the way, he would just look through the door separating our interrogation rooms.

And you weren’t such idiots, you’d point him towards me and Hiedi because then he might actually answer your questions.

Oh?

Get back to your questions?

Okay.

Where was I?

Oh, when I had that idea?

Jake didn’t try to stop me. I wouldn't have listened to him, anyway.

“Hello, everyone,”  the intercom crackled as I spoke.

I was in the taxidermy room, surrounded by the hideous things. Anna was there, too.

I told them about finding the sword and dagger, interrogating and killing Earl, playing hockey, Jake lecturing me, and finally, I told them my idea.

“Earl rose through the floor, right? So we should be able to get down through his trapdoors!”

I heard celebration. And a faint “SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

A couple of days ago, I would have laughed. But right then, I just feel hollow. 

“We should still meet on the roof at sunset. I’ll see you all at dusk.”

I turned off the mic.  

I could tell you more now… but this is where it gets complicated. 

It’s time to bring Hiedi and Jake into this.

As everyone cheered, there was nothing I could do but join in. But deep inside, I truly enjoyed being in that place. It had everything I found appealing, from the indoor soccer field where I could practice my skills to the stable with its lively flock of chickens. Every corner of that place had a charm that drew me in, and I felt content in its midst.

I didn’t want to leave. Why is everyone else so eager to? I even heard Jake and Sky found a hockey rink.

I sighed and headed down to the writing study. I wrote an invitation for a rerun of Mary Poppins at 3:00. It's a whole thing. I put it in the photocopier. 

When it was done, I went around handing them out. Sky was especially excited, being the one to introduce me to old movies, though I couldn’t find Jake anywhere in the mansion.

“I think he’s still in the rink,” she guessed when I asked her about it. I nodded and headed down to the sports room.

The room’s walls were covered in blue gym mats, and there were piles of gear for every sport imaginable.

I was tempted to try underwater basket weaving, but a cold gust of wind reminded me of why I was there.

  The rink was still open. I walked inside, stood at the top of the bleachers, and peered around, looking for Jake. 

Nothing. 

I knocked on the boy’s locker room door.

No answer.

I peeked into the girl’s locker room. There were two sets of gear. Could Jake and Sky have changed together? I mean, they were close, but not that close… No. Sky was too pure to have let him.

I didn’t want to think about it. I marched out of the rink and climbed the black iron, spiral staircase to the theater. I started the pre-show, then went into the employee-only door. 

I found the popcorn machine and a bunch of candy. I went to the refreshment stand and spread out my loot.

People started arriving at 3:50. I was surprised to see most of them were in fancy dresses as if it was the premiere of Mary Poppins, not a rerun 50 years later.

As I turned around, my eyes landed on Sky, who was standing there in a simple yet stunning dress that immediately caught my attention. She was wearing a Greek toga-like dress, with a flowing fabric that resembled the color of the sky on a clear day. The skirt was billowy and had just the right amount of puffiness, which added to its elegance as it cascaded down to the floor. Her blond hair was styled in a high ponytail, with one-half of it in a side braid that added a touch of playfulness to her overall look. The attention she drew from everyone in the room was no surprise to me, as she looked absolutely stunning.

Despite that, she was glaring at everyone, but mostly Mia, who looked at Sky the way a painter would look at their masterpiece.

“Mia got to me,” she said when she saw me looking. I nodded. Mia had a hobby of dressing Skylar against her will.

“Where’d you…”

Sky understood immediately. “Earl thought dressmaking was an art, so he added it to the art room’s selection. Yay.”

I cringed sympathetically. I’d rather wear a collared shirt or a leather jacket than a dress. I don’t even think I own a dress anymore.

“Could I get some popcorn?”

“Sure.”

Once I got everyone's food and got them seated, I went up to the projector and started the movie.

While I watched, I wondered where in the world Jake was. After the last two days, I just hoped he didn’t get himself killed. I would miss him if he died.

Okay. I wasn’t dead. That was good. I tested my limbs. Nothing broken. I stood up slowly. I had just fallen about 30 feet down from the trapdoor that Earl had risen through. It took some feeling around to find the button.  

I winced as  I put weight on my ankle. Probably sprained or twisted, nothing I couldn’t handle.

I looked around and saw one of those construction elevators to the right from where I stood. I groaned at my own stupidity. So that was what that other button was for.

The room was full of machines and automatons. I didn’t have a clue what they did and was not sure I wanted to find out.

 Except one.

 I ran my finger along the manacles that bound me to the torture.

He made me tell him everything. My life, my mission, my loved ones…

I shake it off.  He’s dead, I tell myself. He can’t hurt you anymore, he can’t hurt your friends, he can’t hurt S-Ugg.

Okay. Focus on getting out of– I saw a table with a small modest leatherbound journal sitting on it. I opened it and flipped through the pages until finally, I found what I was looking for.  

July 1st

I’ve done it! I’ve finished the escape house! I will now be entertained forever! Also, my young mistress will finally be satisfied, but that’s not important. My wife, Margot, escaped from her cell. Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you. I put Margot into my dungeon for treason. You see, my future telling contraption has told a prophecy.

There was a picture of a teenage girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and a tattered blue baseball jacket.

Anywho, Margot thought I should call off my mission, so I put her in the dungeon. And now she has escaped! She is probably alive somewhere.

Then, three months later, he wrote:

October 3

We found Margot. She is not causing any trouble, so
I have let her be, by order of If you follow the river down to the boulder with a dead Ponderosa pine tree, then turn left and keep walking that way, you’ll come across a cave, and in that cave is Margot’s home. I am now in the market for a guardian for her.

Wow. A prophecy about Skylar! I had got to show her!... And everyone else too… 

I ran back to the escape house.

We were just getting to the closing credits when Jake burst into the room.

As I saw him, he appeared to be in a terrible condition. His forehead was glistening with sweat, and there were beads of perspiration on his neck. He had a cut on his forehead, and his shirt was stained with blood. 

He was also limping and couldn't seem to put much weight on his right ankle. Though he was walking, he was doing so with a noticeable limp. 

I stood up. He stopped and stared at me in that hideous blue dress. (Who am I kidding. If I had to wear a dress, it would be this one. Mostly because it was blue.)

I ran over to him. 

“Oh my god, Jake, are you okay?” I fretted, checking his ankle. I probed it, and he bit  back a groan. 

I thought I was imagining the flush on his cheeks when Hiedi handed me the first aid kit.

I used my high school medical training to splint the ankle. I found the source of the blood was his scalp, so I bandaged it tightly.

“You’re great at this kind of thing,” Jake remarked.

“Thanks.”

“Nice dress.”

“Haha,” I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood for Jake’s games.

“I’m serious. It looks great on you.” 

I looked into his face, but he was tall enough that I had to crane my neck. I just studied his features for a moment. I never noticed before, but he was kind of cute.

(Just to clarify, I am not that short anymore. That was 5 months ago. I’m like 3 inches taller than I was.)

“Thanks,” I decided to say.

 I turned to address the room. “I’m going on guard duty. Keep an eye on him.” They nodded.

 I turned back to Jake.

“Try to stay out of trouble,” I commanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I softened. “I mean it.” I quickly hugged him and headed to the taxidermy raccoon room.

           ….
I sat in the taxidermy raccoon room, pinching my nose hard. I had used up all the air freshener, but the room still smelled revolting.

I heard a “WHAT?!” below me, but I didn’t care. The girl’s icons started chasing Jake's icon around. 

I smiled. What has Jake done now?  

Whatever he did, he probably deserved it.

I spun the swivel chair around and around. When I stopped I saw the girls had caught up with Jake and seemed to have tied him up.

Eh. Still probably deserves it. I thought about going down to stop them. Nah. He’d be fine…Probably.

I went back to my spinning.

After a few minutes, I got bored and watched the screen again. Hiedi seems to have been lecturing Jake. 

I took out my sword and started sharpening it.

After half an hour, I looked up and found Hiedi dragging Jake up the stairs. I was mildly surprised. I thought Hiedi would go on for at least another two hours.

I turned toward the door. Hiedi stormed in, hauling Jake along with her. He looked up at me. He’s cuter than normal when he’s terrified.

Help me, the look said. I smiled and shook my head. Jake looked even more terrified than ever.

I remembered about 45 minutes ago, he was scarlet instead of pale, right after I hugged him. No big deal.

I’ve kissed boys plenty of times, mostly orphans at my orphanage. No way was I going back there. Now that I’m a legal adult, there are no more orphanages for me.

"What trouble did Jake get himself into this time?" I asked wearily, while secretly trying to contain my curiosity. In the orphanage, showing too much interest in anything was frowned upon, but I couldn't help my curiosity.

 It's almost like Jake has a secret talent for causing chaos wherever he goes.

“He knew where the trapdoors are and where they go!” Hiedi exclaimed furiously.

I yawned. “And why is that a problem?”

“Yeah, Hiedi, why is that a problem?” Jake piped up. I shot him a look.

Jake shut up.

“It's a problem that he didn’t tell anybody that he knew where the trapdoors were because it's our only way out of here! " Hiedi exclaimed.  “And it's a problem that he didn't tell us about Earl torturing him for information!”

“Wait, what?!” I stood up with a cry. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” I screamed at Jake.

“Umm…Didn’t want to make you sad??” He suggested feebly.

“Didn’t want to make me sad?!” I yelled. “Are you serious?!” Why was he dense?! 

“Umm, yeah?¨ he said hesitantly.

“Why are you so difficult?!” I yelled.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“Why are you so upset?” Jake yelped, bewildered.

“Why are you so stupid?!”

“Why??”

“Because I like you, you idiot!” I screamed, storming out of the room, leaving a very confused Jake behind me.

I waited a few more minutes after Jake left, and then I went to the library.

Skylar was squeezed into a tight corner seat, about a third of the space filled with cushions and pillows. She was burying herself in a book again. 

I rolled my eyes.

“You need to stop hiding from your life.”

Sky gave a little jump, then went still again.

I sighed and crammed myself next to her. Sky finally looked at me.

“What do you want, Hiedi? I just want to be left alone,” Sky said, exasperated.

She looked flushed and I felt her forehead. Sky’s eyes were bloodshot, too. I thought about telling her to go to sleep, but she probably wouldn’t listen to me.

“Why are you so embarrassed? You’ve liked boys before.”

“Yeah, but they weren’t my best friend!” She glanced at me and added, “Well, besides you, I mean.”

“Well, gee,  thanks!” I said sarcastically. 

“You know what I mean. Anyway, I’ve known Jake forever, and our friendship was totally platonic. But… for a couple of months, it's been a bit different, I guess. Like I caught Jake looking at me in Study Hall a couple weeks ago, but then he wouldn’t talk to me for a while.”

“He likes you too! I know it.”

“Just leave it alone, Hiedi.”

“No, I won’t!” Sky looked at me, surprised. I never raised my voice. “You two like each other and I want you together!”

“You’re starting to sound like Mia!”

“Is that such a bad thing? She just wants people to be happy together! I am tired of getting stuck between you two!”

Sky just looked at the floor.

“And another thing! I’ve had enough of you just backing out of the world, and going into your tortoise shell!”

And just like that, Sky snapped.

“J-just stop! I just want to be alone, ok?”

“Fine. But if you two aren’t together by the end of the week, I’ll tell Mia!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Anything but her!”

Mia can be a bit of a tyrant when it comes to matching-making. And fashion. And astronomy. And…  Well,   you get the point. She’s a tyrant most of the time.

“Just get together with him, and you’ll be fine.”

“Why are you so annoying?” Sky asked, throwing up her hands.

She always did that when she’s given up.

I gave her a smug smile. “Just remember.”

I mockingly strutted out of the room.

I watched as Hiedi flounced from the library. I cringed as I thought of everyone else hearing about this conversation. Of Mia hearing of this conversation.

I resolved to ignore Jake for the next week until I know what the crap is going on.

I stalked across the hall to the lab. I peeked inside and found Anna prying open the window with a crowbar. 

“What are you doing?” I asked. She jumped and turned around, wielding the crowbar like a club. She relaxed when she realized it was me.

“I went down into the basement and grabbed this.” Anna indicated the crowbar. 

“Cool.” I paused, looking around the room, looking for something to keep my eyes occupied. I didn’t want to look her in the face. I didn’t want to see anyone’s faces, their disapproving eyes, their faces that reminded me so much of my parents, the wretched last expressions I saw before the fire.

“Sky? You there?” Anna was back, waving her hand in front of my face.

“I was saying that I got this falcon whistle so we can get a falcon. Any more questions?”

“Just one. Why?”

“You,” she gestured at me, “Your name is Sky, correct?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“In my culture, our names indicate what we are supposed to do in life.”

“Uhh… I don’t think so–” 

Anna held up her hand to stop me.

“Not in traditional Hispanic culture, but in the Garcia clan we do it differently.”

“Okay...”

“Anyway, your name, Sky, means you have to do something with the,” she gestured out the window, “well, the sky.”

“And you’re getting me a falcon… instead of a jet or something?”

Do you have a jet-flying license you can show me?” Anna asked.

“Good point…” I laughed nervously. With Anna, I always felt dumb.

“Anyway, I’m getting back to getting you a falcon.” She jabbed a finger at me.

I raised my hands and backed out of the room, closing the door.

Turns out Anna can be a tyrant too.

I sat against the door, thinking. About what, I can’t remember. Just then I heard a scream and a piercing caw-shriek noise.

I ran into the room, and slammed open the door, to see a beautiful black and white falcon resting on Anna’s shoulder.

“I believe,” Anna said, “That this is yours.”

I shook my head at Hiedi’s scheme. “Why are you playing matchmaker? I don’t know much about your group, but I’m pretty sure that’s Mia’s job.”

I think sometimes Hiedi forgot I was new to everyone, except her and Sky.

“Well, I care about your happiness,”  Hiedi muttered.

We were sitting in the bleachers of the hockey rink. Hiedi had just walked in. She had just finished explaining her plot to me, but it didn’t really click in my brain.

“And I appreciate it, but now is not the time! We have to get out of here, which I don’t freaking know why we aren’t doing that now. I’m freaking confused and angry and sad and happy and jealous and stupid and-and- and all at the same time and I don’t freaking know what to do!” I exploded.

As I stood there, waiting for her reaction, I anticipated a typical human response - perhaps she would recoil, shout back, or display some form of emotional reaction. But to my surprise, she remained still and simply gazed at me with those mesmerizing deep brown eyes that I always found unnerving. It was strange, as most people found Sky's icy blue eyes unsettling, while Hiedi's warm and welcoming brown eyes put them at ease. However, in my case, it was the complete opposite.

Yeah? 

Skylar doesn’t scare you?

 Ha. You haven’t seen her in action. We wouldn’t be in here if Sky decided to fight. Or if I decided to fight sooner. My arm still hurts from that taser of yours. 

Mind if I borrow it? No? Dang it.

Anyway, Hiedi was just staring at me. I looked away, nervous. She grabbed my hand. I looked over at her, surprised. What she did next surprised me more. 

She literally judo-flipped me over her shoulder and pinned me to the ground with her boot.

I just stared at her in shock.  She was even scarier then. 

“Why are you two so DIFFICULT?” she hissed through her teeth. “You’ve both liked each other for ages, and now you know the other likes you back, and you still are questioning it!”

She turned and stormed out of the room. I just laid there for a while, thinking. Thinking stuff like what comes first, the chicken or the egg?  What? Don’t tell me you haven’t ever thought that! Like, bro, the egg comes from the chicken, but the chicken comes from the egg!  Fine…

I was contemplating the complex mystery of the chicken or the egg, which is a very good use of my time, by the way, when Sky walked in and sat down next to me, on the floor. 

“So…” I said.

“Just don’t,” Sky said. She looked at the ice forlornly. 

I was about to pat her back when I saw a thing with beady yellow eyes perched on her shoulder.

I shrieked- I mean manfully yelled- and jumped up.

Sky looked at me curiously. Then realization dawned in her eyes and she burst out laughing.

“You’re-you’re scared of a bird?” She managed between hysterical laughter and tears.

I gathered the dignity I had left and squared my shoulders. “Noooo….” I said.

“Yes, you are! You literally screamed out loud!” She dissolved back into giggles.

“Jeez, can you contain yourself? You’re eighteen, for crying out loud!” I said, trying not to laugh myself.

Sky stopped laughing and looked at me. “Why are you suppressing your feelings?”

“What?”

“You’re not letting yourself laugh, or cry, or anything. Why?”

“Uhh…”

“Why are you hiding yourself? We are all supporting each other.”

“Umm..”

“Don’t forget, I’m the one who killed someone. Not you. What do you need to hide?”

I didn’t bother to answer. Nothing. I was hiding nothing. I’m an open book. Why am I hiding?

“Think it over.” She stood up and looked me in the eye. “Who are you, Jake Rockwelle? Who are you trying to be?” 

She turned around and walked away.

I ran after her and grabbed her hand. “Look, I don’t know why I shut down on you. I just have had a hard time lately.”

She snorted. “Really? In the last two days, I’ve gotten trapped in this house, killed a guy, lost you for  5 hours, and discovered my feelings for, um… you.” Sky looked at her feet.

I was taken aback. Sky truly liked me...Wow.  

“Anyways,” Sky said briskly, “Can you help me in the armory?  I need to get everyone a weapon in case Earl has set up any traps.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I mumbled. I looked up. “There’s an armory?”

“Yeah, I found another secret button.”  Sky was avoiding my eyes.

“Are there guns? And snipers? Oh, and spears?” 

“Um, I think… Yes, no, and yes,” Sky smirked. She was slowly returning to her old self.

“Dang it, I  wanted a sniper!” I moaned.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

I strapped into my harness and grabbed the rope. “Do I jump down or..?” I ask Anna.

She scratched her head. “It depends. I have to be able to carry your weight with the rope, and if you jump, that’s putting more force on my hands, which might cause me to drop the rope.”

We were standing in Skylar’s room and looking down through the trapdoor that led to Earl’s secret lab.

“So no jumping,” I said, shaking.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Willow asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. Her green eyes were bright in the darkness. I looked at her hand on my shoulder and blushed.

She didn’t seem to notice.

 “Y-yeah,” I replied.

Yeah, I’m lesbian. So what?

Suddenly she took my hands in hers and smiled. Her cheeks turned red and she looked down.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

I blushed. Did she… like me back?

“I hate to break up this very romantic moment between two people I ship,  but I’d hate to not do an experiment even more,” Anna said.

Willow and I broke apart, blushing furiously.

“Oh, you guys are so cute! Anyway, Hiedi, just drop down, carefully, when you’re ready.”

I took a deep breath, waved at Anna and Willow, and descended into the darkness.

As I went down, I thought about how I met Willow and the rest of my friends. 

During my 7th-grade life science class, I was struggling to distinguish between the metaphase and prophase disks under the microscope. 

Just then, someone with cool hands touched mine and began sorting the disks without even looking through the microscope. 

As I looked up, I saw a girl named Willow, wearing a light green shirt and dark green overalls, standing beside me. Her gentle touch and effortless expertise were a welcome relief, and I'll never forget that moment.

We quickly became friends, and soon after that, she introduced me to her friends, Mia and Anna. Mia was the girl, the one all the girls came to for advice, and the boys came to for a date, which she always declined after her break up with her boyfriend Cole.

Anna was the girl who didn’t know the power of the information she knew. She would say something about, I don’t know, E=MC 2, in first grade. 

I had known these three since kindergarten, but I had never actually interacted with them besides school projects and things like that.                                                                 

I realized that they filled the hole that Sky had left. I still missed her, but it was less lonely.

Jake was off with his friends, and we barely spoke besides on our daily visits with Skylar.

 Then Sky joined our school in tenth grade, realized that Jake hadn’t hung out with me at school, and made it right.

She had marched up behind him in the library and hit him across the back of his head, causing him to fall straight into his homework.

“What the crap-,” He started, turning around. His mouth dropped open when he saw Skylar.

 “Sky! What’re you doing here? he asked, smiling and scratching the back of his head.

“You moron,” Sky growled. 

“What did I do this time? Is it about that book I forgot to give back to you? I’m sorry, but I was-”

She slapped him again. “Why do I have to explain everything to you?! You’re ghosting Hiedi!”

I came up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Skylar, it’s fine. Leave him alone.”

Sky sighed and lowered her hand. She kept glaring furiously at him.

“W-what are you doing here, Skylar?” Jake asked.

“I joined your school. Now, if you are quite done being an idiot, I’d like a tour,” she announced pompously.

We showed her around. We were an odd trio. A 5 '8 redhead 10th grader, a 5' 6  African-American with a pixie cut and a leather jacket, and a 5 '4 blonde, tan unfamiliar teenager wearing a too-big blue baseball jacket. As I made my way through the lab, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at all the machinery and equipment that surrounded me. The air was thick with the sound of whirring gears, humming engines, and the occasional clank and clang of metal. I ran my hands along the cool metal surfaces of the machines, feeling the rough texture of the gears, the smoothness of the wires, and the sturdy weight of the poles. 

As I approached one of the tables, I noticed a collection of sketches and schematics scattered across its surface. The drawings depicted all sorts of machines, maps, and inventions, each one more intricate and fascinating than the last. I felt a sense of wonder as I gazed at the detailed illustrations, lost in thought and daydreaming about the incredible possibilities they represented.

Suddenly, my eyes fell upon a particular sketch that caught my attention. It was a blueprint for a strange, mechanical orb, with intricate designs etched into its surface. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I realized that this was the very machine that I had read about, the one that held the power to change everything. 

I tore my eyes away from the drawing and looked around the lab, searching for any sign of the machine itself. And then I saw it - an old, mechanical orb, sitting on a custom bronze stand in the corner of the room. I walked towards it slowly, almost reverently, my heart pounding with anticipation and excitement. As I reached out to touch it, I couldn't help but wonder what secrets and wonders it held within its metallic shell..

I introduced her to my friends, and there was an instant bond between Mia and Skylar.

When Mia and Sky first met, they were both skeptical of each other. But as they got to know each other, they discovered that they shared a lot in common. Mia appreciated Sky's decisive nature and the way she always knew what she wanted. And Sky was drawn to Mia's confidence and the way she always stood up for what she believed in.

Before long, they became inseparable. They were the perfect team, working together to tackle everything from bullies to harassers to anyone who they felt was doing wrong. They had each other's backs no matter what. And even Jake, who was initially a bit of an outsider, eventually found his place in our group. Together, they were unstoppable.

I always felt that I should feel a little left out, but I never did. I was happy, they were happy.

Once, as Mia, Sky, and I were walking down the hallway, we suddenly heard someone whistling and making catcalls. It was one of Jake's friends who was trying to get our attention. Before we could even turn around, Jake jumped into action and tackled his friend to the ground. 

Sky smirked at Jake's bold move. Jake sat on top of his friend for a few seconds, making it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated. He then got up, dusted himself off, and continued walking with us as if nothing had happened.

I turned to look at Mia, and she responded by raising her eyebrows in a way that I knew meant she had noticed it too. We exchanged a knowing glance, and I couldn't help but smile. 

   ….

I explored the lab, running my hands along the machines' metal gears, wires, and poles. I went to the table and found a bunch of sketches of machines, maps, inventions, and visions of the future.

I looked around, trying to find the machine I read about. An old, mechanical orb sitting on a custom bronze stand caught my eye.

I went over to it and examined the controls. An inscription on the top panel reads: Telling the future isn’t magic. It’s intelligence.

I clicked the power button, and the machine lit up, buzzing and vibrating. A hologram lit up with a picture of Sky moving along to the words emitting from the orb.

An Escape room doomed to fail,

Ended by a teenage female.

It showed Skylar entering the blue Victorian house I was currently standing under.

She wields a blade bought by the evil,

Closing a life with an air of medieval.

Now it showed her holding a long silver sword, with an obsidian hilt with a sapphire embedded in it. Then suddenly, she stabbed it into an old man’s chest, who I assumed was the infamous Earl Gray.

Not wanting to be disliked,

She will go on a journey that will be spiked.

End it all, she must give up a friend,

Whose death will count, in the end.

With those last words, the hologram showed a silhouette stabbing itself with a dagger, while a sobbing Skylar reached for them, and a grim Jake held her back and buried his face in her hair. A taller, older, more depressed version of Sky looked on.

The scene shifted to show Willow kneeling before a grave, with tears silently streaming down her face. I tried to read the name on the gravestone, but the words were blurred.

The orb went dark. I kept staring at it for I don’t know how long. I could’ve stayed there forever, but there was a tug on the rope around my waist. 

I realized that Anna must think I was dead or hurt.

I ran over to the desk and gathered as many sketches and journals as I could carry and then sprinted to the service elevator. I put the stack of paper and journals on the ground and pressed the Up button.

There were a few whirring noises, and then I was launched straight into the air.

As I dodged plastic bullets, I couldn’t help but wish my falcon had taken me with her. 

I hadn’t named her yet, not knowing what to name a furious bird of prey.

You can’t exactly call a falcon “Polly,” or “Kiwi.”

Jake had run into the archery range we found by pulling a lever that looked like it was connected to a complicated harpoon, which was full of gears, levers, and buttons.

I spotted a pile of guns and started toward it. I picked up a gun, and Jake followed suit. He went on and on about how he was so great with a gun, and then went to the shooting area of the target range.

I had stopped him just in time to hand a package of orange plastic pellets to practice so he wouldn’t shoot anyone in the process.

As soon as Jake had loaded the gun, the falcon had flown out the door at 30 miles per hour. A trail of feathers fluttered to the floor in her wake.

I jumped out of the way just in time to dodge a pellet headed straight for my head.

“I thought you said you were good,” I said, raising my eyebrows.

“I never said that. I said I’d done it before. Like, once. And then my mom took it away. Besides that, I’ve only shot a Nerf gun, and Nerf guns don’t exactly have the kickback action this thing has,” he replied wryly.

“Okay, whatever.” I walked up to him,  grabbed the gun, balanced my weight, aimed at the target, and shot. There was a ping as the bullet hit the metal bullseye. 

“Wow…” Jake said, staring at me. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“My dad was a hunter,” I said. “He taught me when I was young.”

“Aren’t you vegetarian?”

“Yes, my mother raised me vegetarian.” I don’t mention the orphanage. “My dad always respected that, from what I can remember. He was still a hunter, but he used every part of everything he shot.”

“Can you teach me?”  he asked pleadingly, looking at me the way a puppy looks at a treat above its head, except for the fact that I’m about 5 inches shorter than him.

“First, let me tell you what you have wrong,” I said as I placed the gun in his hands. “Fire.”

As he steadied his grip on the gun in his hand, I noticed that it looked a lot like one of his old Tippmann paintball guns. 

He took aim at one of the targets, which were set up in a row at the other end of the room, and fired. I watched as the small plastic ball flew through the air and hit the outer ring of the target with a satisfying thud.

 Jake groaned and sat down on the floor, his arms wrapped around his knees. 

I immediately went into instructor mode. I held out my hand, which he took, and I pulled him to his feet. “First of all, stop trying to look cool firing with one hand. It may look stupid, but you have got to hold on with two hands, and rest the back on your shoulder.”

“But on my paintball guns, you can shoot with one ha-” Jake protested. I held up a finger to stop him.

"You mentioned that your paintball guns don't have the same kind of kickback as this gun," I said while handing the weapon to Jake. As I had a thought, I quickly changed my mind and snatched the gun back, turning towards the pile of guns in the corner.

 I noticed a revolver and grabbed it from the pile, causing Jake to ask "What are you-?" before I suddenly sprang towards him and aimed the revolver in his direction. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger and fired directly at Jake.