Chapter 3

The blindfolds came off. Inside the escape room, only two weak flashlights lit the dark.

Patricia let out a shriek and pressed herself straight into Paxton's arms.

"Paxton, I'm scared; you have to protect me."

Paxton pulled her against his shoulder, laughing low.

"Such a baby, and yet you're the one who insisted on the horror theme."

"I don't care! If you don't protect me, I'm never speaking to you again."

"Fine, just stay close."

They carried on like a couple head over heels, flirting shamelessly in the dark.

The staff had only handed out two small flashlights. Paxton held one, Patricia held the other.

I could only follow along by the scraps of light spilling from their hands, feeling my way one careful step at a time.

The sharp ache in my ankle slowed me down.

"Can you two walk slower? My foot hurts."

"There's a time limit on this room. You'll just have to push through it."

At a fork in the path, they stopped.

They glanced at each other, then switched off both flashlights at the same time.

The world dropped into suffocating, total darkness.

"Paxton? Patricia?" I reached out blindly, grabbing nothing but cold air.

They'd run off and left me alone in this maze, in a dead end where I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face.

I felt my way along the wall.

Just then, a staff member in a blood-soaked costume jumped out of a corner and screamed inches from my face.

I shrieked and dropped straight to the floor, tears spilling out of me before I could stop them.

Seeing how hard I was crying, the actor stopped and pulled off his mask.

"Hey, are you all right?"

He radioed for a staff member to come help.

Ten minutes later, someone with a flashlight walked me out through the emergency exit.

The second the door to the escape room opened, the sudden daylight made me squint.

Paxton and Patricia were already standing in the rest area by the exit.

Patricia had a can of iced cola in one hand, leaning against Paxton's shoulder as she scrolled through something on his phone.

She caught sight of me, still looking shell-shocked, and burst out laughing.

"Cleo, are you really that much of a coward? They had to walk you out like a lost kid."

Paxton's brow furrowed instantly. "They walked you out? You couldn't even manage that little bit of a room on your own?"

I still had tears drying on my face.

"Why did you two turn off the lights?"

Paxton said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I was helping you get over it. You can't even tell north from south. If I don't push you, when are you ever going to learn to find your way around?"

Patricia sidled up next to me, smiling. "Don't be mad, Cleo. We didn't actually ditch you, you know. We were waiting for you at the exit the whole time."

I didn't want anything to do with either of them. I turned to walk out, and Patricia stuck out her foot and tripped me.

I hit the ground. The wound on my ankle split back open, and blood trickled down my shin.

Patricia lifted her camera and pointed the lens straight at my face.

"Everyone, look at this, my bestie's legs turned to jelly after coming out of the escape room, she can't even walk on flat ground, this is comedy gold!"

She laughed so hard she was practically shaking, the camera flash strobing until my head spun.

Paxton stood off to the side, his gaze dropping to my bleeding ankle, something caught in his throat.

He still didn't come help me up.

He just said, offhand, to Patricia, "Don't film too long. She's sensitive about how she looks."

It felt like someone had shoved a fistful of broken glass into my chest, scraping raw with every breath.

I lurched to my feet and lunged for Patricia's camera.

"Stop filming!"

In the struggle, the camera hit the floor.

Patricia got knocked backward by the force of it.

Paxton's face changed instantly. He shoved me off and pulled Patricia into his arms.

"Cleo Horstmann! Have you lost your mind? Patricia was just joking around with you. Is that really worth smashing her equipment over? Do you have any idea how important that camera is to a blogger like her?"

I leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

"Her equipment matters. I don't."

He froze for a second.

I dragged my bleeding leg and limped my way out of the lobby.