Chapter 3

We took off our blindfolds. There were only two flashlights in the escape room, and they barely illuminated our surroundings.

Dean yelped, then quickly clutched Aimee's hand. "I'm scared, Aimee! Promise you have my back?"

Aimee gripped his hand and let out a low laugh. "Come on, you were the one who picked the horror theme! What happened to all that bravado?"

"I don't care. If you won't have my back, I'm calling our friendship quits!" Dean whined.

"Alright, fine. Hold on tight, then."

They were behaving like a lovesick couple, bantering in the dark, eerie room without a care in the world.

The attendant had only provided us with two flashlights. Aimee took one, and Dean held the other. I had no choice but to follow them, keeping track of my surroundings using what little light peeked through their hands.

The pain shooting up my ankle forced me to walk slower.

"Slow down, guys. My ankle's hurting," I complained.

"The escape room operates on a time limit. Try to cope."

They stopped when we reached a fork in the path. After exchanging a brief look, they switched off their flashlights at the same time.

The world was plunged into a suffocating darkness.

"Aimee? Dean?" Panic seized me as I reached into the darkness around me, only for my fingers to graze thin, cool air.

They'd run off, leaving me behind in this pitch-black, forsaken labyrinth.

I pressed a hand against the wall and continued forward tentatively. At that moment, a non-player character with her face covered in blood suddenly leaped out from the corner and screamed in my face.

A scream tore free from my throat as I fell back, collapsing on the ground. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

The non-player character stopped mid-performance when she realized how hard I was sobbing. She took off her mask. "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"

Whipping out a walkie-talkie, she summoned a few other members of staff to the scene. An attendant showed up ten minutes later with a flashlight and led me out of the escape room through an emergency pass.

The door of the escape room swung open, and I narrowed my eyes against the blinding sunlight. Aimee and Dean were standing in the lounge by the exit, the latter holding a cold bottle of soda as he leaned against the former's shoulder, his eyes on the contents of her phone.

He snickered when he saw how frightened I looked. "Oh, come on, Nathan, you can't be that much of a coward! I can't believe you'd need an attendant to escort you out of the escape room!"

Aimee's brows furrowed. "Why were you escorted out? Don't tell me you didn't manage to get your bearings in a confined space like that!"

Tears still clung to my face. "Why did you switch off your flashlight?"

Aimee explained matter-of-factly, "It's exposure therapy for you, Nathan. I need to give you a push, or you'd never know your left from right. When will you finally develop a sense of direction?"

Dean leaned close to me, grinning. "Don't be mad, Nathan. We didn't abandon you this time. We waited for you at the exit and never left!"

I ignored them and made to leave, but Dean suddenly stretched his foot and tripped me. I fell on the ground, my wound ripping open. Fresh blood trickled down my ankle.

Dean lifted his camera and aimed it at my face. "Check it out, guys. My buddy was so scared that his legs turned to jelly after he left the escape room! He's literally tripping over his feet on flat ground. It's hilarious!"

He laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world, the flashes from his camera making me see stars.

Aimee stood beside him. She looked as if she might say something when her gaze landed on my bleeding ankle, but she fell silent in the end.

She didn't help me up, only shot Dean a cool look as she said nonchalantly, "Give him a break. He's easily embarrassed."

I felt as if shards of glass had been embedded deep in my chest, cutting me every time I breathed.

I shot to my feet and snatched Dean's camera from him. "Stop taking photos of me!"

The camera clattered to the floor in the middle of our tug-of-war, and Dean was sent flying back by inertia.

A dark look crossed Aimee's face as she shoved me aside and quickly pulled Dean behind her. "Are you out of your mind, Nathan? Dean was just fooling around with you! Did you have to destroy his equipment?

"Do you have any idea how important that equipment was to a blogger like him?"

I leaned against the wall and took big, rough breaths. "Yes, the equipment is more important than I am."

Aimee froze.

With my wound still trickling blood, I limped out of the lobby.