Bodies stirred where they were placed alongside each other. The noon sun brightened the massive room while a groan echoed through the empty halls.
Evelyn was the first to gain consciousness and started to open her eyes. Her whole body felt weak as she tried to use her arms to thrust herself up into a sitting position, putting most of her body weight to her elbows to uphold. Her head was spinning so much, it caused her a headache.
Where am I? She thought while surveying around with an unclear vision. That's when she realized. This is not my room! Where am I? Panic rushed over her. Blurred flashes of memories of last night's party hazed through her mind. She turned around to see both her best friends—Jazlyn and Symphony—knocked out right next to––oh no! Knocked out, as well, Alex and Xavier lay behind the two girls, whereas Luke was right beside her.
The ends of his ombre blonde hair hung over his eyes with a relaxed expression on his face. Evelyn thought he looked almost angelic. She smiled at the sight as she stretched a hand to move his hair but immediately slapped herself when the same recurring memory of that day slipped in. He's the one who betrayed her, not the other way around. He may look like an angel, but he is truly a coldhearted devil inside.
She forced his fairly good-looking face from her mind. Evelyn moved closer to her best friends and nudged them to wake up. Both Jazlyn and Symphony are known to be deep sleepers—Symphony being worse. Evelyn huffed in frustration as she shook them by the shoulders wildly.
Symphony groaned while Jazlyn muttered, "Five more minutes, Mum."
Evelyn leveled her eyes at them and shouted, "Wake up! Or I swear I'll duck you both in freezing ice-cold water."
They both reluctantly sat up, hating the cold. "What is wrong with you woman?" Symphony hissed at Evelyn.
"Get up, both of you. We are in a bit of a situation."
"Situation?" Jazlyn asked, rubbing her eyes, looking more awake than before. "Hold on, you guys did not sleep-over last night. Didn't we go home yesterday? What are you doing here?"
"Exactly. I don't know where we are." Evelyn said, surprising herself at how calm she sounded.
"What!" Both girls yelled, now thoroughly awake and aware.
"We didn't get… knocked up, right?" Symphony asked hesitantly. Jazlyn's honey-brown eyes widen to the size of saucers fearing for the worst. Fortunately, for the girls, Evelyn shook her head.
"I very much doubt so. By the way, you might want to turn around." They did as she said and looked around the room with enlarged eyes that grew wider as they fell on the three boys behind them.
Symphony cursed under her breath, still staring at the three boys.
"What time is it?" Jazlyn asked, fixing her curly brown hair that had stray pieces of hair sticking out of her low ponytail and fixed it up into a low bun.
Evelyn pulled up her left arm, relieved that her watch was still tightly wrapped around her left wrist. She never went anyplace without a watch, which includes attending a party. She looked at her digital watch that read '2:46' in the afternoon. Jazlyn peered over her shoulder to see and gasped.
"We were out that long?"
"Apparently." Evelyn sighed and directed her gaze back toward the boys. "Who wants to wake them up?"
All three girls exchanged glances before both Jazlyn and Evelyn screamed, "Not it."
Symphony glared at them and crawled closer to Alex, who out of them all is less likely to make a big deal. The other two girls watched with curiosity.
Symphony jerked him up and gently shook his shoulders while calling out his name. He mumbled something she could not hear before opening his eyes. He froze as he stared at Symphony's hazel eyes with his vivid jade green ones. "Symphony?"
She flashed him a tight grin and let go of his shoulders. Alex watched her go back to sit beside her best friends. "What's going on?"
"See for yourself," Jazlyn simply replied.
Alex peered around to notice his best mates lying on the ground knocked out. He blinked a couple of times before turning back to face the girls. He opened his mouth, but Evelyn beat him to it, already knowing his question. "If you think we did it, I can assure you we have no idea how we got here or why we got knocked out."
He hesitantly nodded, still trying to wrap his head around it all. "I-uh- should wake them up."
All three girls gave him a deadpanned look as he went over to wake up Xavier and Luke. Luke immediately woke up, whereas Xavier just cursed in Alex's face. Luke rolled his eyes and slapped him awake earning him a death glare from Xavier.
As the boys were getting up and playfully shoving each other, the girls watched them in uncomfortable silence. It has been a while since they have been in the same room together. They always had different classes and didn't hang out anymore. So, they only saw each other when passing by in the halls, though most of those meetings they spent arguing.
Symphony decided to clear her throat, making the boys finally acknowledge them. Their eyes widened as they ran through the whole room. Xavier stretched his arms out while eyeing the female group in front of him. "Damn, I don't even remember drinking, but must be dreaming if I'm seeing those airheads again."
Luke, being the first to attain an understanding asked, "Where are we?"
"Beats us," Symphony told him, clearly trying to restrain herself from launching herself at Xavier's head for his comment.
"What do you mean? You weren't the ones who knocked us out?"
Evelyn scoffed, "We may hate you, but not even we would go to this extreme. Plus—"
Xavier interrupted by mumbling," You never know."
Evelyn narrowed her eyes at him but continued, nevertheless," As I was saying—why use violence when we can use the humiliating baby pictures your granny Lu gave us?"
Worry etched on the boys' faces. People would laugh at them for weeks, and it will ruin their 'cool' outlook. They had a few humiliating incidents before that left them laughing stocks for days. As expected, the girls always received payback.
"When did Nanna Lu give you that? I haven't seen her since Christmas two years ago," asked Luke. Grandma Lu or Lucy is Luke's father's mother, but she became all of their grandmas, ever since they all visited her when they were seven. They still visit her but never together like before.
The last time she visited for Christmas, their group had already split a month ago. That winter was the first Christmas they were not together. Grandma Lu was disappointed to find them despising each other, but knowing it was up to them, she followed through with their decision. Though, she hoped one day they will put aside past mistakes and be friends again. She also didn't pick sides and treated all six of them equally whenever they visited.
Eve replied with a smirk, "We all know I'm Nanna's favorite, so we went for a small visit to Roway Town for spring break. She was more than happy to show us some past memories." Bitterness seeped through at her last words.
Not expecting a reply, the girls got up to their feet.
The boys soon followed, begrudgingly, and the group went toward the windows that had a shaded black curtain with stunning white lily designs draping over it. The scenery on the other side of the window consisted of a wide patio with a beautiful exterior. Flowers were placed all around the expanse along with trees standing tall with fruit in them, looking delicious. It also looked as if there was a mountain far away. Everyone was astonished by the stunning view. The massive gates were the only thing from them and escaping.
They all rushed towards the door to find a way out. Hoping for a little luck on their side, they twisted the doorknob. The latch clicked open wide for them to step outside.
Puzzled looks were cast at each other. Why would you kidnap someone, then leave the door open? That would pull up the question if they were really captured.
Their mouth gaped open when they saw the front porch and stared in awe. Xavier then shouted at them, "What are you guys waiting for? Let's get out of here!" He was already shuffling down the steps to the stone path leading up to the gate of the house.
They exchanged glances at each other unsure. But soon enough, everyone followed except Evelyn, who was squinting her eyes warily at the sky. "Hey, hold on." She murmured, now eyeing the massive black gates instead. Xavier remains only a few feet away from the gate when Evelyn shouted as loud as she could. "Wait! Don't go any further!"
Evelyn received mystified looks from her friends except for Xavier, who kept going forward, ignoring her. Evelyn looked at the far the gate to Xavier to everyone else who stopped at her request. Suddenly Luke sprang into a sprint and grabbed Xavier by the shoulders, halting him from going any further. "What the heck, dude?"
Luke sent him a look making Xavier huff, irritated, but his shoulders relaxed, nonetheless.
"Can't you control yourself for a moment? Or is that even too hard?" Symphony uttered loud enough for him to hear with a roll of eyes.
"Like you're any better."
Evelyn could feel Jazlyn and Symphony's gaze burning the side of her head. She stepped down the front steps and went to stand near them. Luke was dragging an annoyed Xavier to where the rest of them were standing.
"What's wrong, Eve?"
Evelyn turned to face her best friends and started to explain. "I do not think we should go near that gate," Evelyn said.
"What do you mean?" Jazlyn asked with curiosity as she and Symphony sent confused glances towards her.
Evelyn took a deep breath before explaining, "It's sprinkling, barely, but you can still see a few raindrops. Whenever a raindrop land onto the gate, it sparks a form of electricity." She noticed the confused look on their faces and came to realized they hadn't understood her. Instead of repeating one more, she looked at the ground then at Jazlyn. "Jazz, pick up a damp rock, and throw it as hard as you can at the gate."
Jazlyn eyed her suspiciously but picked up a fairly wetted rock and threw it in the direction of the gate.
They watch as electricity sparks around the rock before it hurls back toward them. Xavier reached out and grabs one of Jazlyn's arms to pull her aside. If it were not for his prompt reflexes, Jazlyn might have had a mild concussion. Jazlyn sent him a small smile to which he just shrugged.
"As expected from our Eve, noticing everything. That could have been you," Symphony said directing her last comment to Xavier, who shuddered at the thought.
"Okay. This isn't funny anymore. Where the hell are, we?" Xavier exclaimed loudly. He is right. This isn't funny anymore. They could be lost in another whole new city for all they know.
"We should get back inside and try to figure a way out of here," Luke spoke up. He was rather quiet up until now.
"This is a nightmare!" Xavier groaned before yelling out, "—Ouch!" He turned to glare at Jazlyn, rubbing his side.
She had an innocent look and winked at him, "What? Now we know it's not a dream" He looked back at her with wide eyes and a hint of blush. "Damn you." He subtly muttered.
Hearing his remark, Evelyn raised an eyebrow at Jazlyn who just simply shrugged and turned to walk back inside alongside Alex and Symphony. Evelyn let it go and followed the other two boys who were talking in a hushed tone. Evelyn could have gotten closer and eavesdrop with her curious character but decided against it. She didn't want to hear anything more from the pair other than an apology. Something she yet to hear.
In the mansion, they all make their way into the living room to sit on the couch. The girls occupied the couch giving the boys the armchair and loveseat to argue over. "Okay, does anyone have any idea of how we got here in the first place?" Alex asked as he sat smugly. He was quick enough to run to the armchair, leaving the other two boys to reluctantly share.
"How are we supposed to know? We got kidnapped as well." Jazlyn retorted.
"Yeah. We had nothing to do with this!" Symphony protested.
"Well, then how the hell do we get out of here? I have a Chem test Monday morning." Luke complained.
"You're not the only one. I have to finish my presentation this Friday." Evelyn commented.
Although Evelyn has earned the title of the smartest student of their school, the charming blonde-haired boy happened to always come in as a close second. Luke is a prodigy when it involves computer science and informational technology. Give him any electronic and he would be all set to hack into any hardware system in a matter of minutes.
The other two girls along with Xavier rolled their eyes while Alex sat quietly in his armchair casually watching the rest bicker back and forth.
Alex was the last one to join their group. He moved to Summer-Fall with his dad and older sister, at the age of twelve, after his mother died; and was transferred to their junior high school to attend 6th grade. Luke and Evelyn quickly became friends with him since they shared the most classes and were the ones to introduce him to the others. They would always joke saying, "Now our group is complete." Seeing that the others grew up influencing each other, he was sometimes left out on some inside jokes.
"Anyways. Why don't we look around? I doubt there's anyone here." Symphony suggested since it is probably smarter for them to find another possible escape than sitting around in the hopes of an unforeseen rescue. No one seemed to argue against her idea so Luke chose to make it affirmed.
"Let's get to it," Luke told everyone, speaking in an authoritative voice. "Three of us will search the living room and the other three will search around the house. Agreed?"
"I suppose," Evelyn glanced at the other two girls on either side of her on the couch to make sure they were fine with it. The batch of young adults separated into two groups with Luke, Evelyn, and Alex together searching the living room while Xavier, Jazlyn, and Symphony search the second floor of the house. Xavier and the two girls went toward the door into the kitchen whereas the other three searched the living room.
Xavier, Jazlyn, and Symphony made their way up the stairs, and before them was a hallway with many rooms.
"What are these rooms for? Are there any bedrooms, so I can finish my nap?" Jazlyn groaned while yawning and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Lazy bum," Xavier mumbled under his breath.
"What did you just say?" Jazlyn asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"I said, 'lazy bum.' Is there anything you think of besides sleep and food?" Xavier said with a roll of his eyes, a scoff escaping from his lips.
"There are plenty of things on my mind. Why? Are you mad you're not one of them anymore?" Jazlyn taunted with a satisfied smirk when she saw the slight hesitation on his face.
"Oh, Please! Why would I be upset about that?"
Before Jazlyn had a chance to call back, Symphony had interrupted their little catfight with an aggravated groan. "Would you two shut up for once? It's giving me a headache."
The pair crossed their arms in front of their chest and grumbled under their breath. Symphony let out a drained sigh and turned on her heel, "Just follow me. I found something you might want to see." The three walked in a line toward two doors on either side of the hall. Written in a form of exquisite calligraphy, were three initials on each of them.
E.R J.H S.S
L.R X.L A.C
The initials were spray-painted in a toned gold color that shone at the mere touch of light.
"What are these?" Xavier asked. "No idea," Symphony replied.
Jazlyn walked past them to get a closer look at the two doors. She looked at the letters on both doors and came to a realization.
"Guys these are our initials."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evelyn went over to the bookcase filled with amazing literature. She looked at all the books from top to bottom and side to side. There were many familiar titles, but some were unknown to her. I should read these later. She noted as excitement ran through her at the sight of so many books. That's when a velvet-covered book caught her eye. There was no title of the back, making her curiosity grow. She titled it toward her and grasped it with both hands. It looked like a normal book but was surprisingly way lighter than an average book.
She opened the book to find instead of pages, a secret compartment. In the compartment was a simple envelope. "Hey, I think I found something."
"What did you find?" Alex asked. "An envelope," Evelyn responded.
"Well, what's in it?" Alex said in an irritated tone.
"You know what? Why don't you open it, bossy?" Evelyn questioned annoyed with him. Alex snatched the envelope from her hands and opened it up. In the letter inside, it read:
Greetings Dear Contestants,
You may be wondering why you're here. Well, just know you won't be leaving anytime soon. The reason is not important rather the hope behind it. You have been randomly chosen to participate in our newly created 'the escape game'. How long you will be captive in this mansion and how or when you will leave can only be determined by each one of you. This might help, it might, it was worth a try to settle your issues and put an end to your quarrel. If you wish to leave, you can kindly rekindle your relationships.
Though there is an alternative (if you rather risk your life than restore your friendship). Around the house, we have placed keys that each lead you into escaping. By completing tasks, riddles, and many other exciting things, you will receive the previously mentioned keys. The only way to find these is to work together instead of against each other. This is the only way to escape…
Good luck,
~ Anonymous
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Luke cries out, frustrated. It made absolutely no sense to them. It was short and direct, without any unnecessary details that could have been useful to them. Evelyn was glaring daggers at the handwritten letter in Alex's hand when he pulled out a key from the same envelope.
"Maybe this has something to do with it." He said, holding the gold key that had initials wrapped around the head part. "This looks like our initials."
"Ours?" Luke and Evelyn asked in unison. Alex nodded, still studying the key as if it could grow legs.
Behind them, they heard faint voices. They turned to see the others.
"We found something." Both groups said.
"You guys go first." Symphony urged the trio in front of her.
Evelyn nodded at her. "Look at this. I found it inside a book." She handed the envelope.
Symphony took the envelope in her hands as Xavier and Jazlyn read the note, as well, from behind, on both sides of her shoulder.
"What?!" Xavier shouted in anger, everyone flinching with the volume of his voice. "Who in the right mind would do this!" Xavier screamed.
"So, we all have to work together?" Jazlyn said, not sounding too pleased.
"I assume so," Evelyn said.
"Well, isn't this is just great." Xavier sarcastically said as he threw his arms up and plopped down onto the couch.
"We should probably figure out what this key leads to first," Symphony said as she pried the key from Alex's hands.
"Hey! I was still looking at that." Alex said, almost whining.
Symphony ignored him and studied the key, looking closely at the long piece of the object. "Ok, so, these are the boys' initials, which look similar to the initials we found on one of the doors upstairs."
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"While we were upstairs, we found two doors with our initials on them. The girls on one door and the boys on another door. And I think this key leads to 'your door'?" Symphony said, questioning the last part.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Alex said.
A/N
Thanks for giving my first original book a chance and I hope you enjoyed the story.
If you would like, comment, heart/vote, and share. I would love to hear any feedback on making the story better or things you like. If you notice any grammatical errors, plz inform me and I will change them. My friend and I edit this ourselves with the current grammar knowledge we have, so plz be nice.
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