Chapter 1: The Secret Room
"Suzume!" Angela, my best friend of eighteen years, called out.
"Angela, you sly dog. How was your first date!?" I was walking to a coffee shop to meet up with her, when she caught me by surprise.
We embraced warmly, it was always good to see each other, even if we had been out drinking the previous weekend.
"He was the sweetest, Suzume, you wouldn't believe it. He had everything planned and it was so romantic!"
"Of course I would believe it, I'm the one who introduced you two! You both are such Shoujo material." I teased as we took our seats in the coffee shop.
"What about you? You're 23 now, you need to get over your love of 2D characters." Angela remarked, knowing full well I never will.
"Angela, please. I know they're not real, but that escape into fantasy is what makes it all the more sweet."
We parted ways after talking animatedly for two hours, ending the hang out with a warm hug.
Before we left, Angela handed me a small box.
"What's this?"
"It's a sparrow charm! I was going through the farmer's market, when I met this nice old lady. She was selling these charms, and I just saw this. I just HAD to get this for you. It's your namesake after all."
I gave a small laugh and pulled her into another hug, "Thanks, I love it! Meet up this weekend for Girl's Night?"
"Hell yes! See you then!"
I walked towards my apartment, deciding to take a longer route this time. It was nice outside, a warm spring day.
I hummed as I opened the box and revealed the sparrow. My name, Suzume, means sparrow. My parents were obsessed with Japanese culture. In Japan, sparrows represent loyalty and honor, especially the repaying of debts.
I passed by a shop window and stared at my reflection. My sun kissed, brunette hair was getting longer now, almost reaching my belly button. My skin was lightly tanned from swimming, and my figure was lean. All the ferociousness of my personality was captured in my hazel eyes. I reached up towards my left eye, the one with the contact lens in it.
I actually have heterochromic eyes. One hazel and one blue from mixed blood. Not that I minded how it made me stand out, but I typically wear a colored contact lens in my blue eye so people don't stare.
I moved on, leisurely walking back home. I was wearing a dust pink graphic tee that tucked into my ripped black jeans. The t-shirt read, "I Seriously Need A Speed Bump Between My Brain and My Mouth."
My phone, wallet, and keys were in my shoulder bag, but I clutched the sparrow charm to my chest. They're my spirit animal, I had always felt like I could understand birds. Sometimes, I would whistle to them and they would hop closer to me and whistle back.
When I was lonely, I would try talking to them. It almost felt like I could hear the whispers of their voices converse with me.
I shook my head, feeling dizzy. Losing my sense of balance, I tripped over a rock, clumsy me, and stumbled. As I tripped, my bag fell off my right shoulder as I fell to my left side. Before I hit the ground, everything went dark.
*whoosh*
I was surrounded by complete darkness. At first, I wanted to panic, being stuck in an unknown place in the dark.
I didn't know my situation, if I was safe or in danger.
I don't carry any weapons with me, despite my extensive knowledge of guns and archery. Growing up, my parents had taught me the basic skills in case I was in any danger.
Slowly, I wiggled my body out of the fetal position it seemed to be in.
Must've been instinctive, unless I was placed in this position. Thankfully, it didn't seem like I was injured, not even a bruise. How weird.
Using the only senses I had with me now that my sight was taken away, I felt the ground around me. It was cold and hard, but with ridges. Must be a wooden floor.
Taking a deep breath, not only to calm my nerves and slow down my racing heart, but to inhale the scents around me. It smelled stale with a hint of sawdust. Like a house that had been empty for quite some time and someone walked in for the first time in months.
I cocked my head to the side, trying to hear anything. All I heard was someone speaking, muted noises that indicated some sort of soundproofing between this… what I believe to be a room and the next room.
It was pitch black and although it has only been 2 minutes since I've come to, my eyes had adjusted to the dark. There was still nothing that could be seen because there was not even an inkling of light. I began to worry that this was a completely sealed room, because there were no slivers of light that would indicate a door anywhere.
My hands scrambled around and above me, recalling the time I was in a padded pathway in a Science Museum in Shizuoka, Japan.
The path was designed to specifically eliminate any trace of light, but there were night vision cameras situated in every corner so my friends outside the maze could watch me struggle to find the exit in the dark.
The best thing to do is keep moving forward and rely on my hands to memorize the path. Eventually, traveling my hand in one direction will cause it to reach SOMETHING. The maze I was in was padded in every direction, but in this unknown situation I could crack my head on a simple table for God's sake.
As my left hand traveled on the wooden floor, heading forward in one direction like a blind man's walking stick, my right hand waved slowly in front of me. This was to ensure I wouldn't bump my head on anything sharp.
When I reached a wall, I flinched but slowly began to stand up, still keeping my left hand on the wall the entire time. My right hand waved above me to make sure I hadn't crawled under a table or that the ceiling wasn't impossibly low.
Now that I was standing upright, I exhaled a deep breath.
I placed both hands on the wall and pressed myself up against it to make sure I wouldn't be separated from the only physical object that made me feel secure.
Don't think about zombies lunging at you from the dark, don't think about zombies lunging at you from the dark void, oh god oh god I hate zombies.
Eventually, I hit something that resembled a light button and tapped on it frantically.
The lights flashed on and blinded my dilated pupils.
"Ack." I stifled a yelp as my eyes adjusted to the new setting. Dark spots danced in my vision as I rapidly blinked my eyes to clear them out.
I'm in… a plain room? I took note of the sparse furniture and the bed that was pushed into one corner of the room. It was a pretty small room, compared to the size of American ones. It kind of resembles a Japan styled room, with the desk, bed, and cabinets.
A DOOR! There's a door! There were no other options other than to try it and hope friendlies were on the other end. I could root around those cabinets, but honestly I'm terrified that there's a zombie hiding in it, so I might as well as try the door. There were live human beings on the other end.
I grabbed the knob, twisted, and pulled the door towards me. It didn't budge.
Well okay.
Whoops, forgot there's some locks on it.
I undid the heavy bolts that locked the metal door shut, and twisted the knob again.
I pulled and pulled and pulled. Finally it cracked open!
It was a heavy door. No wonder the room was soundproof.
Once it the door was wide open, I stood there in shock.
There was a fucking wall.
Well a wooden wall to be more exact. Is this a fake door that doesn't lead anywhere?
I've done enough Escape Rooms to figure out that there was something else I was missing.
Wait, the voices I heard are louder now. Now I can tell there's three men in the room. One seems to be giving orders, and the two others only reply in short sentences. Something about "a key hit toe." (A/N: It's Akihito but our OC doesn't get it yet.)
Well no other options. Hope they're friendly.
"Excuse me?! Hello!" I yelled out as loud as I could. "I'm trapped in this room, can someone get me out!" I did a combination of pounding and knocking on the wooden wall. "Is anyone there? Please can you get me out? I fucking swear, Angela, if this is all just some stupid prank, I'm going to kick your ass! You hear me!"
The wooden wall slid to the side. "You better hope it's not a prank." A dangerously low voice answered my shouts.
Standing there in all his suited up glory was Asami Ryuichi with his gun drawn in one hand and the other with a Dunhill Cigar. A Blonde Hulk flanked his left side and a bespectacled black haired man flanked his right, both had guns pointed at me.
My hands bolted up to show that I was unarmed, "... I come in peace?"
A/N: I'm really embarrassed, I've never written for this genre before and honestly it's a guilty pleasure. I just couldn't sleep the last few nights and all these strange ideas kept popping into my head. I figured I might as well as write it down and hope others like it.
Feedback and reviews are appreciated!
