Author's Note: Let's assume that this takes place in the winter. And yes I know that was 2 and ½ weeks.
Merry late Christmas!
"Welcome to the fifth challenge, scumbags!" The speakers blared, but it was evident that the annoying voice behind it was Arobynn.
Aelin furrowed her eyebrows. There was a note left on the nightstand of her bedroom - yes, her bedroom. Not Rowan's. The note had told her to come to this room. Strangely enough, both her and Lysandra's rooms were different. Which lead Aelin to arrive at this room.
She was in a room. A Christmas themed room. Annoying, because Christmas was already over and it was almost New Years. There was a bicycle, a bunch of Christmas lights, a TV, bookshelves with locks on them, a very large candy cane, a closed closet, and a bunch of other random items that looked like someone had just shoved them carelessly. But what was even stranger was that there were only 3 people in the room: Dorian, Chaol, and herself.
She was purposely excluding the tattooed, silver-haired male in the corner.
The TV turned on and Elide, Lorcan, and Arobynn were shown.
Arobynn spoke first, "For this challenge, you will have to get out of an escape room."
Lorcan spoke exactly a beat afterward, "You will be locked in the room you are currently in. The doors are made of titanium so don't try to break the door down."
He seemed to be directing the message to Rowan.
Elide spoke last, "Finally, there are locks around the room, you must find the keys before time is up. And trust me, you will know when the time is up. If we see a group stuck, we will provide you will hints."
Arobynn spoke, "Lysandra; if you are hearing this, then your group will receive a bonus utensil to help you slow down your time…"
Aelin's attention shifted when someone came in: a boy, dark-skinned, quite skinny and hair the color of neon blue.
He spoke in a high-pitched voice, "I am here to tie Rowan Whitethorn and Aelin Galathynius together."
Rowan pursed his lips, nodded, and came out of his brooding.
The boy tied Aelin's right wrist, with Rowan's left.
The boy left and they both observed the chain. A gold lock hung at the bottom.
It was a classic, silver overlapping chain - like the one used to tie gates together. Probably to prevent them from breaking it. Useless because both of them were well aware that if they broke the chain with brutal force - something that they were well capable of doing - they would be disqualified.
Perhaps this was fate's way of providing her daily dose of hell.
The door shut closed tightly and a timer flashed on the screen. They had an hour. An hour to find a bunch of keys that would unlock locks - each causing a chain reaction; ultimately leading to them getting out. How hard could it be?
Aelin felt like ripping her hair out with frustration. For the past five minutes, she and Rowan were going in different directions, only for them to be yanked back together. A hard reminder of their binding.
"Okay, let's first explore the fireplace," Aelin attempted to resolve.
Rowan nodded. The fireplace looked like a center for clues - with its stockings and all.
Rowan looked at the stockings - easier for him because of his blessed height. Aelin inspected the bowl placed by the fireplace; chestnuts for roasting. There was something about the array of browns that made Aelin at peace. Despite the urgency of the situation around her. She ignored the ticking of the clock and the panic of Dorian and Chaol's exchanges and focused on the soft light browns, to the calming of umber, to the stark sharpness of the dark browns - almost black. Aelin squinted her eyes as she spotted a glossy texture amongst the soft and matte of the majority. She leaned over - yanking Rowan with her, and picked up the strange looking nut.
Rowan, clearly pestered, yanked the nut from her hand. He didn't look at the nut and he tossed it over his shoulder.
He rolled his shoulders and spoke sternly, "If you keep focusing on the normalities, they will turn into oddities - ones that you've created in your mind. Focus on mission, okay? That little nut isn't going to have any value."
Aelin looked over his shoulder, "So that shiny thing behind you doesn't have any value?"
Rowan followed her gaze, "What shiny th…" He trailed off.
For indeed they both noticed a metallic key glinting by a cracked, plastic chestnut.
They immediately tried to unlock the chain around it with the key. Both of them tried, again and again, to get the key to fit in the lock, but to no avail.
Then what was the key for?
Rowan was becoming perturbed reading some of the titles on the books on the bookshelf. They were the kind of books Aelin enjoyed - which was why he was there. While Aelin was reading some weird book with a gray tie on the cover "thirty shades of grey" or something like that, a specific book caught her eye. Amongst the young adult content laid something that looked almost like a children's book. Rowan took the book out the shelves and began examining. It wasn't in English. That was for sure. He began to flip through the pages, whatever language it was, it was translated into English. Rowan looked up sharply. He had seen this language somewhere else. He went to the play corner of the room, dragging Aelin with him and ignoring her complaints. He searched through the myriad of toys and found a dreidel. It was it. That was it. He knew what the answer was!
Aelin, clearly confused asked, "What the hell are you doing playing with a bunch of toys? Didn't you just tell me not to focus on the little things? And now you're playing with toys."
Rowan put a finger to her lips. He needed to focus. But he quickly realized feeling her soft lips was not the way to do it - not now. He quickly pushed down the tang of pain for there was sure to be more.
He put his finger back down and explained, "The symbols on the dreidel represent numbers. And this children's book translates supposedly Jewish numbers into English numerals."
Aelin pursed her lips, "And this helps us how?"
Rowan scratched his head, "I think that this could be the key to a number lock."
Aelin asked, "But how do we know the order which the numbers go."
Rowan shrugged, "The numbers are in different colors, so maybe we should go with the colors of the rainbow."
Aelin smirked, "That's a lot of assumptions."
Rowan gave her a teasing look, "Well do you have a better idea, princess?"
Aelin bit her lip, "By all means go ahead, good sir."
Rowan playfully rolled his eyes and got up to find a number lock.
He felt a weight tug downwards. Aelin was making puppy eyes and refused to get up. He knew what she wanted. In a swoop, he picked her up bridal style. Aelin squealed and although it hurt his hand to carry her with one hand still attached to hers, he supposed it was worth the smile on her face. He found the lock hidden behind a wrapped present and unlocked the lock.
Completely unaware of the glare Chaol was giving them.
After releasing the lock, a piece of light pick paper fell out. Rowan picked it up - still very uncomfortable with Aelin still in his arms. Frowning he read the paper. It was a riddle and it went like this:
"Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"
Dorian and Chaol - being hopelessly lost, looked over his shoulder. Dorian's eyes widened as he snatched the paper from Rowan's hands. Rowan looked at him with a question on his face, but he didn't say anything.
Dorian stood at a table in the room with Chaol at his tail.
Reading the paper Chaol questioned, "Maybe 'creature' is metaphorical - it could mean an emotion or something like that."
Dorian nodded with spiked interest, "True, maybe it has to do with trust. Like trust fades."
They both knew they weren't getting anywhere. But they kept throwing different possibilities, for when one panics, they tend to rant - it makes hope seem larger, even if it is beyond reason.
Dorian looked around; searching for inspiration. He looked at Aelin, then at Rowan, then at Chaol, then at himself. What did they all have in common? Hair, eyes, feet. What did that all have in common? Well, that meant they were human.
Humans; what do they do? Dorian tied this back to the riddle. Do humans walk on four legs? Well yeah, when they are a baby. Morning. Beginning. Dorian's eyes lit up as he put the pieces together with more hope and enthusiasm.
'Two legs in the afternoon.' Well, he was walking on two legs right then. And although he wasn't exactly in the middle of his timeline, he supposed it fit into the category of 'afternoon.'
The next one was trickier. 'Three legs in evening." By now he knew that evening meant old age. But older people still walked on two legs or didn't walk at all. But… older people do walk on canes. Did canes count? He hoped so.
Okay, so the answer was 'man'. Now what? Maybe he should say it out loud.
"Man," Dorian asserted.
Chaol asked, "What dude?"
Dorian smacked his forehead, "Not you."
"MAN," Dorian spoke louder.
Everyone froze as they heard a sound on the walls. With the clanking of metal and turning of gears, it sounded mechanical. They all watched in horror as pieces of wall on three sides, slide to the side and holes around a foot in diameter were revealed. Were they supposed to climb through that? It couldn't be, there was no way Rowan's muscular frame could fit through it.
They slowly began to do their normal duties. Nothing but that happened. Dorian was disappointed, he kind of hoped something amazing would happen. Like Mon-El divorcing Imra in Supergirl. That would be incredible.
Yup, that was his inner nerd talking.
While Chaol and Dorian were figuring out the riddle, Rowan and Aelin - still tied together, began to search for a new clue. The Tinsel wrapped around the closet caught her attention. Rowan - tired from being dragged around, didn't put up a fight as she used both her arms to unwrap the tinsel.
The shiny wrapping fell to the ground and Aelin opened the closet. Her mouth was wide and she put a hand to cover it. The same hand she was tied to. Rowan whined and she switched hands. Even Rowan looked impressed. In the closet were the most extraordinary dresses and suits. For what; she didn't know. But after this, she knew she was going to steal the low-cut, scarlet red, spaghetti dress with jewels prominent on the bottom and fading as they made their way up.
Rowan would have loved to see Aelin in that dress. With its long slit to the side and the way, it would fit around her. His mood dampened when he realized how many other guys would love to see her in that dress too. Like Chaol. He knew she wanted the scarlet dress, so he would just have to wear the suit in the closet with the matching tie. Chaol wasn't going to take her. He wanted to figure out what was going on between them. Now.
Rowan had to yank Aelin out of her daze of looking at all the dresses. Thank god they hadn't gone to the mall together. Otherwise, they would be in one store for hours. Rowan decided to study the wall which holes didn't open out of. He looked at the bicycle attached to Christmas lights. A strange arrangement he decided. It wasn't a normal bicycle though. It had two seats, one for him and one for her. It was easier for Dorian and Chaol to ride the bicycle, but they were too happy to solve the riddle. Though it was clear Chaol had taken no part in finding the answer. After all, he was a useless, cheating, prick. Okay, maybe that was a little biased coming from Rowan. But Rowan had no regrets.
"I think we are supposed to pedal the bicycle. Maybe the lights will light up," Rowan explained to Aelin.
Aelin nodded, "You go in the front. You seem to know more about this."
Rowan raised a brow, "Wow, Aelin is willing to step back and let others do something for once."
Aelin kicked him in the shin, "Don't get used to it."
Smiling, they both took their seats. Rowan's left hand leaning back, leaving Aelin in an awkward position for her right arm crossed her body. They began pedaling, staring intently at the lights and waiting for something to happen to them.
But nothing happened. Confused, Rowan began examining the lights. There wasn't anything unusual, they were clear bulbs and in no particular pattern. He looked at the bike and found the answer. In the bike, was a keyhole. Great, now they needed a key to get the lights started.
Aelin caught on quickly and suggested, "Try using the key that we got from the chestnut."
Rowan compiled and the key fit. He turned the key and they began pedaling.
They watched in mesmerization as the lights turned on, one by one, exactly beat after beat. They were in such great synchronization that Rowan became slightly dizzy.
After the dizziness passed, Rowan noticed that colors varied from green, blue, red, and yellow. How was he going to figure out what to do? After all, it was just a bunch of lights. Right?
Aelin found a pattern in the lights. She began to dissect the pattern of each color, in the idea that they would form some sort of message. Green; it was too spaced out to form any coherent meaning. Blue; it was too compact that there wasn't much space to have formed some sort of line. Red; it wasn't present when needed. It was only at the bottom or at the top, and there wasn't enough of it to form a symbol.
"Rowan, pedal faster," Aelin yelled as she got off the bicycle.
Rowan asked, "Why are you getting off?"
Aelin didn't answer. She got closer to the board of lights, but not too close for she was still tied to Rowan.
She studied the pattern of the white lights. One light was straight. The other was curved at the top of the straight line. Thinking of it, she realized that it kind of looked like an 'r'. But that didn't make sense. What would 'r' stand for?
All of a sudden, a big noise echoed across the room. Everyone froze and looked at each other. The noise grew greater and greater. Then, a blast of water came through the holes. Beginning to fill the room. The stream started slowly, but soon it grew and became forceful. The room was filling up with water.
Arobynn's message echoed in her head, "... life and death."
Then Elide's, "... trust me you will know when the time is up."
They needed to hurry, for the time was ticking, but so was their number of breaths.
"Rowan, hurry! What do the white lights look like to you?" She turned around to face him and liked what she saw.
He wasn't sweating, but he was glistening, and that was good enough for her. She bit her lip and averted her gaze. Holy smokes! He looked really good. She wanted to tease him about it but knew it wasn't fitting for their current relationship status. And it made her hate Chaol even more. Though she didn't let that stop her admiring Rowan's current state.
Rowan grinned, "Like what you see?"
Aelin acted repulsed, "Ew, no. You're sweaty and stinky."
Rowan winked, "Isn't it obvious - it is a candy cane."
Aelin whipped her head and found it true.
Rowan stopped pedaling, "I think we have to find a candy cane."
They hurried to find a candy cane. Luckily it wasn't hard when the candy cane wasn't hidden and over 3 feet tall.
Called from their usual state of cooking and cleaning, Elide and Lorcan was assigned to help with the competition a little differently - much to Emrys's disappointment.
Elide and Lorcan had been controlling all of the panels. That's right, they were monitoring ALL of the student's escape rooms. It was a lot of work, but it was enjoyable watching everyone rushing around panicking when the water began to run. They both controlled many different teams, but they both kept their eyes over Aelin's and Lysandra's team. Hopefully, Lysandra's bonus would help them.
Elide tried to shift the gear that controlled the water flow, but it was stuck on high. "Lorcan! Help me! The gear is stuck."
Lorcan rushed over and grunted as he tried to move the gear, "What the fu..."
Elide and Lorcan looked at each other frighteningly, they both knew that if the water was going to stay like this, the rooms would be completely filled from the floor to the ceiling in a mere 5 minutes.
They rushed into Arobynn's classroom.
Elide yelled frantically, "Help us Arobynn! Cancel the competition, there has been a problem."
Arobynn was nowhere in sight. Elide and Lorcan searched the classroom.
Lorcan cursed, "That bastard... Elide come over here."
Elide gasped in horror.
For on the ground laid Arobynn - past out drunk.
But what was worse was that there was no way to stop the flow of water, because only Arobynn knew the code to stop it.
Elide prayed that everyone would be safe. And Lorcan prayed that he wouldn't have to clean lifeless bodies.
Okay, they had the candy cane. What now? Aelin and Rowan sloshed around - looking for something to do with the candy cane.
Dorian spoke up, "Hey! What's this other hole here for?"
Aelin and Rowan came over. They all inspected the hole. There wasn't water coming out of it and they could all tell that there was something behind it.
Chaol spoke up, "Hey, what if we put the candy cane in the hole. It looks like the same size."
Aelin smiled and put the candy cane in the hole. It fit perfectly. "Wow, Chaol. Nice assumption."
Rowan growled.
Aelin felt something shift. She tried taking the candy cane out, but it didn't come out.
Dorian thought for a moment, "Maybe you should try moving it side to side."
Aelin gave it a good shove to the left; nothing.
Aelin gave it a good shove to the right, "Woah!"
Woah indeed. For the entire wall moved to the right.
More waves of water entered their room as their room merged with another room.
In the other room, Aedion, Lysandra, and Manon were searching for clues and looked comically shocked when they saw their wall move and strangers come inside. They were surprised not only by the intruders but by the sudden increase in water levels.
Aelin noticed that the holes in their walls were sealed shut.
Lysandra - noticing Aelin's observation said, "My extra bonus was a bottle of quick-drying-sealing material."
In other words, her bonus was avoiding a major heart attack.
"Do you have any left? Ours is running like hell is after it." Dorian hopefully asked.
Lysandra shook her head.
Manon snapped, "Okay everyone needs to shut up. We are almost there. Focus."
The TV screen flashed with a hint. Finally
It said:
You all have 5 minutes until you are goners. There is one more riddle left. Solve the riddle and use the answer to escape the room. Hurry!
Everyone took a deep breath. Okay, it was now or never.
"Do you know what the riddle is?" Rowan asked.
Manon nodded and pointed at a window in their room. On the window, a riddle was projected upside down.
They all tilted their heads in a comical fashion and Aelin made out the riddle:
'What did the little candle say to the bigger candle?'
Aelin took reign, "Okay everyone. So far, all the riddles have had to do with something about the holiday season."
Everyone nodded and Aelin took that as a sign to continue, "What holiday term has to do with candles?"
This time everyone's eyes lit up and they all spoke in a-never-to-be-heard-again unison, "Menorah."
Ah yes, the iconic symbol of Hanukkah.
Manon spoke up this time, "And what happens to the flame on the menorah?"
It was like a preschool teacher asking a question, secretly knowing the answer, and the children shouting in unison.
Chaol spoke, "It goes out."
Rowan mumbled, "Just like your dignity."
Chaol whipped his head, "What did you say?"
Aelin put her one good arm between them, "Not now boys. We have two minutes left."
Rowan stubborn as ever said, "Which is why we need to figure this out. If I'm going to drown, I need to know why this bastard made my girlfriend cheat on me."
Aelin yelled, "I didn't cheat on you!"
To caught up in a quarrel that had been kept inside for too long, they didn't notice Dorian, Manon, Lysandra, and Aedion backing away and trying to get out of here in time.
ROWAN POV (DRAMA TIME)
Rowan didn't care about the clock ticking and the fact that the water was to his shoulders and he needed to swim to stay afloat. What he really cared about was solving this situation. Once and for all.
Chaol shouted, "She loves me, okay? She told me that in bed yesterday."
Was that why Aelin wasn't in his room last night?
Aelin's face turned red, "Whore! Rowan, don't trust him. I wasn't in his bed and I didn't tell him that. He didn't kiss me. He gave me mouth to mouth because I was drowning. I was freaking drowning, Rowan!"
Rowan spoke quietly, which he knew broke Aelin's heart, "Why did you kiss him back then?"
Aelin coughed as water rose even more, "Because I thought it was you!"
What a lame excuse! Aelin was smarter than that, Rowan knew that.
Aelin cleared, "I know it sounds lame, but that is what happened. What do I need to do to show you that I'm saying the truth?"
Rowan's face was expressionless, "Tell it to his face."
"What?"
"Look at Chaol's face and tell him you don't love him."
"That isn't the best way to -"
"Just do it!"
Aelin coughed again and looked Chaol straight in the eye and said with all her heart, "Chaol Westfall I don't love you. I don't love you because I don't stick around with sick, whore, scheming bastards. Not only did you use me for popularity. But in the process, you ruined the trust my boyfriend had in me. Do you see the look on his face? Do you?! That is the face of hurt and distrust. That is the face shouldn't exist in any relationship. And that is the reason my buzzard doesn't look at me with love anymore. And that is the reason why I am falling apart. All because of you. Chaol Westfall, I don't love you. And it breaks my heart that in the last few moments of life, I may die knowing that Rowan Whitethorn doesn't love me either. That he doesn't know my perpetual love for him."
Rowan swallowed. He couldn't tell if the wetness in her eyes and on her face was because of the dangerously high waters, or tears.
Her declaration of love for him was more surprising than the fact that the door was in flames.
"A little candle dies earlier than a longer candle," Lysandra stated.
Aedion smirked, corny jokes were his territory, "I got it! 'What did the little candle say to the bigger candle?' The answer is, 'I'm going out tonight!"
They laughed as much as they would with water at their throats.
Aedion continued, "Just like we are! We are getting out of here."
Aedion shouted the answer to the riddle and the water started to go down. After the water was at their ankles, a part of the ceiling opened and a bag was thrown inside. Then the ceiling closed.
Aedion rushed to the bag, careful to avoid the fighting. Inside the bag was a box of matches.
Lysandra warned, "I don't think that is for…"
Aedion didn't care. He was reckless and he did what he wanted. So he lit some matches and melted the metal lock.
Manon kicked the door opened and they were free from this puzzling captivity.
Everyone yelled in joy! Except for Rowan and Aelin. Everyone else's reason was that they weren't going to die! Though none of them were sure that was the same case for Chaol.
They all walked out the door looking flawless - despite their wetness, and entered…
A ballroom?
Author's Note:
- I didn't do too much revising so this chapter might suck a little. (A lot)
- 4,000 freaking words! That's what I'm talking about! That's 4 times as long as my normal chapters.
A long chapter definitely deserves a review. It is 2 AM and I am TIREDDDDD! Make your girl smile. K? It just takes a few seconds.
Review!