Ah, I finally got one done! I've been SO DANG BUSY! The only reason I was able to finish this one today was because ice closed the roads so I couldn't leave the house! It knocked the power out for a about an hour too, but we're okay! I PROMISE I'll write more chapters over Christmas break and I'll try to finish some more before that too (more snow/ice in the forecast...). Anyway, at long last, here's the chapter!
UPDATE: I AM SO SORRY! I looked over this chapter and realized that for some reason when I tried to enter the diagram (which was just a few letters) it cut all of the letters out but one! Why it did this I have no idea, but hopefully this fixed it.
Chapter six
Bank Vaults
The inside of the building wasn't too strange. There was a small, white desk in the center of the room and a short, standing lamp which emitted a green light. I swore that when –well, if – I made it home that night I would destroy all of my green clothing and never buy, use or eat anything green again-not that I went through with that last bit of course, I love lima beans.
There was an elevator at the end of the room, just a plain old elevator. I gave an exasperated shrug and walked inside to find that it only went up to the twentieth floor! Grumbling, I punched the button that read "20" and the elevator lurched slowly upward, it took nearly five minutes to reach the tenth floor; I'd be almost out of time before I reached the sixtieth level at this rate. I cried out at the elevator door with frustration, "gaah! Nigma, you little bastard!" Screaming at elevator doors…I'm really starting to lose my marbles. I thought.
"Hello? Hello? Sarah, are you there?" A voice called out through the speakers.
"Boss?" I asked, looking around.
"Sarah! Where are you?"
"In the elevator boss; don't worry, I'm okay!"
"Alright, that's enough." Said another voice, "hello, Sarah."
"Top 'o the morning to you too, Riddler" I grumbled.
"By now, you're probably wondering why you're only going to the twentieth floor…"
"Let me guess, is there a puzzle waiting for me?"
"Very good." He mocked, "On the twentieth level, there are four vaults and four elevators which are color coded for your convenience. Each of the vaults has a riddle; if you answer it right, you'll get a clue as to which elevator to enter. If you pick the right one, it will take you to the fortieth floor. But, if you answer it incorrectly, you'll still get a clue, but it will point you towards the wrong door, understand?"
I nodded, "what happens if I pick the wrong door?"
"Good question; if you pick the wrong door you won't get another chance. The elevator will take you to the basement. There is only one exit in the basement and that's through the elevator, but once you reach the basement it won't work anymore until it's re-activated using a key, and I have the only one. Rest assured, if you find yourself in that situation I'll have one of my men set you free in- how does twelve hours sound?"
I got the picture, "anything else?"
"Good luck." The door finally opened.
The room was just as he'd said it would be. In the middle of the room, bunched very close together, were four elevators, painted red, blue, white, green and orange. To give you a visual, the layout looked like this.
RBWGO
The vaults were to the right and left of the last two doors and looked very normal as far as bank vaults went. "Well, have to start somewhere." I muttered, walking towards the farthest vault and opening the door.
…
The inside of the vault looked like a small living room. A red plush carpet lined the floor; next to it was a flower pot. A red armchair sat in the middle of the room and a fireplace, complete with a roaring fire, sat in front of it. Painted on the wall above the mantelpiece were the words, "give me food and I will live but give me water and I will die, what am I?"
I groaned "Fire!"
The fire flickered and died. Four bricks behind it broke away from the wall and flipped themselves over. I bent down to read the words written on them;
Don't take the elevator with a white door.
I nodded, not the white one, got it. I stood up, one down, three to go.
Each vault had a different interior; the next one looked like a dark alley, complete with broken glass, a gutter, and a red cat. Written in graffiti on the wall were the words "what gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?"
"A towel!"
A new strand of graffiti appeared on the wall.
The correct elevator has either a blue door or a green door next to it
The next vault smelled of chemicals. The room had white, sterilized walls, and a minimalistic cot with a single white sheet, a heart monitor, and an IV bag next to it. I read the description on the bag, "What can you catch but not throw?"
"A cold" I said, "or any other contagious disease for that matter."
The line on the heart monitor went flat; a long beep rang out for several seconds and the line was replaced with words.
The correct elevator has another one to its immediate left.
The last vault appeared to be a normal bank vault aside from the fact that it had no currency of any description in it aside from one lonely penny on a shelf. Rather than reading "in God we trust" the description read.
I'm light as a feather, yet the strongest man can't hold me for much more than a minute. What am I?
This one was a little bit harder, but luckily for me, I had heard it once before, "one's breath," I said.
A shaft opened somewhere in the vault and a dollar bill floated to the ground. I picked it up, on the back it read; "The correct elevator is two doors to either the right or the left of the white one."
Those were some of the easiest riddles I've ever heard! I thought, leaving the vault. This is some kind of joke, right?
I stood in the center of the room and contemplated the doors. I considered my clues,
Don't take the elevator with a white door.
The correct elevator has either a blue door or a green door next to it
The correct elevator has another one to its immediate left.
The correct elevator is two doors to either the right or the left of the white one
I thought about it for a moment, not wanting to guess wrong. Which one…?