Page 71 of Under Locke & Key
“You’re suspiciously calm right now?” I say as I turn to face him.
He captures my chin and lifts it so he can plant a quick kiss on my lips. “Not calm, hopeful. I’ll probably crash later tonight but right now I’m trying to use the extra adrenaline for productivity rather than worry.”
“Enough. We’re burning daylight and I heard a rumor about a celebratory barbeque over at the Dawsons when this is done so you better hop to it. I’m hungry.” Logan grumbles without any real malice and heat floods my cheeks.
It’s only been a short time since we’ve been overt about being together but considering Logan and Ángel saw us making out in public there’s been no real reason to keep it secret. Mostly it’s just so we don’t get distracted at work and caught up in something inappropriate.
“I’ll meet up with you when they’re done?” I ask and Bryce nods, him heading over to the front desk area and me to the corridor between the theater rooms where the projectors used to be, looking down into the room below.
Bryce will be watching them through the screen and texting me if any of the cameras need adjustment which I’ll be able to do from here. I’ll also be able to see how far the fog from the machine travels and how well the sounds spread through the room without actually being in there with them.
We’re trying them in our hardest room first. It feels a little unfair but it’s better to get a feel for the difficulty level that way.
Bryce hits the main lights and our teams are enveloped in darkness that’s counteracted by carefully placed warm light, fake flames from torches flickering across the wall. The premise of the room is that our escapees have just nabbed their treasure and unwittingly triggered a reaction when lifting their loot off of the pedestal. Their way out has slammed shut.
Of course the real door to get out is still available and should any of them like to leave all they have to do is say so to the camera, but we wanted to keep it as immersive as possible.
A disembodied voice, deep and menacing (courtesy of Mr. Dawson who was strangely good at it despite his friendly demeanor) sounds over the speakers and Logan lets out a squeak at the unexpected noise. I stifle a laugh and try to pay attention.
“You who trespass here, who dare to plunder what does not belong to you, have evoked wrath unlike any you have ever seen. The price you pay is steep. The chance of escape, nil. Your bones will stand as warning for any others who attempt to cross into this hallowed space. Know this if you attempt to escape your fate. Others have come and all have failed. The way out is treacherous and your demise imminent.”
There’s a beat of silence for them to absorb the threat before the voice continues. “Goodbye, scourge of man. I await your spirits and know you will join me soon. No one steals from the Great God Dedun and lives to regret it.”
A rumble passes through the room, and the remaining lights flicker with a gust of wind from the fan on the far edge of the wall, painted black to hide its existence. The preplanned timing of the effects that have been programmed in as part of the room so far is top notch. The bass from the surround sound speakers, courtesy of the theater that stood here before, passes through my chest and remains a steady thrum of doom.
“Okay. Think.Think. Let’s start going around the treasure room to see if there’s another way out,” Farren urges.
Our friends trail their hands over the “walls” feeling for notches or gaps that might indicate an escape route. Logan is the first to find a clue, followed shortly by Ángel.
“I’ve found a keyhole of some kind. Like we’re going to have to slot something in place.” Logan’s fingers prod at the spot in the wall that has an emblem embossed into it.
“I found a scroll and a diary from someone who ‘died’ here in the past and their experience trying to get out of the room. They mention the symbol on the wall and there’s some kind of code here.” Ángel’s fingers trail over the words and the group is huddled around him, trying to read.
They gather piece by piece, splitting into pairs and small groups as needed and it’s amazing to watch something that’s only lived in my head come to life beneath me.
“Rachel, can you tilt camera two down a couple of inches? I’m not getting the full space where Gabrielle is searching through the trunk. I can only see the top of her head,” Bryce’s voice comes through the walkie talkie portion of the app and I tilt the camera down until his voice chirps, “perfect” through the phone speaker.
Two flames have been snuffed before they unlock their first chest, filled with tools and a crude map of the room, including passages that have been sealed shut. We included a false passage to up the stakes and try to see how quickly people would move on or if they’d focus all their energy on one spot only.
“The clue says to use all our senses to try and determine which trail will lead us out and which false path will lead to our doom. Sight hasn’t helped so far. Everything feels the same when we touch it and I can’t see them wanting us to lick anything in the room,” Logan says and the group laughs.
They’re on the right track.
“How would we tell if we weren’t in a manufactured room? It would either be by scent, if the air is stagnant or if there’s something else . . .” Gabrielle jumps in and I want to whoop I’m so excited.
“Air!” Farren exclaims. “They can’t really do scent in here but you guys felt the fans earlier. It stands to reason that the true path will have some kind of breeze that will mark it as the one that leads outside.”
The group is surrounded by their clues and the tools they’ve amassed over the last half an hour, crouched near the ground and trying to feel for a slight breeze to determine if there is a way out. It’s Sebastian that calls them over to the correct path.
They move carefully through the darkened passage into the second part of the room, closed off from the treasure area. There they find the caged-in opening to the outside with multiple locks, including a letter one that is the final barrier between them and freedom.
That lock is the secret word they have to submit—amend.
Unfortunately they get stuck at the physical puzzle that contains the word hidden within—a magnetic maze that signifies the journey they’ve gone through to escape. They’re doing it correctly but it seems as if the magnet we chose just isn’t strong enough.
More torches dim and they are down to their last one when the magnet finds its home and the scroll containing the final clue clatters to the ground.
Logan’s whoop of excitement is contagious and the rest of the group have triumphant smiles on their faces as they twist the letters and unlock the way out. I rush down to the room but Bryce gets there first and Logan gives him a big hug.
