Page 31 of My Cosplay Escape
For this set, I’m lounging on the bed, saucy vamp style, when the group comes in. “Nice job, but you’ll never escape.” I rise and saunter closer to the trio of high school boys. “Now then. Can you see in the dark?”
“I don’t know, can you?” One lunges at me before I can beeline for the door. Had I been ordinary hoodie-wearing me staffing an escape room, I would have been surprised and scared. Flight or freeze would have kicked in. But tonight, I am cosplaying. I’m Catstrike, and I’m all fight. My knee goes up, straight into the guy’s stomach. My fist comes down on another’s head. If I had my whip with me, I’d crack it. Instead, I hiss.
“I don’t play with boys.” That’s right. I hiss. “Now find the key and get out.”
So maybe I break Vanessa’s rule and shove them as I return to Mallard’s cell. I don’t care. I am not about to let a group of dumbass boys push me around.
When I exit into the other room, Adam is waiting, and Jerry is still reading the paper.
“I’m breaking you,” he says.
I raise and lower a shoulder. “I’m fine.”
“I’m breaking you anyway. People want pictures.”
“Fine.” I saunter with my chin tilted up and my shoulders back. “Thanks for the heads-up, Jerry.”
Jerry doesn’t look up from his paper. “Don’t mention it.”
Adam grabs me by the arm and steers me through his labyrinth of Malum cells. We pass Vanessa, who is still laughing maniacally, and the high schoolers, who are stuck in Mike the Badpun’s room. “What were you doing?” Adam’s voice is soft, controlled, but also full of suppressed rage.
No way is he pinning what just happened on me. “I was defending myself. You lied to me. You told me everyone would be on their best behavior, but those boys made a grab for me.” I was lucky Jerry warned me TBH, or I might have gotten even more carried away. “What kind of escape room are you running, Mr. Adam West McKinney?” I jab his chest with my finger.
“Look,” Adam hisses, ducking into a small storage closet and pulling me in after him. “Not everyone has the skill set or the patience for a real escape room. And the people who are into the real rooms, don’t come for the live actors. The atmosphere sure—”
“Now you’re demoting me to set dressing?”
“No! What I’m saying is you should have hit the house lights. You should have called for help.”
I’m not sure what Adam stores in the boxes all around us, but I do know that it’s tight in here. I’m only inches away from him. “And risk the wrath of Deputy Chief Eden? Do you think he’s the jealous type?” I slide one of my claws up his arm before leaning against a wall of boxes.
“Just smile for their Insta Stories. Say meow. If you’re not happy, we’ll talk later.”
Adam takes a deep breath before opening the door and beckoning me to follow him down the hall.
“There he is. Job well done, Adam!” a grizzled man calls out. He’s from the same group I dazzled with my flip off the wall. Well-dressed, a tad snookered, expensive-smelling perfumes.
A woman with an Hermes scarf tied casually around her neck pats Adam’s shoulder. “Quite clever, harnessing the appeal of haunted houses and creating an application that can be utilized year-round.”
“Thanks, Dr. Withers.”
Who are these people? His professors? One of the gentlemen shakes Adam’s hand.
“But it’s not just the business model,” a second woman continues. “Adam has a keen eye for talent.”
“I’ll say,” a red-nosed gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair chimes in.
I bristle. I don’t like the way Salty Red Nose stares at me. No doubt he’s done more than just taste wine tonight. Probably downed a bottle or two.
“How about a picture?” Adam forces a smile. “Look, Nightbat is here.” He ushers a very au courant Nightbat cosplayer into frame.
“Wonderful attention to detail, Adam. So atmospheric,” Dr. Withers says as we shuffle in front of the camera.
“Should we squeeze in?” Salty Red Nose puts his hand around the small of my back, and I flinch.
“Looks great,” Adam says from behind his photographer with theDaily Postpress badge. He studies the frame. “Professor Jackson, how about you trade places with Linda? That’s it. Much more balanced now.”
The old guy has to move away. Linda has the decency to keep from squeezing my vinyl with her hand.
