Page 35 of Love is an Open Book
“Then you’re sure you want to spend the afternoon solving puzzles and not writing?”
“Sitting around rewriting the same scenes isn’t helping,” she says. “At least today I’m following through on my goal of branching out. Maybe that will translate to a breakthrough.”
“In that case, let’s do this.” I head off in the direction she showed, swallowing down my unease with another gulp of smoothie. We discover the escape room has taken over the lower level of what used to be a department store. The clerk at the sign-in desk frowns when I show her the ticket confirmation on my phone.
“Huh, we just got a group set up in the abandoned library room. Our booking system must’ve had an error.”
“Bummer,” Mia says. “Literary clues were my best hope of beating the clock.”
We both check the laminated poster on the counter showing the other options.
“Gallery Ghosting doesn’t sound so bad.” Mia reads the description aloud. “‘Get locked in an art collector’s private vault and search for the combination to set yourself free using clues in the sculptures and paintings.’”
Locked in a vault? Hell no. That might be my number one fear.
“Sorry, we actually had to shut that one down.” The clerk looks apologetic. “Group of college kids defaced all the paintings.” She points to the last option.Cavern Cave-In: Search for clues with the help of a headlamp in a rubble-filled cave.Hello, nightmares. “I think you’ll love it,” she assures us. “It’s the one that feels the most real.”
Just what I want to hear when my plan is to remind myself this is all fake and I’m not about to be trapped underground with no way out.
Mia bites her lip. “We could just come back another day when the library room is available.” But I can tell she’s thinking of the ticking clock on a deadline that’s coming a lot sooner than she expected.
“A cave sounds cool,” I hear myself saying. As in, bone-chilling. But either way, I’m signing up to be trapped. Does the theme really matter? I grit my teeth through signing a waiver, being briefed on how to use the walkie-talkies, and getting strapped into climbing gear.
“For authenticity’s sake,” says another escape room employee who introduced himself as the game manager.
Inauthentic would suit me just fine, but I remind myself that no matter how real it feels, we’ll just be wandering around what used to be a Sears department store.
“Don’t turn on the lights on your helmets until the countdownends,” the game manager says, looking comfortingly ordinary in a polo and khakis.
“Let me guess, authenticity?” I try and fail to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
He shakes his head. “In this case, it’s to make it harder for you to find the first clue.” He asks us to test our headlamps and we obediently flick the switch on and off twice. “Great, you’re good to go.”
The door marked CAVE ENTRANCE SHAFT opens to reveal a path sloping into darkness. Reminding myself this is just a mall, I picture wide aisles between rows of appliances and TVs. He tells us to stand against the wall, which is textured like rock.
“See you on the other side.” Shutting the door, he says, “Or not,” with a laugh that’s probably part of the gig but feels way too genuine.
We’re plunged into darkness, and I can see now why he told us to stand with our backs to the wall. Or rather, can’t see. It’s pitch black and without the wall behind me, I’d feel totally disoriented. “Remember what I said about horror movies?”
Next to me, Mia’s fumbling. “Just turn on your headlamp.”
“Trying.” My fingers are shaking, and I’m not sure I really want light, after all. She might notice how embarrassingly freaked-out I am.
Her headlamp clicks on, illuminating the clammy gray-brown passageway. The light emphasizes how dark the rest of the space is, and I realize I forgot to ask the dimensions of this escape room. Before I can spiral about the lack of space, Mia steps in front of me and rises on her tiptoes, hand on my shoulder for balance.
Is she about to kiss me? On instinct, I bend my head and... she reaches up to click my headlamp on. Embarrassed, I’m glad she turns away quickly so she won’t catch sight of my blush.
She stays close, searching the area near us. Logically, I knowwe’re in a man-made room, but with the low ceiling and small passageway, my brain is warning me that crushing tons of earth are above us. Propelled by the urge to get out of here as fast as possible without making a fool of myself, I head down the path, which angles sharply, hiding the rest of the room from view.
“I’ve never been in a real cave,” Mia says, right on my heels. “We should stop by the one on the way to your dad’s house sometime.”
“I went once, as a kid.”
“And?”
“I didn’t like it.” An understatement. “My dad ended up asking the tour guide to take me out early. They had to radio up to someone at the entrance to come get us while Mom finished the tour with Scott.”
“That happened when Kim took me to see my first horror movie in theaters,” Mia says, no trace of judgment. “Except she had to leave with me and didn’t let me live it down.” Her voice reaches me, warm. “We didn’t have to do the cave challenge.”
