Haunted Escape

It was a nice fall day in the city, and Ruffian had the prospect that today would be all the same. He happened to be stopping by Matcha Vanilla Cafe for a cup of coffee, it was the morning and he had yet to get some. Luckily it was his day off, so there were no worries about doing work such as writing songs and rehearsing them. He was planning to stop by his husband’s house until he got an interesting message from his husband’s best friend, Cider. Despite Cider’s behaviors coming off as invidious to others, they were still considered a good person in his eyes. When Ruffian looked at the message, it looked like they ended up being able to drag his husband, Koa, over to a haunted house, and wanted him to come join the two of them. While this wouldn’t be something Ruffian would consider, considering his more circumspect nature, he did feel a little bit daring today. He decided to shoot them a message that he would be coming.

As Ruffian was expecting, Koa already looks like he has seen a specter, given his horrified facial expression. At that moment, Ruffian decided to look around the exterior of the haunted house. While the place wasn’t big, what was the case was the overabundance of foliage, many plants trying to make their way to the sun. There were a few plants that caught Ruffian’s interest though, as they weren’t phototropic like the other plants around. Ruffian then turned back to Cider and Koa, going back towards them with just a simple question.

“So, Cider, what exactly are we here for?” Ruffian looked at Cider, hoping to get a fairly lucid answer, especially with the nervous glances Koa was giving him.

“Well, there is this challenge apparently– this haunted house is an escape room and currently is under some public testing, so I wanted to try this out!” Cider’s explanation did elucidate what the reason was for all three of them being here. This didn’t ease Koa whatsoever though, being the one afraid of everything supernatural. With that, the three of them proceeded to go inside the haunted house. The lobby had phosphorescent trim lights along the top of the walls, giving a moody yet exciting vibe to the place. Ruffian set his eyes on the person manning the desk, approaching them, meanwhile, Cider tried their best to tell Koa “It won’t be that scary!”

“Hello! I assume you three are here for the escape room?” The lady who was behind the desk had asked. She happened to be wearing a pumpkin hat on the top of her head.

“Oh, yes, all three of us.” Ruffian blankly said, he isn’t normally one to socialize, but given how his shorter two compatriots were busy with other things, he kind of had to be the one to vocalize with the staff.

“That’s wonderful! I’m so glad you’re here to help test out the escape room!” The lady was quite happy, and grabbed three papers– all three were waivers for the escape room. “Please, have each group member read and sign these waivers, as we cannot hold liability for what occurs once you’re inside.” The lady had said. Ruffian stared at the other two, who immediately came over as a result. The three looked at the waivers, with Cider being the one to fill theirs out first. Eventually, despite taking some convincing, Koa filled his out, and Ruffian gave the waivers to the lady. Another staff member had come out with the group that was previously in and led the three into the starting room.

“Now, there is no time limit here but, if you must get out for an emergency, locate an emergency switch which will turn the lights right back on and unlock the doors!” The operator said over the intercom. He continued about the rules of the escape room– and even gave the scenario for the escape room. It felt like the operator had to improvise, as he was having long pauses between sentences. It wasn’t a big deal though, as this escape room was simply a test. The operator then switched the lights off, leaving the starting room dim. The starting room was a library, with many odd objects like animal skeletons and jars of limbs on some of the shelves. Koa was already much more freaked out, but luckily for him, Cider and Ruffian were very quickly solving the room. The two were probably very aware he couldn’t do much, given his competency. Ruffian found the final piece of the puzzle, which was providential for Koa as he already wanted to leave, but they only had completed one part. There were quite a few parts to the escape room, with there being a total of five areas to complete. The group went down a dark hallway, getting scared when a staff member screamed at them from behind. 

Quickly, the group arrived in what looked to be a bedroom. There was quite the big bed with a fairly suspicious stain on top of the sheets, it was framed by a translucent silk canopy. Cider’s first idea was to check the bed, as things could be hiding there. Much to the disappointment of the group, there was nothing under the sheets, on the good news however, Koa did see something under the bed, which resulted in him screaming. Ruffian went to check it out, it was a strange box that had a glowing skull on it. He proceeded to pull the box out, as Cider came down to the floor to check out the box with him.

“It looks like it is locked,” Ruffian said, having attempted to open the box. Cider simply nodded and got up to find a key. Upon feeling along the walls, there was a loose painting. They moved the painting over, found the key, and grabbed it. Cider opened the box, which had a piece of paper inside. Ruffian grabbed the piece of paper and read what was on it, it was a code.

“Koa, can you please check that closet over there?” Ruffian said, looking at his husband who was cowardly, Koa did indeed go check, however, finding a door inside of the closet.

“Erm, I think this might be our exit,” Koa said, alerting the group to it. Ruffian had come over and inputted the code into the padlock, opening it. Koa’s observation was correct in that this was the exit, but there were still more areas to finish. The group was taking moderate time to complete all the areas, but after about three hours, they ended up at the end. The same operator from before approached them.

“Hey! Congratulations on completing the escape room! Here, let me take a photo with you all.” The operator directed the group to a photo setup, making Koa perk up. The group went to sit down on the bench as they were instructed to. The man had taken the photo and looked at it. As per expected of idols, the group was quite photogenic, despite Koa’s nervous and scared expression. The group then got led back to the lobby, as the group of people waiting were then led to the start. Ruffian went to go thank the lady, and the group went along the way back to the main part of the city.

“That was fun, right Koa?” Cider looked at the cat, who had calmed down just a bit after leaving.

“I don’t know if I’d call it fun, Cider.” Koa just retorted, albeit, not in a manner that was particularly rude though. Cider and Koa looked towards Ruffian, who looked to be deep in thought.

“Hey, what’s up,” Cider said, wanting to get Ruffian’s attention. It was a successful way of getting him, as he looked towards the other two. “You looked to be deep in thought,” Cider remarked.

“Oh, I’m just thinking, as this was actually my first escape room here, or really, ever,” Ruffian said, thinking back to his days of playing in corn mazes whenever the season for haunting had arrived back in his hometown. As the group was going home, they reminisced about their childhoods, especially during fall. If Ruffian was to describe this day, he would say that it was perfect.