•Stuck in Mayfield's bazaar•

(1) Mayfield's bazaar

Also known as:

•Where are we?

•Reggie Mayfield

•The start of our adventure

•Floor One or Seven?

Vanessa's POV:

"Van? Hey, hey, wake up!" I could hear a faint but familiar voice, and at first I thought I was dreaming. I blinked my eyes open wearily, coming face to face with a pair of blue eyes.

"Dan...?" I mumbled, and he practically sighed in relief. "Glad you're ok," he said, pulling me up onto my feet. "Oi lovebirds, don't forget us," Matt teased, helping Lonz up as well. I would've retorted with a sarcastic remark, but my head was spinning and my thoughts were a mess.

"Where the hell are we?" Lonz muttered as we looked around. We were in a street, but it was pretty cold and deserted. I shivered as a cold wind rippled past me, rubbing my arms in an attempt to make myself warm.

"I see you're here!" a new voice called, startling us. A boy walked towards us, a sly grin on his face. My jaw dropped at his next words: "If you thought I might've forgotten the bet, fat chance! Reggie never forgets a bet!"

"Reggie?!" Matt mumbled incredulously from next to me. Did I hit my head or what?

"You ready? I'm telling you, you're gonna lose! You can still back off if you want!" he laughed while we four stared at him blankly.

"I can't believe it..." Lonz whispered. "We're in the book..."

"I'm thinking if we need to get out of here, we have to finish this bet," Daniel whispered back and I nodded. "I can't tell if this is cool or terrifying..." I mumbled.

"Hello~?" Reggie called, tapping his foot impatiently. I looked up at the tall building behind him that was Mayfield's bazaar. Everything was dark, and I could just make out the huge stone carvings on top of the roof. It looked eerie in the light of the full moon. I gulped, dang was it scary.

"We'll win and show you Reggie," Lonz said firmly. "Come on guys!" 

Reggie shook his head with a sigh. "I left you instructions inside," he said, and me and the others walked towards the store. Walking up the marble stairs, Matt inhaled before he unlocked the front door and pushed it open.

                                                                  X-O-X

I let the door fall shut behind me as I looked around. Matt, Daniel and Lonz were just a little ahead of me, looking around as well. Glass cases lined the aisles, and from the glow of the dim lights overhead, we could just make out their contents: jewellery, sunglasses and watches. 

"According to the note that Reggie left, we ought to explore this entire store in an hour, starting from midnight," Lonz explained, stepping forward and picking out one of the watches from the shelves. "I'll take one so we know the time and put it back before we go." she added, strapping the watch over her wrist.

"Good idea," Daniel said before Matt called our attention. "Over here guys!"

                                                                     X-O-X

Matt's POV:

I noticed a carboard sign taped to the glass shelf with all the crockery. I called my friends over so we could look at it.

"It's from Reggie," Vanessa noted, squinting at the sign.

"Uh... is that a one or a seven?" Daniel asked, scratching his head. To be honest, I couldn't tell either.

"They weren't exaggerating when they said Reggie had lousy handwriting," Lonz grumbled. "Which floor does he want us to go to?"

"You girls might know the safer way, right?" I asked, and they shared a look. "Heh, unfortunately not..." Vanessa explained. "We never got to read the book, cous. We don't know which way to take." 

"Oh great," I muttered. "It's up to us then, I suppose. Floor One or Floor Seven?"

"Isn't this the first floor?" Daniel asked, but Vanessa shook her head. "Nope, this is the main floor, I think," she replied, pointing at a sign on the wall that said "Main floor".

"Then I'm up for Floor One," said Daniel. "What about you guys?"

"Floor One it is. It's the closer one," I said, and Vanessa and Lonz muttered their consent, also agreeing to Floor One.

"There's the elevator," Vanessa said as she pointed to the large, old-fashioned elevator with polished brass doors. "Thank goodness, I really didn't want to take the stairs," Daniel said, relieved. "Because you're too old to take the stairs, aren't you grandpa?" Lonz teased, and Daniel glared at her, unamused. "I'm not that old, thank you very much," he snapped and I laughed as Lonz stuck her tongue out at Daniel and Vanessa patted his back in a sort of comfort.

We walked to the elevator, Lonz and Daniel still bickering good-naturedly, and Vanessa pressed the elevator button to open it. As the doors opened, I spotted a big, brand-new duffel bag in the elevator. "Would you look at this!" I heard Lonz exclaim as she pulled off a piece of lined notebook paper that had been taped to the wood paneled wall.

We huddled near her to look at the note. "To prove to me that you explored the whole store, you have to bring me one thing from each floor," Daniel read over Lonz's shoulder. "Like a scavenger hunt!" Vanessa exclaimed, bending over to pick up the duffel bag. "That actually sounds sort of fun!" she grinned. "But look what he wants from the first floor!" Lonz cried, and I was genuinely startled by how shocked she sounded. I peeked over to look at the note. It said: "A man's leg."

I gulped. "I don't like the way that sounds..."

Vanessa frowned. "What does he mean, 'a man's leg'?"

"Only one way to find out." Daniel declared, placing a hand on the buttons. "Ready?"

Lonz tucked the note in her pocket and nodded. Vanessa slung the bag around her shoulder and we both nodded as well.

And then Daniel pressed the button to the first floor.

To be continued...

A/N Whew, Chapter-1 is finally up! A thousand words welp-

I really hope you enjoyed, and I have so many ideas for other stories that I have zero idea on what to publish first. Anyway, please vote and leave a comment on the story! Happy reading! -Vicky <3