•Stuck in Mayfield's bazaar•

(4) Poisonous Perfume

Also known as:

•Floor Two

•Is there one called the 'Poisonous perfume'?

•Exploding bottles

•Landing in trouble, literally

Matt's POV:

"Poisonus perfume," I read, going over the list that Lonz passed me. I looked up at the others, waiting for a yes or no.

"I suppose," Daniel said. He pressed the button to the second floor. "You don't think it's really poison, do you?"

"All perfume probably smells like poison to you boys," Lonz laughed. "I mean, that's true, wolfie, the only perfume you can stand is mine," Vanessa added, flicking Daniel's forehead.

"Ow that hurts-" Daniel muttered, rubbing his head, and I wondered if he meant his head or Vanessa's remark.

Before I could say anything else, the doors slid open. We prepared ourselves for an attack, but everything was quiet and still.

I stepped out first, followed by Daniel, Lonz and Vanessa. Shelves filled with perfume bottles of all shapes and sizes were neatly lined against the walls. They just seemed to go on forever.

"There's so many!" Vanessa exclaimed. "Where in the name of Hogwarts are we gonna find the one we need?"

"We could just grab one and go, can't we?" Lonz questioned. "We just have to show Reggie we've been here!"

"I know but what if there's one named the poisonous perfume? If we don't get that one, we could get stuck here!" I retorted.

"Then again, you're right mate," Daniel agreed, interrupting Lonz. "There could be a certain one we need to get, and we might end up needing it to save our necks on another floor!"

"I'm sure if we four work together we can find the right one in time!" Vanessa added, placing her hands on her waist and examining the huge room. "Come on Lonz, just two minutes. If we don't find the right one in time, we'll just grab one and go, like you said!" she prompted.

Daniel's POV:

Lonz contemplated what we could do for a moment, before checking her borrowed Splotch watch. "Let's find the poisonous perfume then..." she declared. "But we better hurry, we don't have much time and we have other floors to go to. Only two minutes, no more, no less."

Nodding, we split up, each of us heading to different shelves.

                                                                    X-O-X

Sitting on my knees, I examined all the perfume bottles. I squinted, going over all the little labels before stopping at one. Found it.

"Guys!" I called, standing up on my feet and pulling the bottle off the shelf. "I found it!"

"Brilliant!" Vanessa stuck her head out from the other side of the shelf that I was standing by, nearly giving me a heart attack in the process.

"Jesus, princess," I murmured, placing a hand over my heart. "You're gonna kill me at this rate!"

"Heh, sorry," she said sheepishly, walking out from behind the shelf as Matt and Lonz made their way towards us.

"Great!" Matt exclaimed triumphantly. "Now let's-"

Just then, one of the bottles on the nearby shelf suddenly exploded, spraying us with perfume and glass. 

"Whoa!" I cried, backing up. "Why did it explode?!"

BAM! More bottles began to explode all at one, engulfing the room in perfume.

...Oh no.

Matt's POV:

"I think taking the perfume caused this!" I called, coughing from all the perfume.

"I told you we should have just taken a random bottle and got out of here!" Lonz's voice rang out, though I couldn't see where on earth she was as the perfume was clouding the room completely.

"Let's get out of here first!" Vanessa yelled, and I could make out her silhouette rushing to the elevator. I was about to follow when one of the perfume bottles exploded right in my face.

"Gah!" I winced as I took a step back, feeling my eyes starting to burn up. I rubbed at them, trying to clear my vision so I could see where I was going. 

It's funny how quickly things took a 180 degree turn, huh?

Daniel's POV:

I couldn't see the others anywhere, and the worst part was that all this perfume had completely filled the whole room, making it really hard to breathe. 

My hand came in contact with something solid; the wall, I guessed. As I felt my way along, I felt something like a lever under my fingers. 

'What if it's the fire alarm?' I thought. 'Maybe the sprinklers would come on if I pulled it, that should clear the perfume, but it could alert the fire department too...if there is one.'

Deciding it was worth the risk, I pulled the lever.

Though it wasn't the fire alarm.

Instead, I felt the floor give out under me, like it just split evenly into two. Vanessa's startled scream and Lonz and Matt's confused shireks echoed through the room as we went flying into nothing but darkness.

                                                                          X-O-X

After the sudden fall, I went sliding down a slick, dark passageway, gaining speed rapidly. I could hear the others right behind me.

WHOOSH! I flew out of the chute, landing with a thump on a big, soft cushion. I rubbed my head with a groan, adjusting my position. Lonz, Vanessa and Matt tumbled in after each other, landing on the same cushion. Good thing I had moved away from where I landed.

"Oof, Matt, Van! Get off me you elephants!" Lonz wheezed, flailing her arms about as she tried to get them off. "Ah, sorry Lonz," Vanessa said hastily, pulling herself off Lonz, Matt doing the same. "I don't think we're that heavy," he muttered, and Lonz shot him an unimpressed look. "Try being in my position, and then think again you pigeon," she snapped.

"Where the hell are we anyway?" Vanessa asked, and Matt and Lonz both shrugged. "I was trying to find my way to the elevator, and then suddenly we went falling, and here we are," Matt stated, rubbing his eyes. His eyes were slightly red, I wondered if he was alright. "Same," Lonz and Vanessa said, and after a brief moment of silence, the three of them turned to look at me.

"Dan...what did you do?" Lonz asked me, and I blinked.

"Ahahaha, you see..." I chuckled nervously. "I was trying to feel my way across the wall to the elevator, and then I felt something like a lever. I thought it was the fire alarm, and I deduced that if I pulled it, the sprinklers would come on, and it would clear the perfume so we could see and breathe. And so I pulled it and well-"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" they yelled in unison, and I held my hands up in surrender. "Hey, we could have choked to death there you know?!" I reminded them.

"Yeah, but now we don't know where we are!" Matt exclaimed. "We could be stuck here, wherever we are, forever!" 

"Now, now, I'm pretty sure there must be an exit somewhere..." Vanessa began.

"Finally! You're here!" A voice said suddenly.

Huh? Who said that?

A small table lamp cast a dim light over the room. From what I could see, the big cement room we were in was stocked with weird scientific equiment. Strange.

"I've been waiting for you..." the voice declared.

Waiting? For us? But, why?

To be continued...