•Stuck in Mayfield's bazaar•

(8) Volcano Steam

Also known as:

•Floor Six

•Reggie's puzzle

•Almost there

•Cliffhanger time

Vanessa's POV:

"The last thing left before we can proceed to the seventh and last floor is the Volcano Steam," Daniel said as he looked over the note. "Alright, and we'd better hurry, we don't have much time left," Lonz added as she checked her borrowed Splotch Watch.

I nodded as I pressed the button to the sixth floor, and the elevator slowly began to make its way up. CLANK! Though it began to make weird noises as it proceeded, and it was visibly slower than usual...

"Am I the only one who doesn't like the way the elevator sounds-?" I asked worriedly. Glancing around at the faces of my friends, I could till they didn't like this either. Not one bit.

CLANK! CHUG! In a snap, startling all of us, the elevator halted abruptly, and the lights went out, engulfing us in shadowy darkness.

"We're stuck!" Matt exclaimed, and I tripped over my own feet in the dark, landing in a pair of arms. "Careful princess," Daniel whispered in my ear as he steadied me.

A ghostly cackle filled the elevator and Daniel's grip on me tightened protectively. "W-What's that?" Matt muttered shakily, and to make matters worse, we couldn't see a thing.

"How are you doing with our bet?" A voice rang out, and my head snapped up. Oh, how well I knew that voice.

"Reggie?!"  

"Yup!" he replied with a cackle. "I've been watching your progress through the security cameras,"

"You've been spying on us?!" Lonz demanded.

His laugh echoed through the elevator. "Oh yes, ready to quit?"

"Absolutely not!" Daniel snapped, his fists clenching. "Start the elevator back up Reggie, you're slowly us down,"

Lonz's POV:

All I wanted was to get my hands on Reggie and make sure he didn't see the light of day again. "You don't have to go all the way to the sixth floor~" he said in a sing-song voice, which just seemed to irritate us even more. "I'll give you the volcano steam if you solve a little riddle of mine~" 

"Maybe we don't want to do your stupid puzzle," I retorted. "You don't have to, you can just sit here in the elevator, ALL NIGHT!" he laughed before his voice faded away, leaving us in the dark, unmoving elevator.

I looked around at the others, unaware of what expressions they had in the dark. "We have no choice, do we-?" Vanessa questioned in a small voice, and I sighed. "Seems like you decided what was best for ya, huh?" Reggie's voice suddenly echoed through the elevator again, making me jump. "Look under the carpet, you'll find the puzzle I left for you," he commanded. "Good luck, you'll need it~" With that, the lights flashed back on, his voice disappearing.

Carefully bending down, I examined the carpet, running my fingers along the soft surface, trying to find anything amiss. 

My fingers tugged at a loose corner of the carpet, and I lifted it up. This let Matt pick up a piece of paper lying underneath it.

"It's a word search," Matt informed us, sounding slightly surprised. He had probably been expecting something more complicated. "We need to find the word 'Volcano' as many times as possible,"

Vanessa's POV:

"I really don't know what more I was expecting from Reggie, I should have known his brain power is only capable of a word search at most," Lonz said sarcastically, and I swore I heard Reggie yell "Hey!" through the speakers while I covered my mouth, laughing quietly.

Matt laughed before he crouched down, spreading the note out on the carpeted floor, and we gathered around it.

"Does anyone have a pen?" asked Daniel.

Matt nodded, feeling his coat pockets before he pulled out a blue, star patterned pen. "I grabbed it from the stationary section on the third floor; I thought it looked pretty," he explained, and we all collectively shivered at the memory of the Heart Attack Backpack.

Daniel took it from him and gazed at the puzzle, the pen placed thoughtfully on his chin. We all pointed out the 'Volcano's in the word search, and he circled them up. 

About two minutes later, Daniel held up the paper. "I think there's... six volcanoes? Did we get them all?" he turned it to show us, and we nodded after looking over the puzzle for a moment. "I think that's all mate," Matt assured him.

"Reggie!" I called up to no one in particular. "We're done!" 

"Hold up the solved puzzle to the security camera," he instructed. "So?" Daniel muttered as he did as he was told.

"NO!" Reggie screamed suddenly, and I swore I felt five years of my lifespan get cut off. "No! No! No!

"Ow! Reggie! My ears!" Lonz snapped, covering her ears. "What is it?!" I yelled, frowning as I covered my own ears. He could be a Mandrake's cousin for all I know, I'm not even joking.

Lonz's POV:

"There WERE six volcanoes! I can't believe you got them all!" he whined. 

"Yes!" I cheered as we four high-fived each other.

I jumped when something prodded me in the back. I turned to see a bright, glowing bottle that had slid out in a drawer from the wall. It was so bright I could barely make out the label: Volcano Steam.

"Cool!" I picked it up, slipping it into the duffel bag among all the other stuff we had collected. 

Just then, the elevator started up with a bump, and we grabbed the walls of the elevator to keep our balance. "We're almost finished, just the final floor!" Vanessa exclaimed cheerfully.

In our little moment of relief, we hadn't noticed that the elevator was making its way back to its initial destination: the sixth floor.

The doors clicked open, catching our attention. We all turned as one, and both my heart and jaw dropped at the same time.

"Bloody hell!"

To be continued...

A/N Yes, a cliffhanger, *Evil laughter intensifies*

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Do vote and leave a comment, I would really appreciate it! Happy reading! -Vicky <3