Kings Gambit

Chapter 3 - A Fool or a Clown?

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" a childish voice spoke. I slowly open my eyes to meet Jasper's shining green eyes staring down at me.

"Gah!" I pushed him away,  causing a loud crash as he stumbled into the dresser and fell on the floor.

"Owww... What was that for?" He mumbled as he rubbed his head.

"What was that for? What do you think!?" I yelled. Jasper moved his hand along the dresser as he got back to his feet.

"It's your fault for not locking your door," Jasper grumbled with red eyes.

"But I did lock my door!" I retaliated. Jasper just smiled at the comment.

"Anyways, you said you would help me out, remember?" Jasper reminded.

"Yeah, I remember you forcing me. But what time is it?" I scoffed with a yawn.

"I have no clue. The clock in the entrance hall says five, but I don't know if that's correct." Jasper casually answered.

"Five? Why so early?" I rubbed my tired eyes.

"Well, If I killed you when everyone's awake, then they would figure it out pretty quickly." Jasper's eyes turned yellow as he tilted his head. I just sighed.

"Even though I know you're lying, I don't like that statement," I stated as I stood up from the bed.

"Whoops, my bad." Jasper chuckled with a playful smile.

"Yeah, your bad. You're really making yourself a target," I replied as I stood up from bed. Good thing I sleep with my clothes on.

"Are you saying that you really are going to kill me, Mr. Detective?" Jasper grinned.

"When did I ever say anything about harming anyone," I rolled my tired eyes as I tilted my head toward the kid.

"It just felt like you inferred it," Jasper chuckled as I put on my grey jacket.

"Let's just go," I began to head out the door. Jasper followed behind me. "Do you even have the right equipment to pick locks?" I continued.

"How else do you think I got into your room?" He grinned.

"Figures." 

"Don't worry, I found everything I needed in the storage room," Jasper answered adequately. It irritated me, but at least I knew that he didn't lie about his ability.

It didn't take us long to arrive at the locked door. It was made of dark oak and had fancy engravings on it that looked similar to chess pieces.

"They didn't tell me that this was a combination lock!" Jasper's eyes converted to red for a second.

"It is? It looks like a normal door handles to me."

"Huh? I thought you would be able to tell Mr. Detective." Jasper's eyes were locked on the door. I looked a bit harder at it. Soon noticing several knobs all around the outskirts of the door, with engravings that resembled Roman numerals.

"I see. I guess that's why there's no keyhole," I leaned on the railing behind me as I let Jasper get up close to it.

"Jeez, what an overly complicated door, It's almost like a vault. Unlocking it might take longer than I thought." I guess he's experienced enough to tell off a glance.

"How so?" I inquired.

"Well, looking at this door, it seems like it has a needlessly complicated unlock process. Around ten knobs. Less complicated and more time-consuming." Jasper mumbled as he started fiddling with one of the knobs, his ear against the door. As much of a nuisance as he may be, it does seem like he wants to help.