TRAPPED

Chapter Five: The Fourth Clue

I stare at him blankly.

"What?"

"Why are you telling us this just now?!" I raise my voice.

"It didn't seem significant. We weren't exactly supposed to keep playing," he mutters.

I pinch the top of my nose.

"What is the letter for?" I ask.

"We don't know. Lewis never explained it," Penny responds.

"Can I see it?" I ask.

Asher gets up and heads to the table, pulling on a small drawer attached to it. He pulls out a piece of wood and bits of paper. He walks back over to us and hands me the objects.

"B," I read.

"Yeah," Asher responds.

"Maybe by the time all of the challenges are done and we get more letters, it'll make a word or sentence," June says.

"But how will we know what the right order of the letters is?" Sam asks in response.

June shrugs. I put the letter aside and focus on the paper pieces.

"So we got the exact same first clue," I say, scanning the first one.

"Yeah," Asher says.

"But we couldn't have gotten the same second clue. There was no one in that room when you guys got here," I say.

"Yeah, our second clue was when we found the room and were told this was where we would be staying. Hunter thought it was a bad idea, but it wasn't a choice. Lewis made that very clear," Penny explains.

"Hunter?" Sam asks.

"Right, you don't know their names yet. Hunter was Asher's brother. My sister was Madelyn and Asher's girlfriend was Rose." Penny gives us all a brief explanation.

We all nod. I move the first piece of paper to the back and read the second clue.

"Third floor. Find the dark block and let it sink. There you will stay." I read.

Well, their clue was a lot easier than ours. I roll my eyes at the thought. I move the second card to the back and read the third clue.

"Room A9. Pick two girls." I read.

"Care to explain?" I ask Asher, showing him the clue.

He gulps.

"This is a long story," he warns us.

"We've got all day," I reply.

Asher takes a deep breath and starts explaining.

FLASHBACK

"Room A9. Pick two girls." Asher reads.

They all tilt their heads to the side.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Penny asks.

"Well, I'm guessing we have to pick two girls and go to room A9," Madelyn responds sarcastically.

Penny's face goes red with embarrassment.

"Well, it should be me and Rose. Penny's too young and it could be dangerous," Madelyn says.

Everyone agrees and they all walk to the first floor where the room is. (Side Note: A means first floor, B means second floor, and C means third floor.)