Escape From Tickle Tower

8

Rachel, Alice, and Zac turned around to find someone dressed in a black robe behind them. He slowly stepped into the faint light, revealing his hunched over, elderly figure. His wooden cane helped him walk up to the group. "I wouldn't touch that. You made a long trek to get here, didn't you?" He said with a raspy voice.

"It may have been long, but it wasn't tough." Alice said as she turned back to the crystal. "I'm sure I can make it back."

"And I don't have any doubts. But I doubt you'd want to start your journey on the third floor again." He said as he took a few more steps forward. When Rachel heard the old man's explanation, she immediately pulled her hand back. She stepped down from the pedestal, walking up to the other two. "Thought so. So what is it that you came here for?"

"I came looking for the door. I want a way out of here." The young woman said.

The old man let out a small chuckle as he turned around. "Unfortunately, there is no exit. The door is locked, and there is no key." He replied. As soon as he did, Rachel immediately went to reply. However, Alice placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder, stopping her. The old man turned his head, looking at the three of them with one eye. "I can show you the door if you wish."

"We'd like to see it." Alice said softly. The old man turned his head back and began to walk. The three of them followed him through the darkness, making sure to stay close. As they did, they looked up at the crystals that they passed. "What is it that you do here?"

"I'm nothing more than a keeper. I'm the keeper of the teleportation crystals." He explained as they walked. "It's not a hard life, but I do get the occasional visitor. Food is provided by the tower, and a new one is chosen when the old one dies, so I'm not worried about a predecessor."

"Teleportation crystals?" Zac asked as they walked.

"Each crystal will lead you to a different floor. One for each floor. If you touch it, you'll be whisked away. Unfortunately, you can only go to a floor you've been to, and I'm not one that travels beyond this floor." He explained before stopping. The other three stopped and looked past the elderly man. The three of them gazed upon a large door filled with carvings. The darkness covered most of the door, making the carvings impossible to read.

After a few seconds, Rachel walked up to the door and pushed on it. When it didn't budge, she pushed with all her might, putting her shoulder against the door to help. However, the door didn't move an inch. Afterward, she began to pull at the door, gripping at any part that she could with her fingertips. However, the door kept refusing to budge. After a few seconds of pulling, Rachel let go and fell to the ground. She sat up and looked at the door, tears forming. "Open up you stupid door!" She yelled out, her voice cracking as she did.

Zac and Alice watched as she stood up and pushed on the door again. After a few seconds, Rachel resorted to banging her fist against the door. Her hand kept hitting the door as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. The others watched as she slowly fell to her knees. Her hand slid down the door, resting along it. "Why won't you open? I have to leave." She said in a quiet, muffled tone.

Alice and Zac slowly walked up to her, putting their hands on her shoulders. "Why do you want to leave so badly?" Alice asked in a gentle tone.

"I-i…..need to leave….." Rachel responded as she began to curl up. "I need to get out. I need to get out of their hair. I-i….need to leave." She mumbled out as she softly hit the door.

"Rachel…." Zac said softly while reaching a hand out to the crying woman.

As soon as he did, she let out a wail. "I've caused too many problems! I need to get out of your lives! All I cause are problems!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs. Moments later, she turned to the two of them, putting on the largest force smile on her face. "Sorry…..I guess I should've listened to you." She said.

"Rachel." Alice said before walking up to her. Without any warning, she fell to her knees and hugged her tight.

Zac followed suit, hugging the teary eyed redhead as she hid her face in their shoulders. She sobbed and let more tears stain their shoulders. "I'm sorry….. I'm sorry……" She mumbled out as she wrapped her arms around the two of them.

The three of them stayed together for a few seconds before Alice pulled away. The three of them pulled away from each other, looking at each other. "You're not a problem. You don't cause us problems." Alice said.

"B-but what about the third floor?" Rachel said while wiping away her tears.

"Eh. Just a small setback. Nothing else." Alice said with as laid back of a tone as possible.

"Could you tell us what's on your mind?" Zac asked softly.

Rachel looked at him, nodding as she wiped away more of her tears. "Ever since I was little, I have caused trouble for my village. I accidentally set fire to the town hall for the village. They only just rebuilt it recently, too. I would let others get stuck in the woods and trapped by laughlers. As a teenager, I even led a laughler that would get everyone. Each time, my mother would take the blame and tell me not to do it again. Course….it took a couple tries before I actually stopped." She explained as she looked down at her knees.

"Are they still mad at you for it?" Zac asked.

"I don't know. I never asked. I just tried to help, but for all I know, they're just putting on a face for my mom." Rachel replied as she repositioned herself so that her knees were up to her head. "I don't know what anyone thinks."

"Then why don't we go ask?" Alice said while pointing to one of the crystals. "I'm sure one of these will lead us back to the fifth floor. We can go from there."

"Plus, there may be something at the top. No one has reported back to say there's no exit up there." Zac said.

"Ya….we can head up then." Rachel said as she wiped away the last of her tears. A few sniffles escaped her as she slowly got to her feet. "Let's go."

Alice and Zac nodded before getting up themselves. The three of them walked up to the elderly man who was facing away from them. When they got close, he turned to them with a smile. "Where to now?" He asked them.

"The fifth floor." Alice replied.

"Ah. Good news, only one of you needs to have visited the floor before. Then all three of you can go." The old man explained as he began to walk over to one of the crystals. "From there, where will you go?"

"We'll head up. It's the only place left to go." Zac responded.

"Continuing to move is very good. Can't stop now." He said as he stopped in front of a pedestal with a crystal floating on top of it. "This is the teleportation crystal for the fifth floor. Hold hands and walk through together. You'll be fine if you do that." The old man explained as he stepped aside.

The three of them slowly stood up to the crystal. Rachel took a deep breath as Alice and Zac took her hands. "Let's go." Alice said softly, giving Rachel a gentle smile. Afterwards, the three of them walked into the crystal, disappearing as they did so.

Moments later, the three of them found themselves in the middle of a forest. Rachel turned around, taking her hands back from the other two. Behind them was a pink crystal floating just above the ground. "Be best to keep an eye out for these then." Rachel said softly.

"Good idea, but we may want to find where we are before doing anything else." Alice said. The other two agreed as they began to look for anything that stood out.

As the three of them searched, Alice walked up to Rachel. "You gonna talk to them?" She asked.

"I'll try, but I won't make promises." Rachel responded as she fixed her red hair.

"It may help to talk to them about it." Alice said softly.

"I'll think about it." Rachel said as she began to walk away.

"Uh, guys? Any idea what these markings are?" Zac yelled out.

Rachel and Alice ran up to him and looked at what seemed like knife markings. "I know what those are. Follow me." Rachel said. Alice and Zac looked at each other before following.