"No Escape" looked like a warehouse- one that a kidnapper would drag you to before killing you. I shuddered at the dark thought. Maybe I've been watching too many crime shows.
I was scared. I'd heard about these kinds of places before. You're trapped in a room with a bunch of creepy things and you have to work together to find clues on how to escape. My mother's co-workers tried to get her to go with them as a team building activity but she'd refused. Smart woman.
"We don't have to..." Chad trailed off, noticing my skeptical expression.
I swallowed my fear and uncertainty. This could be fun.
"No, I want to try it!" I told him, squeezing his hand and walking closer to the building.
The inside office and waiting area didn't look too bad- but I knew that wouldn't be reflective of the room we would be trapped in.
A girl named Lucy, who looked like she hated everything, greeted us in a monotone voice "Welcome to No Escape. How many in your party today?"
"Just two of us," Chad told her.
Lucy grabbed two pieces of paper from the desk and put them on the counter with two pens. "Sign these waivers verifying you don't have a heart condition and aren't prone to seizures."
I read over the piece of paper, rather tried to, my eyes scanned the words but nothing sunk in. After reading the first sentence three times, I put my signature on the bottom and slid the paper back to Lucy
She filed the papers away in a drawer and grabbed a set of keys from another. "Follow me."
Lucy led us down a corridor that was just as brightly lit as the reception area and painted in neutral colors. We made a left turn and entered another hallway where the entire wall on both sides was filled with lockers.
"You aren't allowed any phones, pocket knives, flashlights, and so on," she told us a little less monotone than before. "You can put all of your belongings in a locker, free of charge, and pick it up once you've escaped. You are allowed to keep the key with you in the room, but don't lose it. No Escape is not responsible for lost or stolen items."
On some level, I had to have known that I wasn't allowed to bring anything in with me. That would be cheating. The whole point of this was to take whatever they threw at you and somehow get through it.
As Chad and I loaded our jackets and personal belongings into two separate lockers, I wondered how long we would be in the room. Would they let us out at some point if we didn't escape on our own? I wanted to ask, but couldn't find my voice. Lucy intimidated me, this place intimidated me, and being on a date with Chad- that intimidated me most of all.
After we safely locked everything away, and pocketed our keys, Lucy led us back to the main hallway and to a door at the end of it. There was a keypad on the outside, she quickly pressed a few buttons and the door slid open.
Lucy motioned for us to go ahead, but didn't follow. My stomach sank.
"You have 90 minutes to escape. Good luck."
She gave a nod and the door slid closed again. At least the time question was answered.
The room was completely dark and I squinted trying to see something, anything that would give any indication of what we were up against in here.
Chad reached for my hand and I immediately felt more comfortable- not completely, but it was a start.
I really did trust that Chad could protect me, I'd seen him in action and knew that even if we drove each other mad, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. The more I pondered this thought, the more I felt my body relax. I took a deep breath and gave his hand a little squeeze.
