The 8th Escapee

Chapter 7 Past

=============Rebecca============
2 slices of pepperoni pizza. That's all I ate from that room. Incredibly everything there was edible. Of course i didn't trust the food, but i was hungry nonetheless. And that violin was starting to get heavy.
  "Hey, shouldn't we, i don't know, look for the key to get out?" Asked Shadow.
Drake and Steph stopped eating and turned to Shadow to answer her question.
  "Have you tried the key from the music room?" Asked Drake.
  "Yeah, with no luck. There must be different keys to different doors." I said.
  "Is there anything engraved on the door again?" Steph asked.
  "Nothing. Apart from a sauce stain. Did you guys think about the possibility of the food being poisonous?" Shadow inquired.
  "Then I'll die happy and with a full stomach." Replied Steph.
  "Hey, was that second door always there?" Noticed Drake while looking behind me.
I went to check if the mysterious 2nd door was indeed locked. It wasn't. The good news were that the key was right in front of me, literally in front of me. The bad news? It was inside a glass case, and by the looks of it, it wouldn't break that easily. The worse news?? The case was on top of so many things i lost count. And to top it all off, everything was behind a glass wall. Just our luck. But hey, at least we knew where the key was, right? Wrong! Knowing where the key was wouldn't help us if we couldn't get to it.
  "That looks like that game where you have to move the boxes. What was the name?" Said Steph.
  "Tetris?" Offered Drake.
  "I think she means Sokoban, where you have to move the boxes to their place. But it's usually played in an overview perspective so gravity isn't something to be considered. But this one is different." Explained Shadow.
  "Yeah, but shouldn't we have a character to move the boxes? Where is it?" I asked.
Right after i said that, a small robot appeared at the bottom of the pile of stuff and a console to control it right next to the door.
  "Ok, who wants to try?" Drake questioned.
  "What does this 'Magnets' button do?" Steph asked.
  "Press it, the worse that could happen is... I don't even know. Just press it." Answered Shadow.
Steph pressed the button and we heard the sound of something turning on, but nothing changed.
  "Let me try something." I said while excusing Steph from the console. "If I make him go to the wall, maybe he'll... YES!"
  "Rebecca, why is the robot hanging sideways from the wall?" Shadow inquired.
  "The magnets are inside the walls, and probably inside the ceiling too."
  "Ok, now, give me the controller, I want to do this one."
  "But i want to try it too!" Complained Steph.
I let them argued their case while I went to sit down near the exit. With the violin case on my lap and my back against the wall I started to think about somethings. How I got there, why things turned out the way they did, if I would ever find what I'm looking for.
  "Hey, what're you thinking about?" Drake asked as he sat down next to me.
  "Stuff. Nothing important. And why do they fight for something like that puzzle?"
  "Steph always liked figuring stuff out. So every time she can get her hands on a puzzle she tries to solve it. As for Shadow, doesn't she act  a bit childish sometimes?"
  "Heh, yeah. Guess you're right. Your sister reminds me of mine."
  "What is she like?"
  "She was... younger than me, loved to play, run, hide, and pretty much do everything that demanded lots of energy. But when it came down to studying she was so quiet you could hear the silence."
  "If you don't mind me asking, where is she now?"
  "I don't know. Our parents got divorced and my mother took her, while I stayed with my father. They didn't let us see each other, but we found ways to do it behind their backs. One day they moved to the US, leaving me alone with my alcoholic father in London."
Drake looked at me like i was something worth studying.
  "That must've been tough. Sorry i asked."
It really looked like he knew what i've been through. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but i knew there was something similar between us.
  "Don't sweat it. It's been 12 years since they moved. I kinda got over it already."
  "Even so." He argued. "Living 12 years with an alcoholic father is horrible. Almost impossible."
  "It wasn't 12 years. I ran away when I was 10. Went to some neighbours who took me in until my 16s."
  "Then, they kicked you out? Why would they do that?" He was borderline angry.
  "No no, they didn't kick me out. I left. I noticed they were strugling with money while i was there. So i decided to leave. After that I started my own life, working, getting money, grocery shopping, all that boring stuff. Up to this day i send them a bit of money for the 6 years that they took me in."
  "That's a bit better. But still, it's so sad."
  "It's ok. But now, how about you tell me your story?"
  "Well, Steph and I were always close. That's because our parents suddenly went missing. It happened when I was 11, and Steph was only 2. She doesn't remember much of them. They were scientists."
  "What kind of scientists? Were they like, mad scientists??" I asked kiddingly.
  "I don't remember well, they didn't talk about their job that much. I think they didn't want us involved in their work life."
  "I see. But wait. How did you live without them?" I asked with concern in my voice.
  "Luckily, after their disappearance, there was just enough money for us to live without me getting a job for a few years. The only job I could get was as a primary teacher in a private school. And they had a nursery where I could leave Steph during my classes. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was enough for us to save some money and keep on living in our parents' house."
  "Wow, and being a teacher, the school let Steph study there for free right? I mean, she's your sister, they should give her a scholarship."
  "Actually, I home-schooled Steph because the school wouldn't give her a scholarship. So I practiced for my classes and she learned."
  "I guess that's better than not studying."(You got it kids? Studying is important, but friends are importanter. I'm kidding about the importanter, please don't hate me.)
  "Yeah. One day I found her looking through our father's study, checking some chemistry books. She didn't understand a thing." Drake laughed as if he was amused by Steph's struggle. "But that's our story so far. We keep on living, looking forward to tomorrow."
  "Looking forward to tomorrow huh? Guess that's a nice way to live by."
  "If you want, come live with us, Steph would love that. I know it's a bit selfish to ask, but you could help us with any money problems and vice-versa."
  "Really? You mean it? I would lo... I can't, sorry. I'm better on my own. But thanks for the invitation."
  "Huh? But why not? You were almost agreeing, I saw it. If there's anything we can help you with, tell me. We CAN help you." Drake raised his voice to try to convince me. "Hey, why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?"
  "First, I'm not crying, my eyes are sweating." I said as i dried my tears. "Second, you said all the right things. But I have... occupational hazards."
  "What kind of occupational hazards?"
  "The kind that might get the police involved."
  "You're a thief??" He had a frightened look on his face.
  "Listen Drake, I don't wanna..."
  "I GOT IT!! HAHAHAHA! IN YOUR FACE TWERP!" Shadow interrupted me by yelling so loud at Steph.
  "Only because you turned left when I told you to." Argued Steph.
  "Ok you two, get up, we have a key. Thanks to me."
We got up and met the girls at the door. I was hoping that Drake wouldn't want to resume that conversation. I almost blew my chance to have a normal life again. People don't usually like living with a hacker. They are in constant fear. (And FYI the police never got me.)
This time Shadow was the one to open the door. And I don't know why she complained about me, she opened it just as slowly. When she finally opened the door, we faced yet another hallway. (Seriously what's the problem with these people and hallways?)
We walked for some time and Taby said: "12 hours remaining." (Yes, I gave my tablet a name.)
You know the drill by now, find a door, open it slowly and get baffled by what's behind it. This time we found...(I'm building suspense.)... a ballroom.
It was enormous. Chandeliers hanged from the ceiling. The floor was so shiny it hurt my eyes. Waltz played as a background music. Paintings on the walls. Everything was set to match that one night.
  "It's so beautiful! It looks like the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast." Stated Steph.
  "Yeah, it looks just like it." I said without any enthusiasm in my voice.
*Ping* "User profile updated."
  "What happened now?" I checked Taby to see what had updated. It turned our number had been updated. Mine now was 3.
While we were looking around, the others appeared from behind other doors. After some time all 13 of us were reunited. Hooray! (I'm being sarcastic.) Before we started exchanging stories the voice from before began to speak.
  "Ahem. Welcome back participants! Hope you had a good time. Since you failed on getting information on each other, I'm proposing a... let's call it a game. In this game, I will separate you in couples, due to you being in an odd number, the number 13 will not participate."
  "Fine by me!" Said Dylan.
  "As I was saying,  the objective of this game is to yank one or more pieces of information about your partner. And here comes the fun part. As you are aware, you are in a ballroom. What else is there to do in a ballroom if not dancing?"
  "Hold on a minute!" Yelled Alex. "We have to get some kind of info from our couples while we dance?"
  "You seem to get things very quickly Alexander. Congratulations. Now, before i announce the pairs, you are not to give informations willingly. Where is the fun in this? So, try your best to not give out information. And as a last rule: if you manage to get the information from your pair, you'll receive part of the password to open the door. You will need all 13 parts."
  "How? If only 12 people will dance?" Asked Magnus.
  "Simple, I will provide the info from the 13th participant. Dylan Richardson works as a butcher." *Ping* "Participant profile updated"
  "Hey! Keep my job out of this!" Protested Dylan.
  "The password parts will have to be input in order. From number 1 all the way to number 13. Now, to the pairs:
Number 1 - Magnus and Number 12 - Shadow.
Number 2 - Stephanie and Number 11 - Bryan
Number 3 - Rebecca and Number 10 - Alexander
Number 4 - Drake and Number 9 - Aiden
Number 5 - Marie Louise and Number 8 - Joshua
Number 6 - Pepe and Number 7 - Lydia.
Any questions?"
  "Who's Pepe?" Asked Lydia.
  "That'll be me." Answered Marques.
  "Ok, then no further questions."
  "Very well, you have one hour. Have fun." Explained the voice.
And there we had it, I was going to relieve the worst night of my live! It's horrible when the past haunts you.
==========End of Chapter==========