Plastic Roses

Chapter Three - Ashley

She woke in a cold room, there was no light other than what came from the flickering bulb that hung from the ceiling. She panicked, this wasn't her home, where was she, why was she here? Then it all came flooding back. There had been a man at her door when he had knocked she had thought it was Ethan. She thought that he had gotten off early and had come to surprise her like he usually does.

It hadn't been Ethan at the door, it was a large, muscular man who wore a dark cloak and a hat that was tilted so far down on his face that you were unable to see his eyes or nose. The only part of his face that she was able to see was the sickening smirk that was plastered across his face. He pushed into the house, grabbing for the women who bolted away from the man. She let out a piercing shriek as she sprinted into the kitchen in an attempt to avoid the stranger.

Ashley didn't remember being caught, or how she got to the empty room. What she does remember is how torn apart the house had gotten. Letting out a sad sigh, Ashley stood. Why wasn't she tied up, thats that kidnappers do right, they tie up their victims.

The room was pretty small, the walls were bare except for a long mirror took up the entire upper half of the wall on her left. It was probably an interrogation room, it looked just like the rooms she would see on tv. Ashley glanced down at the stone table, a bright red rose layed there, thorns still attached. Leaning against it was a small white slip of paper.

I see you're awake. Good. Now the game begins. You see this rose, when it dies you will receive another. When that one dies you will once again receive a new one, this will go on until the fifth rose dies. When the fifth dies, you die. You will try to escape (I doubt you ever will), but if you somehow manage this, then I will let you live. Do what you wish, say what you want, I am prepared for everything. Oh and did I mention, there will be several puzzles to solve, if you fail you will receive a punishment.

Good Luck,

Rose~

Ashley froze, her breathing became unsteady and she began to shake. The click of a door unlocking echoed through the room, interrupting her freakout. She turned to see a large metal door, one that she had not seen before. She would have seen it if she not been panicking and wondering where she was. Walking over to the door, she attempted to open it. As she turned the knob it made a small clicking noise, but the door remained closed.

"Why, won't this door open?" she wondered aloud, tugging more at the door.

The sound of static echoed through the room as one of the speakers was turned on. She could hear the footsteps of whoever had turned on speaker. What she didn't expect was to hear a child's laughter.

"Hi" the child said in a friendly manner, speaking as if they had been friends for years. "Ready for the first challenge?" Ashley couldn't speak, her mouth hung open in surprise, "Oh right! You are probably confused. I'm the one all of you call Rose." the voice paused. "No Rose isn't my real name. It's Teresa."

"Let me out!" Ashley yelled at the speaker. There was a bit of silence from Rose but, she came back shorty after.

"You ready for your game? Because you have until the first rose dies to unlock the door. Good Luck, Ashley." Rose said as the speaker slowly tuned out.

Ashley stared up at the speaker tempted to hit and scream but, realized that it wouldn't matter. "Come on, Ashley, you're a smart girl. You can do this."Ashley whispered as she walked towards the metal door.

She rested a shaking hand on the cold metal, running her hand along is edge until she reached the first of the five locks. Ashley stared, she had never seen locks like these, only the simple locks that were on the doors of her home. These were very complex with many different dials. When she turned the dials, she found that they were a little rusty. She turned the dial named 4 but number 1 clicked and locked. She turned number 2 which unlocked 1 but locked 5.

She tried 2-3-5-1-4 but, it locked and and Ashley had to unlock all of them again. She tried more combinations; 3-1-4-2-5, 2-4-1-5-3, and 5-2-3-1-4. Ashley felt more frustrated as she tried and soon was started to break. She tried one final combination; 3-5-2-4-1. She heard the gears turned and click as the door swung open slowly. Ashley jumped and cheered but, remembered the rose. She turned back towards the table with the rose under a glass container. ⅔ of the petals fell. Her eyes widen slightly. Quickly, she grabbed the rose before running out the door.

As Ashley ran, a door from the previous room opened, a man in a smiling mask in a tuxedo with a red rose in the breast pocket. "So, boss did the test work?" asked a boy with a white mask on his face with two eye holes. The man turned and murmured "Just get the second test ready and the second rose." The boy nodded and ran through the door out through a hallway. The man walked towards the door of 5 locks and closed it after Ashley with a smile on his face.

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