INFERNO (Dolan Twins) [ON HIATUS]

2. No Choice

(The Next Day)
Grayson's POV

"I honestly think you're a freaking crazy person," I smack the back of Ethan's head.

"I think you're overthinking it," my mom scuffles her hand in my hair as we walk to the front door.

"Yeah, Grayson," Ethan snickers, earning himself rough tug on the shoulder by Mom.

That's what you get.

"You two better get along with each other," Mom scolds us. "I don't want to receive a phone call from the facility saying that you've broken something or hurt yourselves."

"Yeah, yeah," He rolls his eyes. "We understand. Don't we, Grayson?" I nod quietly as Mom opens the door, letting us inside the building. Ethan goes in first, and before I follow, I tilt my head up, seeing the giant red sign sprawled out across the front of the escape room facility.

"Huh. Countdown Escape Rooms."

"Stop dawdling," my mom scolds. "You're holding up the people behind us."

I look over my shoulder and see a small cluster of young adults waiting behind the door. My cheeks burn up as I fumble around just to get through the door. Mom laughs softly when I stumble into the front counter's area, where Ethan quietly smiles at my embarrassment.

"You sure seem rushed," he laughs. "Everything okay?"

"I got humiliated in front of a group of young adults," I mutter to him.

Ethan rolls his eyes at me. "Stop being extra. You're such an embarrassing twin, I swear."

"Oh shut up," I slap him in the head. "At least I'm not the extra twin."

"Hey! Not true! Especially coming from a guy who wears a tampon for an e-"

Mom comes around and gives us a rough nudge in the back. Ethan and I immediately shut up at the gesture, just as a young woman walks through a door that's behind the counter. Only the voices of the young adults behind us are heard as the woman types something on her keyboard while staring intensely at the desktop computer in front of her.

How long does it take to greet your customers?

"Hi, guys!" The woman finally utters her first words.

"Hello!" The group of young people greet her.

"So, I do have some bad news, and it's that there's only one room that's available for being used at the moment. We have five themes this month: horror, murder mystery, fairytale, jungle, and pirates, however, only horror is available at the moment."

"Well, I guess we can't-"

"Quiet," Mom hushes Ethan. "You're doing the escape room either way.

"How long will it take for another room to clear up?" I ask.

"Players are given a 24 hour time limit," the woman beams. "There's food and drink provided at different stages of the rooms, and if your time is up, then you'll be escorted out."

"Oh, okay," everyone nods. Each person in the room passes accepting expressions at the thought of doing this escape room.

"How scary is the horror room?" One of the young men ask. "On a scale of one to ten?"

"I'd say about a seven or an eight," the woman beams. "Don't worry, it's all props and traps."

"Cool," Ethan nods quietly.

"So shall I register you guys into the Inferno Room?"

"Sure thing," Mom nods, going up to the counter to pay for us.

"And we'll do it too," one of the young women pipes up.

"Excellent," the counter woman smiles brightly. "And just the right number of people too," she says. "Seven."

Mom and one of the young adults pay for the room fee, and then the woman tells us that it'll just be a moment before we get taken to the video room. Apparently it's meant for us to have a glimpse into what's to be expected.

So, a few minutes later, another employee comes and escorts us into another, dark, room. He flicks a switch, allowing for a small clip to be played before our eyes. A pair of clammy hands grasps my arm with fright, revealing himself as Ethan. My face twists into an unimpressed expression as he buries his face into my t-shirt.

"Stop being such a baby," I push him off of me.

"But I hate the jump scares," he whines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're all set!" The young man says with enthusiasm. "Don't forget the rules, and have fun!" He opens the door to a darkened room.

Time to die with Ethan, I sigh. There's no way I can solve the escape room with him by my side.

•Hey guys! It's @bastillexgrethan here! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! And don't forget to leave a comment and a vote if you so wish to! The updates will continue to be every Friday at 3 pm PST! Don't forget that you're all amazing readers and writers out there! Peace!✌🏼