Escape Rope

1. - Some Useful Exposition.

My earbuds were sitting in my ears, blasting a chaotic mix of The Hex Girls, Explode the Kitchen!!, Abigail Angelface, and Flight 19. As I sat on my bed, I contemplated blowing off my first day of school. Before I could work out my master plan, the chip in my left earring vibrated. I shut off the music and groaned, activating the microphone.

"I hope that you're not considering bailing on me," the voice said.

"Yeah, I kinda was thinking about it, but y'know, I guess I'll just not bail on you since you care soooo much," I rolled my eyes.

"I haven't even told you what I want you to DO yet," the voice said.

"Fire away, E."

"I want you to infiltrate the Mystery Incorporate kids' club," Mr. E said.

"Didn't that already kinda bomb with Marcy? I should be looking for pieces of the disk, not wasting my time playing with kids that can't tell fact from fiction," I said.

"Haven't I told you? They already have the remaining disk pieces, so it's just us and them," He said.

"Oh, oh, oh..." I grinned.

Mr. E chuckled.

"I knew you'd be a good fit for this job.."

"Yeah, sure. So what do you want me to do?"

"They want mysteries to solve? Give them one." E. signed off.

Man's friggen cryptic sometimes, I thought as I tucked away my earbuds for the night. I just need to fool these gullible kids. Easy enough.

I checked my email. Looks like E. forwarded me some files. Ah, score! All the info I could possibly want on these mystery brats.

After reading through all of the files, I highlighted some key information and weaknesses. The easiest in should be through Shaggy. I just need to make sure that foul dog is out of the picture. Great. I've always been more of a cat person anyways.

I walked over to my guitar and strummed some chords, murmuring the lyrics of a song I faintly recalled. Maybe I heard it in a dream, maybe it was on my playlist, buried beneath the other 822 songs that I haven't listened to for over a year.

I set down the guitar, and stared at the ceiling. Somewhere out there were the other pieces of the planospheric disk, and I was going to be the one to find them. No, to retrieve them. They rightfully belong to Mr. E. Or so he says.  Says they lead to great treasure, beyond my wildest dreams.

Yeah, right. It's not like I trust him, but I do love my job. It makes me feel like I have a purpose. It makes me feel.. needed. I kinda sympathize with him, anyways. He's told me most of his past, and I really do want to help him, despite his intentions being murky at best.

After all, he did give me a place to stay, albeit under heavy surveillance with little to no human contact. I don't mind solitude. He's just scared of me sometimes.. often. Okay, maybe even always.

My personality can be like a loaded gun sometimes, or maybe even a slot machine. It's completely random which side of me you get. I'm an amazing actor, though. I was a theatre kid before the shit went down.

Suddenly my lip quivered, and a flash of red curtains filled my vision for a split second, causing me to stumble backwards.
I glanced around my room, except it was covered by transparent red curtains. My breathing became heavy, and my knees locked as I slumped to the floor, laying against my bedframe, like a discarded, lifeless puppet.

The red curtains were much more visible. No, they weren't just visible. They were solid. I was solid as well. Unable to move, paralyzed. Paralyzed. Is this how sleep paralysis feels? No, this can't be it. I can feel my entire body, it's just... numb. I wiggled my fingers, and then gradually stood up, before  stumbling over my legs and winding up on the ground again.

I crawled forwards, into the maze of sticky, carpeted floors. They were almost like the floors at a movie theatre, wet with soda and old candy. That might make sense, given the curtains. Just a weird dream, probably combined with  sleep paralysis. Note to self, look up how that actually feels once you wake up. Why'd I pass out so suddenly then? Drugs? No, I haven't taken anything since last weekend's migraine. Maybe I was just exhausted. Yeah, that's probably it...

As I crawled along the narrow hallways, I realized that I could just crawl underneath the curtains. Surely that would be faster than just snaking along corridors that could last for eternities? I gripped the floor, aiming my body towards a curtain. I suddenly felt strength return to my body, and I tried lifting myself up. I used the curtains to aid me in my quest, pulling on them. Eventually, I was able to walk.

So, I got up. What now? The curtains obviously don't want to budge for me. If they can hold up to the entire weight of my body pulling and pushing on them, what will it take for the damn things to open? Magic words? Voodoo shit? "Open sesame," I said, half-jokingly.

The curtains parted, and that's when shit got real.