Chapter Five

The sky was beautiful. It seemed bluer, more amazing than the last time I had seen it, the wisps of cloud more fascinating than ever before. Overhead, I could also see branches from a tree of some sort, thick with clumps of green leaves swishing and waving in the breeze I could not feel. The view was wonderful, and I longed to be near it, to see more of it than just a small skylight, but I felt a sense of duty to let my companions know the coast was clear.

It took ages for them all to get through to the small chamber that protruded from the tunnel, and I was itching to climb the smooth ladder to the light at the top. Once they finally did, though, I decided to calm down and (finally) assess my situation. Beginning with the three teenagers who stood in front of me.

Parker was an agile boy with tan skin and a lithe frame. He looked like the type who plays a lot of sports and can eat anything he wants without ever gaining a pound. A red and black baseball cap laid lazily on his head. It would have fallen off had it not been for the way it was tightened. His hair that fell out around the cap was a rich brown and partially covered his dull amber eyes. The boy wore a plain short-sleeved white-and-red t-shirt and a pair of faded- and slightly torn- light blue jeans.

The stockiest one was Dakota, who was as large as a football player- and not because of fat. No, he was pure muscle. The guy seemed as though he was constantly searching for something in his black sweatpants pocket. He wore a soft green sweatshirt that had a few tears in the seam and was the exact same color as his eyes. His black hair was longer than Parker's but styled neatly on top of his head.

Then there was Delilah. Everything about her screamed "look at me", with her pale purple dress, perfectly styled black hair, white high heels, and black tights. Her body was lithe, but not exactly agile. It looked more like she ate nothing but a single green bean every day of her life. Her eyes were clearly the dullest part about her; a pale ice blue. Otherwise, her outfit looked designer and she looked as pampered as a princess.

Not that I knew what that looked like.

They all seemed to be staring at me, as well, as though noticing me for the first time. I chose to not make my outfit very noticeable anyways. Attention wasn't exactly something I craved. What was to look at, anyway? I wore a simple wrinkled yellow sweatshirt with pale gray pants last I remembered, the sweatshirt I always wear. My wavy reddish-brown hair didn't look particularly good, as I remember. It undoubtedly sat flat on my head at this point, especially with all of the sweat built up due to the blistering hotness of the previous room.

Speaking of temperature, the feeling of the new chamber I was in was actually tolerable, undoubtedly not meant to be used by us. That meant we were in the right place. Looking around, I viewed nothing special except a door that looked as though it needed a key of some sort. Maybe a keycard? Something about this whole "escape the evil people" plan that we had to keep playing seemed a little... repetitive.

Dakota and Parker were conversing about something, and I overheard a small portion. Something about wondering who the person they could trust is. I didn't hear who, but I'm assuming they were forming an alliance of a sort. Hopefully, all of us could be... friends... assuming we got out of here alive.

I hate friends. Or, more realistically, friends are fake and there is no such thing, unless, of course, you're reading a fairytale. Otherwise, people- especially girls- are only there by your side out of their own benefit. They might not even realize it themselves, but it's true. The entire human race is selfish. It's just part of who they are.

Rants aside, I genuinely believe Delilah was the Most Perfect Princess on the planet- especially considering that she had the scowl to match her regal-looking attire. If she could sentence all of us to the dungeon, she would have.

Focus, I told myself sharply, turning to the rest of the small group. "Well, it's time for puzzle number two! Who's excited?" My mocking statement was met with a series of groans, and I grinned just to spite them. "Alright, all jokes aside, we're really close to getting out of here. I think. Maybe. I see the surface, so... yay?"

"Get on with it," Dakota muttered.

"Awww, I love you too," I answered. "Now, you and Delilah go searching. I'll pair up with Parker. He seems to be the most tolerable one here." I held up my hand as Delilah started to protest. "Look, to be honest, I really don't care about your boy crushes right now. You can deal with being apart from your Parky for a few minutes." Unless it takes longer. Oh, God, I really hope it doesn't.

"Come on," Parker beckoned. I glared at the female for a few more seconds before following the boy. We didn't have many places to go; the room was claustrophobic at best, and the only exit- or entrance- was the tunnel. Oh, and the locked glass door with the ladder behind it. Taunting us.

Turning a little bit, we scooted over to the wall with the tunnel on it, which had a giant window on it. The window must have been one-way because we certainly didn't see it before inside the room. Whoever had built this place was observing us. Parker began checking around the cracks between the window and the wall, finding they were sealed tight. As we were turning around to relay our findings to the other pair, someone shouted and bumped into me. "We found the key!" Dakota barked, shoving us aside.

The door slid open.