chapter 14

~weisz~

       I've been wandering around the passageway for a long time now, either trying to find my way out or find someone else because right now, it's no fun being alone. Not only am I worried about everyone else, especially Reno, but it's been extremely hard for me to remember the path I've taken.

       The entire passageway looks all too similar for me to figure out whether or not I've been in this area already or not. I haven't been able to find out any obvious differences in the hallways I've already walked through.

       I come across a fork in the hallway, so I have to decide which way to go. Both hallways look like they lead absolutely nowhere, so I don't think it would matter which way I decide to go.

       After a few moments of debating, I decide to go left, hoping that I'll end up somewhere else. It's almost like a maze down here, and I haven't exactly been the best at solving mazes.

       The hallways soon comes to a corner and right as I'm about to turn it, I nearly bump into someone else. Jamie looks at me and huffs. "You're not Sawyer."

       "Sorry, I'm not," I say.

       "You haven't seen him, have you?" Jamie asks.

       "I'm pretty sure if I have, he would be with me right now since I would rather not be wandering this passageway alone. I haven't seen anyone until now. I'm convinced I've also been walking around in circles, so that doesn't help."

       "And I'm convinced that there is no exit. That we're just going to be trapped her forever. I want to say we should head back to the escape room and try breaking the door down, but I don't even know how to get back since I randomly ended up in a different hallway."

       I didn't even think of the possibility that there would be no exit, but there has to be one, right? What's the point of there being this secret passageway if there isn't an exit? We can't just be trapped in here forever, right? 

       "Well, at least we have each other now," Jamie says. "It will be a lot easier walking around with someone else than it is to be alone. Not that I'm scared or anything. I'm totally not scared. I'm very brave and actually very much enjoy being in the passageway. It's so fun." 

       "Yeah, you don't have to convince me of anything," I say. "Any sane person would be at least a tiny bit creeped out that all this is happening. I'm very creeped out and I'm not afraid to admit it."

       I let Jamie lead the way since, like I said, I'm not the best at finding my way out of mazes. He seems to remember where he has already been, so it's a lot easier for me to just follow him around.

       Though part of me regrets it because he starts to think of the most ridiculous reasons as to why we're trapped here, which is starting to make me overthink everything.

       "What if this is just a big spectacle to kill off the gays?" Jamie asks. "I mean, what are the odds that three same-sex couples wound up stranded in Hayside?"

       "I mean, quite a few people at the motel seemed to be stranded too," I point out. "It's just that the six of us gravitated towards each other instead of everyone else."

       "Then how come we're the only ones stuck in this passageway?"

       "Because who chose to do the escape room? It's not like we were forced to do it against our will. I really don't think this is some scheme to 'kill off the gays'."

       "Whatever you say." I don't know if Jamie is being serious about his theory or if he's just losing it because we've been trapped in the passageway for a while now. Either way, I hope we find everyone else soon, because I'm starting to worry for their safety.

       We walk for a bit longer before Jamie suddenly stops in his tracks. "Do you hear that?"

       I stop as well, listening closely to whatever it is that Jamie could hear. It sounds like something's scratching on a wall nearby, but as I look around, I don't see anything. "Maybe it's just the wind," I say.

       Jamie gives me a flat look. "The wind? Seriously, Weisz? We're stuck in a passageway. There's no wind here. It's either a ghost or someone trying to murder us. Or a ghost trying to murder us."

       "That's right," a voice says in the stereotypical ghost voice to try to sound spooky, but it sounds more like a cartoon. "We're ghosts here to murder you."

       I sigh heavily, immediately recognizing the voice. "That's not funny, Reno."

       Reno peers his head around the corner behind me and Jamie. "I don't know, it was kind of funny."

       "Yeah, whatever." I hold out my arms for Reno, so he walks over and I give him a hug. "I'm so glad to see you again. Have you seen anyone else?"

       "Just me," Nolan says in a soft voice as he walks out from the corner. He looks at me and Jamie before looking a bit disappointed that his husband isn't with us. "You haven't seen Jerome, have you?"

       "No, sorry," I say. "Jamie and I just found each other not too long ago."

       "Don't worry, Nolan," Jamie says. "We can leave these two lovebirds here while we go off to find our partners. We don't need them with us."

       "Wow, and after all we've been through," I say.

       "Look, I'm not going to lie. I am very jealous that you have your boyfriend here while I do not have my fiance here. I'm not going to hide my jealousy and I will probably spite you until I'm reunited with Sawyer."

       Nolan still looks a bit upset, and Reno notices, so Reno says, "Don't worry, Nolan. We'll find him soon. Just think, he could be with Sawyer right now so he might not be alone. After all, you and I found each other, then Weisz and Jamie found each other. We'll just have to hope that they're with each other right now."

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no matter how jamie paired up with, jamie was going to annoy them. except for nolan. he would think nolan is too precious to annoy and he would then do everything to protect him.

as he should.

i can't wait until halloween lol. i want to try finishing this before halloween, or at least the day after, but idk. we'll see.