ESCAPE

Chapter Four

"Luke, what the fuck?" Bella glares at him, breathing heavily.

"Babe, listen. It's nothing. I-"

"This is not nothing, Lucas!" She runs her hands through her hair and steps away from him, pacing as she tries to take everything in.

I had no idea that Luke and Chia were having an affair. I'm even more surprised that Chia was able to hide it from us. Usually she was the first to share news. I'd always considered her the most open person I knew.

Chia is shifting through the papers of text messages, shaking her head. She looks up with wide, trembling eyes and says, "Bella, I'm-"

A pointing finger stops her. "You just stop. I can't believe this."

Luke raises his hands to calm Bella. "Okay. Okay, babe. We messed around a little. But, I promise you, it's over now. We both regretted it, and it didn't mean anything."

"It was over as soon as it started," Chia adds.

Bella has her hands on her head as she paces. She looks like she's going to be sick.

I want to say something to comfort her, but I know there's nothing I can say to help.

She finally turns to them. "How long was it going on for?"

Luke swallows. "A month."

"It's over now," Chia says quickly. "We ended it weeks ago. I promise."

Bella lets out a strained laugh. "Oh, you think your promises mean shit to me? How could you do this, Chia? I thought we were friends." She charges to the nearest wall and pounds her hands on it. "Ugh, I just want to get out. I can't even look at you both."

I go closer to her. "Bella. We all want to get out. I'm so sorry to bring us all here, but I think we just have to solve the puzzles to get out."

Bella wheels on me. "It's your fault we're in this mess." She starts gasping for air as though she's having a panic attack.

Will steps toward her and places a hand on her shoulder, which she violently shrugs off. "Hey, hey," he says soothingly. "I know this is shitty. Just breathe. Breathe."

Bella shakes her head but she does take deep breaths. I find myself marvelling at Will's quiet confidence and how soothing he can be. It's like watching someone calm a wild stallion. I'm glad there's someone here that can keep their head.

Eventually, Bella's shoulders sag with a big outbreath. "I just want to get out of here." Luke reaches a hand out to her but she slaps it away. "Don't you touch me. I mean it. Look, okay, we have to solve these fucking puzzles to get out. Okay. Just get on with it. I'm so done with this place."

Chia is by the briefcase on the desk. "Hey, guys," she says, reaching into the case. She pulls out a small box, long and thin, that looks like a jewellery case of some kind. This is also chained to the inside of the case, like how the case is attached to the lockbox. "There's a four-digit lock on it. But they're colours instead of numbers." Her voice is timid and hesitant. She's still shaken from her uncovered affair, but I see that she's doing the only thing we can do: keep playing the game.

"I've got it," Luke says without triumph. "There was a painting in the first room with coloured splashes on it."

"I remember that," Chia says.

"Great," Bella says through her teeth. "You two make a great team together."

They ignore the comment and Luke goes out of the office into the tunnel. He calls back to us, "I'll say what I see."