Escape The Night [TTW w/ Room #2 | TAG: Everyone]

[Noah Hernandez]

Noah paced the room. It had only been sometime since he had woken up. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since the wedding, how long he’s been out this time. He had taken off his red jacket, only wearing his white collared shirt and bowtie. His shoes made an echo anytime his feet left the carpet and touched the hard surface. He kept thinking about Hannah’s words, about there being other people behind the walls. People they can contact, tell about. He even said it himself that that should be their top priority.

Except he hesitated from doing so. Apart of him was afraid that the captor could be watching them again, that something might happen to him and his new ally. But he needed to do it. He has to, this is all he can do after all. He looked at Geoff, who was also awake.

“We should take Hannah’s advice and start seeing if we have any fellow allies next to our room. I’ll check the right wall, and you check the left one,” Noah instructed.

The architect made his way over to edge of the room, near where the beds were. He knocked gently on the wall, but hopefully loud enough for anyone to hear.

“Hello?” He asked. Now…all he has to do it wait.

[Jessica Fleming]

Jessica did not know what to do. Even though this room was luxurious, there were not so many fun things to do. Of course, Jess was thinking and for a long time but even though she made a list of clues on the blank page of one of the books, she did not know what to do next. The brainstorm has not helped her. She hadn't slept in a week because of constant nightmares, she was weak, she was awake. Jessica was just sitting on the sofa and thoughtlessly staring at one of the books. Longing for Kim. Missing her family. Maybe she should draw them... she did not want to forget their faces.

When Jessica held a crayon to make the first line, she heard the knocking that came from the left wall. That's when mister Noah came back into her life, he said:

"Hello?"

Jessica jumped out of her seat and rushed to the wall. Of course! Other prisoners should be nearby as well! She was sleeping when Emmy understood that so yeah... Jess was a bit slow.

Jessica knocked randomly at the wall and quickly realized that her loss of the voice made communication through the wall almost impossible.

Almost...

Jessica remembered how she had fun with her younger sisters. They wished to communicate in a secret, so their parents or Quinn did not understand a single thing. To achieve this goal they used a Morse code which Jess found out it quite exciting, just because it could be understood by a limited amount of people. Using it made her feel... special, needed, so Jessica learned it by heart. She just needed to think and remember...

One knock. Another knock. She should be slow and maybe she will be lucky. Emmy had not known ASL but maybe the man behind the wall... Noah... knew the Morse code. She just got to try.
..
I
Big pause. Another knock for a dot. Two knocks for the dash.
.-
A
Two more dashes for the next letter.
--
M
Whew. The last word will be a lengthy one. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Why is this letter so long?
....
H
Just one knock.
.
E
Knock. Two knocks for the dash. Another knock.
.-.
R
And the final knock.
.
E

IAMHERE, Jess said. Well, she should not let her hopes high. Maybe she just needed to write what she wanted to say, then show it to Emer, then wait while she was saying this out loud... oh, let Eru Ilúvatar help her to avoid such annoyance.

[Emer Shallow]

Emmy, having been on the other side of the room hadn't heard the initial knock. She did, however, take notice of Jessica suddenly and excitedly knocking on the wall in some kind of weird, random pattern. She looked up from the book she'd been "reading" - Animal Farm, picked only because there had been a pig on the cover and because Emer was beyond bored - and sat up straighter in bed.

What the actual fuck is she-

Emmy threw the book aside, jumped out of bed and ran over to the wall. "Is someone there?" she asked Jessica, incredulous that she hadn't considered the possibility of there being more people than Dean and his roommate behind these walls. There were after all three other walls if you weren't counting the wall with the window.

"Hello?" she called to the wall, hoping she'd read the situation right. Either Jessica had heard someone, or the girl was losing her damn mind. Emer knew which possibility sounded more comforting to her, and chose to believe that one.

[Geoff Alen]

After waking up from their inevitable gassing, Geoff immediately snapped into 'paralysis by analysis'. There were...last he counted...around 30 or so people. If this was an escape room, this was far too big. A wedding that involved being shocked like badly behaved dogs should no one follow exactly. Escape rooms usually had waiver people signed saying they couldn't sue should anyone get hurt. There had been none of those in every room. They hadn't been the wardrobe of the room he and Noah were locked in. It hadn't been in the basement. It even hadn't been in the messed up wedding venue he, Noah, Katherine and Hannah were stuck in. This wasn't an escape room. This was someone's messed up idea of arranging marriages. This was making online dating look more skeptic than it already was.

Geoff's ponders were interrupted by knocks on the wall. The pattern was repetitive. Was someone else in his mindset and thinking they were trapped in a large escape room? No. These knocks didn't have a set routine. Was this...morse code? Geoff couldn't understand it.

"Hello?"

A voice called from the wall. A female voice. Geoff felt the sour taste of guilt return to his throat. This could have been one of the girls he was shooting at. By their...kidnapper. Yes, their kidnapper. Everything was starting to fit. He had been kidnapped. By whoever was in charge of this. Geoff joined Noah by the wall.

"There's two people here. Is it the same on your end? We heard morse code."

[Noah Hernandez]

Noah waited impatiently, only to stumble backwards when he was met with excited knocking. He smiled at his success.

“Yes! Wonderful!” The architect exclaimed.

He didn’t hear a voice call back at him. Instead...no.....instead he heard.....more knocking? But this knocking was precise. It was a pattern. It was....

Dot dot. Dot dash. Dash dash.

Yes! It was Morse code! He was rather surprised, he was always teased throughout his life for learning Morse code and knowing the system by heart, having it completely memorized. Most people simply found it useless nowadays, but Noah felt that something that was created as a communication system could always be helpful in the future. Granted this isn’t exactly what he had in mind when he pictured himself finally putting it to some fire use, but he’ll take what he can get. Especially now more than ever.

He listened to the letters carefully. I. A. M. H. E. R. E.

I am Here.

Before he could ask the knocker’s name, a voice piped up. “Hello?” A young female said.

Geoff quickly came beside him, clarifying to their fellow neighbors how there were two people in the room. “Yes,” Noah nodded in agreement, “I am Noah Hernandez, and my roommate here is Geoff Alen. What are your names?”

[Jessica Fleming]

Jessica impatiently nodded. There was someone behind the wall for sure! She was not insane or lunatic, she heard what she heard!

Jess put her ear to the wall, listening closely. That was it! Another familiar voice! Geoff! Geoff... Jessica covered her mouth by the hands as if she really could say something that would reveal her true emotions... and they were very mixed! She was happy to hear the voice of someone that she knew but the circumstances of their last meeting when Geoff was shooting... How could he shot Kim?! He did not know but still... it hurt a lot.

Jessica had so many questions and so little words as if she was Eddie Murphy in this movie, how was it called... A Thousand Words? She had to choose carefully if she wanted to be heard and noticed. Jessica demanded attention, so it was not enough for her just listen to the conversations of the others.

"Focus, Jess. You can do it."


Dot, dash, dash, dash, dot. Three dots. Three dots again. Two dots. Dash, dot, dash, dot, dot, and dash.
.--- . ... ... .. -.-. .-
"Jessica"
It was too long to actually knock her surname as well and it was not so important. Who cares about family legacy nowadays anyway?
Knock. Two knocks. Two knocks. Knock. Two knocks. Knock. Knock. Like in anecdote.
.- -. -..
"and"
And was probably not so important but Jess knocked it anyway. The second name was left.
Dot for "E". Two dashes for "M". Repeat. And dash-dot-dash-dash for "Y".
. -- -- -.--
"Emmy"

Now it was Jessica's turn to ask questions. She wanted to tell so much but she could not.

Dash-dash-dot-dot-dash-dash-dash-dot-dot-dash-dot-dot-dot-dash-dot-dot-dash-dot-dash-dot-dash.
--. . --- ..-. ..-. .-.-.-
"Geoff"

One knock. Two. One. One. Two. One. Two. One. One. Two. One. That was harder than charades for sure.
.- ..-. - . .-. / ... .... --- -
"After shot"

The last word. Shorter than "reward" or "winner".

Dot and two dashes. One dot. Another dot, one dash, and one more dot. Two separate dots for "I". Two dashes and two dots for "Z". And the last one standing dot for an "E".
.--. .-. .. --.. .
"Prize"

Jessica knew that she screwed up grammar and neglected articles but she was in a hurry and believed that these words were enough to understand what she wanted to know. What was the price for the winner in that horrible prank? What happened after? Jess could not believe that the female maniac obsessed with sewing, wedding, and Mainefield did not come up with an even crueler game.

[Emer Shallow]

"There's two people here. Is it the same on your end? We heard morse code."
Oh. Oooh. Okay, right, yeah. I get it. Morse code.

It was a bit of a stretch hoping someone on the other side of the wall would know morse code. Emmy didn't know a single person who did. But she supposed it had been Jessica's only chance of communicating. Emmy was sure she wasn't Jessica's favorite person in the world, and felt a little saddened on her behalf. Finally there were other people to talk to, but she just couldn't. Something made her feel uncomfortable about this situation, something gnawing at the back of her mind, and she was sure it was the guilt for not including her more.

"Yeah! Hi! Two girls here, one of us is mute, hence the kno- the morse code." She paused and looked at Jessica, hoping she hadn't offended her by bringing up her disabilities. It had to be said, she supposed, but it felt wrong talking about it so loudly, right in front of her. Like she couldn't talk for herself. Well, she can't, that was kind of the point.

“I am Noah Hernandez, and my roommate here is Geoff Alen. What are your names?”
"I'm E-" Hold on a second, Jessica was still knocking. Was she still trying to communicate with morse code? It felt so futile, but trying to be respectful, Emmy let her go on for a while. We don't even know if any of them know morse code, this is stupid.

She wanted so bad to be respectful and patient, but by the umpteenth knock, she just couldn't do it anymore, and interrupted.

"I'm Emmy, or Emer, but call me Emmy. The other girl is Jessica. Nice to meet you!"

She frowned a bit and turned to Jessica looking a little sheepish and guilty for the interruption. But did she really expect them to wait for her knocking? "It's okay," she whispered to Jessica so the boys wouldn't hear her. "You could get your crayons and a book, and I'll interpret, if you want."

[Geoff Alen]

"Jess....Oh, thank God. Is Kim okay?"

Kim was Jess' best friend. If anyone could tell Geoff the whereabouts of Kim, it would probably be her. Jessica continued to knock. Even without knowing Morse code, Geoff ha da pretty good idea of what she was asking. The event still replayed. The hot stuffy mask and the gunky duct tape covering his mouth. How the gun was shot, but rather than killing Hannah, it shot out the world's shittiest cracker. There wasn't even a fun prize to make up for scaring the crap out of her. Except, oh, you know, a forced wedding.

"Hannah's safe. After we gassed...again...we were sent to this room where we were..." he paused, trying to think of a way to word this. He didn't know Emer. Was Emer one of the girls? She seemed friendly, though. Maybe someone worth keeping tabs on in terms of trust. It was a shot in the dark (no pun intended), but like Katherine had told them in the darkroom, the more allies they had, the better off everyone would be,

"We were...married. You can't see my hands, but I'm putting air quotes around it. That voice in the basement was the officially. Noah and Katherine were hostages guests. If we did anything the voice didn't like, we got shocked by these ankle bracelets."

[Noah Hernandez]

Noah listened carefully to the knocking, deciphering the letters in his head.

J. E. S. S. I. C. A. A. N. D. E. M. M. Y.

Jessica and Emmy.

G. E. O. F. F. A. F. T. E. R. S. H. O -

Jessica, he assumed that’s who was knocking anyways, was suddenly cut off by the second female, presumably Emmy. “I’m Emmy, or Emer, but call me Emmy. The other girl is Jessica.”

“Jess…oh thank God. Is Kim okay?” Geoff exclaimed. Noah was a little startled, not realizing his roommate knew the mute girl. He also began to wonder who Kim was, though it was easy to assume that she was someone close to Geoff. It was a struggle for the two of them, not knowing the state of everyone else anyways.

The engineer then began to explain their unfortunate events of the wedding, not going too into depth. Noah could only frown at the memory, not wanting to think about it too much.

“Yes, Geoff and I were able to deduce that the winners of these survival scenarios would be put up for marriage. The four of us had to sign what appeared to be a wedding certificate. We felt it best to inform anyone we could. Tell us, have either of you experienced such situations yourselves?” Noah asked them.

[Jessica Fleming]

Oh yeah. That finally has happened. It was the first time when Jessica was officially described as "the mute girl". She knew that it should happen one day but she hoped that won't be so soon. Jess wanted to believe that she had so much more in her character than the absence of voice!

Jessica felt that her Morse code knocking was a little out of place, so she tried to finish it quicker. She just wanted to be an equal part of the conversation. Besides, using morse code was exciting as if they were in the nostalgic TV show based on the 80ties. But the girl had to admit - Emmy could speak much faster than she could knock. So it was not surprising that she eventually interrupted her and a shade of irritation appeared on her naive, childish face.

However, Emmy tried to cheer her up and suggested to interpret for her. Jessica sighed resentfully. She was not sick or hurt, Emer should not feel sorry for her... But it was better than nothing, so Jess stood up and took her crayons, as well as another book which pages she will spoil.

"Jess...Oh, thank God. Is Kim okay?"
Jessica's heart ached. Why this question was so painful? The girl held her crayon tight. It was hard for her to move one further the first letter but she managed to finish it.

"Yes."

Jessica was such a big fat liar. She did not know. She could not know. Jessica planned to write "I wish I knew" at first but this uncertainty was the worst. The girl wanted Geoff not to have the nightmares that she had. Let him sleep well.

Luckily, Geoff understood what she wanted to know anyway. Hannah was probably a girl that he... "shot". They both were okay and Jess sighed with relief.

"We were...married."

Jess dropped her crayon. Even though Geoff was forced to do so, this news was still shocking. That was it. The kidnapper was just an alien girl who wrote bad fanfics and decided to ship earthlings against their will. It was mind blowing.

“Yes, Geoff and I were able to deduce that the winners of these survival scenarios would be put up for marriage. The four of us had to sign what appeared to be a wedding certificate."

Well... it was almost like a Game of Thrones. You win or you die. And if you win you get married and pray the Seven that your wedding would not be a Red one.

Jess kept wondering what was worse - to die or to marry a stranger? She preferred the second option. The girl tried to remember the men that she saw in the basement. Ethan-Derek, professor Severus Huxley, uncle Gregory, Kei's Daniel, a strong leader whose name she did not know and of course Noah... Jessica just could not imagine herself as their wife. In any case... it could be so much worse! Or Jess just had bright twisted imagination.

"We felt it best to inform anyone we could. Tell us, have either of you experienced such situations yourselves?”

Jessica shrugged and shook her head. Emmy could interpret even without her writing. Jess thought what to ask but she was not so sure what. And she also was afraid of the camera. Why has she thought about it just now? They were watched and probably listen to as well and they didn't know when the villain had a rest. It seemed... that it was better to cooperate even though it never helped in movies and was not in the list of options in the games.

[Emer Shallow]

"Jess....Oh, thank God. Is Kim okay?"
.. who? Of course Jessica knew people in here. Remembering the basement, everyone but her and Dean had seemed like one big clique. Witnessing this reunion was making her feel more lonely than she already was. Everyone here seemed to have people who cared about them. Except her. She was alone in this. Maybe that was a blessing - it was hard enough being kidnapped and tortured, but probably just as hard seeing your loved one go through the same. Still, the loneliness stung.

She glanced at Jessica, trying to get her answer, and waited until she wrote down yes. She waited a little longer, in case Jessica wanted to write more, but she removed the crayon from the paper and was clearly done. I mean, you could have just nodded. "She says yes," Emmy relayed through the wall.

"Hannah's safe." Who?
"After we gassed...again...we were sent to this room where we were... We were...married." What?

Emmy listened to the wild tale of a fucked up make-belief wedding in shock, but also slight relief. So their kidnapper wanted to mess with them, but nobody seemed to be getting hurt during these... excursions? Looking over to Jessica to see if she wanted to write more, she noticed the crayon was on the floor. So that's a no?

"Tell us, have either of you experienced such situations yourselves?”
Jessica shrugged and shook her head, but Emmy thought for sure she had been part of the shooting episode. Maybe she was misremembering who was there that day, she had been quite panicked and dazed.

"Ehmm, Jessica says no, but-" If Jessica hadn't been there that day, was Emmy about to scare her?
"I haven't exactly played dress-up in a wedding gown, but ehmm.. there was, ehh... a situation." She looked over at Jessica to see if she remembered at all, or if she truly had no idea. "I woke up in this room tied up to a chair, with a bunch of other girls, and this psycopath was... he was shooting at us," she said hesitantly, it wasn't exactly a pleasant memory to revisit. "Nobody was hurt though, it was just a sick joke! We're all fine, it was just- just messed up." She had to add that quickly. These people all knew each other - she didn't want them to be worried for their friends.

[Geoff Alen]

"You do realize that 'psychopath' is right here," 

Geoff glared at the wall. He was so sick of getting painted as the villain with this. He said he was sorry. He still had a bruise on his face from where Claudie had bitch slapped him. His entire face was starting to heat up. Before he could even stop himself from shouting, he raised his voice and made his statement loud and clear.

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. I. Am. Sorry. I'm sorry that some crazy woman threw us in a place that I thought was an escape room when, in reality, it's just a convoluted game of matchmaker for her. I'm sorry that young people like you and your friends got thrown in because, damn it, no one deserves what you're going through. And I'm sorry that you can't even see through this wall to see that this 'psychopath' has been through enough shit! All I wanted was to solve some puzzles and go home either happy or unhappy. But no. Now I'm stuck in this place, which is God knows where, nearly dying of an electric shock because I apparently didn't kiss the bride right!"

Geoff stepped away from the wall with a sharp exhale. His entire body was shaking with rage. Shouting had gotten the slightest trace of adrenaline out. He tried to take comfort that Jessica and Emer hadn't been through the same torment he had after the whole dining room thing. There was nothing he could add, nothing to say at all. He rubbed his face with his hands.

"Look. I didn't mean to blow up. I'm sorry. It's just...been one thing after another."

[Noah Hernandez]

Both young women had seemed to not really experience any more horrible events, or at least that was Noah’s first impression. But then Emer starting to talk about the dreadful gun survival event she, Geoff, and many others were apart of, going as so far to call Geoff a psychopath. Of course, he quickly deduced that Emer simply wasn’t aware that Geoff was the unfortunate culprit…however that didn’t stop his new ally from exploding.

Noah was taken aback and speechless at Geoff’s loss for control. He hadn’t known the man very long, but he seemed to keep his head in some of the most dire of situations. What was it called again? A breaking point? Yes it looks as if the married man had just reached his. The architect wasn’t really sure what to say after that, he didn’t know how to reassure Geoff or the girl who just got yelled at behind the wall. He didn’t know what he could do to help make this slightly less stressful for all of them, and some piece of him knew that this could cause a divide in their new potential allies. Which is what they need right now.

He took a deep breath, stuttering a little bit, “I think what my roommate here is trying to communicate is how we’ve been put in situations that are out of our control, where if we were to interfere, people would get hurt or worse. So, it’s best to try to create allies with each other so we could potentially have the upper hand in these series of unfortunate events.”

[Jessica Fleming]

Of course, Jessica could just nod. But initially she wanted to say so much more than that! The crayon was already in her hand, and it would be awkward to put it down for nodding.
Jessica did not want to tell Geoff about shooting, because it was a piece of information that he had already known, for quite obvious reasons. However, Emer did not know about it, and as soon as she began to talk about it, Jessica became quite... expressive. She shook her head, she waved her arms, but when Emmy said "psychopath", it was too late. Her machine of disapproval was unstoppable, and Jess just facepalmed, waiting for the upcoming storm.

It was not long in coming. Jessica never saw... heart Geoff so angry. And it was scary. If she had to be completely honest with herself (and Jessica really did not want to do that), even though she could understand his reason, she still felt... betrayed. The girl just could not imagine how he could do it. Jessica had nightmares about that "dinner" over and over and usually she awoke at the moment when Geoff shot at Kim. Luckily, she could not scream, otherwise Emmy would not have such peaceful nights.

Now, when Jessica remembered about this, she also became upset and angry. Her feelings concerning Geoff were so mixed and complicated that she could not handle them properly. She admired his genius mind and the way he spoke but at the same time the girl could not forget and forgive what he did. But... she wanted to, really. Jess was grateful that he untied her first even though she could not understand why it was so important to her in the first place.

When Geoff finished his fierce speech, Jessica hit the wall by her fist, succumbing to the confusing emotions. She could not find the words to describe her feelings but she did not have too. Being a mute girl has its advantages after all.

But her frustration went off pretty quickly and when Geoff apologized for his outburst, Jessica put her palm to the wall, as if she wanted to comfort him somehow, even though he could not see it.

"Series of Unfortunate Events, huh? Well, we still are luckier than Baudelaire kids."

"Noah is right" eventually wrote Jessica and show it to Emmy. "We should stick together and break all horror clichés"

[Emer Shallow]

Emmy couldn't understand Jessica's intense reactions. Earlier she'd asked for help analyzing clues and figuring this whole thing out, but now she was acting like she'd rather Emmy be quiet and keep all information between the two of them only. It didn't make sense. Especially since Jessica seemed to know these guys already. Emmy still didn't have any faith in them being able to accomplish anything like this, but wouldn't they at the very least have a better chance working together, however miniscule?

"You do realize that 'psychopath' is right here."
Emmy glanced over her shoulder at the camera in the corner, not understanding why Geoff's - or was that Noah? - warning had sounded so strict. Was he afraid that their kidnapper was listening in, waiting for any excuse to punish them? Jesus, all she'd done was answer their goddamn question, and suddenly everyone were mad at her for it. But of course, that hadn't been what he meant, and Emmy quickly grew to realize that.

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. I. Am. Sorry. I'm sorry that some crazy woman threw us in a place that I thought was an escape room when, in reality, it's just a convoluted game of matchmaker for her. I'm sorry that young people like you and your friends got thrown in because, damn it, no one deserves what you're going through. ..."

Geoff's voice became more and more distant with every new word he spoke. As she understood who she was actually talking to, it felt like reality crumpled around her and she was transported back to that terrifying day. She'd never been so frightened in her life, and all those feelings were grabbing hold of her again, pulling her under. The only thing pulling her back out was Jessica suddenly punching the wall fiercefully. It brought her back just in time to hear:

"Look. I didn't mean to blow up. I'm sorry. It's just...been one thing after another."

She almost laughed, this situation was too much. Jessica was bright red, out of anger or fear or sorrow was hard to tell - she'd never seen her like this. She had to be just as terrified as Emmy was. Except. No. Jessica knew this guy, she'd recognized him in the dining room, she'd known all along. She tried to stop me from bringing it up. Suddenly not even Jessica was a friend, everyone was an enemy.

It wasn't hard to remember the dining room. Despite the daze, despite the gas, despite the chaos, that mask felt crystal clear in her mind. He'd been so cold while walking towards her. So unflinching, unhesitating. So calculated, so sinister. Sure, it was possible her memory was tainted by her fear, but now all she could see when she thought about it was his blatant disregard for her cries and pleas, how steady he was when raising that gun, and how quickly he'd made himself pull the trigger. He didn't even look away. No, she'd stand by her assessment of him. A monster.

It was clear to her now, why she'd felt so uncomfortable, why this sinking pit in her stomach hadn't subsided. Somewhere in the back of her mind she'd recognized that voice. She didn't feel safe here. She never had, but this was different. Despite the solid wall between them, she suddenly felt vulnerable, exposed. She needed some space to breathe and pushed away from the wall. His yelling hadn't softened her opinion about him. Who the hell tries to murder someone, and then screams at them for not being understanding?! She could find no remorse in his voice, only anger. It scared her all over again. What almost scared her more was what happened next.

Jessica seemed to have written something and held the book out for Emmy to read. "Noah is right." What? Jessica and her hadn't exactly been best friends, but the betrayal still made her eyes sting with tears. "We should stick together and break all horror clichés."

Unable to help herself, Emmy let a tear run down her cheek. And then another. And another. Until her cheeks were streaked with fresh saltwater. "You're insane," she whispered spitefully and got up, removing herself even further from the wall. She paced a little, an animal stuck in a cage, unable to remove herself from the situation at all. Her heart was racing in her chest and she couldn't think clearly. And here she'd thought the kidnapper was the only person she had to fear. They're all sick.