Love Me by Christmas

by Silvia Rojas

  “Ugh… I’m so close…”

  “Can you reach it?” Allen asked as he pushed the bookcase forward, giving me a bit more room.

  I extended my arm a little further.

  Eureka!

  My fingers tightened around the spine of the book, reeling it out of its hiding place.

  Exhausted, I slumped onto the ground, leaning into the wall. I closed my eyes for a second before looking down at the book in my hand.

  Beautiful gold letters spelled out ‘Planner’ in a rich, flowing script.

  “Is that it?” Allen asked, breathless. I could tell he was just as desperate to leave as I was.

  I flicked through the pages. Each one was filled with various to-do lists and tasks that a responsible adult would be required to do, such as clean the house, wash the dishes, finish the work project, etc.

  Once I got to the back cover, there was a bright red dot right in the middle of it.

  We had found it! We could finally escape this god-forsaken room!

  Kirk walked up to us. “What do you have here?” he asked in a sing-song voice that irritated me to the core. How could he think that this was all just a game when so many people had already gotten hurt?

  “Knock it off.” Allen punched him in the arm. “This isn’t funny anymore. We just want to get out of here.” The remaining players huddled around us, eager to know if we had actually found the ticket to freedom.

  “Hey, don’t hate the messenger.”

  Allen growled. “Shut up and just tell us if this is what you’re looking for.” I could tell that he was getting antsy.

  Kirk picked up the planner and looked through it at a leisurely pace, to the annoyance of everyone in the room. He stared at the red dot for a moment, building the suspense. Beside him, Allen already had his hands in fists, looking like he wanted to pummel his friend into a pulp.

  “Lucky you.” Kirk smiled mischievously, pulling a red mask out of his pocket and tying it around my head. “You are now part of the elite. Congratulations.” As soon as he finished speaking, the doors opened with a loud, ominous creak. Quickly, everyone filed through it, thinking they were finally free, but we only entered yet another chamber.

  This one white.

  “Kirk.” Allen grabbed him by the collar, slamming him into the wall. “You better end this right this instant or I swear to God, you’re the next one to spill blood.” His teeth were barred, making him look like a wild animal about to rip out Kirk’s throat.

  I placed my hand on his arm. “Allen.”

  His expression softened as he looked over his shoulder at me. “What?”

  “I think the only way we can get out of here is by winning the game…” I looked around the bedroom we were in. Most of the people still left wore red masks. It seemed that, somehow, the masks gave them immunity against the silent force that was whisking everyone away. “Let’s just do this quickly and get out of here…” I pleaded with him.

  “You should probably listen to her,” Kirk added.

  Allen tightened his grasp, his gaze smoldering as he glared at his friend. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you unless it’s the clue to this room.”

  “Well, since you asked...” Kirk quickly pressed his fingers against Allen’s wrists, targeting his pressure points.

  Allen immediately let go, shaking his hand to melt away the pain.

  Smugly, Kirk marched to the bed situated in the middle of the room. He jumped on top of it. All eyes were on him, desperate for the clue. Everyone just wanted the game to end.

  “As you can see, the room you now stand in is white.” He moved his arms in a sweeping motion.

  My eyes followed his gesture, taking in how starkly white everything was. From the walls, to the furniture, to the floor. It was like I was standing in the middle of a hospital room. I half expected a doctor to walk in.

  “It is the color of sterility. When we are sick, we try to wash away all the bad inside of us to start fresh. But, when you get to a certain age, that is no longer possible. Instead, you lay in your white bed, covered in white sheets, looking up at a white ceiling. This room is old age. But… oh, it seems I have forgotten the clue… Where am I again? Who are all of you? What’s my name?” He assumed the posture of an old man.

  “He’s pretending to have dementia,” I whispered to Allen. “That must be the clue.”

  He nodded, immediately searching the medicine cabinet, looking for medication used to treat the condition.

  “I don’t think it would be that easy. Things have started to get harder.” I pointed out, tapping the sides of the cabinets, looking for any hidden compartments.

  “We have to find it. If we play this game for much longer, I’m going to lose my mind.”

  But, unfortunately, we did.

  An hour passed by and no one had found the item.

  Growing frustrated, Allen once again tried the doors, but they had locked the second everyone was in the room.

  “Fuck!” he screamed, punching the door in pure frustration. He huffed as his nostril’s flaring.

  “Allen… don’t hurt yourself…” I took his hand in mine. There was a nasty cut on his knuckle. A drop of his blood fell to the ground, staining the white floor. Instantly, I thought of my AP English class in high school. This almost seemed like a blatant example of symbolism.

  Carefully, I placed a plaster on his hand and kissed it gently. “We are going to get out of here,” I said.

  He nodded, his eyes locking with Kirk who was just lying in the bed like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Suddenly, Allen was crossing the room. Roughly, he yanked Kirk to his feet before swinging a punch at him.

  Kirk, of course, didn’t expect it. The punch collided with his jaw, sending him flying back into the nightstand. A lamp toppled to the ground.

  Allen pulled back his fist for another hit when Kirk dodged. He grabbed Allen by the belt and spun him around, throwing him into the nearby wall. Allen groaned but quickly regained his composure.

  “So, you want to dance, do you?” Kirk asked, light and airy on his feet, like a professional boxer circling the octagon. “Because you won’t win this fight.”

  “Tell me why you’re doing this!”

  “Hey, don’t get mad at me. You asked me to create one hell of a Halloween game and that’s exactly what I did.” He squatted low when Allen threw another punch in his direction.

  Kirk lunged forward, hugging Allen’s legs, bringing him to the ground. The two men started to roll around, their punches flying out left and right.

  I was so stunned by their brutality that I could barely move.

  Allen had his hands around Kirk’s neck. “Tell me where the item is.”

  “I don’t know where it is, you idiot.” He slammed his head into Allen’s, disorienting him for a moment. “I didn’t come up with this game myself. What about that can’t you understand? Gretchen is the mastermind behind all this.”

  “Well, where the hell is she?”

  “I don’t know!” he shouted, ramming his elbow into Allen’s face. “I already told you, I don’t know a thing. All I know are my lines and what I’m supposed to recite to you guys. Jeez, don’t kill the messenger.”

  The two men circled one another, both of them breathing hard, blood on their faces.

  Finally, I snapped out of my stupor and moved forward. “That’s enough!” I held out my arms to keep them away from one another. “Killing one another won’t accomplish anything. We need to figure this out…”

  Allen, however, was much too angry to listen to reason. He grabbed me and pushed me out of the way. “Stay out of this. I’m going to get us out of this room one way or another.”

  His shove sent me into the couch where I sunk into the cushions. Before I could get up, the lights went out.

  Silence.

  The darkness was so thick, it was suffocating.

  No one moved, waiting.
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  Who would be next?

  Suddenly, someone grabbed me.

  It was me.

  Chapter 16

  ALLEN

  The lights came back on slowly. First, one light flickered and then the other until the whole room became bright – too bright.

  I blinked, letting my eyesight adjust. Once it had, I looked around.

  My heart dropped.

  Where was she?

  “Essie?” I called out, turning around but she was nowhere to be found. “Essie!” I screamed, the blood in my veins turning to ice.

  No, she couldn’t have been taken.

  “Where is she?” I roared at Kirk. At this point, I was done playing stupid games. Something had happened to Essie and I was going to figure out what. Whoever had taken her would have hell to pay. “Where the fuck is she?” I demanded, ready to beat him to a pulp if he didn’t answer me.

  “Um… I think I found the item…” A short woman dressed as Pocahontas stepped forward, holding a get-well card in her hands. She pointed to the red dot on the back of it.

  “So you have. So you have.” Kirk smiled, side stepping me to approach the girl. Quickly, he congratulated her and adorned her with a new red mask.

  The doors opened.

  In a flash, I bolted through them.

  My first impulse was to run to Gretchen’s room. If she was truly behind all this she would have some explaining to do. Where were all my guests? What had she done with Essie? My rage was bubbling up inside me, making it hard to breathe.

  I had never felt so responsible for someone in my entire life. I needed to find her.

  Once I reached her room, I didn’t even bother to knock. I charged right in but there was no one there.

  “Gretchen?” I checked the bathroom but she wasn’t there either.

  Great, just great.

  My house was enormous, where was I supposed to start looking for her? She could be anywhere. And, who says that she was still inside the house.

  Desperately, I started to check every single room, calling out Essie’s name, praying for a miracle.

  Deep down, I was starting to think that this wasn’t a game anymore. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

  Downstairs, the party proceeded as if nothing had happened. People continued to drink and dance with bright smiles on their faces. If only they knew that something was roaming the house, taking people when the lights went out. It couldn’t be a person… could it? Who moved that fast? That silently? None of this made any sense…

  “Essie!” I was starting to grow desperate. What if something had really happened to her? I would never be able to forgive myself.

  I stepped into one of the guest rooms.

  A giant mechanical spider jumped out at me, startling me. I tore it right off the wall. Why had I insisted on decorating the house so heavily? It was like everywhere I turned, there was something waiting for me in the shadows. It was really starting to get quite unnerving.

  “Essie!” I looked all around but still, I couldn’t find her.

  Where was she?

  I reached the top floor. I checked my bedroom, Chris’ bedroom, the library.

  Nothing.

  Finally, I opened the door to the pool room. It had been repainted in a soft violet color. I lingered by the door, my hand still on the handle so it wouldn’t close on me. This had to be another part of the game…

  I scanned the room.

  And then, I saw her.

  Without thinking, I rushed to her side. “Essie!” She was lying down, motionless.

  I feared the worst.

  “Essie, are you okay?” I brushed her hair out of her face. Her cheeks lacked color. She felt cold.

  No. She couldn’t be…

  My heart hammered, each beat impossibly painful.

  “Essie… say something… please…” Tears burned in my eyes. The night had gone from a beautiful dream to a horrible nightmare.

  She groaned, her eyebrows furrowing together in discomfort.

  “Oh, thank God, you’re alive!” I took her into my arms, holding her tight against my chest. “I was so scared…”

  Her eyes fluttered, a look of confusion on her face. She rubbed the side of her head. “What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m calling an end to this party this instant.” I was about to get up when the door slammed shut.

  We both jumped.

  No, we couldn’t be trapped again.

  I helped Essie to her feet. “Are you okay to stand on your own?”

  She nodded her head.

  I hesitated to leave her side but nonetheless, I checked the door.

  It was locked.

  “Just my fucking luck!” I screamed in frustration. “They aren’t trapping me into a room again.” I took a few steps back before running forward, ramming my shoulder into the door.

  It shook but held fast.

  I stepped back again, ready to run forward when another door clicked open.

  I turned, peering into a room painted by shadows. Essie and I ventured toward it, but neither one of us summoned the courage to step into the void.

  A single light turned on, illuminating a large, menacing grandfather clock.

  Its hands were both pointing to the twelve.

  Midnight.

  Dong!

  It started its chant, announcing the time.

  My heart beat fast. Something bad was about to happen. I could just feel it…

  Essie grabbed my hand, holding it tight in hers.

  It stopped.

  Silence.

  We both looked at each other.

  What was going to happen now?

  Chapter 17

  ESSIE

  “Allen…”

  He looked down at me as he cupped my cheeks in his hands, his thumbs rubbing against my skin in a soft, gentle motion. “Shh, I’ll protect you. Whatever is to come next, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” He pulled me into his chest, resting my head on his shoulder.

  I melted into him, clinging to the fabric of his shirt. I just wanted all of this to end.

  We stood in each other’s embrace for quite some time.

  I could hear his heart beating fast. He was just as scared as I was, and yet, he was still determined to protect me.

  “What’s happening…?” I asked.

  “I don’t know…” He caressed my hair. “But we are going to get out of this. This nightmare can’t last forever.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m going to figure this out, one way or another. You have my word.”

  I nodded, trusting him with my life at this point.

  “Let me try the door and maybe you can look for anything else that might help us.”

  “Okay.” I reluctantly let him go.

  “You don’t happen to have a bobby pin, do you? Maybe I can use that to pick the lock or something.”

  I quickly pulled one out of my hair, messing up my do, but I didn’t care at this point. All that mattered was getting out – alive.

  Why hadn’t we just quit the game along with Ebony and Chris while we had the chance?

  “Thanks.” He kissed me quickly before heading to the door, tinkering with the lock.

  Numbly, I walked around the room, looking for anything that could help us. I picked up random objects but none of them seemed useful.

  A part of me felt like we were going to be trapped in this maze of rooms forever. Just thinking about it nearly gave me a panic attack.

  Calm down, Essie, everything is going to be okay, I told myself, trying to ease my troubled mind.

  I knew Halloween was supposed to be scary, but this was becoming hellish.

  Suddenly, I stopped, pressing my ear against the wall.

  Soft murmurs floated to my ears. People were talking just beyond the wall! Maybe they could help us!

  “Allen!” I called out.