"Ok... after a quarter turn these should all line up and then..."
CLICK
"Ugh, finally!" she triumphantly thought to herself as she grabbed the key from the lockbox and rushed to the door.
Kitty had been stuck on this puzzle for almost 20 minutes now and what little patience she had long since burnt away like the candles dribbling wax down the walls.
She could hear the logic of her husband's thoughts as he must've planned out this birthday "gift" for her. True, puzzles were certainly fun - and she'd never been to an escape room either - but they're more fun *together*. Kitty hadn't seen him for over an hour now. It was hard to tell exactly how long without having her phone.
"Why do I have to give up my phone?"
"Well they don't want you cheat or anything. Plus they probably don't want you taking pictures and sharing them online to spoil anything for other customers."
"Yeah but I'm not on social – I don't post anything"
"I know, I know. But they don't know that, I guess"
He leaned closer to her so only she could hear:
"How bout this, I'll give up my phone and keep yours in my pocket. They won't notice it in my baggy pants and then I just keep it on me in case you get any important calls. Who's gonna know?"
"Ok. Purse it is!" as she placed her phone into his pocket. Always a fan of having more storage on the go and having someone understand her need to be available - just in case.
The door in front of her opened stubbornly to reveal a small hallway choked thick with the hot air of more candles burning. Her eyes were beginning to get watery as she approached what she hoped was the last stage of this whole event. Above the entrance she saw a brass plate etched with the word
CONTRADICTIONS
.
Every room so far had had an underlying theme, so no surprises here, but this was certainly a little vaguer than the
LIGHTHOUSE
and
LOG CABIN
rooms from before.
Inside, the
CONTRADICTIONS
room was quite dark. Lush, red curtains draped the walls and a small assortment of academia themed furniture was spread within. Tiny white placards were scattered around the room, standing out starkly in the dim light.
Kitty sat down at a small writing desk and noted a tray of cute, little frosted cookies with a sign next to them saying
DO NOT EAT ME
. The desk itself wobbled rather unsteadily and its lone drawer was locked.
Strangely, there was no obvious exit from this room. And she swore it was getting hotter. At least she had let Bear talk her into wearing a comfy dress. Baggy sweats and leggings were her usual go to but something about wearing a soft red dress on a warm day was certainly appealing.
Smoothing out the pleats of her outfit she looked around for more clues. It didn't take long to find
DO NOT SIT HERE
scrawled on the bottom of the arched, cushioned chair she found herself in, along with a number of other warnings of sorts. Warnings she had broken just by carrying on through the puzzle!
DO NOT CLOSE THE DOOR
DO NOT PRESS THE BUTTON
DO WEAR A DRESS
That last one certainly tickled the back of her mind.. Was someone watching? Did they know what she was wearing beforehand or was this all a ruse to throw her off? The minutes were ticking by on a large grandfather clock - a clock she now noticed didn't count upwards to 12, but counted down from 10, and with only a slender minute hand on its face slowly ticking past the 8.
A timer!
She raced around the room, turning over papers, peeking behind curtains, and rattling the locked drawer on the writing desk. Something heavy was inside of it, but where was the key?
Kitty rocked impatiently in the plush chair, despite its objections, and fanned her flushed face with some blank pages from the desk. Her eyes rested on the sweets. They were slender, wafer type cookies with a light chocolate glaze. The
DO NOT EAT ME
taunted her.
"A Room of
Contradictions
, eh?"
The first cookie crumbles in just three little bites. Supple and sweet, but much drier than she would've hoped. Maybe she would just break apart the others.
The clock ticked by the 4 as she ravaged through the bowl, leaving crumbs in her wake. Sweat pooling on her brow and her mouth desperately thirsty, she found her answer in the second to last cookie. Baked inside was a long, brass key. Thank god she hadn't chipped a tooth on this stupid clue!
The writing desk drawer fought with her and her pastry key but finally slid open as the hand ticked by the 2 and revealed a small wooden box with a crushed velvet exterior. Inside there was only what looked like a TV remote, but it was more cylindrical and had but two unmarked buttons; None of which seemed to do anything at the moment.
Sighing with frustration she slumped down into the chair, madly crushing the buttons in her hand as she pulled her top open to breathe more. Kitty hated to lose, but this was a stupid room she had to admit. And right at the end too!
But she wasn't just fuming, she was really burning! Why was it so hot in here? It was making it hard to keep her eyes focused.
Did she find all the signs; did she follow all the
CONTRADICTIONS