InsaniKey 2

Spiraling down a steel staircase in darkness after encountering a Cerberus is a new level of intensity for me. The sensory deprivation of the darkness is tolerable but the skipped heartbeats between that and not knowing what I’m about to face is mind numbing.

Oddly enough, there’s a regular door at the bottom of the stairs leading outside. I breathe a huge sigh of relief when fresh air and a dark evening sky greet me. “Finally.”

“CC!” Ashley nods, sitting in the grass beneath a tree.

“Do you have a smoke?” I panic.

“Why would I have a smoke?” He bends his knee and rests his arm on it.

“Because I need one?” I shrug and walk past him.

“Where are you off to?” He asks.

“Getting as far away from Jinxx’s nightmare party as fast as I can.” I shake my head, trying to forget.

“The exit isn’t that way.” Ashley chuckles momentarily.

I stop walking and point in every direction and each time he nods in disagreement. “So how do I leave here?”

“I don’t know yet.” He shrugs nonchalantly.

“JINXX!” I yell, kicking at the ground. I knew this grass felt too hard. I kick the ground again and again until a tuft of grass goes flying and reveals the same white tile that was upstairs. “JINXX!” I repeat.

“That would explain a lot.” Ashley kicks up a tuft of grass and shrugs.

“I know you can hear me!” I yell at Jinxx.

“You’re impatient.” Ashley notes.

“I just killed a Cerberus!” I yell.

“A what now?” Ashley laughs, shaking his head in amusement.

I glare at him and return to caged drummer mode, pacing the length of the room until I find the walls, test their limits, and look for an escape route. Eventually I return to Ashley’s tree, out of breath and severely demotivated.

“This tree is hollow.” Ashley raps his knuckles against the trunk and shrugs again.

I take a few steps back and charge at the tree as hard as I can, its cardboard-like trunk ripping from the ground as clumps of dirt scatter about revealing a single unpressed button underneath. This time the button is blue.

“Wasn’t it red before?” Ashley steps on the button and looks at me expectantly.

“JINXX!” I scream into the fake night sky, throwing a tuft of grass into the air. The dirt audibly smacks the sky and after a few hazy sparks, the scenery becomes a regular white tiled ceiling.

“I SAID I WAS SORRY!” I kick the cardboard tree and look at Ashley, ready to kick him too.

“You’re so angry.” Ashley laughs.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through tonight.” I say, taking a deep breath.

“Does it matter?” He says, still smiling. “You’re here now, and you’re okay.”

“You sound like Jinxx.” I half shout.

“Hey, this is your journey not mine.” He shrugs and begins to walk away.

Notes