Chapter 6: Alice in Puzzle Land
We were literally in a pit of darkness. We couldn't see our surroundings and we had no idea where we were dropped.
"Ugh..are you alright Julia.." Jace asks.
"Yea-Ahhh!!" I yelp.
"Julia! What's wrong?" Jace worrily asks.
"N-nothing, something cold wet my neck..probably water," I reassure him.
"You may now take off your folds." says the female host.
We were in a dark cold room, like a tunnel with icy walls. The only light we had were LED lights hung on the walls.
"Okay, the props and decorations are amazing, but I think they went a little too far this year," I said.
"This is part of the puzzle I guess," Jace says.
"Ligers, as you go through the maze, you will find mini chests with riddles on how to leave the maze. Look out for prizes, especially SURPRIZES. Whoever finishes first wins!" the female host finishes.
We found the mini chest hanging on the LED cable. Jace opens the chest and unfolds a piece of paper and reads out loud,
"When light 0peN5 a path, it must beG1n to Descend."
"When light opens a path, it must begin to descend. Hm.. I've seen this type of puzzle before. The numbers replace letters and act as some code," I say," If you focus on the patterns that the riddle has, there are capital letters and numbers. But if you change the numbers into letters and rearrange them, it can form words: W0N5G1D to WONSGID. You read it backwards as DIG SNOW,"I say.
"Impressive detective," Jace praises me.
"But where would we dig..? When light opens a path, it must begin to descend..." I mumble to myself.
"Maybe there'll be more clues along the way," Jace says and we continue.
As we walked further, the path began to dimm into darkness.
"Ah, the staff must've missed this part," I pointed out the disconnected LED cable on the floor that trailed the rest of the unlit path. There was a small dome of snow next to the lights.
"I was thinking, maybe the riddle meant that the light that descends is the LED lights on the floor and the place we must dig is where the unconnected LED plug is at," Jace pops in.
He starts digging through icy slush and finds a small box and opens it, a key.
"This must be the key for one of the mini chests. But before we go, we should reconnect the LED cables so we can see the path better," says Jace.
The path began to split into two different directions, right side lit, left side unlit.
"Which way should we go?," Jace asks.
"Um, right?" I reply.
"Okay, right it is, but if it doesn't work out we can connect the cables to the left side," Jace replies.
It was a dead end so we turned back and went to the left path. There was another split path with a small box sitting on the floor between them. It had a mini lock.
"Wait, there were letters on the key, maybe it's a code?" wonders Jace.
"Bike"
"Hey, if we were to replace the letters to numbers like the first puzzle, maybe that would be the code!"
The chest unlocked and inside was a cube stone.
"What is this..?" Jace wondered.
"A goodluck charm?" I laughed nervously.
There was a huge icy gate with a mailbox next to it. The gravings on the gate said, " Taking is rewarded, but giving is the key."
"I think we have to put our cube in the mailbox and take what is inside then leave out the gate," I said.
"Huh?! Really?" Jace said puzzled.
"Yeah, the pictures on the mailbox make it seem that way," I looked back at him.
"Oh. I thought you figured out the riddle," he replied.
"Well, it sounds like the key to the riddle? I think." I said.
The icy floor grumbled as the host announced, "Ligers, we've been notified that there is an incoming landslide on the east side that may affect us. It'll pass like small earthquakes, do not panic and slowly move to the exit. You're almost there guys! Keep pushing! Staff members will come lead you back to the campsite. For now, just come back safely!"
The grumbling begain to grow louder and rumble the icy walls and floors.
Jace looks to me, "Let's hurry back to the others-"
The path behind us was flooding with snow and parts of the icy walls were crumbling away.
"Come on!" Jace beckoned me to the gate, but the snow pushed its way toward our exit and caught us in its blanket of white.
It was cold. My leg was hurting again. I could hear Jace's muffled voice and scraping of ice.
"Julia!" He pulled me into his little tunnel of ice.
We were stuck burried in the snow.
"Julia, can you hear me! Julia, staff are still coming, but I need you to stay awake with me!"
"-hurts.."
"What is it?"
"It hurts..."
"What hurts?!"
He pats me down.
"My leg..."
"Your leg? It's bleeding-" he lifts my leg.
"AGHHH!" I gasped and winced of the pain.
Jace takes off his jacket and sweater and wraps my leg with his sweater.
"Leo..Layla..Lian.. They're gonna worry.." I started to tear up. I was panicking from the darkness, the cold, that we might not be rescued, and the pain in my leg.
"Hey, it's okay, come here." Jace gently helps me sit up next to him. "Everything is going to be alright. You've got me. I'm not going anywhere. Help will come by. They know where our exits are." He wipes my tears with his sleeve.
"Are you cold?"
I nod. He hugs me close and pulls his jacket around us. It was quite big for a middle schooler.
"How's your leg?"
"Like pins and needles with a giant elephant on top," I laugh a little.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little." He reaches into his jackets pocket and pulls out a cookie and hands it to me.
"I'm not really hungry so you eat it. Instead of falling asleep in this cold, let's just talk. They'll find us eventually. Look, my phone still works so I'm going to call Arron then we can keep talking okay?" I nod.
He told Arron about the situation then handed me the phone.
"Julia! Are you okay?" It was the triplets.
"Yeah, I'm okay" I sniffled and choked down tears.
"The teachers are going to go help you. So-so hang in there," they cried.
"Don't worry, Jace is here so don't cry. I'll be back soon before you know it." I reassure them.
"Julia, the medical staff will come as soon as possible. Help is on the way. We have Jace's location so they'll definitely find you guys, So don't worry, okay? Everyone is safe, so focus on being safe."
"Okay," I wipe my tears," Thanks Arron." Then I handed the phone to Jace.
"Yeah. Okay.
Yes, I got it. Kay. Ninety percent. Call me if anything changes. Kay bye."
He turns to me. "Uh, so. Um, we don't have to talk if you don't want to. I just thought it'd be nice to pass the time."
"We can talk. I don't mind."
He smiles, "So what do you want to do when we get out?"
"Eat haha, it's passed lunch time."
"I heard there's going to be leftovers and cake. What else do you want to do?"
"I still want to go to the cave with everyone. The cave just seems so, so mysterious and adventurous. But my leg..."
"Don't worry, I'll just carry you there!" He laughed.
"Thanks, but it's okay. I'm a little heavy so that would probably be hard on you."
"Nah, I can just carry you there and then if you want to walk, I'll help you. I'm sure they might have some crutches. Some students get into accidents at the skii lodge, so they might have it. Alright! Sounds like a plan!"
And we heard shoveling and scraping of snow and ice.
"Jace! Are you there?!" says a staff member.
"Yeah!"
"Okay, we'll get you guys out and then we'll head back to the camp!"
"Kay! See, help came. Is your leg okay?"
"Yeah, still hurts though."
The medics team carried me to the car and we drove back to the camp. Jace sat next to me through the drive.
-Nurse's office-
"We have crutches but you're still going to have to rest and be gentle on your leg. Luckily you didn't fracture any bones but your leg has a small crack. I'm assuming it must've been one of the broken walls that slammed onto your leg during the tremors. Try to avoid walking on your leg, other than that, enjoy your youth. Okay, you can get out of here. Go, go have fun," the nurse laughed.
"Lia! We missed you! Are you okay?" The triplets hugged me and cried.
"Yeah, I'm okay" I hugged them back and cried.
"Let's go guys. We'll head to the cave and then have some dinner," Jace says.
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