Escape From Castle Bran [Brígh]

[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

13 June 2027

“I don’t like this,” Cheese announced as he shuffled into the room behind Brígh. That wasn’t a particularly surprising statement from the boy, also the well-known ‘fraidy cat of their friend group. The idea of trying an escape room had set his nerves on edge, finding out that it was going to be set in a supposedly abandoned castle had raised the hairs on his arms, and then discovering that it was going to be Dracula’s castle had turned the poor boy as white as a sheet. Or, er, vampire. Now look, Cheese had spent seven years receiving his schooling in an actually haunted castle. But really, there wasn’t much that was scary about Hogwarts when it wasn’t in the process of being burned down. He’d gotten through seven years of school without needing to test his courage except for a hairy situation or two.

But there were actual vampires in the magical world, and abandoned castles, and the likelihood of being trapped in one by a blood-starved vampire was perhaps a more likely possibility than Muggles thought. Cheese didn’t mention that to Brígh, because then she’d only double down on her insistence to go through with it. She’d probably call it survival training or something. So he’d let her mercilessly pester him about trying something new, and he obediently followed her in as the employee chattered and explained all the rules of their upcoming one-hour (one-hour) escape.

He shivered slightly as he glanced around the room. The effects were really well-done, he had to admit. Dimly lit (electric) candelabras on the wall, tapestries and knick-knacks of a distinctly Victorian style, and creepy portraits on the walls whose eyes seemed to bore right into him. “A vampire could definitely live here,” he murmured, mourning the loss of his camera that he’d left in the locked cubby outside. As scary as the idea of the escape room was, the room really had been done quite nicely. He eyed a cobweb on the wall and wondered if he’d have to touch it to try and find a clue. “Remind me again why we didn’t bring Addy,” he asked as he kept solid eye contact with the cobwebs and the fake spider that sat exactly in the center. Merlin, she’d probably solve the puzzle in ten minutes flat.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

"I don't care!" Brígh trilled, beaming at Cheese as they approached the escape room that Brígh had picked out for the pair of them. She'd selected a vampire themed one - though she knew Cheese was frightened of rather a lot of things, the fact that vampires were mostly harmless (at least, there hadn't been any vampire attacks in recent years that had made the papers) and not something conjured from the imagination, she'd thought it was a safe bet. But Cheese's bloodless face spoke volumes. Brígh paused, indecisive. "I'll be with you. Nothing is scarier than me," she added in a softer tone, bumping her hip against Cheese's. "Well, except Addy when she's mad. And she would be mad if something bad happened to you so double terror." And just like that, the case was settled.

The pair stepped into the room after being briefed by the team and they had three minutes to get their bearings before the clock started ticking. Brígh followed Cheese's gaze with a frown. "Not nearly enough eerie flickering candelabras. Or bats. No bats," said Brígh, glancing at Cheese. "And you spend too much time with Addy. We need some bonding time, just the two of us. And also, I know of a lovely park just down the road we can go to afterwards so you can reorient yourself with your camera. Don't say I'm not the greatest," said Brígh breezily. Her gaze shifted around the room, noting peeling portraits, flickering lights, glimmering cobwebs and various other creepy objects. The voice of God came to them then. "You have one hour to escape. Your time starts now."

Grabbing Cheese's arm and shaking him slightly, Brígh silently begged him to get a hold on himself. "Come on, let's look through the drawers there," said Brígh, making a beeline for the chest of drawers. A few papers and a column of dust spilled out as she opened them, and she sneezed. "Cheese, don't tell me you're really frightened?" said Brígh over her shoulder with a smirk.

Raphael Caelan McLaggen

[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

He’d spoken without thinking. Brígh was gone so often these days on her cursebreaking adventures that being with her transported him right back to the past. And the not-so-very distant past, too. It hadn’t really been that long since his breakup with Addy, only a few months, but those months had felt like eons that would never end. And the minute Brígh had showed up again, it was like being tossed straight back into his memories of school – so why wouldn’t he mention Addy? The three of them had always been together since first year, and there was practically no memory of his that hadn’t been touched by his two best friends. Still, he winced at the accidental reminder of his ex-girlfriend and made himself busy studying a portrait of a very aristocratic-looking lady so Brígh wouldn’t see the expression on his face.

“Maybe the bats show up later. To eat our faces off or something,” Cheese suggested lightly so he could take the conversation into a completely new direction. He’d like to see children-hungry bats somehow lead back to the topic of Addy. He had to admit, Brígh did know him very well and the thought of a park in the open summer air did sound quite appealing. But he also knew his friend, and turned to suspiciously narrow his eyes at her. “Uh-huh, and how many minutes away is a certain druid’s apartment from this park?” he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at her. He wasn’t one for boy talk, that had always been Addy’s department, but try as hard as he might – some of it always filtered through anyway. Things he didn’t need to know about other men.

The announcement that they had to start made him jump, and he stared dumbly at the portrait again as he wondered where to start. Thankfully Brígh’s brain seemed to be working perfectly well and he dutifully followed her over to the chest of drawers while he ran his hand over the top. His hand brushed a scrap of paper and Cheese adopted a look of intense concentration as he batted it towards them and into his waiting hands. “Looks like a map,” he decided as he squinted closely. But he was distracted by Brígh’s challenging question as she smirked at him over her shoulder. “I mean, sure I am. I’ve been locked into a room with a horrible monster. Just hope Dracula doesn’t find me too.” He shot her a pointed look then held the map up in a dignified manner. “Bet I can solve this first too.”

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh rolled her eyes. "A bit of trust, yeah?" she said with a smirk, glancing around the room. The voice of God announced that they had one hour to escape, and Brígh was already considering the endless opportunities they were afforded. Cheese's bloodless face gave her next to no faith in his assistance here. She was considering cheating and getting out her wand, but that didn't seem nearly as fun in a muggle escape room. She was glad that their time had started and Cheese was distracted by his task rather than pushing the question of how far the park was from Aidan's place.

Answer: other side of London. But that didn't make travel impossible.

Dust settled over Brígh after she rifled through a chest of drawers to try to find a clue. Cheese snatched a floating paper and shoved it into her face, deducing that it was a map. "Indeed, but that's too simple..." said Brígh, casting her gaze around the room for more information. There was something... off about the way the light reflected off one of the old portrait's frame. She moved over to it, and ran her fingers along the gilded frame. Then, she pressed. A pen light popped out, and she turned around to show Cheese with a flourish. "This will help!" she decided, clicking the pen on. A purplish light emitted from it, and she directed the tiny torch at the map. Words were written there, which naturally had nothing to do with the fact that it was a map.

Squinting, Brígh read the words aloud. "Rusted and ancient, I open at the close." She swore. "That's bloody useless. Everything in here is rusty and ancient!" she exclaimed, her brows knitting together in distaste. "Let's see if I can find anything else. You think about opening at the close," she instructed. Brígh did check to see if Cheese really was scared, and scoffed at his reply. "It's unkind to speak of Mickey like that, Cheese," said Brígh with a grin.

Raphael Caelan McLaggen

[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Cheese thought about pointing out all the various tricks and jokes Brígh had played on him over the years, if only to point out how ironic it was to ask for trust now…but he thought against it. The escape room was full of spooky things and it would be just like Brígh to get her revenge for cheeky comments by pretending to be a ghost or something. Instead he just coughed slightly and studied the map like it held all the answers to life. He blinked himself out of his reverie as he finally noticed what Brígh was doing to one of the portraits, and Cheese’s mouth popped open as she waved the pen to him excitedly. “Blimey, we have to vandalize the room to get out?” he demanded, eyes wide as words started to appear on the paper.

“I open at the close, I open at the close,” Cheese repeated as a mantra as he spun in a circle and knocked on a lamp experimentally. Despite his extremely impressive self-control from earlier, his smile became lopsided as he turned to holler at Brígh while she combed through the other half of the room. “Rusted and ancient…oi Brígh, maybe you’re the next clue?” She was the one always bragging about how her December birthday made her wise and experienced, while Cheese had always been the baby with a birthday all the way behind in…March. He swiveled to examine a candelabra because it did look kinda rusty, but after a few experimental pulls nothing happened so he moved on. He rolled his eyes at her clever little deflection to calling Mickey a horrible monster, but didn’t necessarily feel the need to correct her. Rafe loved his older brother but his ego really did become its own monster sometimes.

Wandering around the room, Cheese decided his new strategy would be to touch everything until something happened. He poked around the desk for a while, crawled under it and groaned when he saw a checkboard-style pattern with tiles that moved. “Looks like a different puzzle. But that’s a future problem for future us.” That was also his strategy for homework, when he thought about it. Wriggling back out, Rafe began to walk along one wall until he all but tripped over an old trunk. He straightened, took two steps forward, then two steps back. “Heeeeey, rusted and ancient. And…opens at the close?” he mumbled to himself as he dropped to his knees and ran his hands over the lid. Something about the trunk looked strange and he hummed in concentration as he finally realized the hinges weren’t where he expected them to be. He stuck his hand down the back and crowed in delight as the trunk lid swung towards him with a heavy thud. Only to sigh in despair as he pulled out all sorts of medieval-looking clothes – cloaks (but like, really old cloaks), dresses, and Cheese squeaked (in a very manly way) as he realized he was touching a corset. “Um, come look at this please,” he said with a blush as he scrambled away to let Brígh take a good look inside the trunk.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH