Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from Escape the Night. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER SEVEN: LOCK AND TRINKET

*****

Colleen awkwardly returned the hug before ending it. “Mortimer, how did you end up here? And what do you remember from Everlock?” she asked, reminding herself that she did have a boyfriend, who was now her husband and a son based on the vague memories floating around her mind.

Mortimer sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying to make sense of the confusing, and even vague, memories that woken up the moment that he saw Colleen, Esther, Dawn, who was keeping her distance and was looking conflicted, and Ro standing in the rotunda with two people he didn’t recognize.

“Well, I remember meeting you guys at the carnival, my mom getting killed by the clowns, helping out, a lot of deaths, Matt getting revived, and things get hazy during the funhouse bit…I’m not entirely sure why,” he recalled. “Then there were the witches, the Foreman, and then my ex-girlfriend Lucy showing up to cause trouble, and then the next thing I know, I’m getting killed off by the Carnival Master and waking up somewhere else. That’s when I got grabbed by those guards and got dragged to this museum.”

“So, you have no memory of getting corrupted by one of the artifacts or using them to free the Carnival Master from his prison?” Esther questioned, and Mortimer shook his head. “Well, while the funhouse business was going on, you tried to use the artifact connected to Willie, and you were gone for two hours.”

Mortimer frowned. “Willie? Oh no,” he groaned, covering his face with his hand, remembering which artifact was being cleansed at the time. “Dammit, the Psychedelic Swirl that was in the lounge. I must’ve messed with it or something. Guys, whatever I did while I was corrupted, I am really sorry as I clearly didn’t have any control over my actions.”

“Yeah, you didn’t,” Dawn agreed, finally stepping forward and Mortimer looked at her, “and…and the fact that you have no memory of betraying us to the Carnival Master, that means that you’re no longer corrupted. So…I’m willing to give you another chance, Mortimer, but it’ll take time for me to trust you again.”

“And I respect that entirely,” said Mortimer. “I know it can take time to regain trust after it’s been broken, and I’ll do everything that I can to earn back your trust.”

“Ok, so why are you locked up in here?” Justine inquired. “I’m Justine by the way, and this is Alex.”

“I don't know. I…” Mortimer chuckled ruefully. “I got locked up in here for ‘bad behavior.’” And he made air quotes around his supposed crime.

“What did you do?” Alex asked, not really sure if they could trust Mortimer, having seen through the portal of what the guy had done.

Mortimer shrugged again. “I don't know. The museum's Collector doesn't really like me, I guess.”

“The Collector’s a minion of the Cursed God, so that’s to be expected,” said Esther.

“I think we can all get back home,” Ro pipped up. “I…I think we can get back. That's what Joey and Dawn both said.”

“I haven't been able to figure out-” Mortimer began and stopped mid-sentence, processing what the Socialite had said. “Joey’s here, too?”

“Oh, he’s here, yeah,” Justine confirmed.

“Guys, we’re still stuck here,” Alex reminded them, nodding to the cage.

“Sorry, okay, okay, too much talking," Ro agreed sheepishly. "Get down to business.”

Justine noticed a box near the fire pit and went to it. “There's a box. What's this?” she wondered, finding a combination lock on it. “It’s locked and needs numbers.”

“How many numbers?” Ro asked.

Before Justine could answer, one of the guards stomped up to the door, getting their attention. “I told you," he snarled, "shut your mouth, or I will cut out your tongue!” He glared at the group as they all cringed, and then he stomped away.

“Um, we should speak in softer voices,” Dawn suggested.

“Ok,” said Alex with a nervous smile. “We gotta find some clues.” And they went to work, searching the gross area without drawing the attention of the guards again.

*****

Inside the museum, Bretman moved closer to Joey, who wasn’t looking asterrified, but it was obvious to him that he was still shaken by the sight of the scary woman. “Who is she?” he asked.

“A dangerous sorceress,” Joey replied, “or at least she was over a year ago when she murdered me and others.”

“How is she here?” Gabbie wondered from behind Joey, having duck behind him the second that the evil woman had showed up. “I thought she was dead.”

“Yeah, what gives with her being here?” Tana asked and DeStorm nodded in agreement, for they had seen her murder Joey in the portal, and witness her death at the hands of Riley after Dawn tried and failed to stop her.

‘If this evil chick is here, is Arthur here as well?’ Tim wondered uneasily, hoping that he wouldn’t cross paths with the fake butler who’d used them all at the 1920s house. ‘If he is, then I’m outta here!’

Steeling himself, Joey moved so that he could face the Sorceress, but wasn’t going to get any closer then he absolutely had to. “How can you be here?” he inquired.

The Sorceress snorted. “Well, I did die and I ended up in the World Between Worlds,” she explained, looking annoyed for a change. “And I ended up getting ambushed by The Collector’s guards, who dragged me here, and she used her magic to lock me in one of her display cases as punishment for my failure to conquer your world.” She then fixed her gaze on him, shifting to anger. “Joey, I don't know how you and the Light-bearer did it, but the exhibits are now loose, and the monsters inside them are not kind.”

‘Dawn’s right, I should’ve cut the vines.’ Joey flushed. “Yeah, that’s on me,” he agreed sheepishly.

DeStorm approached the Sorceress, but he kept his distance since he was pretty sure that she was dangerous, even handcuffed. “So you stuck here just like us," he pointed out. "You can't do nothing.”

The Sorceress gave a dramatic sigh while shifting her expression back to that of annoyance. “I would use my powers, but I don't have my staff, ok?” She tried to look at her cuffed hands, but couldn’t since they were behind her. “And, could you please have this handsome man remove these infernal cuffs?”

“And risk you trying to kill all of us, I don’t think so,” said Tim. “You can probably help us, or us help you, but you aren’t getting out of those cuffs that easily.”

Joey gestured to his friends and move a ways from the Sorceress, who was looking interestingly at Jack, who was humoring her. “Guys, I know you’ll say that trusting the Sorceress will be a bad idea, but she could be of help.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Benny, glancing at their prisoner. “But how can we use her and keep her from killing all of us?” He still had the sheathed knife. “’cause I’m definitely not giving this knife back to her for any reason, and the enemy of our enemy isn’t always our friend either,” he added, not liking that they were considering the idea of having the Sorceress help them.

“Well, why not just kill her then?” Jermaine demanded and tried to grab the knife, but DeStorm yanked him away. “Hey!”

“Oh like hell we’re gonna let you do that,” said the Enforcer. “Do you guys think Jack might have something that could keep the Sorceress on a sort of leash? He’s from some form of the future, right?”

Realizing that DeStorm had a good point, Joey waved Jack over. “Jack, did you happen to bring anything with you that could keep the Sorceress in line?” he requested.

Jack grinned and took out a metal band with red lights on it. “I sure do,” he confirmed. “If I put this on her and she tries to go after anyonehere, she’ll get zapped like a lightning rod.”

“Having been a lightning rod myself, I’m all for that idea,” Benny agreed. “Although, that probably means I’ll have to return this to her,” he added, frowning at the knife.

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Gabbie remarked.

Joey sighed. “Let’s do this.” And he returned to facing the Sorceress while Jack put the new band on her wrist before removing the handcuffs, and Benny reluctantly returned the sheathed knife. “Ok, if you try to harm any of us, you’ll get zapped. Understood?”

“Crystal,” said the Sorceress, strapping the sheathed knife back to her leg with an expression that made her look like a kid who wasn’t getting to play with the kitchen knives, and took out a small black object that she showed them. “The Collector left this in her study where I was kept. It is all I know.”

Joey cautiously reached for the object, becoming annoyed when she pulled it away from him a few times, and finally took it from her, finding that it was an onyx trinket of some kind that had gears on it, and he wondered where it rightfully belonged.