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Chapter Text

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

PROLOGUE: MAKING CONTACT

*****

In the mediation room of the Society Against Evil house, reclining chairs had been set up in a circle with the Life Crystal resting on a table, and lying on the chairs and wearing mediation clothes, along with health monitors strapped to their wrists, were Dawn Hatcher, Joey Graceffa, Oli White, Eva Gutowski, Andrea Russett, Tyler Oakley, Nikita Dragun, and Matt Patrick.

It was nearing nine months since the Everlock mission, and in that time, the survivors of each of the incidents had been working on becoming members of the Society Against Evil since figuring out that they were all connected to an ancient prophecy, and now had a chance to rescue the friends that’d been killed in each of the incidents.

Of course, they had had to deal with other stuff in their lives, which included Jermaine Whitehouse trying to convince the world that the survivors of the incidents, especially Joey and Dawn, were killers, which had lead to the actress getting arrested by a foolish detective before being rescued by Society leader James McCoy, and the former blogger was now on the run from the police.

Right now, they were going to take the final step of becoming SAE members by being hypnotized in order to enter a realm known as The Dreaming.

The lights were dimmed and soft music was playing over the sound system in the room, and Richard Barker walked around the circle of chairs and spoke in a calm voice. “Just stare straight ahead and listen to my voice, become in tune with the sound of my voice, and let your minds drift as you think of the word sleep.

“Just think of that one word and as you do so, you will feel yourself start to relax, every muscle in your body becoming like jelly while you know that you will remain safe and secure in your chair, like you are being kept in place by a safety belt. Your heads and bodies will start to feel heavy, and when I count to three, breath in and when you breath out, let your eyes fall shut and relax.”

Richard counted to three and Joey, Dawn, Oli, Eva, Tyler, Andrea, Matt, and Nikita all breathed in, their eyes closing, and as they breathed out, their bodies relaxed. “Keep listening to the sound of my voice as you go deeper and deeper, becoming more relax as you descend into the dreaming.” He glanced at the Life Crystal, which was starting to glow softly, and he got a confirming nod from James. “Nod if you understand.”

When they all nodded, Richard counted to three. “One…two…three.” And he watched as eight orbs of blue light exited the Life Crystal, floated over to the eight sleeping figures, and then the orbs slowly and gently lowered until they sank and merged into their chests.

It was time for them to enter The Dreaming.

*****

Dawn opened her eyes and found herself in the courtyard once again, only this time, Joey, Oli, Eva, Andrea, Tyler, Nikita, and Matt were with her, and they were all lying on their backs on the ground. Getting up, they looked at each other, surprised that they were wearing white, long-sleeved shirts, dark brown pants for the men while the four women had on short dark brown skirts, and knee-high boots. Overall, their clothing had a 1940s feel to it, and they figured that this was a clue of which era the location was going to be based.

“Is that the museum?” Oli wondered, nodding to the tall building.

“I believe so,” said Dawn, looking around, “and this is where I found myself last time. The mirror’s this way.” And she headed in that direction, feeling the same drawing sensation from last time, and her friends followed, feeling that they were also going the right way.

*****

It didn’t take the group very long to find the archway, which was covered with the same vines from before, and as they got close, the vines began glowing blue, revealing a plaque with words written in silver that was just above the archway. “‘Only the Chosen standing united can summon one of the Fallen’.”

“Well, we’re here, let’s figure out how to activate this thing,” Tyler suggested.

“The question is howdo we do it?” Andrea wondered. “I mean, we’re right here and pretty much united, right?”

Matt reread the message and then he glanced at the black glass surface, getting an idea. “I think I know how we can do it.”

“How?”

“Well, what I think we should do is stand in front of the mirror,” Matt suggested. “With Dawn and Joey in the middle, and the rest of us on either side. Then as we have a hand on each other’s shoulders, Dawn and Joey can touch the mirror at the same time, and that should be enough to activate it.”

Seeing it as their best option, the group repositioned themselves so that Joey and Dawn were standing side-by-side, with Oli, Matt, and Tyler next to Joey while Andrea, Eva, and Nikita were standing next to Dawn.

Putting their hands on each other shoulders with Joey putting his left hand on Dawn’s left shoulder, which she covered with her left hand, and then the two of them reached out with their right hands, touching the cold surface of the mirror.

Moments later, the mirror began glowing blue and they were glowing blue, too. This surprised them, but they didn’t move, not wanting to break the connection .

*****

At the Museum of the Dead, there was an outside courtyard, where eleven display cases were set up in a circle, each holding a YouTuber that’d died, some more recently then others, and they were all dressed differently…saved for one.

One of the YouTubers was still dressed the way she had been the night that she’d died: she had brown skin, dark eyes, black hair done up in a bun, and she was dressed as an explorer with a white blouse, white pants, a white button-down jacket with white frilly cuffs, brown knee-high boots, and a white kerchief around her neck.

She was Liza Koshy, and until her death at the claws of a harpy in a mansion that’d been locked in the Victorian era, she’d been a YouTuber. Right now, however, she was part of an exhibit, and something unexpected was about to happen.

In each case was a glowing orb that showed how each YouTuber had died, and there were vines running from each case to a central dais, which was shaped like a tree stump, that had a glowing orb inside it as a power source that was keeping the YouTubers in a form of stasis and locked within new personas that they’d been given after being yanked out of the safe area.

Just then, the power source started glowing blue as arches of energy arched out of it several times, and some of the blue energy flowed down a bundle of vines until it reached the base of the display case that held Liza. The secondthat the energy came into contact with the orb, it shattered, and the glass shattered as well.

Liza gasped and dropped to one knee, wheezing as her lungs struggled to remember how to work, and she tried to process what’d happen to her, vaguely recalling that she’d been somewhere else – and then she remembered.

‘I’m no longer in the safe area,’ she thought, straightening up and gasped, for she saw the other display cases, and ten of her friends. ‘We’ve been taken! But…where are the others?’ She was confused since the only YouTubers on display were Justine, Timothy, Benny, DeStorm, Tana, Gabbie, Colleen, Esther, Alex, and Ro, and they were all dressed differently.

Liza was about look for something to use to free her friends, when she heard footsteps, and she scrambled behind the stump, hiding herself just as two guards, dressed like Egyptians, entered the area with golden eyes glowing.

She was relieved when they left, having failed to have seen her, and she got up, looking around once again. But she couldn’t see anything that she could use to free her friends. ‘I don’t want to leave my friends,’ she thought, looking at the cases, ‘but I need to if I’m going to find something that will help me free my friends.’

“I’ll be back,” she whispered, “I promised.” And she hurried into the museum.

*****

Liza found herself in a circular room that had a mounted lion, a dinosaur, and other things on display, but she didn’t pay attention as she hid herself behind one of the displays as two more guards entered, clearly searching for her, and when they were out of sight, she bolted through a doorway and down a hallway.

She ran until she found a pair of doors that were opened and she ran inside, pulling the doors shut to keep from being found, and she turned to find herself in a strange and dark alcove. There were vines growing everywhere, an oddly familiar-looking staff was planted in the ground in one corner, and then her attention was drawn to a glowing green jar that was on a table near the middle of the room.

“What the hell is this place?” she wondered, moving over to the table to examine the glowing jar that seemed to be made out of jade, and when she squinted at it, she gasped, recognizing what was floating inside the green liquid.

“Shane?” Liza whispered, staring in shock and confusion as the face of Shane Dawson appeared and then fade away from view, and his wasn’t theonlyface that she recognized, she also saw Lauren, Jesse, Safiya, and Manny’s faces appear and disappear. ‘Oh crap! Did she put the others into this jar?!’

She was all ready to grab the jar and open it to free her friends when a tall dark mirror began glowing blue, and she turned toward it, seeing eight shadowy figures clustered in the surface, and it looked like two of them were touching the glass.

Feeling drawn, Liza approached the mirror and reached out with her own hands to touch the surface. It rippled and then the surface cleared, and she found herself face-to-face with Joey, Dawn, Oli, Eva, Tyler, Andrea, Nikita, and Matt, who were all looking surprised as she was feeling.

`“Liza!”`

“Oh my gosh!” Liza gasped, staring at her friends with a surprised and delighted expression. “Joey, Dawn, Oli, Eva, Matt, Andrea, Tyler, Nikita! You’re here!”

`“Yeah, we are,”` Joey confirmed, happy to see her, but wished that there wasn’t glass between them. `“Liza, where are the others? Are they ok? We lost contact with you nine months ago.”`

“The Collector managed to break into the safe area and snatched us all up,” Liza explained, trying to remember how she’d ended up in a display case of all things. “I don’t really remember much – most of my memories are hazy – but my next clear memory was there being a flash of blue light and finding myself kneeling on a platform of what used to be a display case. I saw ten of our friends in similar display cases and then I had to run since these creepy, but handsome, Egyptian guards with glowing eyes showed up.”

Dawn shared an uneasy look with Joey before looking back at Liza. `“Ok, so there’s security at the museum?”` she asked and their friend nodded. `“Ok, where are you right now, Liza? And do you have any clue of where the rest of our friends could be?”`

“I’m in some kind of large room with vines everywhere,”` Liza told them while looking around on her side of the mirror. “There’s other stuff, and on a table is a jade jar that has-” She suddenly stopped and looked behind her at the doors, which were now glowing red, before looking back at her friends, fear filling her face. “There’s someone coming, I gotta go. Guys, you can save us, this is your chance! Come and save us!”

The mirror went dark and Liza turned away to face the doors as they opened, letting in a tall, imposing woman with a long face, harsh eyes, a tall black hairstyle, an elaborate headpiece, a red/gold that was clearly African in origin, a spear in her hand, and an aura of powerful peril all around her.

‘This has to be The Collector,’ Liza thought, doing her best to mask her fear.

The Collector glowered at the little brown girl. “What are you doing outside of your exhibit?" she demanded coldly. "There will be punishment.”

“What have you done with my friends?” Liza demanded angrily, nodding to the glowing jar that she’d wished she’d been able to tell her friends about while she had a chance.

The Collector glanced briefly at the Soul Jar and then smirked. “There wasn’t enough room in my collection to hold them all,” she explained smugly, "but I doenjoy feasting on souls when I'm hungry.”

The Explorer felt a chill go down her spine at those words. “You are not going to eat the souls of my friends,” she declared defiantly. “You will be stopped, and I have other friends on their way to do just that.”

“You mean the Light-bearer, I assume?” the Collector guessed, amused by the girl’s surprised expression. “Oh yes, I know all about her, and I know about the prophecy as well. The prophecy that won’t be fulfilled.”

Before Liza could respond to that, The Collector suddenly stabbed her in the stomach with her spear, and she gasped as a jolt of pain shot through her body as she clutched at the spear. “No…no…” ‘Not again…I don’t want to die again!’

“Don’t fight it,” The Collector advised with a sneer, and she raised her hand as it started to glow red, along with the ruby in the middle of her headdress.

Liza gasped and screamed, feeling her soul being forced out of her body through her mouth, and she watched helplessly as it, now green, flew through the air, and went into the Soul Jar. ‘Help us, guys,’ she thought as she died for a second time. ‘Please…please…help us…’

The Collector removed her spear and the girl dropped to the floor, motionless and lifeless before glowing green and disappearing from view. ‘Just how did she get out of the exhibit?’ she wondered, glancing at the mirror, and she scowled. ‘Dammit, the Chosen must have found the mirror in the Dreaming!’

Well, she was going to do something about that right away, and she went through the mirror to enter the Dreaming and deal with the threat. Seconds later, she was back in the alcove, annoyed that the Chosen had managed to escape when she’d been closed to ending their lives.

‘They won’t be successful,’ The Collector vowed. ‘They won’t!’

*****

After being pulled out of The Dreaming and sharing what they had learned from making contact with Liza, the group became full members for the Society Against Evil, learned that the twelve bloodlines of the Light-bearers were all inside Dawn, and they were surprised to learn that Captain Jack Harkness was a real person and from a parallel Earth where Doctor Who was real.

They now had their mission, and the time was coming to travel to Purgatory to save their friends.

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 ONE: RETRIEVING THE ARTIFACTS

*****

It’d been close to nine months since the events of Everlock, and in that time, Joey, Dawn, Matt, Nikita, Oli, Eva, Andrea, and Tyler had undergone some seriously training in order to become members of the Society Against Evil.

They had been successful in obtaining membership, had discovered that the twelve bloodlines of the Light-bearers were all inside Dawn, which was a rare occurrence, and that on a parallel Earth, the TV show Doctor Who was real when they met the real Captain Jack Harkness, who’d been brought to their Earth.

He was going to go with Joey, Dawn, Nikita, and Matt on their mission to rescue a friend who’d been kidnapped by The Collector, while Tyler and Andrea would be on standby at the safe house to be backup, and both Oli and Eva were back in England, but would have access to a Society safe house there should they be needed to provide additional backup.

*****

At a safe house for the Society Against Evil, Joey, Dawn, Nikita, and Matt were getting ready for the mission, having spent the last week staying in guest rooms there after letting their loved ones know that they would be going on the mission and to tell anyone who asks that they were on vacations instead of missing.

*****

In the guest room that she’d been staying in, Dawn finished dressing herself in the outfit she’d chosen to wear for the mission, having been inspired by what she’d found herself wearing while in The Dreaming: after getting her hair cut short, she was now wearing a long-sleeve white blouse, a brown skirt that went to her knees, knee-high brown boots, and a brown leather jacket that had the SAE symbol on the left shoulder.

She polished the lens of her gold-rimmed glasses and put them on before picking up a case that held the special contact lens and slipped it into the inside pocket of the jacket, to have on hand just in case her glasses went missing or got broken during the mission.

“Well, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” the brunette said to her reflection in the mirror, and then she left the bedroom.

*****

In the study, Dawn meet up with Joey, who’d decided to keep his hair it’s natural dark brown color and had it trimmed a bit along the sides, and was wearing a brown jacket with the Society symbol on the left shoulder, a dark green sweater over a white shirt, gold-rimmed glasses, brown boots, and a scarlet tie. “Hey, where’s Matt and Nikita?”

“On their way to get the Crown of Oblivion,” James McCoy announced as he and Jack Harkness entered the study. “Jael and Ryu are with them, and they will meet you three at the portal location once you have the artifacts from the 1920s house. Well…one of the artifacts that is.”

“Might as well get all four since they’re in the same box,” said the brunette, sighing. “Can’t believe that we’re gonna have to go back to that place where this whole nightmare first started.”

“I know,” Joey agreed, not looking forward to going back to the 1920s house either. “But, it’s what we have to do.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “I know, I know.”

“Ready to go?” Jack asked and the couple nodded. “All right,” he said with a grin, clapping his hands. “Let’s go.”

Dawn started to follow the former time agent and stopped, remembering something “Wait, I’m suppose to have something to shield myself from the eyes of The Collector, James.”

“Jael and Ryu will give you the protection item when you meet up, Dawn,” James assured her, glad when she looked relieved, and watched them leave, hoping that the mission would be successful, and wouldn’t go south on them like the last three times.

*****

Meanwhile in the area that was outside the city limits of Los Angels, Jermaine Whitehouse was taking down the tent that he’d been living in since escaping police custody weeks prior after his plan to get Dawn Hatcher arrested and confess the truth of being a killer backfired on him, and he was determined to find proof that he was right about Dawn and Joey being murderers.

He’d been exploring the area that was apparently the first location that the group of YouTubers first disappeared two years and nine months ago, but he hadn’t found anything so far to either prove him right or prove him wrong, and he was getting desperate since he was running low on supplies and all of his accounts had been frozen.

‘There has to be proof,’ Jermaine thought, packing up the tent and removing all traces that he’d been living in the clearing, packing them into a bag that he strapped to the back of his bicycle, and he was walking it toward the road to do another search when he heard the sound of a car engine.

He quickly hid the bicycle and hid himself among the bushes, watching and waiting as the engine sound grew louder until a black jeep came into view, and his jaw dropped when he saw that it was being driven by Joey, Dawn was seated next to him, and in the backseat was John Barrowman.

‘Them!’ Jermaine thought, watching as they drove along the road toward the bend, and he grabbed his bicycle, moving quickly to follow after them, wondering why the actor who was well-known for playing Captain Jack Harkness on that lousy British SciFi show would be with them .‘I’m going to get my proof, I just know it!’

*****

Joey drove the jeep until the bend in the road came into view and he slowed down until they came to a stop. “Well,” he said, glancing at Dawn, who was looking just as nervous as he was, “just around this bend, and we’ll be there.”

Jack could tell that they weren’t looking forward to going to the 1920s, but they were on a schedule. “Guys,” he said, leaning forward and gripping their shoulders to get them to look at him, “it’ll be fine. Once we have ‘em artifacts, we can leave this place forever, ok?”

“Yeah,” Joey agreed.

Dawn also nodded and took Jack’s hand into hers as she started glowing with the Light. “Just to be sure,” she said reassuringly as the former time agent also glowed until the Light faded. “You know, insurance policy.”

Jack chuckled. “Been wondering when you would do that, Donny,” he teased, making her flush and sat back in his seat. “All right, let’s go.”

Joey also chuckled while Dawn rolled her eyes and muttered at them both to “shut up”, and he activated the device that was needed in order to gain access to the 1920s. Once it was powered up, he drove around the bend. “Here we go.”

Moments later, the jeep disappeared in a flash of golden light, unaware that there was a bicycle lying on the side of the road, or that someone had smuggled themselves into the back of the jeep, which was covered by a blanket.

*****

Joey drove along the road until the gates to the estate appeared, swinging open to let them into the grounds as the house itself appeared. Seeing this place again made Joey and Dawn uneasy, but they chose to focus on the mission instead.

“So, that’s the house where this all began?” Jack inquired as Joey parked the jeep and they climbed out.

“That’s the place,” Dawn confirmed as the former time agent got out three shovels, and she accepted one. “The spot is over here.”

They walked over to the small dirt mound and began digging.

*****

Back at the jeep, Jermaine peered out, his eyes widening in shock when he saw that there was a house that he was certain hadn’t been in the area before, and he got out his disposable camera, quickly snapping pictures before hiding himself again. ‘It does exist! The house of the first incident is real! I knew it!’

*****

Meanwhile, the trio dug until their shovels hit something made out of metal, and both Joey and Dawn knew that this was the chest. They quickly dug around it until Joey and Jack could reach down and yank it out while Dawn gathered up the shovels, and once the chest was freed of the hole, they hurried back to the jeep.

While Jack and Joey loaded the chest into the backseat, Dawn tossed the shovels onto the back of the jeep, pausing when she thought she heard a muffled yelp of pain, but figured that it was her imagination, and got into the front seat instead.

Once they were all back in the jeep and buckled in, Joey started the engine and drove them out of there, not looking back once.

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 TWO: INTO THE UNKNOWN

*****

Night had fallen by the time that Joey, Dawn, and Jack arrived at the meeting place, which was an area surrounded by large rocks, with two trees, and it was where they would create the portal in order to go to Purgatory and the Museum of the Dead.

Driving through the grassy hills, Joey parked not far from the meeting place, got out and accepted the chest from Jack, and then he, the brunette, and the former time agent headed to the meeting place.

Jermaine waited a few minutes before he climbed out of the back of the jeep, rubbing his sore head, having gotten clocked by the shovels to the point that he’d nearly blacked out, and he followed the trio as quietly as possible. He wasn’t sure of where he was, but if this helped him get the proof that he needed, then he was going to follow them everywhere.

*****

In the meeting place, Nikita and Matt were already there with the Life Crystal, which she was examining with a semi-bored expression on her face, and the Crown of Oblivion, which Matt was examining with interest since this was the very crown that’d brought Joey back to life after being killed by the Sorceress over a year ago.

Matt was wearing a long black coat with the Society Against Evil symbol on the back of it, along with black pants, black shoes, a white shirt, and a brown tie. He also still had the purple streak in his hair from the charity fundraiser to raise money for cancer research at St. Jude’s Hospital.

Nikita was wearing a fashionable wig, which was styled into two long blonde pigtails and it included a black headband for extra contrast. Her short black skirt, skimpy black-and-white Society-marked top, calf-high black boots, and black fingerless gloves was giving off serious Sucker Punch vibes, and she had two teardrops tattooed underneath her right eye.

They both looked up as Joey, Dawn, and Jack arrived with the chest, which the Savant placed on the large rock that was serving as a table of sorts, and they all exchanged grins, unaware that Jermaine was hiding behind a nearby rock with a handheld recorder that was already recording.

“Got everything that we need?” Dawn asked, glancing around to see where Jael and Ryu were, but she couldn’t see them yet. ‘Probably will show up any second.’

“Yeah,” Matt replied, setting the crown down. “What took you so long?” he asked teasingly, and the brunette stuck her tongue out at him, and his grin grew bigger.

Nikita, who was still holding the Life Crystal, chose that moment to reveal something that she’d been keeping from them. “So is this a bad time to mention that I invited someone to the party?” she asked in an off-handed manner.

“Nikita, what did you-?” Joey began when a cheerful male voice rang out.

“The party’s here!” And Bretman Rock arrived in his persona as the Playboy, carrying over one shoulder a black katana. He was wearing an eye-popping yellow coat that went past his waist, a black silk blouse-and-pants combo, an overly complicated green necklace, and gold earrings. His black hair was primped to perfection, as was his impeccable eyebrows and the beautiful makeup on his face.

“Oh Lordy,” Dawn groaned, covering her face with her hand. “Nikita…”

“Who is this?” Jack asked, interested.

“Bretman Rock,” said Bretman with a flirty smile. “Here to party, and you are, sugar?”

Jack grinned. “Captain Jack Harkness.”

“Uh, not the best time to flirt, guys,” Matt pointed out, wondering why Nikita would invite someone when it was clear that wasn’t suppose to happen this time around. ‘Joey and Dawn aren’t happy campers, and Nikita is definitely in the doghouse for bringing Bretman in on this. What was she thinking?!’

Joey glared at Nikita, angry that she’d gone behind his back to invite Bretman, who clearly had no idea of what he was getting himself into. “Nikita, I told you not to invite anyone!" he snapped, his anger rising when she just shrugged. “This is gonna be a dangerous mission!”

“The only danger here is this fat ass!” Bretman declared, clearly oblivious to the tension that’d risen upon his arrival. As far as he knew, this was going to be a 40s themed party with cute boys, and why he needed to bring a katana, he hadn’t even questioned Nikita, only to make sure of where to show up for the trip to the party.

Before anything else could be said, Jael and Ryu arrived, and when they saw Bretman, the blonde warrior turned to Dawn, who was fully expecting to get chewed out for bringing an outsider to the mission, and surprised the brunette with a question instead.

“Have you imbued your friend here with the Light for his protection, Dawn?”

The brunette blinked, wrong-footed by the question since she hadn’t expected it, and shook her head. “No.”

“Then you best do it quickly,” said Jael, “there isn’t any time to waste.”

Sighing and nodding, Dawn went over to Bretman, who was starting to look confused, and took his hands, once he put the katana down, into hers. “Sorry, no time to explain, Bretman,” she said as she summoned the Light and they both glowed for a few seconds. “Ok, done.” She released his hands and turned away while shooting Nikita a look that promised of giving her a serious chew out when the mission was over and they got their friends back from the Museum of the Dead.

Ryu handed the brunette a silver chain with a crystal pendant on it. “Here, keep this on at all times while in the Museum and avoid any usage of the Light unless it’s absolutely nessecary.”

Dawn nodded and slipped the necklace around her neck while Jael pulled out a map and unfolded it, placing it on the stone, and they all gathered around.

“This is where your friends are being kept," she explained, pointing to a section of the map that was of the Museum and the surrounding area. “To enter the Museum of the Dead, we need to create a gateway to Purgatory. The Crown generates the power, the Cursed Artifact has an evil to cut through the barrier protecting it, and the Life Crystal allows entry without dying.”

"The power of the Crown won't last very long," Ryu reminded them.

Jael pointed to a spot on the map that was labeled Alpha, and traced the route with her finger.“Joey, you, Dawn, and Jack are going to be here. You take Nikita and Bretman to where your friends are. I'll take the rest through the roof.” She tapped the roof section on the map. “The museum's Collector should be avoided at all costs,” she added as a reminder and a warning.

“Avoiding The Collector is high on our ‘avoid at all cost’ list,” Joey stated and Dawn agreed.

“And what about me?” Matt asked. “I did cancel my livestream for this.” He was curious since Jael hadn’t said anything about him going with Joey and Dawn.

Jael smiled slightly. “You'll be with me. Baby steps.” And her smile widen a little when the detective rolled his eyes. “Let’s get everything set up.” She and Ryu then went to work on setting the map aside, placing candles into three circles, and while Ryu opened the chest containing the artifacts to take one out, she placed the Life Crystal in one of the circles.

Ryu placed the artifact in one of the remaining circles and the crown in the other circle. He and Jael then lit the candles before positioning themselves in front of the circles with the Life Crystal and the Crown of Oblivion.

Concentrating, the two warriors summoned their Life Magic and shot beams of the golden energy out of their mouths while their eyes glowed, earning grimaces from the group, and the energy infused itself into the four items, which all began glowing blue.

Moments later, a blue portal opened between the two trees.

“Go, b*tches!” Nikita shouted, and Joey, Dawn, Jack, and Bretman took off toward the portal with Nikita, Matt, Jael, and Ryu right behind them.

The first four disappeared into the portal and the rest were about to follow when two things happened that they hadn’t expected to happen: first a shadowy figure dash out from behind one of the large stones and dove through the portal, and then the Crown of Oblivion exploded, making the portal disappear right before their eyes.

“No!”

“The portal!”

Both Matt and Nikita stared in confusion and shock at where the portal had been mere moments ago, but it was now gone, and they turned to Jael and Ryu, who were looking equally stunned, and it became apparent that this wasn’t suppose to happen.

“What do we do now? The portal’s gone.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Jael admitted and Ryu nodded in agreement since neither of them had counted on the portal closing so soon.

With the crown gone, they now had no wayto reach Purgatory, and there was now no way for the others to get back.

What were they going to do now? And who had entered the portal before it collapsed?

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 THREE: THE MUSEUM

*****

Deep in Purgatory, the quartet ran through the other side of the portal, skidding to a stop with Bretman nearly falling over, and they turned as someone else came flying out of the portal with a yelp right before it collapsed.

Jack immediately went after the person as they got up and attempted to run away, but he tackled the person instead, resulting in a wrestling match that the former time agent won.

Bretman looked at Joey and Dawn, who were staring with worried expressions of where the portal had once been. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Joey admitted. “It was supposed to stay open.”

“It shouldn’t have closed,” Dawn agreed, feeling uneasy. “Something’s gone wrong.”

“Are you saying we're stuck here?” Bretman questioned them.

He was now wondering why he’d let Nikita talk him into coming to what was clearly nota party but something else altogether.

Before either Joey or Dawn could answer his question, Jack manhandled his captive, who was struggling and cursing in his grip, over to them.

“I caught us an uninvited guest,” he announced while keeping Jermaine from bolting. “Might have something to do with the portal closing when it did.”

“You.” Joey glared at the former blogger and reporter.

“Jermaine Whitehouse, what the hell are you doing here?” Dawn demanded angrily, also glaring at the former blogger.

Jermaine glowered at them. “I ain’t answering any questions from a couple of murderers!”

“Murder-” Bretman began and stopped, realizing something that he should’ve realized before. “Wait, does this have anything to do with those incidents I’d heard about on the news? The ones involving you two?” he asked the Savant and the actress.

“It does…in a way,” Joey admitted. “But this isn’t the place or the time to explain.”

Dawn nodded. “Joey’s right, Bretman,” she added when the playboy opened his mouth. “Right now, we need to get moving, but first.” She went to Jermaine, searched the pockets of his jacket while ignoring his protests, and found both the camera and the recorder. “Thought so.” She opened the back of the camera and ripped the film out to get rid of it, and dropped the recorder on the ground, stomping on it until it was in pieces. “There, so much for whatever fake news you were planning to spread back in the real world.”

“You can’t do it!” Jermaine protested in a futile manner since all of his evidence had just been destroyed.

“She just did,” said Jack. “Let’s go.” And he dragged the former blogger along as they headed toward the museum.

“Where are we going?” Bretman asked.

“I don’t know,” Joey admitted, wishing that they had the map. “I think it’s this way.”

*****

The group walked for a few miles until they reached the edge of the property and could see the large white building that was the museum, and they all crouched among the bushes to observe the area with Jack keeping a firm grip on Jermaine’s arm to keep him from bolting.

This turned out to be a smart move on their part, for barely a minute later, the fancy black iron doors swung open and out came The Collector, a green-skinned woman with snakes for hair and some kind of gold outfit that was barelycovering her, who they suspected had to be a Gorgon of some kind, and a group of Egyptian guards.

“That’s The Collector,” Joey whispered, recognizing her from the brief encounter in The Dreaming.

“Whose The Collector?” Bretman asked, feeling veryconfused and out of his depth.

“Resident bad guy,” Dawn whispered to the beauty guru. “Basically, we’ve got to keep from being found by her and stabbed by that spear.”

“Oh,” said the playboy, who was still confused, but he could work with that. “Ok, bad woman with nasty spear, check.”

Having exited the museum, The Collector and the Gorgon turned to face the guards as they lined up with their captain in front.

“We are leaving on an expedition to find pieces for my new exhibit," the Collector announced. "Keep careful watch.”

The captain removed his helmet and kneeled down while the Gorgon produced a chain with a key on it, and put it around the captain’s neck. He then stood back up and put his helmet back on.

The Collector turned away, the ruby in her headdress glowing and she trust her hand forward as it also glowed, and she opened a red version of the portal that the group had used, and both she and the Gorgon went through it as a familiar-looking archway briefly appeared before the portal closed behind them.

Once they were gone, the guards then dispersed to make their rounds of the museum.

“Let’s go,” Joey whispered and they got up, hurrying toward the museum as quietly as possible, and making sure to keep an eye out for the guards, not wanting to be caught.

“What was that green snake-haired person?” Bretman whispered as they moved along the wall of the building rather then going through the front door.

“A Gorgon,” Dawn whispered back. “Probably one of the sisters of Medusa from Greek mythology.”

“Ah, well she need some serious fashion help since that outfit was a major no-no,” remarked the playboy and his friends quietly snickered.

“You’re all nuts,” Jermaine hissed when they stopped to take two torches off the wall to guide their way, one being carried by Joey while Jack had the other torch. “You’ve drugged me somehow and this is some insane dream.”

Joey and Dawn ignored him, determined to find their friends and get them to someplace safer until Matt, Nikita, Jael, and Ryu could find a way to get them out of Purgatory and back into the real world, where things could be somewhat more normal until it came time to fulfill the prophecy once and for all.

They knew that their friends were somewhere on the museum grounds for, based on what Liza had been able to tell them, the exhibit that they were being held in was outdoors, and that probably meant a courtyard of some kind that would have display cases holding at least someof their friends.

Of course that also meant they would probably have to go elsewhere in the museum to find the rest of their friends, and do it all before The Collector came back from her trip.

Easy, right?

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 FOUR: YOUTUBERS ARE ALIVE!

*****

After walking for a bit, Joey spotted an archway covered with vines and he pushed them aside so that they could step through, and found themselves in a large courtyard, eyes wide at what was right in front of them.

“What is this?” Bretman asked, more confused than ever.

In the middle of the courtyard were ten tall glass cases set up in a circle around a glowing stump that had vines running from it, and into the bases of the cases that also had glowing orbs in each of them. Each YouTuber was frozen in a different pose, and each of them were dressed in outfits that they had definitelyhad not died in originally.

“Omigosh,” Joey whispered as they got closer, entering the circle. “They’re really here.”

“We found them,” Dawn whispered, knowing that this wasn’t all of their friends, but it was a step in the right direction.

“Joey, Dawn,” Bretman whispered, feeling uneasy since he realized that these figures looked like some of the YouTubers that’d died over two years ago for some and just nine months ago for three of them. “I’m scared.”

Jack put down the torch and patted the playboy on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine, this is what we were looking for,” he said reassuringly. ‘And since they’re here, that means my friend is here somewhere, too.’

Moving around the circle, they found that the outfits weren’t the only things different about their friends, they had clearly been given new personas, and the orbs were showing on an endless loop of their final moments before dying.

The first case held Justine Ezarik, who was now being referred to as the Adventurer and had a smirk on her face, with her long blonde hair parted to the side, and she was wearing a white blouse that was decorated by a little green ribbon on the collar, a snazzy grey jacket covered it, and she also had on black pants and knee-high black boots.

The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of when she was being buried alive back at the 1920s house, with Joey and Dawn being held back and unable to stop it.

The second case held Timothy DeLaGhetto, who was now known as the Con Man. He was wearing glasses, a brown jacket with almost-invisible little white lines on it, a pale blue shirt, beige pants, brown shoes, and a gaudy red kerchief covered with yellow symbols. The orb in front of him was showing the final moments when he shot himself in the head in order to save Eva’s life.

The third case held Benny Smith, who was now known as the Marine. He was wearing a khaki long-sleeve button-up shirt, khaki tie with tie clasp, green pants with kaki web belt and gun, a green coat with a few marksmanship badges, and black shoes. The orb in front of him was showing the final moments when he was electrocuted by the electric chair, and Dawn hadn’t been able to save him.

The fourth case held DeStorm Power, who was now known as the Enforcer. He was wearing a hat, only it was a brown cap instead. He was also wearing a dark blue coat, a white shirt, a red tie, brown pants, black shoes, and a pair of black gloves that exposed his knuckles. The orb in front of him was showing the final moments when he was executed by the Dark Army and fell backwards into the pool.

The fifth case held Tana Mongeau, who was now known as the Pin-up Girl. Her platinum blonde hair was covered by a rose-pink cowboy hat, alow-cut pink top, a pink half-jacket-half-sash, with an extra pair of pink sleeves, a short pink skirt with white fringe, pink cowboy boots, and a black belt that was held together by a giant golden clasp. The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of when the ice guardian sliced her across the stomach to kill her because of being betrayed that fateful night at the Victorian mansion.

The sixth case held Gabbie Hanna, who was now known as the Hollywood Star and was vastly different. Her hair was short and golden, saved for the dark brown roots, and she was shining in a dazzling pink evening gown that was accentuated by diamonds and feathers, along with an intricate diamond necklace and many gold earrings. The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of when one of the Promethean Men plunged his fist into her chest, ripping out her still-beating heart in order to give the Automaton Bride to life at the Victorian mansion.

The seventh case held Alex Wassabi, who was now known as the Aviator. He was wearing a dark brown aviator jacket, a pair of aviator goggles, awhite button-down shirt, khaki pants, black knee-high boots, and a white kerchief tied around his neck. The orb in front of him was showing the final moments of when he was thrown to the ground in the Dark Dimension, and stabbed to death by the Guardian.

The eighth case held Colleen Ballinger, who was now known as the Duchess and had a stern expression on her face with one finger posed to lecture while her other hand was on her hip. She was wearing a red dress with a pink ribbon on the collar, a long blue coat, and sparkling heels. A light yellow hat with a bow around its brim rested on top of her head, and it was providing a decent contrast to her artfully arranged dark hair.

The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of when she was being forced into the Maiden of Madness during the mission in Everlock nine months ago by those she had considered friends, only to be betrayed by them, and Dawn trying and failing to save her from that cruel fate.

The ninth case held Esther Bourne, who was now known as the Lounge Singer. Her long blonde hair was curled, she had on a sleeveless white satin gown with a white feather boa, diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, and glittery white heels. The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of her drinking poisoned tea and dying in the tea room at the hotel in Everlock.

The tenth and final case held Rosanna ‘Ro’ Pansino, who was now known as the Socialite and she was smiling and was looking ready to speak. She was clothed in a neat little navy blue dress with white buttons and white polka dots. Her fluffy white mink coat, her pearl necklaces, her white gloves, her heels, and her tiny-yet-proper hat completed her new appearance.

The orb in front of her was showing the final moments of her being laid down on a fur-covered altar and she was being sacrificed by the witches as they plunged their daggers into her chest.

Stunned by the sight, Jack let go of Jermaine’s arm and began scanning with his Vortex manipulator while the ex-blogger wandered around the glass cases with a shocked expression on his face since he thought these people were dead, and yet here they were rightin front of him…well, some of them.

Dawn went to the case that Benny was in, staring at his motionless form saluting, and she gently placed her hands on the glass, resting her forehead on the cold surface as well. “Benny,” she whispered, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’m gonna get you out of here this time, I promise.” ‘I’m going to save him, and no one is going to stop me.’

“Colleen.” Joey went to the case that Colleen was in, stopping in his tracks when he saw her death scene being played out in an endless loop, and he felt his heart breaking all over again. “Colleen,” he whispered, staring at her. “I’m sorry.”

Bretman was checking out the exhibits like a tourist on a tour and stopped next to the case holding Alex, and he was clearly interested in the young Asian man. ‘This isn’t the party I was expecting,’ he thought, searching the case for a means to open it, ‘but this boy is cute, and Nikita did promise me that there would be cute boys.’

“Ok, can someone explain to me why there are dead YouTubers in these cases when they should be buried six feet under the ground?” Jermaine demanded, breaking the silence.

“They’re not dead, Jermaine,” Dawn snapped, turning to face him with a hard expression on her face. “At least, not for much longer.”

Jack examined the results from the scans. “They’re alive all right,” he reported, looking around again. “It looks like they’re in some kind of stasis and seemed to be living different lives without being aware of what’s going on around them.”

“Is there any way we can get them out?” Bretman inquired, he had a hand on the case containing Alex, having failed to find a way to open it.

“This looks to be the power source that’s keeping them inside the cases,” said the former time agent, pointing to the glowing stump.

Dawn walked around the stump, examining the vines, and looked at the cases, seeing where the vines were ending. “It looks like these vines are connecting the power source to the display cases,” she remarked. “Maybe if we can somehow break the connection, we can free our friends. But how?”

Joey looked around, feeling that the brunette was right, and noticed a large axe that was resting on a small table. Getting an idea, he went over to the table, set the torch down and picked up the axe, which was on the heavy side, and turned to face the power source.

“Uh, what are you planning on doing with that axe?” Jermaine asked uneasily.

“What’s that?” Bretman asked, wondering what his friend was up to.

Joey hoped that the axe would work. “I’m gonna try something, ok?”

Dawn looked between the axe and the power source. “Uh, Joey, why not use the axe on the vines instead of the stump?” she suggested.

“I’m with Dawn,” Jack agreed. “The readings coming from that power source indicated that it’s powerful, and breaking it could result in a serious explosion.”

Joey, however, was wanting his friends freed, and he chose not to listen to them. He raised the axe and, with a scream, swung it down on the stump, splitting it in two, and the magical power source exploded, sending magical shockwaves throughout the museum while Dawn, Bretman, Jermaine, and Jack all duck with startled expressions. And all around the courtyard, the glass cases shattered one-by-one.

Justine was the first to be freed, and she immediately duck to avoid the flying glass while looking around in confusion. Tim was next, and he jumped before looking at his outfit in confusion, wondering what the heck he was wearing.

Benny was freed and he immediately dropped into a crouch, reaching for the gun on his hip before registering where he was with a surprised and confused expression.

When DeStorm was freed, he put up an arm to shield his face from the flying glass, and was confused by where he was. The glass shattered and Tana screamed, almost as if she’d just woken up from a nightmare. Gabbie also screamed, but she also duck to avoid the broken glass at the same time, and Alex was surprised when he was freed from the glass case.

Colleen gasped and looked around in confusion when she was freed, Esther dropped and covered her head with her boa, honestly startled, and Ro blinked in confusion, looking around with a perplex expression of where she was and what she was wearing.

The YouTubers were alive!

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 FIVE: TENSE REUNION

*****

In a different part of the museum, a glass case in a room that looked to be some kind of study, held a tall figure with long blonde hair that was partly hanging down, a black dress with a very deep V cut, knee-high black boots, and black eyeliner that encircled her dark eyes that were staring blankly outward.

The wave of yellow magically energy shot through the room, colliding with the glass case – it shattered and the figure inside collapsed to the floor, gasping as she rediscovered breathing. She slowly got to her feet, breathing hard as she straightened and looked around before pushing aside her dress to reveal one leg and saw that she still had a certain knife strapped to it.

‘Those fools didn’t take my knife and that was their mistake,’ she thought smugly and went to the window to see what was going on to cause her release from the case that she’d been imprisoned in for over a year and a total of nine months.

Looking out the window, she saw a group of people down in a courtyard, and she recognized many of them, two in particular, and she smiled evilly, a plan forming in her mind. ‘Ah yes, they will be mosthelpful once again,’ she thought, turning away from the window and headed for the door, pausing to pick up a certain item from the desk, leaving the room to set her plan in motion.

*****

Meanwhile down in the courtyard, the freed YouTubers were still standing where the glass cases had been, trying to process where they were, how they got there, and why they were dressed so differently.

“Omigod,” Joey said with an amazed smile on his face while dropping the axe. “It worked!”

Benny blinked and grinned. “Joey, Donny, you’re here!” He hurried forward and hugged the Savant, who gladly returned the hug, and then he turned to the actress, hugging her. “You found us!” He then surprised her by planting a kiss on her lips that left the brunette dazed.

“Wow, just got kinky,” Tim remarked.

The others weren’t sure whether to laugh or not by the sight of Dawn getting snogged in front of them like that.

Dawn blinked a few times, trying to process what just happened, not having expected Benny to kiss her like that. “Uh…fireworks?”

This actually got everyone either laughing or at least snickering, making the brunette go power ranger red.

Although Colleen found the sight of the actress getting kissed and blushing amusing, she wasn’t really happy to see Joey after the events of Everlock. “Ok, why are you here, Joey? And where the heck are we?” she demanded, returning everyone to the present situation. “And why are Bretman, that annoying blogger, and John Barrowman here as well?”

Before Joey could react, hurt by how Colleen was acting, Dawn spoke up, having recovered, and hoped to defuse the situation.

“Colleen, I get that you’re pissed at Joey, and you have every right to be after what happened in Everlock nine months ago,” said the actress and the Duchess nodded in agreement to this. “And to be honest, you all have every right to be angry at Joey and myself, but we are here to get you all out of here. Now, this isn’t easy to explain, but this isn’t John Barrowman,” she added, gesturing to Jack. “This is actually the real Captain Jack Harkness from a parallel Earth, Bretman got invited by Nikita, and as for Jermaine, he’s a stowaway.”

“Nikita told me that there would be cute boys,” Bretman informed the group, feeling even more confused then before. “I really don’t know what’s going on around here, I really don’t.”

“And I’m here to prove that Joey and Dawn are murderers,” said Jermaine with a smug expression, “and the way you’re all acting is proving me right.”

Dawn took a deep breath and turned to face the ex-blogger, but was surprised when DeStorm suddenly grabbed him by the front of his jacket. “Listen, Jermaine- huh?”

“All right, bud, here’s the lowdown,” said DeStorm, pinning him to the nearest wall. “Yeah, Dawn and Joey had had a hand in our deaths in some way, but they aren’t murderers in the normal sense of the word, and we all know how much of a bully you’ve been to them.”

Jermaine cringed, not easy to do when being pinned against a wall by an angry black man who’d been brought back from the dead mere seconds ago. “What? How?”

“It doesn’t matter how,” said Esther, adjusting her boa and she turned to Colleen. “Colleen, I’m sorry about shoving you into that iron maiden back in Everlock, but we’re alive now, and I think getting out of this museum is more important then holding a grudge.”

Colleen snorted, but she did know that Esther was right. “Fine, and I accept your apology, Esther, but I’m still angry at you,” she stated before returning to the matter at hand. “DeStorm, let him go…for now.”

DeStorm nodded and released Jermaine, who made to run, but got grabbed by Benny. “Ok, so how did we end up here anyway? Last thing I remember was being in the safe area with everyone else. So, why are we the only ones’ here?” he inquired.

“That’s what I remember, too,” Tana agreed while adjusting her cowgirl hat. “Did that Collector woman grab us? ‘cause I don’t remember wearing this outfit.”

“The Collector did grab you all and brought you here,” Joey confirmed. “We don’t know where everyone else is, but Liza somehow was able to tell us where you were the last time we were able to make contact.”

“And I’m here to both help with the mission to get you all out of here,” said Jack, taking over on keeping the ex-blogger from running off, “and to rescue a friend of my who was also taken by The Collector from my Earth. Also, on my Earth, everything from the TV series Doctor Who is real.”

Tim frowned. “Wait, so is the friend that was taken, is that the Doctor?”

“No, his friend is the character I play on the show,” Dawn explained. “And right now, there isn’t really a way to get out of here, but I’m sure that Nikita and Matt are going to find a way to get the portal open, and right now, we really need to find a place to hide should The Collector return before that can happen.”

“Wait, so The Collector isn’t here right now?” Gabbie asked and the brunette nodded. “Wow, and since when do you wear glasses, Dawn? Are those a prop?”

The actress rolled her eyes. “No, they’re real, Gabbie,” she retorted, “and I’ve actually been wearing glasses since I was 13 years old, I normally wear contact lens, but decided to go for my glasses for a change of pace.”

“Guys, The Collector left a short time ago,” Joey informed them, “but she could come back at any time, and Donny’s right, we need to find someplace to hide until we can all leave. That and find the rest of our missing friends.”

“I’m all for leaving this courtyard,” Ro agreed, eager to go. “Let’s go.”

Colleen wasn’t entirely convinced, but even she didn’t want to run the risk of crossing paths with The Collector after all the stories she’d been told by Shane, Curtis, Esther, and Calliope while in the safe area before ended up at the museum with hazy memories of being married and having a baby boy, and it kinda made sense, given that she’d been pregnant at the time that she’d died. “All right, let’s go.”

The group headed for the archway to leave the courtyard – when the Egyptian captain suddenly stepped into view, blocking their way, and the other Egyptian guards also appeared with their glowing eyes, moving with the intention of surrounding and trapping the group.

They were trapped!

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 SIX: UNEXPECTED REUNIONS

*****

The group backed away as the Egyptian guards moved in, blocking their access to the archway, and none of them were wanting to be captured right away or anything like that. While most of the group was freaking out, Bretman had an entirely different reaction to the sight of the guards.

“They’re so cute!”

“Bretman, now isn’t the time to flirt,” said Jack, and he knew that it was ironic of him to say something like that, but even he knew that it wasn’t good to flirt with possible bad guys. “These guys work for The Collector, and they’re not here to play.”

One of the guards moved toward Alex, who backed up a bit with his hands raised slightly. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! Whoa!” He then suddenly surprised himself, and everyone else for that matter, by punching the guard, knocking him down, and tackled him by punching him repeatedly.

The other guards sprang forward and the group screamed and scattered, with Colleen, Esther, and Ro being the first to be caught due to them tripping over the vines, while Alex got grabbed from behind, his arms pinned, and even Justine got grabbed when she also tripped after being chased around the stump by one of the guards.

Tim managed to get Gabbie and Tana out a different way, with Bretman not far behind, and when one of the guards tried to grab DeStorm, Benny, and Joey, Dawn surprised them all by doing a flying sidekick that knocked one of the guards down, and then she ended up getting bear hugged from behind by one of the guards.

“Run!” she screamed as she struggled in the grip of the guard. “Get out of here! Go!”

Joey didn’t want to leave Dawn behind, but he knew that she was right, and so he ran out of there with DeStorm and Benny, followed by Jack and Jermaine, and they managed to find safety on a walkway, where they stopped to catch their breaths and take stock of the situation.

“They all got captured,” said Joey, frustrated that this was happening.

Tim wasn’t too worry about Alex getting grabbed after that stunt, but having most of the girls, especially the brunette, getting taken wasn’t good at all. “Question,” he said to the Savant. “Why didn’t Dawn just use the Light on those guards?”

“That’s a long story that I rather not get into right now, Tim,” Joey replied. “Plus I rather wait until we get our friends back so Dawn only has to share it once.”

“That’s a good idea,” Benny agreed. “All right, how do we save our friends?”

“Let’s go inside for now,” Joey said. “There are still some things we need to explain to you guys, and right now, regrouping is our best option.”

Agreeing that it was a good idea, they headed for the entrance to the museum to find a room to regroup and figure out how to rescue their captured friends…among other things.

*****

The group entered the museum, finding a bunch of different exhibits on display: dinosaur skeletons, suits of armor, religious symbols, dead animals, and various other knickknacks from the past. Walking through the main room, they headed down a hallway with Gabbie wondering why The Collector had put them there in the first place.

They were entering a lounge when an unexpected and familiar-looking person suddenly came around the corner, and they all yelped, backing away from the sight of the Sorceress, who was smiling evilly with one hand behind her back.

“Look what the cat dragged in!” the Sorceress crowed, amused by the terrified expressions on Joey’s face.

“Oh hell no!”

“It’s her!”

“How-?!”

“Last time we met, we killed each other!" the Sorceress continued, pulling her knife from behind her back and advanced toward the group. "Shall we do it again?”

Jack and Benny, however, sprang in front of the group, aiming their guns at the Sorceress, who stopped and was clearly taken aback by this display. “Drop the knife, lady.”

“You aren’t going to kill Joey again,” Benny added, cocking the gun to get his point across.

“‘Again’?” Bretman and Jermaine repeated at the same time, not sure of what to make of this.

The Sorceress smirked, clearly assuming that she would be able to easily get past the two men blocking her way. “Do you really think those guns can work here?”

“Your knife can work, then I wager these guns will work as well,” Benny retorted. “Wanna take the risk and end up dying again?”

“You have spunk, and I bet the Light-bearer is into that,” the Sorceress sneered, and sprang forward to attack, but had to dodge instead when Jack and Benny fired at her, and she was soon being tackled and handcuffed by the former time agent, her knife falling to the floor, where it was quickly snatched up by Benny. “Let me go!”

“Not today, missy,” said Jack, making sure that the handcuffs were secured. “Normally I’d find this kind of thing kinky, but I make an exception to women like you who don’t care who they hurt or kill. Learned that one the hard way.” He also removed the sheath from her leg, tossing it to the marine. “Here.”

Benny caught the sheath and put the knife back in it. “There, that should do it.”

*****

Meanwhile the guards were force-marching Colleen, Justine, Esther, Ro, Dawn, and Alex toward a giant cage that had a fire pit in the middle, and Colleen wasn’t sure, but she thought that there was already someone else in there already.

“This is not the afterlife that I had envisioned!” Ro exclaimed as the cage was opened and they were all shoved inside one-by-one, and as far as her friends were concerned, that pretty much summed it up the best.

Of course the second that the cage door was locked, they all were wishing that they’d been locked up somewhere else altogether the second they saw what was inside the cage with them: the place was disgusting! There was blood and bones everywhere, and there was even a dead, skinless man on the ground with his back to the fire pit.

“Guys, we’ve got company,” Alex said, pointing to a male figure, who had his back to them, but he was wearing a familiar-looking orange jacket.

Hearing Alex’s voice, the man turned around and Colleen, Ro, Dawn, and Esther all gasped, for this man was Mortimer, and he was looking equally surprised to see them.

“Holy crap,” said Mortimer, staring at them. “Is this real?”

“Mortimer!” Ro squealed, excited to see him, especially since she knew that he’d been taken by the same guards when it had been planned to bring him into the safe area once he’d been freed of the corruption. “You’re here!”

‘Dawn isn’t thrilled to see him, and Joey isn’t going to be too happy to see him,’ Esther thought, for she knew that they had no idea that Mortimer had been freed of the darkness that the Carnival Master had placed inside him before his death.

Dawn was stunned to see Mortimer, especially since the last time she saw him, he’d betrayed everyone by freeing the Carnival Master. “How-?”

“Colleen,” said Mortimer and immediately hugged her tightly, for the last time he’d seen her, she’d been shoved inside the Maiden of Madness by most of the group. “Omigosh…omigosh…”

‘Colleen’s alive!’ he thought happily. ‘I don’t know how or why, but manam I glad to see her, along with Ro and Esther! Even Dawn’s here…oh crap…she doesn’t look happy to see me. But now I have a chance to explain…providing that I canexplain and that she’ll let me explain.’

He didn’t know why they were there, but seeing them all gave him some very much needed hope at that exactmoment.

And that was really needed while being trapped in the museum.

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.

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 EIGHT: TRICKED!

*****

The group entered the lounge and looked around, taking in what was in there and Joey gasped, pointing to a large portrait on the wall of a very familiar-looking woman.

“Wait, that’s her! That’s The Collector!”

And sure enough, the woman in the portrait wasThe Collector, who was posed and holding in one hand a nasty-looking spear while she was using her other hand to summon some kind of green mist from a jar of some kind.

“Damn, she’s fine,” Tim commented, and even DeStorm had to agree, but he didn’t go any further with that train of thought, knowing that this was the very woman who’d snatched them all from the safe zone nine months ago, and couldn’t be trusted to let them all go, even if she was asked politely by them.

“That pretentious b*tch,” the Sorceress scoffed.

“Girl,” Joey said, giving her a scandalizing look, “you had the same exact thing at your mansion!”

“Right?” The Sorceress chuckled smugly. “Isn’t she a copycat?”

While Joey rolled his eyes and turned away, Bretman decided to get on the Sorceress’ good side, although he wasn’t sure if she did have a good side, but he was going to give it a shot. “She wanna be you so bad,” he commented and got a small smile from the evil woman.

Successful with that, he looked around the room and noticed in one of the corners was a tall clock that looked to be shaped like either a demon or a gargoyle, with a white clock-face, and he noted that there was a space under the clock with a small gear symbol that resembled the gears on the trinket that Joey was holding.

“There's a gear right here that looks like…it was on there,” he announced, pointing out the gear in question to the rest of the group, and they came over to see.

“Oh, what is the hell is that?” DeStorm wondered, uneasy by the look of the clock.

“It’s a clock, duh,” said Jermaine with a roll of his eyes at having to state the obvious.

Joey ignored the ex-blogger and examined the clock, finding that Bretman was right.

“He’s right,” he agreed. “That doeslook like it goes there.” He placed the piece into the slot – and the clock face fell off, startling them all, and it smashed into pieces on the floor, revealing a piece of paper.

“Oh, you broke it!” Tim gasped.

Joey carefully moved aside the glass shards and picked up the paper, which had writing on it, plus a tiny photo of an Egyptian Pharaoh, and he read it to the group. “‘When the Armageddon Clock strikes the morning hour, all those outside their exhibit are burned to ash and sent to a final death in Hell’.”

A sudden chill went down the spines of the group, and Joey felt sick, for it was looking like his and Dawn’s rescue mission was turning into another survival mission instead.

“That's the museum's self-defense system,” the Sorceress told them, privately pleased that she’d been able to play Joey once again.

Joey whirled and glared at the evil woman, his hands balling into fists, his temper snapping. “You tricked me!” he snarled, stalking toward the woman, who didn’t seem to care. “You played me!” And he slugged the Sorceress across the face with a right hook, knocking her to the floor.

Jack and Benny both immediately grabbed the Savant to keep him from going after the Sorceress a second time, not that they really blamed him, and pulled him away.

The Sorceress got up and dusted off her dress, not looking upset about getting punched by the Savant, and she went to the nearest window to peer outside. Moving the curtain aside, she saw that one of the Egyptian guards was walking around, clearly searching, and she turned back to the group.

“The guards obey whoever is Pharaoh," she informed them, pointing to the Pharaoh symbol on the note. "That symbol is his sign. I've seen it. Come with me.” And she headed out of the room, with the group reluctantly following her.

*****

Once in the hallway, Joey stopped them, having gotten an idea. “There's no time to mess around,” he declared. “Bretman, Gabbie, Benny, Jack, come with me. We need to rescue our friends. The rest of you can go with the Sorceress to find out more about this museum.”

“Why do I have to stay in here?” Jermaine demanded, scowling. “I’m not one of you jerks.”

DeStorm grabbed him by the front of the ex-blogger’s jacket. “You are now,” he said sternly. “And the only jerk I see is you, pal. Now move.” And he pushed him down the hallway, following the Sorceress with Tim and Tana while Joey’s group headed back outside.

*****

Entering a room, Tim made a joke as they turned the corner. “You gotta come around the corner like this.” And he pretended to punch a nonexistent monster.

Both DeStorm and Tana chuckled while Jermaine rolled his eyes, and the Sorceress ignored them, stopping in the middle of the room and gestured around at the various Egyptian items.

“So this is where I saw the symbol.”

Tana noticed a tapestry on one of the walls and examined it, finding a door behind it, which was locked. ‘Darn, could’ve been a way to get out of here,’ she thought, disappointed and looked at the tapestry instead, finding that it was covering with all kinds of Egyptian symbols and what she thought could be a God of some kind.

“Here's the sign right here,” said DeStorm, finding a sign next to the tapestry. “What does it say?”

“Where?” Tim asked, having not been paying attention.

DeStorm ignored him and read the sign. “‘I was Pharaoh and ruled with wisdom before I was betrayed by those closest to me’.” He stopped reading and nodded, knowing what that felt like. “I was betrayed by those closest to me as well.” He then resumed reading, missing the eye-roll from Tana. “‘In death, they've stolen my Ruler's Rod and separated me from the gods’. What the hell is the Ruler's Rod?”

“Is that a hint?" Tim wondered. "Is that a clue?”

“This is stupid,” Jermaine complained.

‘We’re so screwed,’ Tana thought, shaking her head and wishing she was with the other group. ‘At thisrate, we’re all going to die.’ She looked around, hoping to find a clue, especially since she hadn’t done that well at the Victorian mansion. ‘I’m going to do better this time, and I’m going to prove that I deserve to live.’

Yeah, there was no waythat Tana was going to be the weakest person there, and she wouldprovethat she was useful.

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 NINE: CLUES AND HIDING PART ONE

*****

Going back outside, the group hid themselves behind a hieroglyphics display to avoid being found and caught by the guards that were searching the area, and once the guards had moved on, then they were able to come out of hiding.

“Where are we going?” Gabbie wondered, keeping her voice soft to kept from being overheard by the guards.

“Wait,” said Joey, pointing to what had to be the biggest cage he’d ever seen in his life, and inside were their captured friends. “That’s them.”

“Should we go?” Gabbie inquired.

“Definitely,” said Benny, not wanting to leave their friends locked up. “Let’s go.” And hurried toward the cage with his friends following.

*****

Meanwhile in the cage, the group was looking for numbers or clues that would help them with the combination lock, for they were hoping that there was something in the box that would be able to help them get out of the cage and regroup with their friends, and as they searched around the ground, brushing away leaves with their feet, they started finding numbers and shapes.

“There's a number!" Rosanna exclaimed, finding a little gold square with the number 2 written in it. "There's a number! Alex! Alex! Esther! Justine! Dawn!”

“Oh, six,” said Alex, finding a small gold circle with a 6 in the center. “Here’s six.”

“Oh, and here’s another one,” said Colleen, also finding a number.

“And there’s more numbers over here,” Esther announced, realizing that there were more numbers then they really needed. “But which numbers will go into the lock?”

Justine was wondering the same thing since the combination needed three numbers. “Maybe there’s other clues hidden by the human remains?” she suggested and started searching the skulls with Ro and Alex.

Colleen also helped check the skulls, finding a white stone object that resembled an egg, which she pocketed on the off chance that it would be useful later, and then she, Dawn, and Esther knocked over the body by the fire pit after talking each other into going near it, finding something wrapped underneath it.

The Duchess gingerly picked up the gross bundle and unwrapped it, finding that there was a small book inside. “You guys, there's a journal in here,” she said, opening it just as their friends arrived at the cage door, and admittedly, she wasn’t too happy to see Joey at that particular moment. “Oh, it’s you guys.”

“Joey.” Alex moved to the cage door, happy to see him. “Good to see you. Did you know that punching someone in the face can hurt your hand?” he asked, for his hand was sore from punching that guard earlier and he was sure that his knuckles were starting to bruise.

Joey was about to respond when his eyes widened behind his glasses when he saw Mortimer. “Wait, is that Mortimer? What’s he doing here?”

Colleen, who’d been fully intending on ignoring Joey, glanced up and sighed, realizing that he was probably not going to trust Mortimer after the whole betrayal business in Everlock that’d lead to the release of the Carnival Master, and so she went to the cage door, where she could see that Bretman, Benny, Jack, and Gabbie, who was clearly trying not to gag at the sight of the blood and gore, were also there.

“Joey,” she said and he looked at her. “Now I expect that you aren’t wanting to trust Mortimer, for I know what happened after I died at your hands” she paused for a moment as Joey winced with obvious guilt in his eyes “and with that being said, Mortimer isn’t corrupted anymore. Apparently there are these beings known as teachers or something, and they taught Mortimer these lessons or something, and he’s a good guy again.”

“You sure about that?” Joey asked, not sure if he could trust Mortimer after what happened in Everlock with the Carnival Master, and when she nodded. “Ok, so what do you have there?”

Colleen glanced at the book and opened it, finding writing. “Well, it looks like a journal with writing in it…maybe it’s something useful.”

“Ok,” said Joey, still uneasy to see Mortimer so soon after crossing paths with the Sorceress. “You guys solve that. We're gonna try and find a way to get out of here for you.”

The Duchess nodded, not really sure if she could believe Joey, but if it kept him out of her hair for a while, she was all for it. “Thanks, you go and do that.”

Mortimer watched them go, and he had a feeling that Joey hadn’t been too happy to see him because of what happened with the Carnival Master. ‘He probably won’t trust me like before,’ he thought, ‘but I’m here to help and redeem myself, just like them. Dawn is willing to give me a chance, I hope Joey will give me the same chance.’

*****

Leaving the cage, Joey’s team returned to the porch to search for something that could help them get the cage open to free their friends.

“How do we get them out of there?" Joey wondered.

"I don't know,” Gabbie admitted, nervously touched her two-toned hair, and was wishing that her new heart wasn't so damn loud. "Should we...?"

“Wait.” Benny noticed something that hadn’t been there before. "What's this?" He hurried over to a painting of some Egyptian god or other, which has five random holes next to it, and his friends quickly followed him.

Reaching the display, Bretman read the note that was underneath the picture. “‘With my five eyes, I can see all things and keep the Pharaoh safe’.”

“The Pharaoh was the person on the card, right?” Gabbie asked, referring to the card from earlier.

Benny nodded. “Yeah, that’s who was on the card.”

“What does the rest of the note say, Bretman?” Jack asked, getting them back on track.

“‘But they've been plucked out by his betrayers and can no longer protect him’,” Bretman finished reading, wondering who was missing five eyes, and why it was his responsibility to find them.

“So we need to find the five eyes,” said Joey, examining where the eyes were suppose to go. “Maybe they found eyes in theirs.”

Gabbie was about to suggest that they go back to ask, when one of the guards suddenly entered the area, and they all retreated, finding a place to hide behind the wall.

“My goodness, Joey,” Bretman complained quietly as they hid from the guard roaming around, “what did you and Dawn drag me into?” ‘Actually, this is all Nikita’s fault,’ he mentally corrected himself. ‘Come on this mission with us, she said. It will be fun, she said. There will be cute boys, she said!’

“A mission that’s going south on us more ways then one,” Joey muttered. “Sorry you got tricked into this, Bretman.”

“This isn’t on you, sis,” said the Playboy, “but when I next see Nikita, she’s goin’ to get an earful.”

Once the guard was out of sight, they came out of hiding to start looking for the eyes that were needed for the puzzle.

“Ok, where would they hide the eyes?” Benny wondered.

Joey went around the fountain and saw something in the water that looked egg-shaped, which he snatched up. “I think I found one!”

“Joey, put that one where it belongs and I’ll see if the others found one of those egg-shaped stones,” said Benny, hurrying back toward the cage.

Joey, Jack, Bretman, and Gabbie went back to the display to place the eye where it belonged.

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 TEN: CLUES AND HIDING PART TWO

*****

Meanwhile in the cage, Colleen began reading what was in the journal. “‘The Collector of the Dead once ruled a kingdom among the living. But she wanted to break the circle of life and gain immortality. She discovered the secret of eternal life with the Cosmic-’” she paused and squinted, trying to read the next word, which wasn’t easy since there was dirt and dried blood on the page. “Fear? Sorry. It's real dirty. There's lots of blood.”

“It’s a little dirty,” Justine agreed, peering over her friend’s shoulder. “This has been around.”

“And a little bloody,” the Duchess agreed. “Can someone get that dirt off?” And she sighed when Ro tried to scrub the dirt off with her finger, but it wasn’t working too well. “Oh, we're making it worse, we're making it worse.”

It took a few tries, but eventually the dirt was removed and Colleen resumed reading. “‘She discovered the secret of eternal life with the Cosmic Sphere’. Ok, it’s sphere, that makes more sense.”

Benny came up to the cage door. “Guys, Joey found an egg thingy that we need for a puzzle,” he informed them. “And I’m wondering if you found anything egg-shaped. Did you?”

Colleen blinked and remembered what she’d found, pulling out the white stone. “We did find one of those.”

“Great, can I have it please?” the Marine requested.

The Duchess looked at the white stone and then handed to Dawn, for she knew that she could trust the brunette despite everything that happened in Everlock, for she hadn’t forgotten of how Dawn had tried her hardest to keep her from dying. “You can give this to your boyfriend, Donny.”

The brunette flushed while her friends all snickered, even Benny flushed a bit. “Shut up.” And she turned to him while their friends kept snickering. “Here, is it for a clue or something?”

The Marine nodded, accepting the stone. “Yes, and it might help us figure out how to get you all out of this cage,” he confirmed. “And there’s something else. The Sorceress is here.”

Dawn stiffened. “You’re joking, she’s here?”

“Why is she even in the museum?” Alex asked at the same time, not thrilled to hear that the evil woman from the Victorian mansion was lurking around.

“Apparently, she’s one of The Collector’s exhibits that got lose after Joey destroyed that power source to free us all,” Benny explained. “Point is, Jack has put a special brace on her that’ll zap her if she tries to go after any of us, and for the time being, we’re all on the same side.”

The brunette groaned, running a hand over her face. “This is bad, the Sorceress can’t be trusted, even if Jack has her on a tech-based leash.”

The Marine reached through the bars and took her hand into his. “I get it, sweetie, I do, and I’m not going to let her do anything to you or anyone else in our group,” he promised.

Dawn sighed. “Ok.”

Benny smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before holding up the egg-shaped stone. “Once we got all five of these, we should have a key or something to get you all out. Be back soon.” And he left.

Mortimer, who’d been watching the exchange, looked questioningly at the brunette. “Is this the same Sorceress who was responsible for killing Joey? The one you both talked about back in Everlock?”

Dawn sighed and nodded. “Yeah, and now I’m worried that Arthur, the fake butler, is somewhere in the museum, too.”

Justine made a face. “Oh, I hope not.” And she looked back at the chest. “We better figure out the combination on this and quick.”

“Agreed.”

*****

Joey was putting the egg into its’ slot when Benny returned with the second one. “Ok, we got two of the five eggs,” he remarked as the brunette put the second egg into place. “All right, guys. We need three more.”

“Let’s start looking,” Benny agreed, and they went to search the area for the remaining eggs.

*****

Meanwhile inside the museum, DeStorm, Tim, Tana, and Jermaine looked around the place, trying to figure out what the clue meant…well, the three YouTubers were searching while the ex-blogger wasn’t trying very hard with the searching as much as he was trying to get information out of the Sorceress, and he wasn’t getting very much out of her either.

“Come on, you can talk to me,” Jermaine said to the woman with what he considered to his winning smile. “Truth is meant to be shared, and I’m sure that you have some juicy details about how Joey and Dawn intentionally killed these people.”

The Sorceress, who’d been standing off to the side to observe the YouTubers, smiled slightly at the ex-blogger, fingering the zipper of his jacket. “Hmm, and if I were to give you such juicy details, what would a handsome young man do with that information?” she inquired.

“Get the truth out to the right people,” Jermaine replied, leaning forward and whispered. “The sort of people who could, say, make sure that Joey and Dawn’s careers are ruined and they get locked up for a very ong time.”

“Hmm,” said the Sorceress, looking intrigued as she played with the ex-blogger’s zipper. “That isintriguing, and appealingin many ways. But what would be in it for you and me?”

“Well, it would help restore my career,” Jermaine responded, “and, I could help you out with introducing you to the rightpeople back home. What do you say?”

The Sorceress let go of the zipper and leaned in close to him. “That’s very intriguing,” she whispered, and then pulled away. “But, not what I have in mind.” And she walked away from the ex-blogger, who was looking floored by the rejection.

DeStorm, who’d been listening in, walked over to Jermaine. “Well, you got the brushoff of the century,” he remarked and then pushed him toward where Tana and Tim were searching. “Come on, help look for clues for this Ruler’s Rod thingy.”

The ex-blogger reluctantly started looking around while hoping to have another chance to turn either the Sorceress or one of the YouTubers against Joey and Dawn.

DeStorm peered under a table and spotted a small gold statue that was shaped like a pharaoh. “Think I found a Pharaoh under here, y'all,” he said, straightening up with the statue.

Tana retrieved a statue from one of the window sills. “Wait, so are we looking for all of these little statues?”

DeStorm nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, I found one as well,” said Jermaine, having found a statue on a shelf.

‘No man,’ Tim thought, wandering around and not really trying to find any other statues. ‘This is too obvious. We gotta think outside the box. That's what got me so far in the 1920s. I thought about things people didn't think about, and I was right.’

“I found another one,” DeStorm announced, retrieving a statue from inside a vase, and he examined the bottom, finding a gold ankh. “There's an ankh on the bottom. Let's set 'em up in one of these little canisters.” He walked over to a window, where there were five canisters standing in a row with symbols on them. “So, we only have four,” he said, taking the statues and placing them on four of the canisters. “We need one more. Hurry up. Let's find the fifth one, y'all.”

Tana checked behind a portrait that she recalled seeing in the lounge of the Victorian mansion, and then lifted a heavy stone that had a ring on it with her foot, finding nothing.

Even Jermaine was making an effort to look for the final statue while Tim was being useless, which was frustrating DeStorm, and then the final statue was found next to a mirror.

“I got it,” said the Enforcer, picking up the statue, and he was about to put it with the other statues when one of the guards showed up.

“Oh, oh, oh, a guard's coming," Tim panicked, scrambling for the staircase. "He might take us away.”

“Omigod, no!” Tana yelped, and they all ran up the nearby staircase to hide while the guard searched the area. ‘Don’t look up here,’ she thought, not wanting to be captured. ‘Please don’t look up here, Mr. Handsome guy with no shirt and glowing eyes.’ And this was one time when she really hoped that her prayer would be answered.

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 ELEVEN: CLUES AND HIDING PART THREE

*****

Meanwhile back in the cage, Colleen gestured to her friends and pointed out something she found in the book.

“Ok, you guys,” she said, “all the things we've seen on the ground are in here. So there's this square…a sphere…stars…all these words are in here.” She then reread the entry. “‘The Collector of the Dead once ruled a kingdom among the living. But she wanted to break the circle of life! Circle's the first one’!”

Justine, who’d gone back to the box, looked up. “Ok, which number is inside the circles?”

Ro checked one of the gold circles and called out the number. “The circles are sixes. That's a six!"

"There's a circle," Alex agreed. "Yeah, they're sixes. They're both sixes.”

Justine nodded and put six into the lock. “Ok, which number is next?”

Colleen checked. “‘Ready to square off’. Oh, to square! Square’s the second one!”

Justine noticed a nearby gold square and grinned. “There’s a two!” And she quickly put it into the lock. “Just one more, just one more.”

Colleen checked the book and found the final shape. “And the last thing is stars. Is there any stars?”

Alex searched around and both he and Esther both found a gold star with a number seven at the same time. “Here, here, here! Seven!”

Justine nodded and put the final number into the lock. “Six, two, and seven.” She grinned when the lock opened and she was able to remove it. “Yes!” she cheered as the others gathered around, for she was feeling proud of herself, and she opened the box, finding inside another one of the stone eggs and a decorative box of some kind.

Their cheers drew Benny back to the cage. “Did you guys find another egg?” he asked, peering through the bars.

“Yeah, we did,” said Justine, hurrying over and gave him the egg. “Here. We also found this box, but it doesn’t look like it opens or anything.”

“Hang onto it, and I’ll let the others know,” Benny promised, and left to get the egg to the others.

*****

Meanwhile back in the museum, once the guard was gone, the three YouTubers and the ex-blogger came back down the stairs to where the canisters were, and DeStorm spotted that sign that they’d overlooked earlier and he nodded to Tim.

“Tim, read that sign right there.”

‘Aye, aye, captain,’ Tim thought sarcastically and he read the sign. “‘Gods of the Nile" Statues. Arrange the statues to face the mountain. Top to bottom, left to right’.”

Tim picked up one of the statues to examine the base and there was a symbol. “You said there was symbols on the bottom?" he asked, wondering what the heck the symbol meant "These things. Do they mean anything?”

DeStorm shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, but not to me," he admitted and pointed to the view outside the window, where he could see a mountain in the distance and under the thundering dark green sky. "That's the mountain. We can see the mountain.”

“I mean, I'm looking at the mountain,” the Con Man agreed.

“Damn,” said the Enforcer, “that’s a great mountain.”

Tana decided to go back to the tapestry to see if there was anything that they might’ve missed the first time around, and when she looked at the artwork, she saw that there were symbols similar to the ones on the underside of the small statues. “Wait, wait," she called out to get the guys’ attention. "On this tapestry, there's, like, these symbols.”

“No there isn’t,” Jermaine huffed, but he did walk over, if only to not get dragged by DeStorm again, having had enough of that as it was.

Once all three guys with next to her, the Pin-up Girl pointed to the symbols. “You guys didn't even see this.”

DeStorm looked at the tapestry and his eyes widened in shock, but he was also impressed that Tana of all people had found the symbols in the order that the statues needed to be placed in. “Oh, hellyeah!” he exclaimed and looked at her with newfound appreciation. “Didn't even see this!”

Tana beamed, pleased with her success and the fact that she found clues that’d been overlooked.

DeStorm examined the symbols, memorizing the order. “This the paintbrush, the circle, the half circle, and the lady," he noted, signaling to each symbol in turn. "Got it.”

“But there's five of them, though,” Tim reminded him.

Jermaine shook his head and pointed to the ankh that the Egyptian God was holding in one hand. “The fifth symbol is right there.”

Tana went to the statues, checked the bottom of each, and she went to work reorganizing them in the order that they were suppose to go. It didn’t take her very long to do this, and the boys all ended up jumping with surprised gasps when a giant rug rolled down out of nowhere with something attached to the base.

“Oh, what is this?” Tim asked, removing the object, which turned out to be a long black rod. “Do we take this?”

“That’s the rod!” DeStorm exclaimed, impressed with how useful Tana was being, and that the rod had been found. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, we did kind of do that,” Tana crowed as they headed back the way they had entered, following the Sorceress.

“Well, we did kind of did,” DeStorm agreed, putting an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “You know, me and Gabbie haven't been getting along anyway.” And the Pin-up Girl grinned in response.

Oh yeah, Tana was killing it by being smart and useful.

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 TWELVE: CLUES AND HIDING PART FOUR

*****

“Guys,” Benny said, getting the attention of the others, “they found another one of the stone eggs.” And he put it in the slot. “Ok, we just need two more.”

Just then, Bretman saw the Egyptian captain heading their way and he hustled the others to find places to hide. “The guard!” he hissed. “The guard!” And they all scattered to find hiding places, with him and Gabbie, who’d been momentarily confused, hiding behind a short pillar.

The Egyptian captain entered the area, looking around, and then he spotted some pink feathers peeking out from where Gabbie and Bretman were hiding. “You think you could hide from me?” he growled, and the Playboy took off like a shot, and the Hollywood Star made to follow, but he managed to grab her.

“No!” Joey shouted from his hiding place as she was being dragged away. “Gabbie!”

“No!” Gabbie shrieked, kicking and screaming in his grip, having flashbacks to when she’d been grabbed by the Promethean Man. “Let go! Help!”

*****

The group in the cage were examining the box when they heard shouts and screams, turning around in time to see the Egyptian captain manhandling Gabbie into view, unlocking the cage, and shoving her inside.

“Gabbie!”

“What happened?”

“Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine once my heart stops racing,” Gabbie replied, shaken by being captured. “And I’ve got a lot to catch you guys up on…”

*****

Joey, Bretman, Benny, and Jack all came out of hiding, frustrated that their friend had gotten taken so fast.

“Guys, if one of us gets captured, we're so screwed!" Joey hissed. "We need to stick together!”

“I know that,” said Bretman, “and before we look for the two remaining eye thingies, just answer one question for me, please. Joey, did you and Dawn really have anything to do with the deaths that’d been on the news involving everyone here?”

“Yes, Bretman, we have been involved with those deaths,” Joey admitted, sighing. “Both directly and indirectly. But this mission is to save everyone. So, let’s find the two remaining eyes or whatever they are.”

The Playboy wasn’t sure if he could really trust Joey, but he could tell that the events of tonight were definitely not going the way that he’d expected it to, and right now, he had to focus on finding the remaining eyes to rescue those who were locked up. He looked around and noticed a flight of stairs going downward that he hadn’t noticed before. “Joey, there's stairs leading down. Do you think that's where we gotta go?”

“Probably,” Joey agreed, and they headed down the stairs until they found waiting for them, an Egyptian bust of Anubis with an egg nestled tightly in its’ mouth.

“Yes!” Bretman tugged the egg out of the mouth and patted Anubis on the head. “Thank you! I love you!”

They hurried back up the stairs, where Bretman put the egg into the slot and Benny found another set of stairs going up to a balcony. “Guys, there might be something up there.”

Joey hurried up the stairs and, sure enough, he found the final egg nestled in an overhead light, and he quickly retrieved it. “Guys, we did it!” he squealed, hurrying back down the stairs. “Oh, we got the fifth egg!”

“B*tch, we out here!” Bretman cheered.

“All right!” Benny cheered, and Jack was grinning.

“Yes!” Joey placed the final egg into the last slot. “Here we go!” And jumped when a nearby box opened. “Oh! What’s this?” he wondered, reaching into the box as his friends joined him and he found a headpiece that was made out of gold, shaped like a falcon, and had a ruby gem in the center. He thought it was gorgeous, and took it out, pretending to put it on Bretman’s head, earning snickering and giggles.

Benny checked the box and found a key. “Hey, here’s the key!” he exclaimed. “Jailbreak time!”

“All right!”

*****

Gabbie was explaining about the Sorceress when their friends showed up with the key in hand.

“I still don’t like that the Sorceress is part of our- guys!” Dawn exclaimed, not thrilled to have learned that the Sorceress was alive and, apparently, helping the group.

“You got a key?” Ro asked eagerly.

“Got it right here,” said Benny, using the key to unlock the cage. “Come on, we got to meet up with the others.” And, leaving the cage behind, they hurried back to the museum, determined not to get caught this time, and headed inside.

*****

Hurrying inside the museum, they entered the circle room and found Tim, DeStorm, Tana, Jermaine, and the Sorceress coming from the other direction.

“Whoa, why are you with her?” Alex demanded, pointing at the Sorceress. “She killed most of us back at the Victorian mansion.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t be killing anyone in this group,” Jack informed them, gesturing to the bracelet that was still on the Sorceress’ wrist. “She tries to, and she’ll get zapped with 200 volts of electricity.”

“Good,” said Dawn, frowning at the Sorceress and was rubbing at the scar on her right arm, feeling a phantom pain. “You behave, and you won’t get zapped.”

‘At least I don’t have to worry about getting stabbed again,’ Joey thought before turning to confront Mortimer. “Give me one good reason why I should trust you after the stunt you pulled in Everlock?” he demanded.

“Joey, I don’t remember everything that happened with the Carnival Master,” Mortimer told him. “And believe me, messing with that artifact before it got cleansed was the dumbest thing I’d ever done in my life, and I’m sorry. Besides, I was just trying to save my town, all right?”

“Guys,” Dawn said, getting between Joey and Mortimer. “Joey, I get where you’re coming from, but if Mortimer doesn’t remember, then he doesn’t remember. So, give him another chance, please?”

Joey sighed. “Fine, but I’ll be watching you.”

“I can live with that,” Mortimer agreed.

“Fine,” Joey grumbled and returned to the matter at hand. “What did you guys find?”

Tim grinned and held up the Ruler’s Rod proudly. “I got a stick!”

“I got a box,” said Alex, holding up the fancy box.

Joey held up the headpiece. “And I have a gorgeous bird.”

‘A stick, a box, and a gorgeous bird walk into a bar,’ Tim joked to himself. ‘There's a punchline somewhere. We just gotta find it.’

Justine looked between the gold bird and the rod, getting an idea. “Guys, let’s just put that on top of the stick and see what happens,” she suggested.

With Tim holding the rod steady, Joey placed the gold bird on top, securing it into place, and then the ruby began glowing, making both boys gasp since they could feel the power inside the Ruler’s Rod.

“There’s a note,” said Tim, noticing the writing on the rod for the first time. “‘This rod helps control the guards’.”

“All right,” said the Savant, taking the rod and headed for the door to go back outside, a determined expression on his face. “Let’s go.” And the others, after exchanging looks, followed after him to see if the Ruler’s Rod would really put the guards under their control.

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 THIRTEEN: THRILLER!

*****

Going back outside, it didn’t take the group very long to find the guards out in the courtyard, where the Egyptian captain was giving new orders to his men, and the second that they saw the group, they drew their swords and headed straight for them, their eyes glowing brighter then ever.

“Hey!” Joey shouted, holding up the Ruler’s Rod and was praying that this would work. “I have the scepter!”

“Joey, watch out,” Alex muttered as the guards continued toward them.

The Savant was starting to think that the Ruler’s Rod wasn’t going to work – when the ruby flashed, and to the surprise of the group, the guards stopped their advance and went down to one knee with their heads bow as their eyes stopped glowing.

They were now under the control of Joey, and the group was safe.

The Egyptian captain put his sword away, removed his helmet and looked at Joey. “What do you command?”

Joey blinked, unsure of what he could have the guards do, not having thought that far ahead. “What do I command…?”

While the others were eager to see what they could have the guards do, Dawn came up with an idea and whispered it into his ear while Tim was suggesting that the guards should be made to dab. The Savant listened to the brunette and grinned, liking her idea.

Joey turned his attention to the guards, looking forward to seeing if this would actually work. “I command you all to stand and do the dance from Thriller.”

The guards resumed standing, with the captain putting his helmet back on, and then to the delight of the group, they proceeded to do the dance from Thriller with all the right dance moves to the point that it was almost expected for Michael Jackson himself to show up and join in on the fun…but he didn’t show up.

The dancing went on for several minutes before the guards finally stopped, and the Savant next commanded them to hand over their swords to the group, not wanting them to be armed should they turned on the group. He was about to command the guards to go to the cage, when the Sorceress pointed out something that was around the neck of the captain.

“What’s that key around his neck?”

“Captain, I command you to give me that key that’s around your neck,” Joey ordered, and the captain removed the necklace with the key, handing it over. “I now command you to go into the prison!" he ordered the entranced guards, pointing at the cage.

The guards went to the cage, entering it, and once they were all inside, Benny quickly locked the door to ensure that they wouldn’t escape.

“Let's go back," Joey said, glad to have that over with, and he was now wearing the key around his own neck for safekeeping. "They're all locked up." And they started back to go back inside the museum.

"Can they tell us where to find some food?" DeStorm wondered.

"I have breast milk,” Colleen offered with a grin and when the Enforcer politely and quickly declined, everyone snickered, prompting him to tell them all to shut up.

*****

As the group headed inside the museum to figure out where the key belonged and get caught up on everything that’d been going on, the Sorceress hung back, glancing back at the cage where the guards were locked up.

Making sure that no one in the group, especially Jack, was paying attention, she drew her knife and headed for the cage with a crafty smirk on her face.

However, Mortimer noticed her sneaking away and, after shutting the door, he followed after her, both suspicious and curious at the same time.

*****

The Sorceress approached the cage, pleased to see that the Egyptian captain was at the door, and she confronted him, unaware that Mortimer had followed and was peering at her from behind a bush.

“You messed with the wrong b*tch," she growled through the bars of the cage, and she stabbed the captain right in the chest. "This museum should be mine!” She removed her knife and watched with evil pleasure as the captain staggered backwards, gasping, and then collapsed to the bloody ground lifeless.

‘Dawn and Joey are right not to trust her,’ Mortimer thought, sneaking away back toward the museum, ‘she wants this place for herself, and I bet she’s willing to throw the whole group under the bus the first chance that she gets.’

*****

Unaware that she’d been seen murdering the captain, the Sorceress cleaned the blade of her knife off, returned it to where it belonged, and she headed back to the museum to rejoin the group before they noticed that she was gone.

‘By the time that they realize that trusting me is unwise,’ she thought smugly, ‘it will be too late, and this museum will finally be mine!’ And she wasdetermined to have control of the very place she’d been exiled to by the orders of the Cursed God for her failure to conquer the modern world, and she didn’t like being locked up in a glass case for any reason.

Yes, the Sorceress was going to make sure that she became the soleowner of the museum, and if she had to use the YouTubers to do it, then that’s what she was going to do. Of course, she would also be searching for her staff in order to restore her magic and power, and she was sure that it was hidden somewhere within the museum itself.

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 FOURTEEN: THE LETTER AND TRUTH

*****

Once back inside the museum, the group went to the lounge, where they were rejoined by Mortimer and the Sorceress, not that they’d been aware of them being gone, and Joey explained about the Armageddon Clock and just how much trouble they were now in because of it being activated earlier after he was tricked by the Sorceress.

“That's the Armageddon Clock." Joey pointed to the clock in question. “Once the sun rises, if we're not out of here, we're all gonna turn to dust.”

"And go to Hell,” Gabbie added, recalling what the note had said.

“So much for this being a rescue mission,” Jermaine said snidely. “As if you two were really here to rescue anyone.”

Dawn glowered at the ex-blogger and took a step toward him, and he blanched, retreating behind Ro and Esther. “Jermaine, I’m warning you…”

“Ok, time for a time out, Donny,” Benny said, taking her by the arm and steering her to the couch. “Much as I would love to watch you beat that jerk up, nows not the time.”

The brunette pouted while the others giggled, and Bretman decided to get some answers now that they weren’t running around for the moment or being chased or captured by anything scary.

“Guys, can someone please explain to me what is going on?” he requested. “Because I wasn’t told anything of this by Nikita.”

Knowing that Bretman did deserve the truth, it was told to him, mostly by Joey and Dawn, with the others supplying input as needed, and no one was too surprise when Jermaine began writing it all down in a small notebook, choosing to just ignore him for the time being.

*****

“Let me see if I got this right,” said Bretman once the explanation was completed. “The stuff in the news about the incidents were cover stories provided by the Society Against Evil, there are minions for this Cursed God dude, Dawn is some kind of Light-bearer chick, there’s an ancient prophecy that’s coming true that y’all are connected to, and both Joey and Dawn have either been directly or indirectly involved with each death that’s taken place for the last two years and in the recent nine months?”

“Yes, and this pendant is making sure that The Collector won’t detect my presence,” Dawn added, fingering the necklace. “If she figures out that I’m here and she kills me, all twelve Light-bearer bloodlines will be wiped out, along with all Light-bearers going all the way back to the first twelve. Basically, I have to avoid using the Light or else game over and the whole timeline goes bye-bye.”

The Playboy was honestly shook by all of this, but it was also making sense at the same time. “All right, now I know why you two weren’t keen on me coming with y’all,” he said finally. “Let me just say, if I can help, I will, and I will fully expect to give Nikita an earful for not telling me any of this in the first place the next time I see her.”

“I have a few choice words for Nikita as well,” said Colleen, who managed not to go into a rant when it came to the events of Everlock. “Now that you’re caught up, Bretman, let’s focus on our current problem of how to get out of this museum before sunrise. What do we have to work with?”

Gabbie picked up the colorful box. “We have this box,” she remarked, examining the markings on it. “We have a cat on the box…a pillar…”

Ro looked around the lounge and noticed that there was a table with a symbol on it, which looked like three wavy lines, and realized that the same symbol was on the box. “Gabbie, Gabbie, look!” she exclaimed, getting the group’s attention. “It’s a hieroglyphic, like from the box.”

“Do we match it up with this?” Justine wondered.

Rotating the box so that the correct symbol was facing down, Gabbie placed the box onto the table, and they all jumped and yelped when a painting unhinged itself from one of the walls.

“Freakin’ jump scares,” Dawn muttered, “just once, I would love to not have to worry about jump scares.”

Alex didn’t blame the actress in the slightest and pointed to the hanging painting. “Ok, something’s going on over there.”

Going to the painting and working together, Mortimer and Gabbie removed it to reveal that there was a hugecustom vault that had a total of ten keyholes that would definitely needed to be unlocked somehow, and Ro was certain that they would need Ocean’s 11, 12, 13, 14, and, 15 to crack it open.

“Look,” said Mortimer, pointing to a paper that was attached to the back of the painting. “A note.”

Feeling uneasy, Dawn removed the paper from the back of the painting, which was set aside, and she sat down on the couch with everyone gathering around. Swallowing, she began reading the note. “‘For hundreds of years, the Collector of the Dead has been stealing the souls of monsters and storing them inside her museum in Purgatory. You are her latest find, and she would like to keep you forever. But there might be a way out. Within her iron vault lies the Cosmic Sphere, which has the power to reshape space and time. But the vault can only be opened with the ten jeweled keys, which are hidden among her exhibits. To retrieve them, you must unravel the evil mysteries of her museum and vote on two or three who must undertake a challenge that will end in a final death, for which there is no return. Again, be swift. The Collector will be back soon with her most frightening exhibit yet’.”

“Great, so either we find these keys, which will mean final death challenges, or we don’t and come sunrise, most of us will double-die,” said DeStorm with an angry expression on his face and he glared at the Sorceress. “Thanks a lot for tricking Joey into activating that damn clock, Sorceress. This is all on you.”

“How was Ito know that would happen?” the Sorceress retorted with a sneer, and let out a small yelp from she got a small zap form the bracelet. “Hey! What was that for?”

Jack, who’d activated the electric shock with his device, glowered at the evil woman. “That’s for being rude.”

Gabbie confronted Joey, who was looking like he was about to throw up, not that she really blamed him, but she was scared and angry. “Joey, you and Dawn promised us that you were helping us, but we're all gonna die again one by one?” she demanded.

“This was suppose to be a rescue mission, Gabbie,” said Joey, who was 85% convinced that the universe was out to screw him and Dawn over. “I’m sorry that things aren’t working out the way they’re suppose to, for this whole death challenge business wasn’t suppose to happen again, and I’m hoping that Matt, Nikita, and the Society Against Evil will get us all out of here before sunrise…and before anyone has to die…again.”

“I’m with Joey,” said Esther. “Plans don’t always work out, and right now, all that we can do is figure out where the jeweled keys are, do our level best to survive, and notdo the blame game since that only leads to trouble and hurt feelings.”

“Yeah, can there be less blame, please?” Dawn requested, having folded and pocketed the note. “It’s bad enough that this mission has already gone sideways.”

There was no arguing with that request, but where were the jeweled keys?

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 FIFTEEN: RAISING THE MUMMY

*****

“Joey, do you think that’s one of the keys?” Justine asked, gesturing to the key hanging around the Savant’s neck.

Joey shrugged and went to see if it would fit into the first lock, hoping that it was one of the keys and that no one there would need to die after all. Removing it from around his neck, he inserted the key into the first lock, and took a step back to see if anything would happen.

When nothing happened, Mortimer stepped up to the vault and took the key out to compare it to the lock. “This kinda looks too small, man.”

The Savant felt himself deflate slightly. “That’s not the key?”

Mortimer shook his head and handed it back to Joey. “I don't know if that's one of the keys.”

“Dang it!” Joey complained, having his hope dashed. “Then where the hell does this key go to?”

DeStorm decided to reveal something that he’d noticed during the search for the Ruler’s Rod. “As much as I don't wanna help y'all," he confessed, "when we was looking for the Ruler's Rod, I saw a door at the end of the hallway, and it had a key hole in it, and it looked like it might fit the key.”

Seeing that as their best shot, Joey nodded. “Ok, lead the way, DeStorm.”

DeStorm returned the nod and lead the way to where he’d seen the door earlier.

*****

The group followed DeStorm down the hallway until he reached a pair of doors and he nodded to them. “These are the doors, I’m sure of it.”

Joey put the key into the lock, turning it until there was a clicking sound, and he removed the lock from the doors, proving that the Enforcer was right. “Stay alert,” he advised as he and DeStorm pushed the doors opened to reveal the room beyond.

*****

The second the group entered the room, it was clear to them that they had just opened the Egypt Exhibit. There were busts, a sarcophagus, organ jars, statues of jackal-headed gods, and even one of those Pharaoh masks was hanging on one of the walls.

“Guys,” said the Savant, “it’s an exhibit.”

“Oh, this is where she keeps the goodstuff,” Alex joked, earning a few chuckles.

There was a lot to look at, including several locked black boxes scattered about, and Joey found a scroll next to a bust of Anubis, which he handed to Colleen.

“Guys, here’s a scroll,” said the Duchess, and the group gathered around as she opened it find that there was an image of a sarcophagus with an ankh in the middle, and surrounded by figures holding hands. “An-uh-bis?” she tried to read the first word.

“Anubis,” Alex corrected her.

“Anubis,” Colleen repeated until she got it right. “Thank you. ‘Anubis, god of the dead, holds the soul of the deceased Pharaoh. If the Ankh of Life is placed on his sarcophagus and surrounded by those with clear minds, and the chants spoken, a doorway can be opened to learn the secrets of his death’.” She pointed to a chant at the bottom of the paper. “There's a chant down here that we have to say, and if there's all these people surrounding, like, a Pharaoh…I think that needs to be us.”

Jermaine scoffed. “I ain’t holding hands with anyone here, that’s for sure.”

“You got no choice, pal,” stated DeStorm, who wasn’t into doing any Kumbaya stuff, but he knew that they were going to have to do it as part of the hell game.

“We already have the sarcophagus, so let’s look for the ankh,” Dawn suggested. ‘Time to look for another Millennium item.’

The group started searching around the room until Tana managed to find a large gold ankh hidden in a corner, and she grinned as she held it in the air with a triumphant grin on her face.

“Guys," she shouted, "I found the ankh!” And she strolled toward the sarcophagus, pleased with herself at how good she was in finding items and clues. “That's right, b*tches! Read it and weep!”

“Wow, good job, Tana,” Joey complimented, surprised and impressed at the same time.

Colleen checked the paper. “Okay, so we gotta put it on his sarcophagus,” she instructed.

Alex pointed to a small hook that was on the front of the sarcophagus. “Just hang it right there.”

Feeling a bit nervous now, Tana stepped up to the sarcophagus and placed the ankh where it belonged. “I'm scared," she squeaked. "I'm really scared.” And the second that she got the ankh into place, she quickly backed away, but nothing happened. “Ok, no monsters…yet.”

“Ok, so now we have to hold hands,” Joey reminded them, and they went to stand in a circle around the sarcophagus.

Soon they were all holding hands, Jack and Mortimer made sure that the Sorceress was between them, and once the circle was complete, Colleen lead off the chant. “Anubis, god of the dead…”

"Anubis, god of the dead…" the group echoed.

"Release the soul of the Pharaoh…"

"Release the soul of the Pharaoh…"

"So his crimes can be avenged."

"So his crimes can be avenged.”

The sarcophagus began to glow with a golden light, transfixing the group, and then the lid popped open, releasing the mummy, which roared loudly.

The group screamed and ran for it, tumbling over each other to get out of the exhibit without getting caught by the enraged mummy.

“Run!”

“It’s Imhotep!”

“Get out! Get out!”

The Sorceress was the last one out, and she shoved the doors shut before running after the group since she knew that there wasn’t any point of trying to lock them now that the mummy was active.

Seconds later, the mummy shoved the doors opened and stepped out of the exhibit, roaring loudly. The pharaoh was back, and he was itching for revenge!

To Be Continued…

*****

Should've come alone

I  ain't messin' with my throne

Gotta  keep you at a distance

Trying to roll my name wide

Play a wicked game

Welcome  to your warning rune

Trust  me and I'll keep you safe

Under a glass in my museum

Find  me and you'll feel my rage

And a hunting dark maze

This is your warning rune

Warning rune he, hey

Your  warning rune

Trust me and I'll keep you safe

This is your warning rune ey, hey

You friends will pay a toll

While I gather all their souls

You're the reason they are here

You may think escape

But the evils got a hold

You can never go and leave

Trust me and I'll keep you safe

Under a glass in my museum

Find me and you'll feel my rage

And a hunting dark maze

This is your warning rune

Warning rune he, hey

Your warning rune

Trust me and I'll keep you safe

This is your warning rune ey, hey .