I tried to shake off the haunting feeling as we entered the dining area. All the other guests were conversing with themselves, seated at a long dining table you would only see in murder mysteries. There were about eight people in the room, including Nicole and myself. There were two girls seated next to each other, wearing matching pink varsity jackets. Across from them were three jock-type dudes in skin-tight t-shirts, chatting them up. Next to the girls was a nerdy guy in an anime girl hoodie, studying the room.

"Hey," I motioned to Nicole, as we sat in our seats at the end of the table, "thank you for paying for me."

"No problem," Nicole said, scooting in her chair. She leaned in towards me, "I said I was going to treat you."

Eventually, three servers came and brought us our dinner: juicy grilled chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, and buttery green beans, all seasoned to perfection. It was good for an included meal, and I was glad Nicole decided she wanted to come to this activity on time.

After the meal, we were each given a list of items to find around the mansion, stating that when the clock rang at 9, we would have until sunrise to find the items. Of course, if someone finds all the items before the game is over, another chime, a specific chime of seven consecutive rings, would signal that the game is over. Some chatted in their groups, some studied the papers given to them, and others looked around the room.

"How are we going to do this?" I whispered to Nicole. She hesitated to give an answer.

"We should split up, like we did in the escape room."

"But we never passed the escape room when we did that," I said, annoyed.

"Yeah, I know ‘cause I was messing around. We've got actual money on the line this time, so I think it should work. "

The chime suddenly goes off; it's time. Everyone jolted from their seats and raced out of the room.

"Do you think there's more than one certain item on the list?" Nicole said, walking out of the dining area with me.

"Yeah, at least for most of them. I doubt that they want us to fight to the death for a common item. If anything, the one that’s going to be hard to find is the golden apple."

"You think so."

"Yeah, it has to be in a place no one expects."

We stood by the steps. The other participants were away in other rooms that were on the first floor. Not wanting to pack together with the rest of them, Nicole and I wanted to explore the upper floors first.

"So, we meet up on each floor; you go east, I go west; see if we can find anything and meet up," Nicole said, shimming up the stairs.

"Okay, but if it doesn't work on this floor, we’re going room to room together."

"Sure," Nicole said, racing up the stairs to the west wing of the mansion. I sprinted up the stairs to the east side and began exploring.

The first couple of rooms were a bedroom, bathroom, and closet, all of which gave nothing to help me find things on the list. I had checked all the cracks and corners, under the blanket, pillows, nothing. I did the same thing in another bedroom; nothing. I yanked off the pillows, expecting nothing, but was surprised to see a tiny, thumb-sized, silver key. I glared at the list again to make sure that it wasn't something on the list. It wasn't, but the location where it was placed surprised me. Was this part of the game? I grabbed it anyway, and it put a significant load on my palm. I didn't think something so small would be so heavy. I planted it in my back pocket and continued digging around. Nothing. The cool breeze escaped the room when I walked out into the hallway and back towards the meeting spot to Nicole. I didn't really realize it then, but that room had a nice cool breeze. It was not as stuffy as the other rooms, as if a window or hole to the outside existed. But I remembered all the windows had been shut as I searched, so where was the hole?