Turn Down the Strange Man’s Offer

This is part of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, ‘Vacation Roulette.’ Go back to the first chapter here. Or return to the previous chapter. Here is the chapter guide.

The shower water pounds down your back. Without breaking eye contact, you announce to the man, “I’m sorry, I can’t accept your offer.”

The man frowns, his face turning even harder than before. “And why the hell not?”

Defensiveness stiffens your posture. “No means no, mister.”

The man’s eyes flare with anger. A merciless smirk stretches his mouth. “All right, darling, but you’ll regret it.”

You tighten up your muscles, readying for a fight. But the man turns on his heel and stomps away.

Hurriedly, you shut off the shower and towel yourself dry. To your surprise, you see your bag and luggage right outside the bathroom. That man must have dug them out from wherever the security guard hid them. Quickly, you dress up and fish out your phone.

There’s a text message waiting for you:

WHERE ARE YOU

It’s from your partner. A part of you is relieved to see their concern. Still, you glance at the dead body of the security guard on the bed. There’s no time to waste.

You text back:

We’ve got to leave, babe. Come meet me in our hotel room.

Your partner replies:

What the hell happened? I’ll be there in a jiffy.

You feel awful that your partner is still devoted to you, while you almost cheated on them with Silvia. Well, you technically cheated with the security guard, but you didn’t enjoy it, so it doesn’t count.

Regardless, you’ve got to keep moving. You lug your stuff with you, out of the guard’s suite and to the elevator. As you ride up to the tenth floor, your heart races relentlessly. Once the doors slide open, you break out into a run towards suite 1009.

When you unlock and open the door, your partner is already there. They turn their beautiful head towards you, their brows furrowed. “So, can you tell me what happened?”

You grimace. “Honey, I don’t have time to go into details. But I — got caught in a crime scene. Someone could frame me for the murder if we don’t act fast.”

Your partner gawks at you. “Can you slow down? What do you mean a murder?”

“Remember what the mysterious texter warned us about? That the Vacation Roulette organizers will want to kill us? Maybe this is one of the ways. They’re going to frame me — or us — as murderers and get us locked behind bars for life. Please, please, I’ll do anything you want. Just let us escape from this place before anything else happens.” Tears roll down your cheeks as you speak.

Your significant other wipes your cheek with their fingers. “Fine. I have all my bags packed already. Let’s go.”

It’s a huge relief, and once again, you’re thankful that your partner has such faith in you. You wonder where Silvia is at this moment, whether she knows about the security guard’s death and the strange man who made you a job offer.

Before long, the two of you arrive at the airport and board a plane back home. Your partner tells you that if you’re escaping a framing, you’ll have to hide elsewhere, not back home where authorities can track you down.

You agree but argue that you need a safe place to stay first before you figure out where to move to conceal your identities.

For a long while, the two of you sit in silence, drained and worried.

Neither of you sees the missile headed towards your plane until it’s too late.

The End

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