“Wait!” Kai said before the door shut all the way. “It might not be fair, but the whole point of this scavenger hunt is to spread kindness and love, right? Maybe you could consider giving us a little break and showing my New Yorker friend here some of the Southern hospitality he keeps hearing about?”
The man was thoughtful for a moment before wordlessly relocking the door and disappearing behind a few shelves of records. Kai and Elias exchanged a glance, wondering if they’d been had. But a few moments later, the man returned, holding something in his hands—a metal device of some sort. “I can’t let you in, but I don’t see why I can’t give you this,” he said, handing Elias the object. “Maybe you can figure out how to open it without the clues inside the store. Not many people figured it out even with the hints, so good luck.” With that, he shut the door, purposefully turning thelock with a loudthunk, the finality of which rang in Kai’s ears.
“Thank you!” Kai yelled through the door, making a megaphone with his hands.
“For nothing…” Elias muttered under his breath as they examined the device. It was brass, shaped like a cylinder with a series of dials. “What the hell is this?”
A reverse image search told them it was called a cryptex.
“A cryptex is a kind of puzzle device made up of a series of rotating discs,”Kai read aloud as Elias continued to fidget with it.“Each disc features a letter of the alphabet. When aligned in the correct sequence, the puzzle device will open to reveal a hidden chamber inside, where a small item can be stored.”
“Did he give this to us as a joke?” Elias asked, trying to forcibly twist the discs. “I bet I can break it.”
“Relax, it’s not a pepper grinder,” Kai said, “and it looks like it’s already broken.”
The discs were jammed and didn’t turn smoothly. It seemed they had been overextended, and whatever internal components were inside were likely bent or broken.
“Great,” Elias said, throwing his hands up in surrender. He sat down on the curb and folded his arms. “Not only do we not have the sequence to open the thing, but even if we did, it probably wouldn’t work anyway.”
“We still have some time left,” Kai assured him. “CYPHR’s post said we can figure out the location without this clue. Let’s just keep doing the other tasks.”
He sat beside Elias, and, together, they took inventory of all the numbers they’d earned so far: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21. Still, whatever message CYPHR was trying to get across wasn’t obvious to Kai, and based on Elias’s expression, it wasn’t obvious to him either. Thoughhe was still pouting, Elias did agree to continue on to the next task:
Random Act of Mindfulness
Your next location is one that isn’t always there,
But tonight, you’re lucky to enjoy the open air.
Head there before the sun makes it disappear,
and absorb the history of Raleigh as you near.
“We’re still in the game,” Kai said, nudging Elias lightly. “Open air. Sun takes it away.The answer is the Night Market. We have fifteen minutes to get there. Come on.”
Elias kept his head hung low, not moving from where he sat on the curb.
Scanning the block until he spotted what he needed, Kai walked a short distance, lifted a scooter off its stand, and rolled it back to Elias.
“We can ride a scooter like you wanted,” he said, trying to lift Elias’s spirits. He placed Elias’s phone in the handlebar holder for the GPS, then went over to Elias and gently tugged at his arm. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
Elias reluctantly stood up, his arms remaining firmly folded. “How much time do we have?”
Kai smiled, glad to see Elias slowly warming. “Shall we?”
“Fine,” Elias conceded. “But I want to be in front.” He stepped onto the scooter, his back against the controls and elbows resting casually on the handlebars.
“Shouldn’t you face forward?” Kai asked, stepping onto the back of the scooter.
Elias looked up at Kai with a playful smile. “I can’t see you if Iface forward,” he said, motioning him closer. “And we’ll be more aerodynamic if you come down here with me.”
With a laugh, Kai put his arms on either side of Elias and positioned his head so his mouth was against Elias’s ear. “This isn’t part of the agreement.”
“The agreement was that you get to know me,” Elias said, the proximity of his voice making goose bumps erupt all over the back of Kai’s neck. “This is me.”
Elias’s phone buzzed suddenly against his back, making him flinch violently like he’d had a bucket of cold water dumped down his shirt. He hid his apparent embarrassment at having been so easily startled in the curve of Kai’s neck.
Trying to comfort him, Kai wrapped an arm around Elias. “Don’t worry about the show, by the way,” he cooed. “I’ll ask Bobby. He knows everything.”
