x
I had to replay what he said over and over again before finding the right words to say.
"L...Labyrinth?"
Caleb nods and looks at the mannequin. "Father explained everything to me in my bedroom. It is the reason why spooky creatures are walking around and why we keep walking around in circles. According to him, the only way to get out of here is to meet The Keeper of the Labyrinth to ask for permission to get out but it involves a soul trade."
"A what?"
"We need to trade someone's soul to get out," he explained and the mannequin nodded its head. "But the person should be alive, not dead. It also works if you are dead but you will be reincarnated into a person's body."
Then he started walking away from me, following the mannequin already a few meters away from us. "And I already know who I am going to sacrifice."
His words sent a shiver down my spine then we hear a hissing sound behind us. Looking back, we see a horde of those pale white things all holding knives glaring at us.
"How did they find us?" I take out the Imperial Blade and it transformed into a spear with a shiny blade before our eyes.
'Ah, I can work with this,' I do a front spin and jump into action. They were easy to beat and the power the spear gave amazed me especially when I did a helicopter and palm spine creating a blast of wind that pushed them away from us.
"Wow, Ms.! That was awesome!" Caleb exclaimed and I couldn't help but grin. Suddenly the mannequin grabbed the boy from behind and what followed was a rain of bullets.
"Keep shooting!" ordered a familiar voice.
I take a peek and see Togo and the rest of the Yakuza gang raining bullets at us until their magazines were empty.
"Ms., remember what I said about the soul exchange in the Labyrinth?" Caleb asked.
I nod and not wasting another second, I jump over the mannequin and attack using the blunt end of my spear to knock them unconscious.
"Phew, that was a close one," I say with a smile.
Caleb smiled back and watched as the mannequin loomed over their unconscious bodies. After looking for a while, it grabbed one of the men by the collar of his shirt and started dragging him.
"It looks like father picked someone to sacrifice to the labyrinth." the boy said. "They are all bad people right ma'am?"
I nod and something in me clicked. "Wait!"
The mannequin stopped.
"I know this is too much to ask but can you help me pick him up?" I ask pointing to Togo Atatsuma who was unconscious on the floor.
It tilted its head showing me its lifeless doll eyes and walked over to pick him up. As he reached down, we hear the sound of a chainsaw in a distance.
"We have to hurry. If she sees us, we are done for." I say.
The mannequin nodded and started to run dragging Togo Atatsuma and the unknown man with it. With the boy in between us, we run down the hall stopping only when those creatures appeared to harm us. The mannequin got its hands full so I served as the only person defending them.
'These creatures are easy to beat as long as they don't attack first.' I thought as one turned into dust. 'The problem is there are too many of them.'
I do another palm spin and blast the creatures away from us since killing them was going to take too much time. Nodding to them, we run ahead as the sound of the chainsaw got closer and closer.
Suddenly the creatures stopped, turned back, and ran off.
The sound got closer and closer as we looked back.
"Get closer to the boy," I say, and pushing him closer to the wall behind us, we stood on guard.
The sound got closer and closer accompanied by a sadistic cackle.
"Remember, she could be anywhere," I say and the mannequin nods.
My eyes move to the left.
Then moved to the right.
But there was no sign of her.
'She is close. I can feel it.' I tighten my grip on the weapon. 'But where is she?'
The cackling continued as we looked around.
Then is stopped.
"Ms..." Caleb called out.
I shush him gently as we heard the sound of footsteps coming our way. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she appeared and before we could react, she plunged her chainsaw into the little hole we had created.
Despite the fact my heart was in my throat, I kick her off and look at Caleb who was still breathing much to our relief.
He had ducked just in time.
The woman growled, started up her chainsaw, and charged toward us again but I do a side block stopping her in her tracks. The boy and the mannequin moved aside creating room for me to stop her attack with a downward rowing block, two side attacks, and ending with a downward smash at the sharp end of my spear.
She staggered back growling in anger while I stare at her looking at the scar on her face which was covered by her hand. If she wasn't angry before she was now but I lower my stance. Taking a closer look at her appearance, I see her dress was torn by the sides and edges and there were huge scars on her pale body. Her heavy pants followed by the way her body swayed from side to side showed clear signs of exhaustion.
'She's tired.' I put the butt of my staff to the ground. 'She was attacked but by who?'
She finally wiped the blood from her eyes and gave me a cold glare but I wasn't scared. I felt sorry for her.
"You know we can end this in like civilized adults or," I put up a fighting stance. "we can end it in a blood bath. Take your pick."
Panting like a dog out in the sun, this crazy woman gave a huge grin making it clear she picked the latter. Starting up her chainsaw one more time, she gave me another deadly look before charging at me while raising her weapon high in the air.
I quickly do a one-handed spin and poke the chest with the sharp end of my blade but heard a sound of the blade connecting with metal. My eyes widen with shock and she looks down at a blade of a katana sticking through her chest. The minute the blade was out, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell to the floor revealing the culprit behind her.
"Beloved! I have found you at last!"
My heart skipped a beat. Staring at me crazy-eyed with messed up hair and covered in blood and scars was Jake.
"I am so happy I found you. Why were you so hard to find? First, you were in a motel, then a hotel, then a school, then our school..." he sighed and clutched his face. "Gosh! You were so hard to find."
Something clouded my eyes making my stomach churn but I rapidly shake my head to get it off. When he reached out to hug me, I take a step back and pointed the sharp end of the spear at his throat.
"Be...Beloved what's wrong?" he asked with confusion written on his face. He tried hugging me again but I move a few feet away from him creating a distance between us.
"Stay away from me."
"What?"
"Stay away." I shove the sharp end of the spear at him and he backed off.
"Be..."
"Don't. Call. Me. That. Name." I say as something clouded my eyes once more forcing out the tears. "I am not going to end up like him. Stay away from me or else."
I bring the spear closer to his throat. He takes one look at it, then at me, then at me. "Are... are you saying...you...you don't...lo...love me any...anymore?"
I felt Caleb stares behind me but I shake them off and move closer, forcing Jake to take more than a few steps back. Fear clouded my eyes for every part of me yelled that this was a bad idea but I refused to back down for there is no way in this life nor the next I was going to end up like Caleb's father who was a victim of this madness called 'love'.
Caleb's mother was the one responsible for the series of events that took place in her late husband's life by killing the people closest to him including his parents when they wanted to move to the city. Then she toyed with his grief to get closer to him and forced him into marriage when he graduated from college. Things got dicey when they had their first child and she started getting jealous for he showered his only son with more attention. Tired of her jealousy streak, he asked for a divorce but she murdered him in response and then traumatized her son out of spite by making him deliver pieces of his corpse to other tenants disguised as leftovers.
'How many boys did he kill to get closer to me? What if he kills my friends out of spite or murders our children out of jealousy?' I poked the spear closer to his throat as the rumble in my stomach worse. I stop moving. Fear clouded my eyes again but I pushed it back replacing it with determination.
"Beloved? Are you okay?"
I refused to respond.
"I don't know what you are up to but..."
"It's over," I say.
There was a puzzled look on his face. "What?"
"I don't want to see you in my life nor my next life." I raise the spear closer to his throat. "Take your lovesick disease with you and never come near me again!"
My stomach was doing flip-flops as the pupils in his eyes got smaller and smaller but refused to take my eyes off him.
"Be...loved. Ar...are you...?"
I take the spear closer to his lips to shush him but they were already shaking. Tears were pouring down his eyes as his chest heaved up and down.
"Wh...why? Why are we doing this? Why?"
I felt an ounce of pity as he fell to his knees but I kicked it out the window. Putting my spear down, I turn around to follow Caleb and his father out of the labyrinth but...
'Huh? Where are they?'
The path I took was replaced with a wall and my companions were nowhere to be found. Confused, I look around to see if there was anything I missed but everything seemed to look like it was bricked up.
'I could have sworn...'
"Hehehe,"
My eyes widened.
"Hehehe,"
'Don't look back,' I warned myself but I did anyway. Jake was still on his knees disheveled as I had just seen him and it was clear that a giggle was coming from him. I watched his body rock slowly with every giggle he gave metamorphosized into a full-blown laugh that echoed through the room.
"Breakup with me EH?"
Within a split second, I was on the floor with a sword close to my face. Luckily the body of the spear prevented a blade from getting closer. Jake giggled like a maniac when I pushed him off me and roll away just in time as the blade plunged into the ground. He swiped the katana to the left but I do a back flip and pose with my weapon.
Breathing heavily with a smile on his face, he charged again sending a series of horizontal slashes at me but I perform a downward rowing block ending with a strike to the chest which he defended with his sword. Clashing again, he tried pushing me towards the wall behind us but I hold on and tried to push him off but he didn't budge.
"This isn't over! IT'S NEVER OVER BETWEEN US! NEVER!" he yelled.
I grunt and apply force. "It is for me, Jake!"
"LAIR!"
He pushed me off and the next thing I know, I was on the floor with the spear beside me. Sitting up, I feel something warm on my cheek and touched it.
The blood on his blade confirmed my suspicions.
Jake looked at it and licked it off his blade. "All...your...lovely...essence..." he clutched his face. "It's in me now!"
I seize the opportunity, grab my spear and perform an overhead strike and followed it up with another move which sent him flying backward.
'I have to finish this quickly,' with that, I jump to do a downward smash but he move out of the way and swept my legs the minute I land on the ground. He followed it up with a series of horizontal slashes sending stinging pain to my arms and legs. I do a back flip at the last minute, grab my spear, and send a series of strikes at him which he countered effortlessly. We clashed again, weapons scraping at each other. Looking into his eyes, I saw insanity draped in an unknown emotion but I didn't care.
I want him out of my life.
I want my future to be safe.
I want my freedom and if killing him is the answer to my problems then so be it.
So getting in touch with my inner demon, I gather the little strength in me, push him off and do a hand spin to create the same blast of wind. Before it subsided, I attack striking him at his side, performing a downward smash, and ending it by stabbing him in the heart.
Jake blinked twice as soon as the weapon came in contact with his chest. Pulling it out, I do another downward strike at his head and watched him fall to the floor.
My arms were heavy. Breathing was difficult. My eyes were heavy. I taste the blood in my mouth before letting go of my weapon and collapsing to the ground in pain.
"I did it," I whisper to the void. "It's finally over."
A wave of relief swept through me like a soothing wave and a smile appeared on my face. I rise to my feet, pick up my weapon, and started looking for a way out.
'My injuries are sending pain through my body.' I blink and rub my eyes. 'Even breathing is difficult. I thought I was going to die back there but...'
"Beloved...'"
The cackle stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly I was pinned to the wall with such force that it knocked the wind out of me. I finally open my eyes to see Jake laughing and crying at the same time. Grabbing me by the throat, he threw me across the room.
"Eleven years of neglect...six years of suffering...one year of despair..."
I sit up and my heart leaped into my throat. Jake was glowing and the light was so bright I had to shield my eyes.
"I thought all those years were worth it when we meet yet here I am...GETTING DUMPED BY YOU!"
What followed was a huge blast that would probably send me flying back if I wasn't lying down. When the light was gone, I stand to my feet and open my eyes. Jake was wearing a black warrior's outfit and he was wielding two katanas with both hands. Without a second to spare, I take out the Imperial Blade which transformed into a spear. He attacked and I block but the force was enough to send me flying back a few feet away from him. With that, he sent a series of attacks at me and despite my efforts to block them, they became faster and stronger with each passing minute.
Suddenly, he gave a huge horizontal strike breaking my spear in half. Shocked, I felt something painful strike me on my abdomen sending pain through my body. I feel something creep up my throat and my body jerked when I threw it up.
The metallic taste was familiar to it.
Too familiar.
The blade was quickly taken out of me and what followed was pain. Stinging pain raw pain which reminded me of the visions I got after rescuing the ghost trapped in the school a few days ago except this time, it was so real. My mind went numb along with my body as I collapsed to the floor still reeling from it.
"Don't you see Beloved? Don't you see? No one can stop our love! No mortal, no beast, no spirit, nothing! Not even the labyrinth! Not even you!"
I force my eyes open.
"You know why? Our love is god!"
I tried sitting up but the pain in my body and abdomen prevented me from performing any action. Something was still seeping from the corner of my mouth but I looked up to see him laughing at my pathetic state.
Then my eyes fell on the Imperial Blade.
"Beloved, my love for you is so strong not even your hatred can destroy it. There is nothing! Nothing that can destroy our love! Run all you can! Fight all you want! Try and find someone who claims to be better..." He stopped his monologue and his eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
Broken, defeated, and exhausted, I raise the knife closer to my throat. "I hope I don't see you at the other side."
His eyes went wild. "Beloved don't do it."
I shut my eyes.
"No!"
Then it went dark.
At least that's what I thought...
because...
I could still feel my body.
Was I already dead?
"Ms? Are you alright?"
The voice sounded familiar.
"Dad, do you think she is dead?"
"Oh, she's fine."
This voice sounded childlike.
Childlike but familiar.
I open my eyes to see a red-haired woman looking at me.
"Oh! Would you look at that, you're still alive." she giggled. "Looks like your boyfriend dished out a lot of damages."
"Look, dad, she is okay," Caleb yelled.
"Oi! Don't touch her she is in pain!" the woman cautioned.
"Yo...You..." I say.
She smiled. "Yep! It's me! Anabelle Dreamsakes. Caretaker of the motel by day, Labyrinth Keeper by night, and congratulations, you and your friends have just got a one-way ticket to leaving the labyrinth!"
ns 15.158.61.46da2
