x
I wake up and glance around. The room looked the same but the eerie feeling I had before gave me goosebumps. Taking a deep breath, I climb out of the bed and start looking for a way out. There wasn’t a door or a window so I felt the walls with my hands for a false door but found nothing. Frustrated, I sit on the bed and swing my feet back and forth.
The fear cocktail was taking effect, but why?
Slowly the walls changed, twisting and turning into different colors. I didn’t want to find out what it was, so I began looking for a way out. As I looked around, something caught my eyes and I crouched down to inspect.
It was a handle.
Maybe it was a hidden room?
Looking up, darkness engulfed the room from the wall and dark arms stretched towards me. Terrified, I grab the handle and pull it. It opened and I quickly went down the ladder until I reached the bottom. The corridor was cold as usual and my breathing made it look like a huge knife was plunging into my chest. I started walking through the corridor hoping to find a way out despite the inkling feeling and got to a brightly lit door.
I opened it and closed my eyes almost immediately because of the bright light. It took a while to open them. When I did, I found myself standing in a white room filled with pictures of myself in different scenes and poses. Shutting the door behind me, I felt the warmth inside the room and the unidentified noise somehow added to the comfortable feeling I got.
Despite being in a room surrounded by photos of myself, I felt safe.
Then a picture to my right caught my eye. Taking a closer look at it, I see a picture of me sprawled out on the futon asleep. However, what terrified me was the angle it was taken from. Suddenly a hand reached out to drag the blanket up to my shoulders saying, “It’s cold.”
Then the picture moved closer to my face.
I had seen enough and stepped back just to hear myself laughing. Looking back, I saw another picture of me chatting with Andrew, whose face had red scribbles on it. As the comforting noise was replaced with the sound of my voice talking or laughing, I slowly came to a terrible conclusion: I was inside his mind.
Could this mean I am dead?
Or...
Was I in a realm between the living and the dead?
“Hello,”
The voice I heard sounded childlike and turning to my right, I see a little girl with hair tied up in two bunches looking down at me.
“Why are you sitting alone? Don’t you have anyone to play with?”
The frame shook and she smiled.
“It’s okay. I don’t have friends either," she replied, standing straight and I saw…
…boobs?
Wait a minute…was that girl…me?
My head hurt badly and I looked at my hands which grew smaller for some reason. Slowly the scene changed and I found myself moving fast and laughing while holding a hand filled with bandages. Behind me was a boy with hair partly covering his right eye wearing a black track suit. Then the scene shifted to him eating something. I pointed at the stain on his cheek and he shivered lightly and moved away.
I think we were sitting down.
“What’s the matter?” I moved closer and raised my hand causing him to flinch until I patted him on his head. “You’re cute."
Then it shifted again to me parting his hair away and pinning it with my hair pin. “You have beautiful eyes! Why don’t you show them sometimes?"
He muttered something and I smiled.
“I think they are pretty.”
“R…really?”
I nodded and he reddened.
“I’m sorry but I have to go.”
“Do you have to?"
I nodded and he grasped my hand saying something I couldn't understand.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back."
He didn’t look convinced and sobbed, looking away with tears in his eyes. Reaching to my side, I take out my ribbon and give it to him.
“Here,”
“Why are you giving this to me?” he asked.
It's a gift, silly." And then I grabbed his hand. “It’s a sign of our friendship and who knows, if we should meet again, it would be for life.”
“For…for life?”
I nod and hear someone call my name. “Well I got to go!”
“Wait!”
But I was already sprinting towards a black car with a…
Now I reach out the car's window waving to him.
“What’s your name?”
“Emma Cross-wood!"
Thump!
I find myself on the floor. Standing up and nursing my aching bottom, I recall the creepy text messages and his outburst that night. All of it sent shivers up my spine.
He was right.
That is what I promised him.
“You piece of…”
Wham!
The sound of another thud. Looking behind me was another frame where I witnessed someone violently kicking something that groaned in pain. Then he unbuckled his belt and whipped the frame furiously as someone cried in pain.
“You’ll never amount to anything you stupid shellfish child!”
The frame to my right showed a woman staring down at me with pure hatred in her eyes.
“You are just like your father! Stupid and useless. You can never do anything right! If I hadn’t had you, I wouldn't be this way!"
“Squeal for me you little pig,” someone yelled sending a punch straight to another frame causing it to go blank.
Suddenly the room turned dark as voices yelling abusive words filled the room. As I looked around, every picture was filled with something dark or terrible, each repeating their words. Then the room shook causing each framed picture to fall to the ground. Terrified, I crotched to the ground, covered my head with my arms and closed my eyes praying for it to end.
My prayers were answered. I opened my eyes and the room was pitch dark.
“You aren’t supposed to be here,” a voice echoed.
Something gave way underneath making me fall into the abyss below.
“Ah,” I murmured blinking slowly. “What happened?”
I finally opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Jake.
“Oh you are finally awake,” he said in a monotone voice.
I blink slowly. “Where am I?”
“You are in the Discussion Room,” he replied.
“No,” I look directly at him. “Where exactly am I?”
“What do you mean?” he asked confused.
"Each day it seems like I'm walking in a labyrinth." I paused. "I am in a labyrinth right?"
His eyes widened and he stared at me for a minute before swiping a hand over his face. “How did you figure it out?”
“It was a wild guess."
At this, he giggled and leaned forward. “It seems like you are ready to talk to me Beloved which is good because I have an exciting game for us to play.” He took out two pictures and showed it to me. “Pick one."
Confused about what the game might be, I picked the one on his left hand.
“Good. Now study it.”
It was a picture of a room filled with three items: a bottle, a cupboard and a spoon.
“Time’s up,” he brought the picture down and showed me the other one. "What's different about this one?”
I stared at the picture which looked similar with all three items but something was off.
I found it. “There is a hole in the right corner."
He grinned and tossed the pictures away. “Now to answer your question, yes you are in a labyrinth.” Then he brought out another one. “You have one minute to study this one.”
Time passed slowly when I studied the picture of a red-haired woman standing next to a yellow building wearing a pink coat and blue boots. Once time was up, he brought up another picture of the same woman and asked me what the difference was.
“The clouds look different," I said.
“That’s one difference.”
I was shocked. “What?”
“There are three differences in the picture and you found one.” He took the picture away from my face and grinned. “If you lose you’ll have to answer my question.”
To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. Not after what I experienced. With the picture placed in front of me again, I mentally compared it to the picture I had just seen.
“The color of her hair varies slightly, and there is no shadow behind her.”
He grinned and tossed the picture away. “What do you want to ask me?”
“Where is the way out?”
He grinned evilly. “There is no way out.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“I created this place Beloved,” his grin grew wider. “So to find the way out, you have to pass through me.”
Hearing those words proved my hypothesis to be correct. The Keeper of the Labyrinth said someone with high spirits power could create and rule the labyrinth. According to her, the labyrinth might be someone’s private paradise but their victim's most horrific nightmare. Once someone traps you inside, you need loopholes to escape.
But death is not a loophole.
This means if I kill myself, I can’t leave this place until he says so. As I slowly realized this, tears welled up in my eyes.
Was he trying to keep me here forever?
“Beloved,”
I sniffed as he wiped tears from my eyes. Then he showed me another picture of people at the beach. Some were on the sand while the others were in the playing in the ocean.
“What’s strange about this photo?” he asked.
Looking closely at it, everything in the photo looked normal at first glance. That is until I discovered something frightening.
“Someone drowned in the sea."
He grinned and took out a photo of someone brushing their teeth in the bathroom. “Find the monster in this picture."
It took me a few minutes to spot it. "It's hiding in the sink cupboard.”
“Great!” He looked at the picture and grinned. “It looks like I owe you two questions.”
Yes he did. “What was your childhood like?”
“Terrible.” He tossed the pictures behind him. “My mom hated me and my dad ignored me until he needed a punching bag. In general, I was physically and mentally abused during my childhood and school was no better since I was the kid no one wanted to get close to.”
Okay that makes sense since he told me his parents never loved him. “What did you do to them?”
“Do you want to know that?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes. I want to know.”
Looking at me, he sighed and leaned back on his seat. “Well, after my release from the psychiatric hospital, I got adopted by some crazy lady who was a schizophrenic. During my stay there, I went to visit my parents and made sure that would be the last time I would see them alive.”
The evil smile on his face twisted my stomach. “The least bloody way to execute them was to lock them up after they finished their last meal; on the plus side, you won't have to contend with impressing them or dealing with their greedy habits when we get married. So, I am officially an orphan!”
His callous description of how he killed his parents sent shivers up my spine. Bringing up another picture he made me study it for five minutes and asked me about the objects in the picture.
“A white wine bottle corked with a red cork, a red bottle half full of an unknown liquid. There were two pink hairpins, a strawberry lip gloss, an orange, an apple, and a green bottle half filled with a green cork.”
He grinned. “You missed one.”
I stare at him. “What?”
“Two nails near the edge of the table.” He pointed to the picture. “See?”
I blink in shock.
“At least you noticed the black hairpins hiding behind the orange which is good.” Tossing the picture aside, he leaned closer. “Kiss me.”
“What?”
“You failed the challenge, so you have to answer my questions or requests. That's the rule." He caressed my cheek. “Kiss me Beloved.”
I look away.
“I’m sorry. Was I too forward?”
I refuse to look at him.
“Forgive me Beloved but I miss you.” He touched me again sending goose bumps. “Besides, if you want to get out of here, you need to do what I say.”
Something in me sinks and I look back at him.
“Please kiss me." he begged "I won't ask you again. I promise.”
I knew better than to take his word for it and but what choice did I have? I was in his world. Stretching out my neck and tightening my eyes, our lips connected and we kissed.
We broke it off and Jake looked…normal.
There was no reaction on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
He placed a hand on his lips and sighed in disappointment. “Let’s continue the game.”
The game continued and I lost again.
“Do you regret making that promise years ago?”
It took a while and a lot of contemplation before I nodded.
“I see,” he fiddled with the pictures in his hand and after another round, I lost.
“Then why did you do it?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you make that promise to me if you knew you were going to regret it?”
“I didn’t know this would happen.”
“So I am the bad guy?”
I look up at him and he leans forward.
“My life was full of darkness until you came.” He smiled. “The day you told me I have beautiful eyes made me change my mind about plugging out my eyes because my parents told me my eyes look like sh*t especially my mother.”
Slowly, something stabbed me in my heart and I immediately identified it.
It was pity.
He is trying to make me feel sorry for him!
“But I understand why you don’t want to be with me.”
My head snapped up in shock when I heard that. “You do?”
“Yeah. I was selfish, ignorant of your fears and stupid…” He chuckled. “I am definitely not boyfriend material aren’t I?”
I nodded my head and he chuckled.
“But I am not as bad as Agatha, am I darling?”
“Why do you say that?”
“At least I am not treating you badly as she did right?” he asked.
What the heck? I shoot him a glare “You are joking.”
“Hmm?”
“You kidnapped me, tied me up and now force me to see your point of view in everything you did to me. How on earth are you not as bad as her?”
“I am only doing this because you are too stubborn to accept the love I have for you,” he had a painful look on his face. “You forced me to do this! Despite how many times I have begged you to love me, you keep breaking my heart and tempting me to kill you! Why are you trying to be like her?”
“I was taken aback by his response because I never treated him badly.
Or did I?
“Besides,” he folded his arms and pouted. “Agatha would never take the fall for you like you did. Agatha would never care for you as much as you did and she would never love you as you loved her. While I see you as the love of my life she saw you as her slave willing to do anything for her and you call me lovesick.”
The pang of guilt in me increased but I shook it off. “Let’s skip the topic.”
The game continued and I won but I had nothing to question him about. With this in mind, he changed the rules of the game to him asking me questions if I won.
“Can we start over?”
My face was deadpan. “Why should we do that?”
He hummed and the game continued.
I won.
“Why didn’t you recall the promise you gave me?”
Shockingly, I didn’t have an answer to that. “I…I don’t know."
“You don’t know?”
I nod and he shakes his head.
“I don’t buy that Beloved. You have a good memory.” He fiddled with the picture in his hand and sighed. “Memories differ in the human mind especially in middle scholars but it doesn’t explain why you draw blank anytime I remind you of it. Did something happen to you during that year? Something traumatic?"
Thinking hard for a while made me slowly recall something. “Jake?”
“Yes Darling?”
“How old was I when I made that promise?”
He grinned. “If I could recall correctly, you were six years old and I was eight. A month after that I was sent to the military camp for boys.”
“Six?” I whispered to myself as the memories came flooding in. That day was the day father scolded me for losing my hair ribbon. What followed was my mother comforting me after I was scolded and me telling her about the new ‘friend’ I made.
But one thing stood out and that was the calendar in my room. The date read 29th March.
But my parents died on 29th March!
Then what year was that?
Head pounding painfully, I open my eyes and see his face.
“Are you alright?” he asked wiping away the tears. “You have been sobbing,”
Squinting my eyes I inhaled gulps of air as beads of sweat poured down my forehead. He hugged me.
“I am sorry,” he whispered as I shut my eyes. “It’s going to be okay,”
ns 18.68.41.175da2
