Aris couldn't rest that night. WICKED. What does that even mean? he thought. He blew out the light from the lantern. Sonya also discovered the M, A, E, Z, FHe knew not all, but a few letters from the term spelled maze. That could fit very well, but still....was perplexing.
We discovered the M, A, D, has to mean something, Rachel whispered through his head.
He rose to his feet, ignited a lantern and exited his room. The girls had conked out on two cots next to the kitchen, and he retrieved the keys and unbolted the door. He snatched a bowl, poured flakes into the container, then plopped down in a chair in the Map Igloo. As his eyes scanned the paper, his heart leaped out of his chest at the racket
"Wha--Christine! What are you doing in the Maze in the dead of night? You're not a Skater's, it's against the law to be out there!" someone shrieked. Rachel stepped in without knocking. "She's pricked! Hurry, use the Medicine!"
She peered up at him and brushed her lips briefly on his. He felt someone watching, and tilted his head ever so slightly. Sonya was there, glaring at them. "What? Is it time for Skater's time?" he murmured incoherently. He tugged himself away from Rachel, so close together, but Sonya had already closed the door with the expected slam
"Christine....she'd gone out in the dead of night and was pricked...." Rachel mumbled against his lips. He looked down at her, a flicker of lust passing over her eyes. "She might be going through the Transformation right now."
Yeah. Can you speak inside my head? He felt his heart thumping. Is she deceased or something?
Maybe, presumably. She isn't here for the Medicine. We injected it, but it was too...late.
"What is the Transformation?" he asked Rachel, fiddling with his fingers. He lifted his brows. "They turn into something cruel, inhuman?"
"No. They became a bit...wild after they experience some memories. Distant." Rachel shook her head, a slight chuckle exiting her lips. "Don't know what's gone in her head, she's not supposed be out there. I mean, she's a Skater, but not in the dead of night." Rachel spoke something attached to her collar. "Anyway, prepared for this?"
She escorted through the corridor, back to where he remained when he first arrived in the Spring. There were a few girls, screaming in the cells, gripping, their hollow eyes staring back at him. One of the girls reached out viciously, growling, at him. Some distant memory, a woman's tremor of hands--
He shut off the memory, whatever it was. He strode over, sweat pouring off his neck. Rachel glanced at him ."When those girls cool down, if they ever do,they tell us everything sometimes."
A thought sprouted in his mind, so absurd, he needed to banish it. He felt fear coursing through him. Don't think about that now, he reminded himself.
***
The next morning, he heard cries reaching the air. He sprinted down the corridor, his hair still not put up well and strode down the corridor. The female cries split the air, as he approached the Cell. A girl was stretched out on a cot inside the Cell, moaning softly. Christine. He wanted to visit her.
It's not her fault she was pricked, he thought. He stepped over a few logs, and sauntered in the direction of the Cell. The dark room had only a single lightbulb to illuminate it, casting a ghostly glow, and he stepped over the threshold of the room without a door. "Christine?"
"Christine?" he murmured softly again The girl lifted her head, then let out her hand land by her side. "You all right, there, girl?" he continued as if speaking to some injured animal. She whimpered softly. "Hey, hey, its--"
He was disrupted when the girl bolted up into a seating position and growled at him. Screaming, lashing out against the bars of the Cell, and he struggled back, gasping as he landed on the ground. She continued to cry out, startling him, as she lashed out her rage.
"No!" she shrieked. "No!"
She continued to cry out, screaming her head off, finally quieting to a whimper. Aris backed away, and then, adruptly, she thrust her hands through the bars and locked her fingers on his throat. He cried out, recoiling, but it was no use. Finally, Rachel materialized behind him.
"Hey, let go! Let go, Christine!"
"I can't!" she cried out. She flung herself at the Cell, before seemingly reaching out and unlatching it. Wrapping her hands wildly around him, she screamed. "He's not one of us! He deserves a death wish!" With that, she tore through the bars, and Aris leaped into a wall.
The girl continued to cry out. "Seize her!" Harriet commanded. The girl struggled against their iron grip, whimpering ahd shrieking inhumanly. Aris pressed his hands over his ears. "Banish her!" she commanded. The writhing girl seemed to grasp one last moment of sanity.
"I want to be out, into the Maze," she whispered. Aris's jaw landed on the floor, why would she want to do that? "I want to, let the hell go! Please, I never belonged here, never was one of you. I want to go....home!" Her pleas echoed through the air, and they continued to drag her through the thick snow and frozen lawn.
"Your wish is granted--" Harriet snarled, but before she could do anything else, Christine tore out of her grip and sprinted for the Maze. Every girl stepped up, seeming curious of what would occur. The Walls were beginning to shut for the night, and with that, she flung herself at the tiny gap the Walls formed.
She bolted through the Maze.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
