Aris was there, mouth agape. Rachel stepped up behind him. "She's lost her mind completely. We've never seen anything like before." She paused. 'Through they get pricked, we still keep them in the Cell. She's gone. We've got a task to do, anyway, inspect the Maze." She tugged him towards the Map Igloo, seating him down. "Did you figure out anything?"
"No, they do spell Spring or something of the sort. But they spell S, F, I, N, G, and that's not a term," Aris told her. "That's all I can say. Did you have breakfast?"
Rachel laughed, and seated herself down, a bowl of cereal in front of her. "Did you eat?"
"I did," Aris murmured.
"We've got much to examine," Rachel said with a slight chuckle. "Maybe even locate a deceased body, Christine's or something." Aris remained quiet. "Oh, well, let's go now." She escorted him back to the Map Igloo. Aris fetched a winter hat, sturdy boots, and several layered jackets, before barging into the Maze.
It felt like an eternity, sprinting through the Maze, the Walls rearranging themseleves again. Sonya continued to scrawl down notes, and Aris etched the letters into his papers as well. Six was open today, swapping with Eight....Five was swapping with Six. He kept a close eye on it.
"Oh, no," Rachel murmured. Aris averted his gaze to the ground. Gore-stained, filthy and torn, was Christine's shirt, and burlap sack "So, she wasn't nuts, she was discovering a way out." He lifted it up.
"Where is her body, though? If she's deceased?" Aris snatched the garment and examined it. Splotches of gore, so red, they were almost black-and-red. The burlap sack was full of moldy food, no weapon in sight. "Where is she? If she passed away, her body should be right beside--"
"No." Sonya finally severed his sentence and shook her head. "Her body was snatched away by the pods, where the Shades remain and they end their victims' lives somewhere. Let's just go." She strode off, and Aris adjusted the straps of his backpack and trailed after her.
***
Aris discovered nothing new by lunchtime. After wolfing down a sandwich, he decided on just returning home. Sonya and Rachel were in agreeance. "It has something to do with these letters," Rachel said, trudging back to the Spring. Aris nodded. "We have to analyze and discover its meaning and definitions.
Harriet scurried off to greet them. "So, did you discover anything?"
"No, except her shirt." Aris handed Christine's fabric to her. Harriet tossed it aside in disgust to another Icer who retrieved it and scurried off. "Anyway, there's nothing. I think we have to decode those letters, there has to be some definition to it. We have to start it now."
Aris, Rachel, and Sonya retreated to the corridor. Aris noticed there were a few girls staring down at the corridor. Near the Walls, there seemed to be a setup, and as he approached it, he saw banners, heartbreaking signs, and ribbons on the snow. Christine's memorial.
One of them proclaimed We miss you, Christine, now safe and secure in heaven. Aris almost snickered at the irony, she was deceased, not safe and secure. There were several weapons on the ground, along with identical burlap sacks he discovered. Scurrying off to the Map Igloo, he discovered a notepad and scrawled down a sentence, before retreating to the memorials. He flipped the sign upright and examined it.
On the behalf and memory of Christine, the Skater, we will discover a way out. ~Aris Jones
A few girls were watching him. One by one, they stepped forward, etching their signatures, along with his. Some had tears streaming down their faces. He backed away from the memorials of the dead and watched from a distance before he felt tears forming in his eyes, as he watched Harriet add the gory, filthy shirt to the memorial.
This time, he inspected the memorials. Next to hers, there were other memorials along the Walls. Several of them had ribbons, others had weapons near it, and others had nothing at all. A small statue represented a person, next to it, was the Ximena, and she must have passed away first.
Ximena, he thought, feeling strangely grief-stricken and connected to the grave. You're the first one, huh? What was your story? Your life.... He felt his throat close a bit, and swallowed hard. To his dismay, there were even more tombstones down the corridor.
That was when his determination set in. He had to locate a way out, and, ensure that most people lived. That they would soon be free of imprisonment.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
