"Can we have a conversation?" Rachel murmured. His eyes flickered down to his empty bowl, and filthy spoon, before he nodded and allowed her to guide him away, towards the--Cabin 7? The room he spent the night in? He shoved his hands in his pockets and trailed after her.
Rachel secured the lock, and Aris felt like a....hostage. "What?" he snapped.
"I...." Rachel fiddled with her fingers. "Do you know why we're here? I mean, with the telepathy and all...I can tell when you're speaking even when your voice is not in my head, the concentration on your face. Is there anything else I should know?"
Aris froze in his spot. Did she....suspect something? Teresa! he said in his mind. I need your assistance. Rachel is asking why I sometimes look so concentrated.
Why are you such a state of panic? Teresa responded. He could sense her laughter. Just inform her that you're...concentrating. That's all.
Aris severed the connection. "I have no idea, sometimes I attempt to....concentrate on things. Figure out exactly why we are here, how to flee from this seemingly inescapable hell. I mean, eventually, we have to, don't we? Something will occur, in an attempt to drive us all out."
Rachel nodded, but seemed unconvinced. They sat there, enjoying the solace. Fear and remorse gripped at Aris, but he forced them away. He had no idea what to say, so he remained silent and pulled his feet towards his chest, and eventually, he drifted off.
He woke the next morning, feeling so much less troubled. Swinging his feet onto the floor, he sat at the edge of the bed, noticing Rachel was still cuddled up next to him. She seemed...innocent. Familiar, like a memory, dangling within his reach, waiting for him to grasp it. He slid his fingers in her hair, and sat back down. He wanted to tell her how she seemed familiar to him, how much he already adored her.
"Aris?" Rachel mumbled, flipping her body over ever so slightly. "What time is it?"
"Eight-thirty," he answered.
"Eight-thirty...." she murmured. "Go fetch some breakfast; I'll be right there."
Aris nodded and exited the room, closing the doors with a gentle click. He hadn't showered since the day he arrived here. For a moment, he wondered if there was a bathroom. Wandering around, he kept his eyes intent on all the wooden buildings. Eventually, he reached a decently sized portable trailer bathroom and stepped inside.
He scrubbed the filth off, there was no soap to use. Oh, well. Toweling off, he tossed the cloth into a wastebasket and hurriedly rushed to the kitchen. No one was there yet; his watch read five-o-clock. He prepared a bowl of cereal for the day and thought about the Maze.
The terrible, never-ending Maze. Was the Maze that complicated? He doubted it. There had to be something they were missing. He wolfed down the cereal, and hurriedly stepped towards the Maze. Rachel and Sonya packed some breakfast bars and they were on their way.
"Wall Eight today. Should be open." With that, Sonya vanished into the Maze.
Aris kept for any Shades and continued on. Fear and encouragement coursed through him, looking around. They continued to locate through through the Walls, firing at every and each Shade, before he froze momentarily. Something was peeking out of one of the Walls. He cautiously knelt down.
Aris? Rachel said. Something down there?
Aris nodded back at her, and she murmured something to Sonya, who bolted off towards his direction. Tentantively, he lifted the item, traced his fingers along the purplish lines, grasped it in his hand. He flipped it over to confirm it. Slid his knife across it and approached one.
"Hey! Don't get pricked!" Sonya and Rachel shrieked in unison, but he kept his knife directed it defensively and measured the length, the width, compared it with the item with his hand. He shot it with his knife, and the Shade fled, but the wing was still there.
It was a Shade's wing....with a code.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
