My Dream Maze

CHAPTER FOUR

Wandering the white expanse, nothing looks different in the least. The only thing that they all know for sure is that they are farther and farther away from what they know, and closer and closer to something entirely unknown. 

"Did you hear that?" Kendra whispers. 

Steve didn't, but now he is more aware, trying to heighten his hearing.

Then he hear's it. 

"There's only one way out." A harsh voice hisses in his ear. He starts, whipping his head around. He see's no one there, but an unsettling feeling passes over him. 

"You heard it, didn't you?" Kendra whispers again.

"Yeah." He replies.

"Only one has ever made it out. That's how you got the key. The other's turned."

Steve hears a soft sniffling and see's that now Kayla is the one who is crying. 

"It's okay. We're going to make it out." Hunter coo's. 

But what if we don't? Steve thinks to himself just as he see's a small prick of color that only get's bigger as they get closer. The color has grown so that now they all see is a doorway that is a chipped brown. Beyond that there is a dirt floor, like what there was before they entered this place, with big tall walls of ivy that stretch up about ten feet, starting at the doorway, the same width as it, enough for two at a time to walk through. 

"Here we go." Steve mumbles.

***

Slowly Steve and Kendra take the lead, Kendra reluctantly releasing her sister's hand. They exit the fog and enter into the new room for what would appear to be a maze. The room is instantly humid, the ivy leaves adding to the claustrophobic feeling. A golden light is cast around the maze by torches hung five feet up, each one twelve feet apart. It's like someone had been expecting them the whole time. 

Steve looks around, looking up in the process. The ceiling of the place is rocky, as if the interior of a cave. He squeezes Kendra's hand, and she presses his back in return, and they continue walking down the long corridor until they reach the end that comes to a point with the option to turn either left or right. They slow down until they come to a complete stop, and Steve glances back at Hunter and Kayla. 

"Right or left?" Steve asks.

"I don't know." Hunter replies. "How about you make the choice? If we come to a dead end, then we just go the other way, right?"

Steve nod's. Continuing the lead, he turns left, the lights seeming to dim until its almost too dark to see. He takes his flashlight out of his back pocket and turns it on. The others do the same, seeming to follow his every move since they got down here. The light sets a path for them, until their light, too, dims until it is gone. They all stop short, their breathing getting heavier, as if the air around them tightened around their lungs. Scratching sounds echo down the corridor, turning Steve's stomach. He feel's Kendra's other hand grab his upper arm and then bury her face in his shoulder. His arms wrap around her instinctively, listening for any other sounds, but the same scratching continues down ahead of them, approaching the group.

"Okay guy's. Other way." Steve whispers, not wanting whatever is making the scratching noises to notice them, slowly turning his and Kendra's bodies around. 

The group slowly walks unsure steps in the darkness, Steve and Kendra occasionally bumping into Hunter and Kayla's back's, the sound growing steadily closer. Now they are finally near where they began, lights steadily appearing before them.

They all let out a sigh in unison, relief filling them all. Steve can feel a nervous laugh bubbling up inside him from the situation, that is cut short by a deafening screeching. Steve looks around just in time to yell at them to duck just when a small creature fly's over their heads, a whistling sound reverberating. It lands on all fours just ten feet ahead of them. The creature is small, about two feet tall, with webbed hands and feet, with slight human features, except where its nose should be are just two slits. Short, black hair sits on top of its head, while spikes, with a green hue to them, poke out of the creatures spine. The only thing that resembles clothing is a small lion cloth that hangs around the thing's hips. It looks at them with giant black eyes that resemble orbs, and hisses, sharp teeth showing just how menacing it is.   

It crawls back and forth, eyeing them. It stops after about a minute, then looks as if it's going to turn around and leave them, but does just the opposite, jumping up into the air towards them screaming as it does so, throwing itself to Kayla, but, at the last second, Hunter jumps in front of her, creature landing on his chest with a thump. He lets out a surprised breath, then lifts up his arms and try's to push the creature off of him, but it doesn't seem to notice his attempts, opening it's mouth, and then burying it's razor-sharp teeth into his neck. Hunter let's out a cry, trying as he may to get the thing off of him.

Acting out of desperation, Steve grabs the only thing that he has on him; his flashlight. He pulls it out and attacks the creature with it, hitting it's left eye. It let's out a painful squeal and releases Hunter, and jumps off of him, hissing at them before climbing like a monkey into the ivy walls.

Hunter sinks to the ground, holding his neck. Kayla has one arm around his back, keeping him in a sitting position. Steve rips off a sleeve of his shirt, and bundles up the blue material, removing Hunter's hand to press it to his wound.

"We can't stay here. If we do, than what's going to happen to him?" Kayla say's, looking up at Steve, desperation in her eye's. "We have to at least go back in there." She points to the doorway where the white mist seeps out. "I know that we have to keep going, but what's going to happen if we do? We gotta-"

The door shut's loudly, startling them all.

"Obviously we can't." Steve say's, matter of factly. "We keep going."

Kayla has tears in her eye's. "But-"

"Hey," It's Hunter. He lifts the hand that isn't holding the cloth to his neck, and places it on her cheek. "Hey, it's okay." He smiles. "That clearly was a dead end." He tries to joke, but none of them laugh, and his smile fades almost immediately.