“Your dad tried to kill me with this,” Pumpkinface growled, shifting his head from side to side as he stepped closer and closer to Kayden. He sprinted the feet between them, planting a foot on Kayden’s calf and bearing down. Kayden grimaced, trying to yank his leg loose.
“Get off me!”
Pumpkinface laughed under his mask.
“Maybe you can do better. At least this’ll make it a little more sportsman-like of me,” the masked man said. He extended his gun-wielding hand and abruptly tossed the weapon off toward the door. It clattered to the concrete, sliding to a stop only a few feet past Kayden, a mere two yards from the exit. "It's not like you'll actually get it. Oh, and I cut your mom’s head off. I was going to bring it to show you, but I can only carry so much."
With Kayden’s eyes on the gun and the anger spouting up his spine, the man made his move, leaping and bringing his body down on top of Kayden. The knife swung through the air. Catching the sudden movement at the edge of his vision, Kayden flung his face around just in time to see the blade stab into his shoulder.
He screamed, instinctively raising his hands and pushing back against the man, one hand sprawled against the pumpkin face. His fingers searched for any vulnerability, but the mask was sealed tight. The eerie green glow shone from the mask, basking Kayden in a swirl of green.
Pumpkinface rose from his crouch, freeing his face from the boy’s grasp, and bore his eyes down on Kayden. He tilted his head to the right and then back to the left as he planted his full weight on Kayden's body, pinning him to the ground. Kayden let his mouth hang open as he gasped, fear flooding every part of his being as the pain rushed up his shoulder. He struggled to escape Pumpkinface’s iron grip.
“You’re not going anywhere, boy!” he rumbled into Kayden’s face.
Kayden thrashed, trying to knock the man off balance, but it was useless. The more the knife dug into his shoulder, the more pain jolted up his side, and the less movement he managed to get from the limb. As his resolve began to break down, a thought hit Kayden. It would hurt like hell, but it might just give him a chance. He had to try.
Kayden let his left hand let go of the man, as the knife continued to wedge between bone and skin. Free, he reached down to his hip and found the metallic head of the nail embedded in his side. Keeping his eyes bound to Pumpkinface’s green glows, he gripped the nail head between his fingers and clenched his teeth. He took in a deep breath and yanked as hard and quickly as he could manage.
Pumpkinface jerked to the side, not sure what had just happened. Then Kayden swung the nail up and jabbed it into the freak’s neck. Pumpkinface jerked his hand back, reeling the knife out of Kayden's shoulder. His hands rushed to the nail in his neck, flipping his body of off Kayden. Kayden flipped over and jumped to his feet.
A streak of pain jumped up his right leg and his body flailed back to the ground. He caught himself in time to keep his face from smacking against the concrete. Groaning, he twisted just enough to check his leg where the pain had come from. His eyes found the deep cut under his calf, it was at least half-an-inch deep, sanguine liquid coating the leg below it and dripping on the floor. He reached down to touch it instinctively, but he reeled back as the touch sent another agonizing pulse up his side. In the corner of his vision he saw Pumpkinface staring at him, holding his neck, assessing him.
“Go away!” Kayden yelled aimlessly between sobs. “Leave me alone!”
He ignored the boy. Instead, body on the ground, he raised the nail gun in his left hand and pointed it at Kayden.
“Now it’s your turn, you fucking little bitch,” growled Pumpkinface as he jerked forward, daring to let go of his neck long enough to get to his feet. Blood flooded down his neck.
On his ass, Kayden drug himself backward as quick as could manage, attempting to lift his body off the ground with his hands and one good leg, trying not to disturb the new wound. Red and orange flashed across his vision. He inched back as Pumpkinface stole a foot to his every inch.
“Go away!” Kayden tried again. “Go to hell, you freak!”
There was no emotion on the pumpkin mask as the man’s feet landed a step away from Kayden and then his other foot stomped down onto Kayden’s injured leg, slamming the open cut against the concrete.
Kayden shrieked as the foot grinded his calf from side to side on the rough concrete, opening and stretching the wound, grating the fresh muscle against the dirty floor. Blood smeared across the floor and Kayden moaned with each movement of the man’s foot.
“Look at me!” Pumpkinface growled, the words more difficult to speak that just minutes ago, but Kayden refused. “Fucking look at me!”
When Kayden didn’t listen, he lifted his foot and brought it back down, causing the cut to widen as it smashed against the ground again. Then he threw the nail gun over his shoulder and reached his fingers up to the neck of his mask and lifted, his other hand still grasping the nail in his neck. Kayden’s eyes shot to the man, curiosity baiting his attention. The mask lifted. Kayden gasped. Why had he not guessed?
It was Jasper; his empty green eyes stared back at Kayden as he tossed the pumpkin mask to the floor. His broad shoulders seemed less menacing now, but Kayden knew who he was, what he was. A monster in the maze.
“You should be proud,” Jasper told him. “You’re going to be the last to die. Unfortunately, that means it’s going to be the most painful, but you lasted the longest. I think I’ll display your body right at the entrance.”
“You sick freak!” Kayden blurted. He tried to squirm out from under Jasper, but as soon as he slipped free he knew it would only be a momentary reprieve.
"Do you want to know why?" Jasper asked, a stoic smile over his lips.
Kayden didn't answer. It didn't matter, knowing wouldn't change anything. His lips trembled as his entire body shook, wracked with pain, fear and grief.
"It's simple," Jasper told him, the edges of his lips rising under his green eyes. "Because I can."
The man was crazy, his mind lost to some demented world.
Kayden flipped onto his stomach and began to crawl on all fours, trying to focus on the need to escape, adrenaline blocking the pain coming from his leg. He slapped his palms onto the concrete and pulled himself forward, using his uninjured leg to push his body forward. He imagined the trail of blood that he’d be leaving, the trail that some unsuspecting person would soon think was just a trail of paint made to look like blood, unless he escaped.
Suddenly, something cold and metallic stabbed into Kayden’s side, glancing his waist, barely missing a fatal blow to his midsection. Kayden flinched to the right as Jasper had to rebound to hold his neck. He drug himself forward a few more feet, as calm footsteps followed along. Jasper was in no hurry, and it occurred to Kayden that there was nothing he could do.
I’m going to die here.
A new tear broke down his cheek. Why? Why is this happening? But there was no answer. It was simple, random, evil. A mad man who got his kicks off some bloody fetish.
In the edge of his sight, Kayden caught Jasper’s feet as they stopped. He went to turn, to see why Jasper had stopped. The man knelt down to his knees and before Kayden could see what he was doing, the cold steel of the knife pierced into his left arm just below his shoulder, into the same wound the man had created just moments ago.
Kayden wailed. “Please stop, just let me go.”
“Let you go?” Jasper questioned, his voice deep, but nothing like it had been within the mask. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I promise, I won’t say a thing,” Kayden begged, hoping that something in this man’s mental state would make him susceptible to his lies.
“You do think I’m stupid, don’t you?” Jasper asked. “Even if you wouldn’t say anything, I’d prefer to keep you here. I like my trophies.”
Before Kayden could utter another word, Jasper dug the knife deeper into Kayden’s arm, severing a tendon in his shoulder and forcing the knife out the other side. Kayden screamed as
the blood spat from his arm. Jasper was not deterred.
He reeled back on the knife, ripping the thin layer of skin on Kayden’s upper arm from his body and tearing the tightened bicep from its place. Blood poured from his shoulder, pooling on the ground, as the meat gripped to the blade. As the blade came back down and met with hard bone, Jasper began to hack at the dense matter. Kayden felt it begin to crack under the immense pressure of each blow. He tried to move but he couldn’t.
“Please!” Kayden cried. It was useless, but he had to say something. The pain was too intense, bursting up his shoulder and exploding in his brain.
Finally the bone broke, and only the muscle under his arm kept the limb attached. Jasper got back to his feet, then reached down and gripped his fingers around the wrist of Kayden’s partially severed arm, planting his foot on Kayden's chest.
“What are you doing?” Kayden pleaded.
Jasper grinned wickedly and succinctly, “I’m taking your arm.”
“Wh—“ Kayden’s question was cut off by a pain unlike anything he’d ever felt as Jasper wrenched at his arm, tugging against the remaining muscle and flesh that tethered it to Kayden's body.
“Stop! Please!” Kayden screamed between each throb of pain up his arm and spine, placing every ounce of being he had left inside into his pleas.
“Shut up, you little pussy!” Jasper yelled back, annoyed.
He jerked Kayden’s arm again, twisting it back and forth. The meat and flesh screamed in agony as the muscle began to rip. Kayden clenched his teeth and looked away, fixing his eyes away from Jasper and his arm. Pain blossomed in Kayden’s head as the last fiber and sinew snapped and his arm ripped from his body. His eyes shot open in pain.
He didn’t think in that moment that he’d ever feel hope again, but there it was, staring right back at him. The barrel of his dad’s 9mm, and a sudden sense of euphoria, a detachment from all that was happening around him. A sudden rush of hope flushed through his body and Kayden slung out his remaining arm, wrapping his fingers around the barrel. He didn’t care if Jasper saw him, he just needed one chance. He spun the gun around and grasped the small stock of the compact weapon.
“What are…” Jasper sounded confused, Kayden's severed arm dangling in his grasp. Kayden didn't even notice the limb, or the grisly tattered flesh where countless crimson beads fell and splattered his chest.
Kayden threw himself onto his back, feeling the pain surge through his body as the stub of his shoulder ground against concrete. He drew on everything his dad had taught him at the range in Charlotte from the time he was in elementary school. It all streamed through his mind in less than a second.
Finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. Don’t look at the crosshairs, look past them, at the target.
He found Jasper in his sights, his sea green eyes awestruck.
Release the safety.
Kayden flipped the safety lever and put his finger on the trigger.
Fire away.
He pulled the trigger. The boom was deafening in the enclosed space and for a second the flash at the end of the barrel challenged the strobe lights for dominance. Kayden saw the bullet find its home in Jasper’s chest, just below his neck, as a splat of blood soaked his chest and ejected out of Jasper’s back. Kayden pulled the trigger again, and again. Bullets flew, riddling Jasper’s body. He jerked violently, his eyes wide and scared. He lugged backward, teetering to the right and then the left, his eyes fluttering in bewilderment.
“How?” Jasper stuttered as blood slurped out of his mouth. “You?”
The man’s green eyes went blank and his body slumped to the ground with a thud.
Kayden let his hand drop, slapping the metal casing of the pistol on the ground. The lights continued to flash, but there was no more movement. Kayden took in a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. His whole body shook, shivering as the adrenaline worked its way through his veins. Finally, he loosened his grip on the pistol, but refused to let it go. He shuddered under the pain.
I’m alive.
He pushed himself up on his good elbow, working to ignore the pain, grunting as each movement sent another jolt through his spine.
I’ve got to get out of here.
Kayden looked around him, at all the mayhem. The flashing lights, the blood-splattered wood, Jasper’s dead body, the thought of his mom and dad’s lifeless forms somewhere deep in the maze. He wanted to find them, to stay there with them forever, but he knew he had to get out, he had to survive.
“I love you, Mom,” he said into the flashing lights. “I love you, Dad. I’m so sorry.”
As he broke down in tears, Kayden reluctantly slid his body across the concrete, his blood painting the floor, ragged flesh scraping the ground. At the exit, he reached up and tried the handle. Locked.
“Dammit!” he muttered.
He eyed the gun in his hand, and his eyebrows rose. He looked at the door handle, aimed the pistol at it and fired. Metal and wood splintered and burst as the door swung open, bathing Kayden’s face in cool air and gentle rays of sunlight.
He squinted, adjusting his eyes to the outside glare. A car flew by on the small country road just ten yards around the corner.
I’ve got to get to the road.
Kayden reached up with his remaining arm and gripped the splintered door frame. He pressed his body against the frame and struggled to drag himself to his feet. He let his eyes stray to the bloody stump where his left arm had once hung. He swore he could feel the limb even though his eyes confirmed it was gone, nothing more than tattered strings of muscle and flesh. His body shook.
He stumbled forward, almost crashing to the gravel when his right foot found purchase on the ground, sending an intolerable jolt of pain up his side from the wound in his hip. Instead, Kayden slapped against the wooden frame of the warehouse, the bloody stump scraping against rough boards as he tried to keep his foot up. He looked down. Blood flowed from the gaping slice on his leg and stump by his shoulder.
Move, Kayden!
Kayden screamed, willing himself forward. He forced his foot down, bearing the pain that shot up his side and yelling a string of curses as a blood trail formed along the wall. He slid forward, but stopped at the corner. His head spun at the massive loss of blood. He struggled to steady himself, fixing his weak gaze on the road a few yards away.
Trying to ignore the pain, he shook his head and balanced himself. He found the Taurus out front along with the truck and other sedan. They were of no use to him, he didn’t have the keys and didn’t have a clue how to hotwire a car. He fixed his eyes on the road again and steeled himself against the pain as the roar of an engine in the distance found his ears. He took in a deep breath and pushed himself around the corner, leaving the support of the wall. Kayden barreled forward, gravel crunching under his feet.
But the pain was too much. Before he could make it three steps, his leg couldn’t take anymore and his body collapsed, slamming hard against the gravel into a roll. His body twisted and bounced along the rock-filled parking lot.
“Fuck!” he groaned when his body finally came to a stop only three feet from the paved blacktop.
The whir of the car’s engine was getting closer by the second. Kayden grunted, digging his fingers into the gravel and drug himself toward the road. Only another foot. He used his good leg to push his body another few inches. The sound grew louder as a burnt orange Camaro careened around the corner from behind a hedge of nearly leafless trees, its engine blaring.
“Stop!” Kayden screamed, his voice weak and quiet. He shoved forward one more time, throwing his body onto the blacktop, into the path of the car. He waved his remaining arm in the air, frantically waving down the driver.
Tires screeched as the car neared, fishtailing to a halt barely a full car-length from Kayden’s torn body. The door clicked open and feet thudded against the pavement.
I’m going to make it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jordon Greene is the Awar
d-Winning & Amazon Bestselling Horror Author of To Watch You Bleed and They'll Call It Treason. He is a full stack web developer for the nation’s largest privately owned shoe retailer and a graduate of UNC Charlotte. Jordon spends his time building web applications, attempting to sing along to his favorite rock songs, driving way too fast, and reading. He lives in Concord, NC just close enough and just far enough away from Charlotte.
Visit Jordon Online
www.JordonGreene.com
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The Maze Page 5