by Jemma Chase
“This is, officially, the worst trip we’ve ever taken.”
“Maybe it’ll get better. You used to like haunted houses.”
“Because you’d hold me when I was scared.”
I grinned and pulled her closer to me. “Then I’ll hold you again now.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders again. She liked it and it made it easier for me to keep her focused on going forward, not back. There was a tree in front of us, but I was pretty sure it was painted on the wall, just painted really well. “Look, I think that’s a door.”
Susan stared at the tree. “Maybe. Is that knothole the doorknob?”
“You really are the smartest woman, you know that?”
She smiled at me and reached for it. It turned and we both breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened.
The room we entered looked like a storage closet, albeit a large one. “Really?” Susan said. “Oh well, I guess it’s better than hills that cry.”
“True enough.” I hoped she wouldn’t ask to look inside the boxes.
“You know, that Guide said we’d find maps if we looked. I didn’t think to do it before, but do you think there’s a map hidden here somewhere?”
I reached over to the box nearest me. “Not hidden.” I handed her the map.
“Oh, wow. That’s great!” Susan opened it eagerly. She was back to feeling like she had a handle on the situation. Good.
She didn’t have time to read it, however, because another scream sounded. This one was followed by a lot of laughter and applause.
“Who sees or hears someone scream and then laughs and claps?” Susan sounded annoyed, which was better than nervous or scared. Having the map in hand really did wonders for her state of mind.
“Maybe there’s a show going on. It would explain all the weird things we’ve heard.”
“You mean like we’ll get to the end of this maze and there will be a play for us to watch, like a reward for putting up with this craziness?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I’d like to see that, Matt, I really would.” Susan looked around. “You know, I only see one door in this room, the one we came through.”
I opened it. The outdoors room was on the other side. “You want to go back in there?”
“Never again if I can help it.” Susan consulted her map. “I think that room is the Conservatory. I didn’t see a lot of plants but it fits, size-wise, and I don’t see any other rooms listed.”
“Listed? What kind of map is that?”
“The less than helpful kind. It lists the rooms, and how many doors are in them, and which room each door leads to. So, the Conservatory had a lot of doors, lucky us. However…”
“However?”
“There’s one called Storage. That’s clearly where we are. So, Storage has two doors. One that leads to the Conservatory and one that leads to…the Stage.”
“See? Maybe I’m right. Let’s keep on looking. Maybe we can get to the play before it’s all over.”
We tapped on all the walls, but none of them sounded hollow and there were no doors. Susan looked up. “I don’t see anything on this ceiling, but do you think we’re supposed to knock through it?”
“Maybe. Let’s move these boxes first, just in case.”
We started lifting and shoving. “They’re light, at least.” Susan shoved a set of boxes out of the way. One fell. It remained closed, thankfully. She stamped on the ground. “Nothing.”
“Why is there a little rug here?” I moved the boxes off the patch of carpet and Susan pulled it up.
“Jackpot!” There was a trapdoor.
I pulled it up. It was very dark inside. Blacker than black dark. The kind of dark that says you’re never going to see light again. There was also a stepladder leading down. It wouldn’t let two go side-by-side.
Susan gulped. “You first or me?”
“Me. I’m the man, you’re my wife. Just follow right after me, and don’t step on my fingers.”
She gave a shaky laugh, folded the map up, and tucked it into her bosom. I started down. Once my head was all she could see, Susan got onto the ladder, too.
We were in total blackness. The trapdoor was still open, but it seemed farther away than it should, like a tiny patch of light we’d never reach again. “Matt? You still there?” Susan whispered.
“Yeah. Haven’t hit bottom yet.”
We went down ninety-nine steps by my count. I’d been expecting thirty-three, but the boss liked to have his jokes. Next time I did this, it might be a hundred and thirty-two or even a hundred and ninety-eight. One set of thirty-three for each millennia.
Finally my foot hit what felt like floor. “I think we’re there. Hang on, let me be sure.”
“Don’t let go of the ladder!”
“I won’t.” With one hand holding tight to the side of the ladder, I felt around with my foot. There was certainly enough room for two to stand here. “Come on down.”
I kept my hand out so I could feel her when she reached the floor. As she stepped off the last rung of the ladder, I pulled her to me. “I can’t tell what else is in here.” I wrapped my arm around her again. “I think we want to move slowly and stay close together.”
I wasn’t happy with our location. This was a game, but it was also a test, and any one of us could fail. If I’d have had a choice, I’d have gone back to the Conservatory rather than down in here, but I’d have had to give Susan an explanation and that wasn’t in the rules of the game. Besides, any explanation I could give would only terrify her more, not less.
“No argument from me, Matt. At all.” Susan put her arm around my waist. She was shivering.
Now that we were together I could let go of the ladder and touch the wall. We inched along it to our right, and I tested every step carefully. I’d never been in this room before, but I’d heard the rumors. In this room, one wrong step and we’d spend the rest of existence in this darkness, only we wouldn’t be together.
My left foot slipped, just a little, and I shoved us both closer to the wall. I took a deep breath and kept moving, even more slowly. After what seemed like an eternity, I felt an opening. There was still floor, but no more wall.
We rounded this corner in the same way – inching our way. Happily it was a corner, not a drop off into nothingness.
“Do you see something?” Susan asked. “Like a little white fluttering, way off in the distance?”
“Maybe.”
We got closer. Susan was right, there was definitely something small and white fluttering in front of us, though it was still far off. Susan tried to hurry, but I held her tightly. Just because we could see an exit didn’t mean we could reach it.
It took a few more minutes, and then we were in light. Like the hallways we’d been in, it wasn’t a lot of light, but after the total darkness it seemed bright. There was a curtain in front of us.
We looked at each other. Susan shrugged. We pushed the curtain aside.
The stage we stepped out on was empty. Well, empty of people. There were a lot of props hanging from the catwalks.
“Are those supposed to be angels, devils, and demons?” Susan asked as she looked around.
“Looks like it. So much for our play idea, though.” The seating was a half-and-half, where the main aisle went down the middle of the room and aligned with the middle of the stage. There were plenty of seats, but no one was in them. “It’s a weird setup anyway. Who has their theater aisle in the middle?”
“It’s not pitch black, I’m okay with it.” Susan sat down at the edge of the stage and pulled out her map. “Okay, the Stage has two other doors. One leads to the Conservatory. That’s a popular spot.”
“Well, you said it had a lot of doors.”
“True. The other leads to, get this, the Maze.”
“I thought we were in the maze.”
“Me too, but I guess it’s an official maze.” Susan looked at me. “I think I hate your boss.”
I shrugged. “He’s eccent
ric, I’ll give you that.”
She looked around the room. “I don’t want to go back to the Conservatory, and I don’t want to go back into total darkness.”
“I only see one door.” I pointed to the other end of the room. The single door lined up with the center aisle.
“That means the other door is hidden. And I’ll bet it’s another walk in the darkness. Let’s take the one in front of us, regardless of where it leads.”
I jumped down off the stage and lifted her off by her waist. Susan giggled and I kissed her. “See? We can have fun even in the middle of a weird maze.”
She hugged me. “True enough.”
We were about to walk up the aisle when we heard voices. “I think they’re coming from behind the curtain, the other side from where we came.”
“At least they’re not screaming or crying.”
They were arguing. “I told you, stop worrying, stop crying, stop whining.” I didn’t need to see him to recognize the voice – it was Michael.
He strode on stage, Oriana stumbling behind him. He wasn’t holding onto her. Her face was streaked with tears and her hair was a mess.
“Oh, you’re here,” Michael said. “Where did you come from?”
“Storage,” Susan said. “Via a really long, dark, horrible path.”
“Us too,” Oriana said, sniffling. “But we weren’t in a storage room.”
“Were you the one screaming earlier?” Susan asked.
Oriana shook her head. “I was too scared to scream. I hate this place.”
“Some people would appreciate this kind of entertainment being created specifically for them,” Michael said.
“Who in the hell would that be?” Carla asked as she came out from behind the curtain, Johnny right behind her. “This is the craziest place I’ve ever been, and I’ve been all over the world.”
“She’s a little freaked out,” Johnny said. “Sorry.”
“Who can blame her?” Oriana muttered.
“Were you all in the Conservatory?” Susan asked.
“Yes,” Michael replied.
“If you mean that weird looks like it’s open air but isn’t place with the crying hills, yes,” Carla answered.
“You’re reading the map right, hon,” I said quietly. “Not that I ever had a doubt.”
Susan smiled proudly. “Then let’s head for the Maze.”
“We’re in the maze,” Michael said with disdain. I really didn’t like him.
“No,” I said before Susan could reply. “This is a special maze within the larger maze. We have a map.”
Michael rolled his eyes, but he got down off the stage. Johnny jumped down like I had and helped Carla. Then he helped Oriana. Carla didn’t seem to care. Probably because she was freaked out. Apparently when she was freaked out Carla got angry.
We walked up the aisle. As we reached the door Susan pointed. “Look.” There was a folder bin attached to the wall with “MAPS” emblazoned on it. Susan took one.
“We have a map,” I pointed out.
She opened it. “Oooh, this is a different map. This one is for the Maze specifically.”
The other women grabbed copies as well.
Thusly armed, I opened the door and we all stepped through.
“More doors,” Carla said flatly. “Goody.”
“Not really doors,” Johnny said. “More like openings.”
I agreed with him – there were four openings in front of us, but none had an actual door. The two on either side turned immediately right or left, depending. The two in the middle went farther in, then one turned right and the other left.
The room was large; it felt larger than the Conservatory. The maze walls were high, close to the ceiling. There was no way to get over a wall. The walls looked solid; there was probably no way to break through one, either.
“Maze starting points.” Susan was reading the new map, old map tucked back into her bosom. “This is set up like a real English hedge maze. The map has it all laid out. This should be fun, actually.”
I refrained from mentioning what could hide in a giant hedge.
“Fun is going to a lovely day spa,” Oriana said. “Not this.”
“Maybe there will be a spa at the end,” Susan said encouragingly.
“Maybe there will be more maze crap at the end,” Carla said. She heaved a sigh. “But, as far as I can tell, we’re stuck going through this.”
“I’m hungry,” Oriana said quietly. “And thirsty.”
The rest of us, now that it was mentioned, shared that we could use some food and water, too. But there wasn’t any.
“I say again, some host,” Carla snapped. “This is the prettiest looking dump I’ve ever had the displeasure of visiting.”
Johnny shrugged. “Let’s look for the way out, and then maybe there will be a sumptuous feast and wine aplenty when we exit.”
Oriana managed a little smile. Carla snorted. Johnny shook his head, but offered an arm to each of them. “Ladies, shall we?”
“Michael?” Oriana asked timidly.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, we’ll travel along with them for a while.” Oriana grabbed Johnny’s arm quickly. After her trip through the dark without Michael holding onto her, I couldn’t blame her.
“We’ll go it alone,” I said quickly.
“You’re sure?” Johnny sounded disappointed.
“Positive.” I could have stood spending time with Johnny and Oriana. But Carla was close to dancing on my last nerve and it had been a long time since I’d wanted to hit someone as much as I wanted to punch Michael in the face. And there was no way any employee would allow themselves to be separated from their companion. Not here.
The others grumbled for a bit, then Carla, who was looking at her map, chose a direction and they headed off. We could hear them bickering for quite a while.
“You don’t work with Michael, do you?” Susan, who was still studying our map, asked.
“No. Thankfully.”
“Yeah, I don’t like him much, either. You know, Matt, this maze doesn’t seem to actually have an end. I think it’s more like a…trap.”
“Oh, if you work at it, you’ll find your way out.” The voice came from behind us. Even though I recognized it, I jumped just like Susan did.
We turned to see the Guide standing there. “Is it possible to get some water or a snack?” Susan asked. “We’ve been doing this so-called game for hours.”
“It hasn’t been as long as it seems to you,” the Guide said. “Time has a way of…getting tangled up in mazes.”
“I’ll bet.” Susan sighed. “Water? Any chance of that?”
The Guide frowned. “I’m sorry, but there is no food or beverage allowed inside the maze.”
“Of course there isn’t.” Susan shook herself. “Now I sound like Carla. Okay, fine. Any suggestions for how we get out of this or the best way to go? Based on this map, there are destination points, but none of them lead to an actual exit.”
“There are doorways of all kinds in here,” the Guide said as he turned away. “Each find their own.”
Carla and her group had gone through the leftmost entrance. The Guide went through the middle-right one.
“So, middle left or far right?” I asked Susan.
She grimaced. “Not sure really. I kind of wish I knew which way Helen and William picked.”
“What makes you think they were here already?”
“No idea. You’re right. For all we know, they went a different way completely and are nowhere near here.”
“I wish,” William said as he and Helen walked out of the middle-left path. “Dead end at every turn.” He sighed. “Honey, do we have to go back in?”
“The Stage is behind us,” Susan said. “But I think the paths out of it are both pretty horrible.”
Helen laughed. It was a tinkling sound most women couldn’t manage but all women tried for. A laugh that went right into a man’s gut and twirled around and down into his groin. “Oh, Wil
liam, we’ll be just fine.”
“I don’t want to take you on some horrible path,” he said protectively. “Maybe we should go back in there.”
Helen smiled. “Let’s rest here for a bit and then decide.”
“No water or food,” Susan said.
“We’ll make do, honey,” Helen replied. “I’d try the right-most path. Maybe it’ll be good for you.”
I took Susan’s hand. “Thanks for the tip.”
“See you on the other side,” Helen called as we entered the Maze.
This path was fairly simple to follow for quite a while. We turned frequently, enough that it was hard to remember which was the way we were supposedly heading. But it was all turns, no forks, no decisions.
Of course, it couldn’t last. We finally came to a three-way intersection. “Right, left, or straight?” I asked Susan, who had kept track of every step on her map.
“Straight. I think. The map shows that they all lead back on each other.”
“One way’s as good as another if it all leads to nowhere.”
“So true, Mister Philosopher.”
We were instantly faced with turn options. We headed back and checked the other two paths – both also had intersections almost immediately.
“None of these show on the map,” Susan said worriedly.
“Then we just give it a shot and see where we end up.”
We went back to the middle path and started picking directions at random. I’d pick one, then Susan, then me, and so on. The intersections were random – sometimes we’d walk a few paces and hit a new intersection, other times we’d go for a good few yards before we had to choose where to turn.
We were moving quickly, and moved faster as we went on. Not out of excitement or even impatience. There were noises coming from behind many of the walls. Snarling, sobbing, scratching, moaning. Some of the noises sounded human. Some didn’t.
“This place is horrible,” Susan said. “I don’t see any way that the sounds could be piped in from anywhere else other than inside the walls.”
We knocked on the walls, but no one knocked back. In some cases, our knocking made the noises go away. In others, the noises got louder. And sounded closer.