5 Maya's disappearance

She had a minor headache that day, she sat up for a few moments trying to nurse the miseries of the sunny day. She looked around trying to make sense of where she was and how she ended up there. The morning was bright with the rays of the sun striking through the window panes of the unfamiliar room with the wall decorations being that of a rose flower. Everything in the room had a decoration on it from the blanket to the table to the floor. 'Where am I?' She asked herself in her thoughts and at that very moment, the memories of yesterday's events slowly started coming back to her. She remembered what Veronica had done to her and anger started forming in her heart. She felt betrayed and cheated.

She came out of her house to offer her friend comfort because she thought her friend needed her, never would she have imagined that her friend would do this to her. She was burning with rage, she was going to make her pay for this no matter what. Maya has never forgiven those who wrong her nor forgotten how they wronged her. 

She got up from the bed went to the door and tried to open it. To her luck the door was not locked, she left the room trying to find her way out of that place. Room after room, corridor after corridor and she still could not find a way out. The more she searched the more confused she became because all the rooms and corridors looked exactly alike with their decorations and setting. She was beginning to feel dizzy with all the searching she was doing. Her eyes could not discern what she had already seen and what she hasn't hence differentiated the rooms was becoming a problem. For an entire hour, she went around trying to find an exit to that place but all her efforts were futile.

Her heart began to tremble with fear when she failed to find her way out, with her shaking emotional voice she tried to call for help but her voice just echoed back at her. It completely hit her that she had no way of leaving that place and when she finally processed the situation the rose flower in every part of that place registered in her mind.

When she realized that she was in the hands of the red roses society she shuddered. Her body gave out as her trembling legs could not support her anymore, she dropped to the floor. Even the will of escaping from that place vanished from her body, she becomes pale and her body lost all color.

Her mind went blank, she lost track of how long she had sat there helpless of what to next and fell asleep. When she woke up she found herself in a dark forest surrounded by trees, she got up and looked around but there was little to no light at all so she couldn't make out anything no matter how hard she strained her eyes. Trees' boughs made everything dark and the branches swayed with the wind shedding shivers down her spine. She tried to be brave but with every step, she took her bravery dissolved into thin air.

It was suddenly by miraculous powers that she began seeing the ray of light in the distance. Her instincts urged her to run towards it, only to find a man with a candle in his right hand. She got paralyzed with fear on seeing his muscular body. His beard covered his whole face, leaving his eyes and ears as the only marks of human features. His body was covered in a red leather robe, and red gloves on his hands. Indeed, he was excitably spiteful. 

In a harsh husky voice, he said, " I am the gardener and you must be Maya, I have been expecting you." She shuddered in fear as she heard his voice. He got hold of her right hand then lifted her as if she were weightless. His breath made her forehead cold and sweat trickled down her cheeks. She trembled fearful as he carried her shoulder high, she was like a chameleon on a frail twig.

"What do you want from me ?" She managed to ask despite a voice inside her head cautioning her against it. He kept walking forward not even bothering to answer her. He walked for a while before reaching a secret garden in the middle of the forest. Maya was amazed at how beautiful the garden looked, it was full of well-tended rose flowers. Indeed the garden was a wonder and it stretches far wide than the eyes could see but no one in town even knew of its existence because no one ever came this deep into the forest behind the second mountain due to fear of being attacked by a mountain lion.

He dropped her on the ground without a care in the world. Maya yelped after being thrown to them as though she was a bag of grain. Even a bag of grain is treated more gently than that but she didn't dare to complain in fear that the scary-looking man who calls himself the gardener might make this beautiful garden her final resting place.

"To answer your question, you are a part of the second wish and this wish has to be accomplished by any means," he said and looked at Maya to confirm if she was paying attention to what he was saying. Maya mentally made note that the gardener's eyes were scary enough to frighten an eagle. She trembled with fear at the thought of what horrible deeds those poor eyes have had to witness their master do to look like that. 

"You will be the new gardener for the circle that will be formed. You should count yourself lucky and celebrate as you have been chosen to be a leader. From now on you will be the new gardener of the red circle. Six other people will be chosen and together you will be an arm of the red roses society as the red circle. He paused momentarily as if he was weighing the impact of his words. 

He took out a G- 3 riffle that has three rounds and pointed it at Maya's head, the poor girl froze when she saw the gun and fainted.