Chapter 15. IN THE MAZE

Alexa's pov

I glimpsed around the unfamiliar surrounding, wondering where we were. We had just landed on the ground from the living world, and it was already dark. This was not the dense forest we strolled through when crossing over. It was a little colder. Everyone else looked puzzled, just as I was.

"Where are we? This does not look like the land of the trapped souls." Jona spoke.

"No idea," I said softly, then turned to Billy.

"Why are you looking at me? I don't know what this place is." Billy responded to my questioning glance.

"You know everything about ghosts, side B.....you name them," Robby spoke. It was true Billy was all-knowing.

"I only know what I have read. I have never read about this place.....but...." He paused.

"But what?" I asked.

"I guess we are lost."

"Lost? Huh!" Kyra exclaimed with her eyes widened.

"Yeah. It's like we landed on the wrong side of the dense forest. " Billy responded.

"What are we gonna do?" Malachi asked. His talking reminded me of Chase. He was the one holding onto Chase's hand.

"What happened with Chase?" I asked cautiously.

"He released my hand and ran back to the desert," Malachi responded.

"That bastard never wanted to come back," Robby spoke.

"Is he gonna be okay? On his own?" Kyra asked, sounding a little worried but very concerned.

"Who cares... It's not like anyone asked him to remain behind. " Billy responded.

"Billy, come on! He's our friend." Malachi said.

"Well, not mine."

"Not mine either," Robby spoke after Billy.

"I guess that troublemaker is better off there. He's always so annoying." Billy spoke, then shot glances at me.

"I think we should get going. We have to find our way back to side B." Billy added before I could complain that he was being mean to Chase.

We started walking, not sure where we were headed. We had our flashlights on. There was not much talking among us as everyone seemed a little worried. I was also worried. I was a little worried that we were lost and more worried about Chase. Why the heck did he remain behind? Is he going to be okay? What if his body starts to disintegrate? God! No...if that happens, then he will never come back. He will be completely gone. " that was my mind wondering while everyone else seemed busy trying to find our back. I had no idea that I could worry about someone that much. ..especially some random lad whom I just met a few weeks ago.

Chase had seemed more appealing to me since the day I saw him stranded after he landed on side B. Something about him drew me to him, and I was yet to discover what it was.

"Shit! We are in a maze." Robby exclaimed, bringing me back from the world of fantasy.

"Ooh, God!" I exclaimed, looking around. We had just walked into a maze that looked like a puzzle. The place was sectioned into smaller boxes that went all around the place.

"Which way do we go now? There are a lot of them." Malachi asked.

"We try them all," Jona suggested, and we started walking from the right side.

We strolled between the maze for about five minutes and ended up in the same spot every time. It was like we were moving in a circle.

"Ooh, God! Are we trapped?" Kyra asked. She looked more scared than any of us.

"Why are you not saying anything, guys? Are we trapped here?" Kyra asked again.

"I don't know. We don't know." Billy responded.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Robby asked.

"How should I know?" Billy asked.

"Use your eyes, dude....you can see far away. Just look through and tell us which way to take." Robby spoke.

"I can't see anything. All I can see is this maze. It is way long...like a whole kilometre away."

"What?" Kyra asked.

"What do you mean like a kilometre away? Can't you see where we landed?" I asked.

"It's like we are at the centre of this maze. I can't even see where we entered from."

"But...but it is here. We entered through there." Malachi said.

"No. It's all looking the same. Every side of it looks that way." Billy responded.

"No...no... That can't be right." I protested and started walking toward a side that looked like an exit from the maze. The rest followed me.

We walked through the exit, but instead of returning to the forested area, we found ourselves at the place we were before.

"Shit! You were right, Billy. We were just here." Robby spoke.

"How's that possible?" Jona asked.

"What are we going to do?" Kyra asked.

"We stay here for the night. Then we will continue finding a way out in the morning." Billy spoke.

"We should maybe try to catch some sleep." He added.

"Uh.....wait.....how can we sleep here knowing we are lost, Billy?" Kyra asked

"I don't know, K. You tell me, what should we do? How do we get out of this puzzling maze?" Billy asked furiously.

Kyra was scared, and I knew she was already starting to grow on Billy. Billy hated being nagged.

"Billy is right. We should rest and continue to find our way in the morning." I spoke and sat down on the ground.

****

We all sat at one corner of the maze. It was still so cold and dark. Our flashlights had already started dying one after the other.

"I don't even know why I agreed to crossover with you. It has been a whole tragedy for me. I wish I didn't come with you guys." Kyra started complaining.

"It was a total waste.....risking my life for nothing. I don't know what made me follow you. I regret it. I regret it." She continued.

"Can you just shut up, K? " Billy yelled at her.

"It's not like anyone asked you to crossover. You could be safe at Side B if you didn't snoop around on us. So don't complain about your bad choices to us." Billy added.

"Billy's right. No one asked you to come. So stop acting like some kid forced to do something she didn't want to." Robby spoke.

"You don't get it, guys. I lost my sister through this. I learned that my parents were dead....and I...I also lost Chase." Kyra spoke, startling me. I didn't know why but Kyra acting so worried about Chase was annoying me. I had seen how she looked at Chase, and I never liked it.

"You lost Chase?" I asked nervously.

"I mean, we all lost him. He was so good to us." Kyra responded, and I somewhat felt relieved. At least she was not making it all about her.

"Yeah, sure. I hope he will be alright." I said.

****

We were still sitting down quietly in the dark. It was like no one was able to catch sleep. It was so cold for someone to sleep. We all seemed to be lost in thoughts. I was still thinking about Chase. Robby was shooting glances all over the place and sniffing around. I knew he was following some scent, and it was only a matter of time before he started saying he could smell something or someone.

"Someone is coming. I can smell someone." Robby finally spoke, startling all of us.

"What, someone?" Kyra asked in a trembling voice.

"I don't know. Let us run....they are pretty close." Robby spoke, startling us even more.

"Run to where? We are already trapped in the maze, Robby?" I asked curiously, and before he could respond, some threatening footsteps started approaching our way.

"Come on, guys! Let's run." That was Billy talking in a very serious tone. He looked scared, which was so untypical of him.

We started running in between the puzzling maze. The scary footsteps were still following us. No matter what direction we took, they still followed us. We continued running for over twenty minutes without finding a way out. We finally stopped running; it was futile.

"What are you going to do? There's no escape route here. " Malachi asked, breathing heavily.

"We keep moving around the section. If we don't stop, they can't get us. " Jona suggested, and we all nodded our heads in agreement. Unfortunately, before we went back to running, a huge being appeared. He had a long leather jacket that covered him from his head to his ankles. His face was also shrouded in a mask, and he had a sword. He looked physically threatening.

"Guys, let's run this way," Robby suggested, and we turned to run in the opposite direction.

"Hell no," I exclaimed. In the opposite direction, another scary lad was standing in the way. We turned in all the other directions, which were guarded. There was nowhere to run to.

"I guess we are now truly trapped." Billy Spoke.

"Yeah. There's nothing we can do now." Robby said softly.

"What are they going to do to us?" Kyra asked. She was already crying.

"Maybe we wait and see," Billy responded.

The scary beings started approaching us. Each step they took sounded threatening. Once they were where we were standing, they knocked on the ground

using their swords.

"Who are you?" Billy asked.

"Shut up." One of them responded in a very deep voice.

"What do you want with us?" Robby asked, ignoring the warning

"You tell me what you want with us. What are you doing in our territory?" The scary being asked.

"Take them now." He added, and the other lads grabbed us, walked us through the maze sections to another scary building, and locked us in.

****