The sun, with her fading glory, sank down below the horizon to allow the pale, sphere of a strong, white light shine and hang high in the sky with a bewildering glow. The sun's golden tips; her shades of orange bright as mango's skin; the clouds with their rosy pink tints and soft, purple shades.

It was no wonder the sun was considered a beauty. She was gorgeous, the sun, with her own light of power; she beamed with pride and joy. Until it came to that time when she withdrew from the sky to show on the other side while her companion, the moon, took over the shift.

I let my eyes flutter open slowly until I saw but tiny slivers of light coming from above my head. I looked up to see small pores in whatever was holding me captive.

I stretched out both my arms until my hands came across a hard, cold surface that seemed a lot like a wooded texture. I peered up again and reached, picking at the teeny openings until I got annoyed enough to just kick angrily out of aggravation, and hearing a loud crack. It appears as though my kick had been just enough to make a small, dented out wound. I pushed my foot out ferociously and made a decent sized hole. I kneeled down to the hole, gathering my faded blood-red Victorian gown in order for me to get closer to the opening. I peeked outside and let my jaw drop slightly.

I pondered the thought of where I could possibly be, looking around to see other boxes and wrappings of some sort.

Alright, I thought to myself, seeing if I could pry some more wood away with my hands, let's get going.

I scurried along the sides of the wall, getting closer and closer to the unknown.

I had no idea what I was going to find, but I hoped it wasn't going to get me into trouble; whatever it was that I managed to discover.

I immediately stopped and paused for a moment when I heard voices. They were muffled, but I could still sense that I'm not alone wherever I am.

I moved forward, pressing my back against the wall until I saw an odd lighting coming from around the corner. I inched closer, being cautious, then took a quick glance inside.

What I saw was beyond what I had wondered about finding. A large room with antiques everywhere, but right there, smack dab in the middle, was a skeleton bulging out from a large, stone, gate-like statue. In the center of the skeleton I noticed there were bits and pieces of something golden.

As I looked around some more, I spotted three men sitting around, and while I scanned the room, there were other men dressed in three variations of the men I had seen sitting throughout the room. One, I noted, was cleaning off his gun with a cloth. The second thing I saw about him that was odd is the fact that he was monochromatic; shades of black, white, and gray were what made him different from the other brightly uniformed men in blue, red, and white. I peered on over until I came across a man with a long robe of silver and fingers bedazzled with rings of jewels as well as his hat which had even more. He carried a large staff, I also saw. My eyes wandered from the last man I saw to the first. He was now examining his gun, and then he stood and looked at his men, nodded, then began to hustle over to the door where I was peering in.

I drew back quickly and started to run, gathering up my dress to my knees so I could sprint; even if I was in black, scallop laced boots. I dodged behind a crate and breathing heavily, I dared not move. For if they were to find me…I couldn't even think of where they'd start.

I heard the heavy, shuffling footsteps pass by me, and I kept still as statues do. Until the moment I heard them fade off into the distance, I didn't twitch a muscle. I hid there, behind that crate; till I bet they couldn't see me nor hear me.

I looked around from behind the massive, wooden structure. No monochromatic men were present. I let out a soft sigh of relief and stepped down from the tiny platform on which the crate and many others were mounted upon.

Releasing my dress from my now cold, clammy hands, I fixed it and made sure it looked nice again. I began to wander around to the direction the men had been walking towards. Perhaps I could find a way out of this strange place if I knew where they were headed.

I hurried my legs to go faster so I could find an escape; I decided to clench my dress and pull it above to my mid shins so I could pace faster and maybe even jog, going past many wooden structures until I came upon a large crate, bigger than any of the ones I'd seen so far, in the middle of this wide, confusing maze of a place.

I sauntered on over to it, and releasing the gather of my dress from my right hand, I flipped up one of the lock switches, then walked on over to flip up the other one when I heard a demanding voice from behind me. I paused for a moment before whirling around to see the monochromatic men from earlier.

You can't be serious!

My eyes went from the leader of the pack to the gun, then back to the leader.

He spoke in a loud voice, and from what I heard him say I believed that he was indeed Italian from noting the way he spoke and pronounced his words.

"Step away from the crate, and you won't get shot,"

I peeked behind me back at the crate, then quickly to the leader once more.

I panicked as he raised his gun to me, taking long strides towards me.

"I'll give you to the count of three. One…two…"

Before he could spit out the last number I flipped the last lock switch up and bolted to the side.

To my surprise a large creature broke free and went rampaging about. It was a giant octopus, and with its raging tentacles picked up the men, throwing them here and there. I ducked someone who almost knocked me, and tried to run until I felt something strong wrap around my waist.

I let out a small gasp as I was lifted into the air and now nearly face-to-face with the gigantic beast.

I swallowed hard and stared it straight in the eye. I noticed it seemed rather more desperate and a bit aggravated than pure evil. It brought me up closer to its eye so it could see me full-on.

I managed to get both my arms free from its grasp after a few moments while the other men down below were being tossed around. Not wanting to get on the creature's bad side, I rubbed my left hand back and forth on the outstretched tentacle that held me.

"Hello," I squeaked, then managed to regain some focus and strategic ways of thinking, "What's the matter? A little dry, aren't you? Would you like some water?"

I spoke softly so that I would not be heard by the monochromatic men who were shouting at each other and trying to escape.

The octopus made a small screeching sound, then wavered it's tentacle a little before loosening its grip around me.

"Would you like me to find you some water? Is that it?" I cooed and kept stroking the poor thing.

I was finally lowered back down to the ground and I turned to walk away with the giant octopus following right behind.

I could feel the awed stares from the men as I walked on by with the creature behind me.

"Where do you think you're goin'?"

I stopped and turned to my right to see the leader just now standing up, grabbing his gun, and raising it at me like he had done before.

I stared him straight in the eye and took three major steps towards him

"I'm going to get this poor creature some water," I said defensively, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yeah, I do, actually," he replied, now his turn to take three giant strides towards me, now almost five feet away.

"Well, too bad!" I spat out at him and continued to walk on with the creature following me again.

That's when I heard a set of two feet and their shuffling noises quickening until I felt a firm hand grab my forearm and pull me aside.

"Let's go, fellas," the leader commanded his followers in a hurried tone.

We all entered the large room in which I had peeped in upon earlier and the other men saw us come in.

The shorter man was the first to immediately turn and see me.

"Qui est elle?" he shouted in what I guessed is French.

"I found this little sneak lurkin' around," the man holding me by my arm spoke while taking a few steps and pulling me forward.

"I was not lurking around," I corrected, "I was keeping as far away from you as possible."

"Well, you didn't succeed," he shot back, giving me a serious glare.

I glared back.

The one in the fancy silver getup was the last to swirl to face us and notice that his friend had caught me "lurkin' around".

"Who is this?" he demanded to know in his thick Russian accent, arching an eyebrow at me.

"This is—" the monochromatic man began until I cut him off.

"My name is Mary Pickford," I butted in.

"Alright then," my capturer spoke in an annoyed tone, "so, what were you doin' lurkin' around?"

"I was trying to find a way out of here," I explained and let out an aggravated sigh.

"Well, you ain't gettin' out."

"Watch me!" I shouted at him as I pounded down my boot upon his dressy black shoe and broke free ready to sprint out of the room.

I picked up some gathers of my dress and ran out and around the giant maze until I came upon a door with a glowing red sign above it.

EXIT.

I burst out the door and kept on running; I went up a pair of stairs and came upon a huge statue of a man sitting in a chair.

I heard voices and hollers so I ducked behind one of the giant columns, breathing heavily.

I could feel my heart skip a beat as I heard loud, shuffling feet come up the stairs at a quickening pace.

I dared not move, only close my eyes tightly and pray that whoever was going to discover me did not.

A long moment of fear and desperation hung in the air as though it didn't plan on ending anytime soon.

I didn't hear anything at that time, and slowly I opened my eyes.

I stifled a yell for help as I stared into a pair of dark, pitch-black eyes. It did not take me yet another second to realize who it was.

Still staring me straight in the eye, he then reached out in one swift movement, grabbing my right wrist with one hand and putting the other over my mouth at the same time.

"Don't scream." He commanded in a whisper, "If I release you, you're gonna come with me. Unless…"

He paused.

"…you want to be held captive and then later on killed."

I shook my head franticly and he slowly took his hand off my mouth.

"Now stay quiet,"

I nodded as he dragged me by my wrist down the stairs and back into the maze place. I had a bad feeling that he was up to no good…