Violet was clumsy, tripping over her own feet. Skidding to a stop, the girls behind her waited. Had she injured herself? She sat, crossing her legs to inspect the damage. The sole on her foot was starting to come apart from the shoe. She cursed under her breath, letting Carolina pull her to her feet. The taller girl frowned, looking ahead first before turning back to look at the girls they were leading. They were six in total. Six bodies likely to die at the hands of the creatures in the maze if they didn't complete their plan soon. It was a simple plan but they never counted on so many eager volunteers.
"Can you still run?" she asked her. Violet nodded, although as she started picking up speed there was a slight limp every time she lifted that foot in the broken shoe. Carolina began sprinting ahead as they neared a long passageway, Violet slowing her pace to make sure that Elle, a small girl of twelve, was managing to keep up with the rest of them. She watched her carefully, with that look of pure determination on her small face, like she was itching to prove herself.
"Keep up, kiddo" Violet called out. Carolina slowed as she made the next turn down a narrower passage on the left. Violet imagined what it must be like inside her head. Like gears moving inside a clock, or a key pushing the mechanisms into place inside the lock. Because the way was narrow, the girls had to slow to a walk, side stepping carefully and in single file. All was quiet except for Lacey's breathing, which became stuttered and short. One of the other girls clapped a hand on her shoulder, reassurance in the warmth of skin on skin. Even in the dark, the shared smile between the two was felt by all of them, the shared relief of a wider path coming into view was felt by everyone.
"Is everybody still alright?" Carolina asked the group, stopping ahead to catch a breath. Then she led them further in. Violet was beginning to be anxious. This was the furthest they had ever gone into the maze. Her eyes were darting all around her. Above them, behind them, even far ahead. Here it was silent except for the shuffling of feet and the exhaling of breath. She was waiting, counting on it, for their ravenous howls to break their human tempo. Perhaps she was paranoid. She preferred the word 'prepared'. If she had her way they would all be armed right now in this moment, but Carolina had argued against it, saying it would be too much for them to carry. Nevertheless, every minute or so, Violet's hand drifted to the knife tucked into the side of her belt. It was a mantra, calming her.
Carolina planted her feet all of a sudden, turning her head back to the group with a finger pressed to her lips. Worried, Violet moved forward to her side, staring ahead at what Carolina pointed at. First, it was one of them. One of the wolves with metal skin. It sniffed the floor of the maze, growling softly, bringing two more of its kind to its side. A hand was clamped over Elle's mouth before she could scream, drawing Violet's attention back to the end of the group, where down another pathway, another metal wolf was approaching slowly, it's nose high in the air as if it could smell them, and would charge for them at any second. Pushing the girls closer together, Violet made her way to the front of the line, speaking in low whispers with Carolina.
"We can't turn back the way we came. Any bright ideas?"
"No. But I think we should go left" Carolina replied. Her voice dripped with uncertainty and worry. Together, they moved forward, slowly like two halves of one body, the other girls falling into line behind them.
"I hope you know what you're doing" Violet mumbled. It was met with silence. This was no time for arguing. They were careful not to scrape their feet against the ground, worrying that the slightest sound might alert their would-be attackers. And one by one they slid down the path that branched onto the left, one that, thankfully, was free of monsters.
As they continued at a slower, softer pace Violet wondered just how much control the creators had over them. Were they puppeteers pulling every possible string? Or were they like children staring at wild animals on the other side of thick glass? She couldn't help but think that somehow, for some reason the creators were leading them down this path and it gave her a sick tremble in her bones. She turned her throat to the clouds, inspecting the air around them.
And then she saw it. Strange to see a butterfly so far from the centre of the maze, the "Meadow" they called it; stranger still to see that the butterfly was following them, watching them with a keen eye.
"Carolina, stop!" she cried out, panic beginning to set in. she could feel the concrete weight of it in her bones. "We have to go back. Now".
"There it is!" Carolina said. She waved her arm in a wide circle, urging the rest of the girls on so that they could scope it out at a closer range. Carolina's head and heart were so focused on what was ahead of her that she didn't see what was above her. But Violet saw it. She saw it all. High above them, pieces in the walls began to crack and break away, leaving a dark gash of an opening for something more sinister. Black canons jutted out suddenly from that openings in the walls around them. They breathed a thick grey fog and it fell downwards like a veil towards the group of girls.
"Cover your mouths!" Violet screamed.
She was already sprinting towards a staggering Elle, catching her before her head hit the hard ground. But around her, the other girls were already coughing and shouting and trying to escape from something that couldn't be outrun. Violet sputtered a cough. Her vision was tainted with black dots and then smudges and then it was like somebody had draped a black scarf across her eyes. She didn't know when she fell to her side, but even in the depths of the blackness she could feel her skull throbbing and a gash on her forehead stinging.
She was the last to wake. Carolina shook her with greater force than was needed until Violet jolted awake. She blinked several times until she could see them clearly. She didn't like what she saw. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lacey bent over, hands on her knees and throwing up her breakfast. At her side, Elle was shaking as she sobbed, knees tucked securely under her chin. The other two, Heather and Nina, supported each other as they stood, just as blanked out as Violet felt.
Carolina had a loss of breath as she spoke, "Can…You…Stand?" Her knees wobbled as she rose to her feet. Instinctively, her hand shot out to Elle held onto it tightly like a lifeline.
"We need to get back home…quickly" Violet announced. The sky above them was a threatening shade of lilac; threatening because it meant that they didn't have much time to get back to the centre of the maze and recall the story to the rest of the girls. It was all any of them could think about as they picked up a quick pace. Carolina sprinted ahead, forcing the other girls to follow her lead, urgency and fear in every step she took. But as they manoeuvred through the passageways Violet felt as though something was not right. Like the feeling one gets when they get dressed and put their shirt on backwards. There was no time to think on it clearly.
She fell again. This time, nearly dragging Elle down with her. She groaned and pulled the shoes off one by one with haste. Elle laughed at her.
"It's no worry. I'll just get new ones" Violet laughed with her.
The sky was a dark purple bruise when the maze entrance became visible. And the girls raced towards it with the last breath of energy that they had in their bodies. The second Violet's sore feet touched grass she collapsed onto the earth, breathing heavily and coughing up what was left of the fog in her lungs. The second they were inside, a loud mechanical whirring could be heard as the entrance, along with the others, began to seal themselves shut. Violet wondered about that too.
It was almost as if the maze itself was giving them safe passage before closing. Like before, this was not the time to worry about that. All she could think of in that moment was a cold glass of water, a peanut butter sandwich and some ointment for her bruised feet. Where she sat, she looked up expecting to see one of the medics approaching. What she saw was the last thing she ever expected to see. Boys. Carolina pulled her to her feet and back towards the closed maze entrance.
The girls huddled together like this for what felt like ten minutes; watching the strange boys and regarding them with a look of fear, confusion, and anger. They were outnumbered. Greatly.
A boy with dark skin and another taller boy with brown hair found their way to the front of the group. They wore the purest expressions of disbelief and shock on their faces, as if they were not seeing real people but ghosts. The taller boy stepped forward with his arms stretched outward, meaning he meant no harm. Violet didn't care. Her fist was already holding tightly onto the dagger at her waist, and when the boy took a step closer so did she but only to cut him across his palm.
A warning.
He winced, trying to apply pressure to the gash when another boy came forward with a white rag. He quickly wound it around his palm. He grinned like he wanted to laugh at her bravado. Another boy in the crowd, one with black hair and tan skin, smirked. He was definitely impressed by her. Violet locked eyes with him for only a second before she turned her gaze back to the first boy.
"I'm warning you. Don't. Come. Any. Closer" Violet emphasized every word as she glared at him. The other boy with dark skin, either defiant or stupid, took several steps closer. At that, Carolina unsheathed a much longer knife that was strapped across her shoulder and hidden in the depths of her blonde hair. She took a step closer too, pointing the knife where it was an inch away from his eyes.
It was not the knife that scared this boy but the red rage he saw in her eyes. He didn't know it but that rage was concealing a very real fear in her eyes. And she fought not to shed a tear.
author's note: so I'm posting this to see what the response is, but mostly as practice for the creative writing paper that I'm taking this semester. I hope you guys like it and comment on it.