Sorry it is late! The hotel I was at last night had terrible wifi.
Chapter Eleven:
"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." -William Shakespeare, The MErry Wives of Windsor
I stretch as I wake up, letting this calm sense that has come over me take over my entire being. I enjoy the moment before it dissolves away, because it always does. It's hard to feel relief or even brief moments of joy while I'm living like this. I miss Hannah. She's a huge part of me. I am not myself while she is gone. I need to do whatever it takes to get her back, but I'm not sure what that entails. I miss Josh, as well. He's the constant in my life that keeps me afloat. With both him and Hannah gone I'm lost at sea, struggling to keep my head above water. I feel like I"m drowning in a sea of my own tears every night. I don't cry, or, at least, I didn't cry. I never felt the need to because Hannah would cry for the both of us, and Josh would protect us. Crying was pointless. I don't have them here with me now, though, and I am completely lost. That's why I enjoy this brief moment, this moment between dreams and reality. It's the only moment where nothing is real. I still have everyone that means something to me. I have everything important.
I come crashing back to reality after a few, brief, moments of bliss. I'm in my bed. I'm here in the house alone. Mom and Dad are in LA. Dad is working on some big new project that is "better than anything he has ever worked on before." He says that every time he starts something. I stopped believing him a long time ago. They're never better. They just have bigger budgets and bigger names. I haven't told them that Hannah and Josh are missing. There's a part of me that thinks Dad won't even care. Mom would rush home and have an entire police force looking for them. Police means death. Can't have that. A part of me wonders what the other parents are wondering. I know Ashley's parents have probably caught on that something is up. Matt's... who knows. His Dad is a drunk unless football is related. He doesn't really care about his son. His mom left several years ago. Jessica's parents are sued to not hearing from Jessica for long stretches of time. They probably think nothing is out of the ordinary. The maniac that has our friends probably covered his tracks well..
I look at the clock. It's nearly eleven. I pull myself away from the safety of the covers. I'm taking care of Mike today. We've all been taking turns, rotating shifts that way he doesn't hurt himself while he's recovering. The hospital tried to ask questions. I'm not exactly sure what they told them happened, but it was convincing enough for them to stop digging into what was happening any further. Somehow, I doubt that will be our last hospital visit.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I feel my blood run cold. I've talked to both Mike and Emily. I know what that means. It's my turn. I walk to the front door, a part of me is surprised I could even heat a knock on a door that was so thick. That's the same part of me that is trying to distract myself from the hell that is coming.
I see the box covered in butchers paper and twine. I see the white letter. I see the smudges that are caused by typewriters. I pick up the letter, praying a piece of my sister isn't in the box.
Beth,
How far are you willing to go to save the life of someone you love? How far are you willing to push yourself? You act like this savior, the guardian of your family, lets see if that's true. You have until midnight to get out of my maze.
Enclosed you will find a GPS. Get to that cornfield and solve the maze. Face all the dangers. I'm sure you will discover that it is harder than it seems.
Good Luck.
I open the box. Sure enough, there is a GPS. Coordinates are prerecorded. It's eleven sixteen. That gives me over twelve hours to solve this. I look at the ETA according to the GPS. Ten at night. This place is far away and I'll have less that two hours to solve whatever fresh hell is here.
I pick up my phone and call Chris. I don't have a car, but he could probably drive me, or let me borrow his car, at the very least. He answers after a single ring. He is never far from his phone. "Beth?"
"I need your help."
He's over within five minutes, as fast as he could possibly have arrived. He obviously sped the whole way to get here.
We're driving, taking stops only when we need to get gas, grabbing food and restroom breaks while we're there, going as fast as we can manage down the road. Somehow Chris manages to save an entire hour off the trip and we get there just after nine. It's a huge corn maze like the letter said. I take a deep breath. "Go save them," Chris says. "I'll wait here."
I know he's going to turn on Netflix and sit in the car, trying to ignore the entire situation. Frankly, I wish I could do the same.
I start the maze, thankful Chris got me that extra hour. It looks like a set from one of my dad's movies in here. There's blood everywhere. Somehow, I doubt it's fake. I put my hand on the left wall and start running down the maze, knowing I'll find the end eventually if I just follow one of the walls. Every time I hit a dead end a horror awaits me. A scarecrow jumps out a me. The decaying carcass of a dead pig stares at me. Dummies with zombie or clown masks look at me with cold, dead, rubbery eyes. I feel fear as everything chases me. There's clouds in the sky, covering the moon and the stars. Everything is more terrifying in the dark. I see a bit of lightning break through the clouds. I feel my hair stand on end. How long does this maze go on? I pull out my phone, check the time. I have ten minutes left. I've been at this for nearly three hours. I take a breath. I run. I can run. I can go on for ten more minutes. I can finish this. Please. Please. There it is. There's the end. It's there. I can make it! I can! I have to. Please, please. I hear a loud noise. I see it, I don't stop running. I finish the maze. "Beth," a voice comes over a speaker I didn't notice. "So close. So close. You almost made it, didn't you? How does it feel, knowing that if you started running second earlier you would have made it?" I pull out my phone. It's one minute past midnight.
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