Chapter 24

I decided that it would be best for me to keep track of where I was. I began forming a map of the maze and my location in it in my mind. I knew that if I kept my wits about me then I could surpass anything. I decided to take the left path and see how that worked out. I could always go back to the right.

I continued walking, my quiet footsteps the only noise in the tunnel. The utter silence created an unsettling mood as though I was in a dead place, a place where all previous life had slowly died out and taken all noise with it. Then again, considering where I was, I thought that it was probably best that there wasn't anything else alive around me. There's no telling what would happen to me if there was something lurking in here.

I was faintly familiar with a few maze-solving techniques, but I didn't have anything to mark my paths so Trémaux's algorithm was out, and all of the other techniques I knew required me to see the entire maze at once. I supposed that I could go with the "always turn left" tactic, but I didn't know if this maze ended on an outer wall or if I had to get to the center. I figured that I could just go with always turning left and then work the rest out as it came.

Soon, I came to another fork in the path. This was a four-way intersection. I could head left, right, or straight. I once again chose the left. I still had my position marked fresh in my mind, ready to run away to the entrance should the need present itself.

I continued walking. This path was long, and every now and then it would curve to the left or to the right. As I continued, I pondered the sunshine right above my head at roughly eleven-thirty at night, X miles underground. Truth be told, I couldn't even be sure that it was sunshine. There wasn't much light escaping the few holes in the ceiling.

I soon came to yet another intersection. One way went forwards, the other way led right. I continued forwards, aware that I should stick to the wall if there wasn't a left turn. My mental map was becoming more complicated. I hoped I would get out soon.

The silence in the air continued to hang. It felt like the air was becoming heavier, like the entire world was holding its breath, remaining quiet, ready to pounce out at me and snuff out my life. My footsteps were still the only noise penetrating the silence.

As I ventured forwards, I came to another fork. One way led left and the other led right. I once again chose the left.

Without warning, a giant screeching noise rang out through the entire labyrinth. The noise sounded like a lion's roar, but there was a metallic noise overlaying it. It sounded like an old steel door being squished in half in a rusty compactor. The noise was followed by a loud, rhythmic thumping noise that sounded eerily like giant footsteps. I quickly spun around on my heels, trying to locate my predator. And I located it, all right.

Standing before me, in the path I had been in mere seconds ago, was the biggest creature I had ever seen in my life.

It must have been fourteen feet tall and five hundred pounds in weight. It was jet black all over. It had no eyes. Its nose was fused with its mouth in some dastardly mutation. The thing was on four legs and its claws were each longer than a queen-sized bed. There were things that looked like tentacles growing off its face –if you could even call it a face- and were swarming around its head, as though hunting for prey.

The thing turned its head to face me. Its tentacles stood up and pointed at me, unflinching. It gave another ungodly roar, and prepared to charge at me.

I didn't have time to think. I could only run, run away from this thing. I turned around and ran with everything I had. I could only see the hallway I was in extending, showing no signs of turning off.

I finally saw a corner coming up ahead. I stopped for a second, letting it catch up to me.

As it turns out, the thing just started running at me once I was at the corner. It was playing with me. It wasn't hard to see why, either. Within seconds, it had crossed half the distance of a football field. It was about sixty yards away. A few seconds later, it was thirty yards away. Its head was down, its mouth-nose open wide, ready to swallow me whole. Ten yards away…

I quickly ducked and turned the corner. The thing hadn't noticed the corner, and rammed its head directly into the wall at around sixty miles per hour. Judging by the way it fell to the ground, grunting in pain, I'd say it didn't have an exoskeleton. Lucky me.

There probably wasn't much time before the thing would recover and start chasing me again, though. I turned around and saw a door at the end of the hall. I immediately took off, ready to escape this nightmare. Behind me, I heard it slowly get up. I kept running, thinking of nothing but escape. Time seemed to slow down around me. I could hear nothing but my heart throbbing in my chest as I raced to beat impossible odds. It felt like I was running through a pool of water.

I felt myself arrive at the door. I threw the door open-

And stopped in my tracks.

It was Kagami. Kagami was standing five feet away from me.

And she was covered in blood, holding a rusty metal pipe out toward me, her face showing pity.

"Kona… I told you to leave the truth alone. Why didn't you listen to me…?"

Kagami remained where she was at. I spun around and looked at the giant. It had fully recovered and was charging at me at full speed. I spun back around. Kagami remained still, save for her lips as she continued in a solemn voice.

"It's your choice, Kona. You can come a little closer and let me end it for you, or you can choose letting that thing chomp you. But either way, it's over."

After this line, Kagami robotically raised the metal pipe into the air, ready to bring it down quickly and painlessly. The monster kept running. What to do, where to go, there must be another way, somewhere, anywhere, anything, what to do-

I couldn't think of anything.

I had always relied on my wit to get me out of trouble. And I was clueless.

The monster was charging at me at full speed. It would reach me quick, and swallow me quicker. Was I really going to die here? Was my quest going to end in the jaws of my nightmares? There was no way out.

I silently fell to my knees.

I closed my eyes.

I prepared myself.

And I jumped forwards.