Her dreams were nonsensical, with blurry images of spiders, masks, and the long, reaching arms of the Janitor. Spiders crawled in between the cracks in the walls, strung their webs from the rafters of the ceilings of the Maw. Shattered masks lay on the wooden floor as moonlight shone through the blinds on the windows. The arms grabbed shrieking and wriggling children, their screams echoing into the void that held no mercy.
Eight woke up screaming. Tears stained her face and she wiped them fiercely off her face while looking around for anyone who her scream might've attracted. Gregory looked up at her curiously, then scooted closer and patted her arm with his little hand. Eight smiled at him gratefully.
She looked around the small room they were sitting in and came to a conclusion she ought have had a long time ago. She needed to escape the maw. If she wasn't careful, she could end up driving herself insane here. She couldn't risk that, for her and Gregory's sake.
Taking one last look around the cavern for any threats, Eight hopped down from the box and helped Gregory down as well. They climbed up to a hole in the wall using the boxes, overstuffed with fabrics and riddled with cobwebs. Eight shivered as she noticed a spider hanging on a web, webbing up its newly found meal. Since insects weren't common in the Maw, Eight had to assume it was another spider, but she really didn't want to know.
Through the hole in the wall, Eight could see a hallway, decorated in the dim light with paintings of the Maw and wallpaper with decorative patterns. Eight looked back and forth to make sure no one was in sight before climbing down with Gregory. They ran through it as fast they could, their footsteps thumping softly on the rug. The hallway seemed endless in both height and length. Eight kept running, Gregory alongside her.
It seemed that they had reached the top levels of the maze that was the maw. Everything was nicer and cleaner- at least to an extent. A creepy extent.
Eight stopped to look around a corner. She felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw one of the guests lumbering towards her, shoving an armful of sausages into its disgusting mouth. He was a hideous one, though that was normal for these type of guests. His skin had a grayish tinge to it, and he was enormously overweight. His face looked like it was made of melting wax, giving it a droopy and layered appearance.
It made a surprised grunt when he noticed her and shoved the rest of the sausages into his mouth before running towards her, his arms outstretched.
Well, instead of running, it was more like a fast paced waddle.
Eight shrieked and turned, grabbing Gregory and bolting out of there. In no time the guest had already rounded the corner and was gaining on her. He may have been extremely obese, but he was still twenty times taller than her, giving him an unfair advantage.
Eight ran faster than she had ever run in her life. Her footsteps pounded on the rug in time with her speeding heart beat. She was grateful that Gregory was so small and weightless so she could carry him without him weighing her down.
The guest lunged for her, but missed by just a few inches. He fell to the floor, causing the ground to shake and throwing Eight off her balance, but she kept running. She would not end up like the children she'd seen before. She would not become a meal for these disgusting creatures. She was going to be the first to survive and the first to escape.
Wow, I actually figured out how to add that line dividing the story from the author's notes! Yay!
*Cue happy applause*
... That probably took longer than it should have.
Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter is a bit short, hopefully I'll be able to make the next one longer. In the meantime, a review would be greatly appreciated. This is my first fanfic and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing right or what I'm doing wrong. So constructive criticism is wanted.
But you don't have to, I just thought I'd put it out there. Do what you want.
Anyway, thanks for reading!