A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reading this story! Thanks especially to everyone who's reviewed! I really love and appreciate your reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Four: Mental Debates

The ghosts stared at Farid with their white, transparent eyes, waiting for his answer.

Yes, I want to become a ghost. I want to leave the pain and sorrow of life behind.

The words were on the tip of Farid's tongue. He wanted to say them so much, but something held him back.

The white eyes continued to stare at him. All was silent. Time seemed to have stopped. Everything had stopped, as if waiting for his reply.

Make me like you. I don't want to feel anything anymore!

Why didn't he say those words? Hadn't he, for so many weeks, longed for a way out of the wretched existence his life had become? And now here it was!

Go on, Farid, just say them! he urged himself. But then another voice rose in his head: Are you insane? Have you forgotten how terrified of ghosts you are? And now you're going to become one without a second thought?

As the second mental voice spoke Farid hesitated. But then the ghosts' words came back to him.

We feel no pain. We feel nothing. Become one of us, and you as well will feel nothing. We are offering you an escape. Become a ghost, and forget your pain.

If he became a ghost he could forget the horrible pain that followed him wherever he went, every day, every hour, every second. Farid though about how awful the past few months had been for him: he didn't remember what it was like to be happy anymore, and every night he went to sleep terrified of the horrors that waited in his dreams. He wanted to escape it all so much, and now here was what he'd been waiting for!

Ah, but how do you know the ghosts weren't lying? the voice in his head asked. But Farid mentally pushed it away, remembering what the ghosts had said: We are offering you an escape...forget your pain.

Yes, I accept your offer! Make me a ghost, and let me leave the pain of life behind!

Farid opened his mouth to say the words out loud- and then closed it again, swallowing them back down. He continued to silently debate with himself as precious seconds ticked by.

oOoOoOo

Brianna didn't know how much time had passed. After a while she stopped sobbing and simply sat there. Several times she got up with the intention of finding her way back to the insubstantial trees they had gone through, but each time she sat back down. There were doorways all around her; she couldn't remember which was the right one. Even if she did find the original one, beyond it were even more doors and tunnels. There was no way she would be able to find the way back, if there even was one. So she just sat there, waiting for death.

The minutes felt like hours. How much time of the hour do we have left? Brianna wondered. She had absolutely no idea. There could have been forty minutes left or only four.

Where was Farid? Was he trapped somewhere, like her, waiting for death? She wished he were with her. If they were going to die in this maze, it would at least be better to die together.

And then, as if her own thoughts of Farid had summoned them, she heard it: voices. They were faint, as if they came from far away, but they were definitely there.

First she heard some strange, unfamiliar whispering; she couldn't make out what was being said.

"I'm not interested." That was Farid's voice.

Then came the whispering again, more of it this time. When it fell silent Brianna waited for Farid's voice again, but she heard nothing. It was completely quiet again.

"Farid!" she shouted. "I'm in here! Farid, where are you? Farid!"

She continued to shout, louder and louder.

oOoOoOo

Yes, I'll become a ghost!

No, don't do it, Farid!

Why not? There's nothing left for me in life anymore, nothing but sorrow! I'll become a ghost; it will be better that way!

No! Don't-

"Well, holder of the rose?" the ghosts whispered, interrupting Farid's mental argument. "What say you? Shall we make you like us?"

So many white eyes peering at him. It almost seemed their was mockery in their transparent gaze.

"I..." he began, the two voices in his head screaming opposite orders at him. "Ye- I mean, no-"

Then the ghosts began to speak again, but not in the united whisper, like before. Instead each spoke for itself, and all the voices interrupted and crossed over each other.

"Become one of us!"

"Leave the pain of life behind-"

"Become a ghost!"

But then Farid heard another voice, coming from beyond the doorway they were still standing beside. Brianna's voice, shouting his name. And he realized that she was still somewhere near, maybe hurt or trapped, and he needed to find her.

Yes, that's right! one of the mental voices said. Go find Brianna, and forget this mad notion of becoming a ghost!

He was about to run from the doorway, but the ghosts their hands out to his heart. Farid stood there frozen, unable to move. Their touch felt like ice.

"Only we can give you the escape you desire," they whispered, united again. "Just say yes!" Their icy, transparent hands stayed at his heart.

Yes, yes, yes! I will-

No! I won't-

Yes, I will become a-

"No! I won't become a ghost, so get your hands off me!" Farid shouted, breaking free from the icy touch and running through the doorway.

The ghosts leered at him as he ran, their faces angry, but they were powerless to stop him, for they were bound to their place of darkness.

Farid stopped, breathing hard. He had done it; he had said no. He wasn't going to become a ghost. He wasn't sure whether he felt relieved or disappointed, and he didn't have time to figure it out. Time was limited, and he didn't know how much of it he had left.

He whispered fire words, and at last flames leapt up in his hand. He wondered why it didn't work before. Maybe it didn't work in the dark where the ghosts stayed.

"Brianna!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

oOoOoOo

When Brianna at last heard Farid shouting back, relief flooded through her, so strong that it almost surprised her.

"Farid!" she shouted back. Her voice echoed through all the tunnels.

It was so hard not to just start running through doors, trying to find him, but Brianna forced herself to stay where she was. If they both ran around the place, trying to find each other, the result would surely be them both getting hopelessly lost, which would waste even more time.

Sure enough, the next second Farid shouted, "Brianna, stay where you are, but keep talking. I'll come to you."

She did as he said, and soon his shouts began to sound nearer and nearer. Then, at last, he finally appeared in one of the doorways, looking as Brianna imagined she herself must look: shaken and weary. She also saw relief on his face. Without knowing quite why, she stumbled over to him, forcing back a sob, and hugged him. She wasn't sure why she did it; maybe everything that had happened with Rosanna had left her needing some kind of comfort.

Farid's arms tightened around her, and she sensed that he needed it as much as she did. For a moment she let herself relax, forgetting about the maze, her father, Rosanna, and how they would both probably die.

But then, as they pulled away from each other, the moment was lost.

"You got the rose!" Brianna exclaimed, noticing for the first time the black flower in his hand.

"That's right," Farid said, attempting to smile, something he didn't quite succeed at. "One down, two to go." He sounded so weary. "Let's get out of here."

He took her hand, and Brianna saw that he had left a trail of sparks on the ground. Good idea, she thought briefly. They started running, following the trail of sparks, until at last they came to the last door, and the darkness beyond it.

Once through the door Farid's fire went out, but they held each other's hand tightly, not wanting to lose each other again, and stumbled through the dark. They ran for a few moments, and then just as suddenly as they had entered the darkness, they were out of it again.

Farid's fire came back, casting light around them. Brianna saw that they were back in the maze again. The black trees loomed over them menacingly. Behind them was the same dead end. Brianna hesitantly put her finger to one of the trees behind her. It went right through. Yes, they were back. Back in the deadly maze.

Without a word, and still holding hands (neither of them thought to let go), they began to walk. They didn't urgently run, fighting for their lives. They walked, with weary steps, for they had both given up any small hope they had had of making it out alive.

Soon Brianna realized she no longer had Farid's hand in hers. She turned around and saw that he was standing a few feet behind her, head bowed in dejection.

"Farid?" she called softly. "Come on, we don't have time to stop."

He raised his head, and Brianna saw his hopeless expression."What's the point?" he asked dully. "Let's face it, there's no way we'll make it out of here alive. We've probably spent half the hour already, and we still need the leaf and slippers! And then there's actually finding a way out of this maze. It's hopeless!"

It's hopeless. Farid's words were everything Brianna had been thinking but didn't say. As if keeping the words unspoken might make them untrue.

She walked back to him and dropped to the ground, feeling as weary as he looked. Farid looked a little surprised. Maybe he had been expecting her to say they should try anyway. But she didn't, and he sat down next to her.

So this was it then. They had given up.

In some ways it was a relief, Brianna though. They would die, and the thought of that scared her, but at least they wouldn't have to face any more monsters or horrors if they just sat here.

The rose was loosely held in Farid's hand. Brianna took it from him and gently stroked the black petals. "What happened to you when we got separated? How did you get this?"

He was silent for a moment. "There were ghosts," he said almost inaudibly, looking lost in thought. "They were all around a table. The rose was on it."

"And they just let you take it?" Brianna asked, her expression changing from hopeless to incredulous.

"Yes. Well, not exactly." Farid hesitated. "They offered to make me a ghost."

For a moment Brianna stared at him, dumbfounded. "You refused, didn't you?" She didn't really know why she asked. He obviously wasn't a ghost, so he must have refused.

"Eventually." Again his reply was almost too quiet to be heard.

Brianna had a feeling there was much more to it than Farid had said, so she continued asking questions. "Eventually? Why didn't you say no right away? That's what I would have done," she added, shuddering at the thought of becoming a ghost.

Farid looked at her appraisingly. "Would you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Brianna asked, a bit disconcerted by the way he was looking at her.

Farid drew his knees up to his chest and dropped his head onto them. When he spoke again it was in a shaky voice. "They said ghosts don't feel anything. They said I could escape the pain and sorrow of life...and just forget everything."

Brianna felt understanding dawn. Of course. His own pain must be at least as great as her's. No wonder the ghosts' offer sounded so tempting. She wondered what she would have done if it had been her who had that chance. Would she refuse after all? Or would the idea of forgetting her sorrow be appealing enough to become a ghost?

She honestly didn't know what her answer would have been.

"Saying no was probably the hardest thing I've done in my life," Farid said quietly.

He looked so forlorn. Did she look the same? For a moment Brianna felt like hugging him again. But she didn't, and the moment passed.

She was surprised at how much Farid had told her. She wouldn't have expected him to open up so much, at least not to her. But then, there was no one else, after all. It was just the two of them, waiting for their inevitable death that would come when the hour was over.

Farid raised his head. "So what happened to you? How did you get trapped where you were?"

At first Brianna hesitated. But he had told her about the ghosts; she could tell him about Rosanna. So she said, "I saw my sister."

"You have a sister?" Farid asked, looking confused. "I didn't know that."

"Not have. Had," Brianna corrected, sighing. "She died eight years ago."

"Oh." Farid looked like he didn't know quite what to say. "But you saw her?"

"Well, sort of. It looked like her. I thought it really was her at first, even though she's been dead for years. She said she'd lead me out of this maze and then go back for you. Instead she trapped me, and then laughed and left me to die." It was a relief to get the words out, even though Farid could do nothing but listen helplessly.

They continued to sit. Both were silent. There were no more words to be said. Nothing left for them to say or do but wait to die.

Until Brianna raised her head.

"What is it?" Farid asked, seeing the intent look on her face.

Brianna didn't answer.

"What?" Farid said, growing alarmed.

"Do you hear something?" she asked softly, as if she didn't want to disturb whatever it was she was hearing.

Farid paused, listening intently.

And then he heard it.

"Music," he said.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you've read up to here that probably means you liked it. If so, please do tell me in the form if a review! Seriously, all reviews make me INSANELY happy! It doesn't have to be anything long (though the long ones are always awesome), just a quick 'I liked it' or 'good job' or 'update soon' makes me really, really happy. So please review, people! I'll be forever grateful! :)

I think this chapter was shorter than the last one, but the next one will be a nice long one. :)