Footsteps Approaching
By evolution-500
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
Disclaimer: "3D Monster Maze" is a property belonging to Malcom Evans. I own neither the characters nor this respective title.
WARNING: This story contains violence and course language. Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter Two: Survival
"Nothing is more tragic than to meet an individual out of breath, lost in the Labyrinth of life."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
'REX LIES IN WAIT.'
Jeremy flatly stared at the screen, shaking his head in dismay.
"Remorseless fucking bastard," he muttered, smoking a cigarette while finishing up tying a ripped portion of his sleeve around his arm, using it as a makeshift bandage. "You really don't give up, do you?"
Ever since coming here, it had been an endless cycle of cat and mouse between him and that damned lizard.
He had no idea how long he had been evading Rex for; time seemed to matter little, if at all in this place, and it didn't help matters that both his watch and cellphone were dead.
Hell, he couldn't even remember how long it had been since he had either eaten or slept - since his exploration of the cave, it was just one relentless chase after another through an ever-twisting labyrinthine maze, one that was seemingly both without end and prone to changing at random.
Not just in terms of not only its layout, but also in its features.
Sometimes a portal would just be a mere foot or two away, while in other scenarios, it was placed in even further distances.
While the majority of these settings were usually the jarring white and black walls of light, sometimes Jeremy would find himself uncovering more esoteric-looking settings.
Traversing through the cave had been difficult for Jeremy, for it had been filled with deep pools of water, pits lined with stalactites, and various other dangerous obstacles, All which he had to avoid along with that damned creature.
It had been easy to avoid Rex at first, but as time went on, though, the more uncanny, grim, and dangerous the experience became.
One portal had thrown Jeremy straight into what appeared to have been some type of medieval dungeon or castle, while another had placed him in some sort of Egyptian tomb.
Another portal had placed Jeremy into a corridor of endlessly blazing fire, lava, and darkness, while another had led him into a corridor of freezing ice and snow.
A fifth portal had thrown him into a room filled with sand, while a sixth took him someplace where everything was made of glass. That latter room had been the most troublesome to Jeremy, if only for the fact that it made every step detectable.
One portal had then taken him to an area where everything was upside down, while another had walls lined with flesh, organs and bone, while yet another led to a whole corridor that had been entirely flooded entirely with water.
Jeremy shook his head at that last one. If it hadn't been for one or two air pockets, he was certain that he would have drowned.
Some areas were entirely red, fuchsian, orange, or various other colors, while some were marked with stripes or zigzagging lines.
A few areas were increasingly narrower and tighter than the others, some so small that Jeremy practically had to crawl flat on his belly, while others were so gargantuan that it had made Jeremy feel as though he had been a mere ant, forcing him to climb one or two sections in order to get by.
One particular area, however, had been by far the most disturbing to Jeremy.
Jeremy repressed a shiver at the memory.
The area he had been teleported to had been white on white, with a sort of strange crystalline vibe to the walls, floor, and a high two or three-story ceiling.
In a way, it had looked ethereally beautiful in an alien sort of way, save for one thing.
The bodies.
A shudder rippled through Jeremy as he recalled what he had seen.
Staining the floors had been a dozen or so bodies, a mixture of old and fresh.
A few of the remains had looked human, presumably other poor souls who had been suckered into visiting this fucking circus, along with a few animals, the largest being what looked an elephant.
Jeremy tried not to throw up at the memory.
Prior to this, he had never seen a dead body before - not in person. He had seen them plenty of times on television, but to see actual cadavers was both a sobering and horrifying reminder of what horrible fate awaited him if he wasn't too careful.
Jeremy's shoulders drooped as he thought of all those poor people, pitying each and every single one of them.
'I hope all of you rest in peace,' he thought.
If only he hadn't eaten some of their bloodied remains; for them to have endured such terror, to be hunted like animals and ripped apart, and then to have their remains eaten by another...
Jeremy burned with shame, the university student wincing at what he had to do in order to survive. He hadn't eaten anything for so long that he had been practically starving. He had tried to resist at first, but to his horror and self-loathing, he hadn't been strong enough.
What had followed would forever haunt Jeremy for the rest of his life.
There had been no flies or maggots, thankfully, and the meat itself had clearly been rotting, but to Jeremy's mortification and disgust, he couldn't help eating those pieces just the same.
The meat had been rancid, but at least he had been able to gulp it down without vomitting.
Jeremy shuddered in self-loathing, feeling unclean for doing such a vile thing.
Such was the price of survival, unfortunately; in order to get by, he had to make compromises, no matter how unpleasant and disagreeable he found it to be.
Jeremy stiffened as he thought he heard a faint, unidentifiable noise.
Holding in his breath, he waited a minute, then two.
Finally, when he became certain that he was alone, Jeremy gently released his breath, making certain that he wasn't too loud in his exhalation.
His pursuer had been oddly quiet as of late, and he didn't know if he liked that. Though his presence is sometimes never seen, it had been constantly felt by Jeremy, making him glance every so often over his shoulder and to think twice about crossing through a given hall.
Like the maze, Rex's position from Jeremy's varied with each escape. Sometimes Rex would be positioned a good distance away, and for long stretches of time, Jeremy would be fortunate enough to never encounter it. Those times, while all-too brief, if not somewhat rare for his liking, were the few times where Jeremy felt the most on edge, if only because of the fact that Rex was so deceptively silent, which made his subsequent encounters all the more frightening.
Sometimes Rex was so close to that he practically ambushed Jeremy, sometimes from some unseen corner, scaring the shit out of him.
Jeremy shook his head as he glanced down at himself.
His once neat and tidy clothes were all torn, burned, wrinkled, stained, and filthy, some of it used as makeshift bandages wrapped around different parts of his body. Even his own hair was in disarray, grown so long that it practically draped down past his shoulders.
He couldn't even begin to count the number of ways he had been cut, stabbed, burned, nearly crushed and so on by some goddamned environmental hazard.
There had been a number of close calls, many of which had Jeremy surviving just by the skin of his teeth, but so far, he was able to keep one step ahead of his enemy.
One recent encounter in particular, however, had nearly cost him his arm, but thankfully, Jeremy had been able to get away, though not without getting some burns and scars for the trouble.
Rex had a very nasty bite, one that really left a mark, and Jeremy couldn't afford to take any more.
Scratching at his itchy, bearded face, Jeremy began to wonder how long he had been running for.
Days? Weeks? Months?
...Years?
As the dark thought crossed his mind, Jeremy felt his shoulders sag, a feeling of melancholy coming over him.
Looking down at his own person, he placed a hand over his mouth, trying to keep himself from crying, shaking his head in disgust.
'Look at me,' he thought. 'Christ, look at me!'
He always took pride in how he kept himself, and now here he was, looking like a fucking lunatic.
Throughout this whole endeavor, Jeremy had never rested, nor had he slept, not even for a single minute; he had been running nonstop in a desperate attempt to be ahead of that thing.
He had been running so much that he didn't even have time to either piss or shit; the few times where he had, he would end up encountering the creature, resulting in him running while trying to get his pants back on. There were times where all he could do was piss and shit himself just to keep himself from slowing down, much to his own disgust.
A dark cloud fell over Jeremy as he stared to the ground in shame. Part of him wanted to despair, to scream, if not cry over what had become his own existence.
The worst had to be the excruciating loneliness that he felt on a frequent basis; aside from Rex's lurking presence, Jeremy had not seen, heard or interacted with anyone in a very, very long time.
He longed to see another person, to hear another's voice.
He hadn't spoken for so long that there were times where he would try to speak, if only to break up the mindless monotony.
He missed being with his friends, with his brothers and sisters, with his mom.
Jeremy felt a longing tug at his heart as he thought about his family, his eyes burning, threatening to spill.
'What happened with them?' he wondered.
Were they out there, somewhere, looking for him?
Did they call the police?
Was his mom worried? Was she crying?
As he thought about her, something within Jeremy broke, a tear falling down his cheek.
The thought of his family, of his mom scared and crying made his heart ache.
Where had it all gone so wrong?
It was supposed to have been a quick visit to the circus, nothing more.
In and out.
He didn't anticipate that this would be how things would turn out.
Sniffling, Jeremy let out a heavy sob, dismayed by how unfair everything was.
"Please God," he wept. "Please God, let me out of here."
But God didn't answer - only the Devil had heeded his calls.
No sooner had those words left his mouth when the handheld device alerted him to the T-Rex's presence.
'FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.'
Closing his eyes, Jeremy wiped his cheeks, letting out a tired breath.
It was time to go.
With that, he fled further into the labyrinth, hoping that the exit was near.
The silence was starting to get to Jeremy.
Looking around both ends of the hall, he cast his eyes wildly about, straining his ears as much as he could in order to detect Rex's presence, be it its footsteps, breathing, or growling.
Finding nothing, Jeremy palmed his face, the young man exhaling slightly.
If only he hadn't used up the tracker's battery; all that he had to rely on now were his own wits and instincts, which would hopefully help him long enough to find a replacement, if one even existed around here.
Pulling his hand away, Jeremy continued to make his way down the endlessly long, looping corridors, the university student making quick suspicious glances at his surroundings, his mind filled with questions.
Just what was this place? Who or what was that clown, that so-called "Mister White"?
Was he going crazy? Was this all some...elaborate dream or hallucination?
Part of Jeremy wanted to believe that it were the former, if only so that he would be able to finally wake up from this; it was without a doubt the single worst experience that he ever had in his entire life. While part of him had hoped that everything were a hallucination, a more desperate, admittedly somewhat prideful part of Jeremy, however, refused to believe that he was going insane, if only to preserve what little sanity and certainty he had left.
Of course, the truth itself was just as awful to consider, one that brought no comfort to him.
Jeremy darkly considered his stance, uncertainty clouding his mind.
Dream or not, all he could do was to move forward and hope for the best.
As he continued down the corridor, Jeremy paused as he was struck by a sudden thought.
Was this...Hell?
Jeremy shivered.
He wasn't a religious person, but the thought had crossed his mind plenty of times throughout this whole endeavor.
With his thick black hide, glowing white eyes and vicious nature alone, Rex could easily be mistaken for the Devil.
'If it's so,' Jeremy mused, 'then...what does this mean?'
As far as Jeremy could tell, he wasn't dead...at least, he as far as he were aware.
Was this "Mister White" the Grim Reaper?
He had made reference to some form of "management", whatever the hell that meant, but if that were so, where did the dinosaur fit in? If this was Hell, why would Jeremy be tormented by a T-Rex of all things? He had seen plenty of depictions of demons, of the Devil in various movies and descriptions, but why something so specific? What part of his subconscious did something like that come from?
It was then that a troubling thought bubbled its way into Jeremy's mind, turning his insides turn to ice.
Had he...died?
Jeremy stilled all movement, completely bewildered by the suggestion.
It was a morbid, if not sobering thought, especially considering the fact that he was still a young man in his early twenties. A young man with so many hopes and dreams that have yet to be fulfilled.
Jeremy didn't believe that were the case; he still hungered, drank, sweat and bled just like any other living organism. Presumably, ghosts shouldn't be able to feel any earthly urges or sensations like they had when they were alive, wouldn't they?
More and more, Jeremy started to wonder about his circumstances.
Had the circus and clown all been some weird manifestation of a dying mind, some weird flight of fancy before his subsequent departure to the afterlife, be it Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell?
Had he been involved in some sort of hit-and-run while walking? Had some jackass killed him and then fled while he had been walking through Monarch Forest?
Many questions assaulted his mind, causing his head to spin, but one thought alone troubled him.
If this was Hell...why was he here? Was he being punished by God? If so, what had he done to merit such cruelty?
While Jeremy had never been a church-goer in life - he was admittedly agonistic at best on such matters - he had never done drugs, nor had he ever hurt anyone in his life. He never stole, threatened or killed anyone. He never watched porn or had sexual relations with anyone, nor had he ever done anything notorious nor noteworthy in his life. If anything, he tried to stay out of trouble. Granted, he wasn't a saint, but he was no sinner either, which begged the question - why was this happening, and to him of all people?
Jeremy tried to replay the events of that day, his brow furrowed as he struggled to recall anything out of the ordinary. Anything that he might have not noticed.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jeremy let out a frustrated sigh, his mind filled with too many questions.
Silence filled the empty halls as he continued to navigate through the labyrinth, his mind tirelessly working as he tried to both keep alert while also trying to piece together the mystery of this godforsaken place.
There had to be a reason why he was here. There had to be an explanation as to why-
He barely had time to react as a titanic mouth appeared from his right and chomped down onto his forearm, prompting Jeremy to let out a horrible scream of agony.
Lifted up by his limb, Jeremy struggled against the creature's burning white teeth, wriggling around in the air like a worm on a fish hook. Yelling at the beast, he uselessly pounded his fist against its hide, at its sneering mouth, even as he felt the awful heat and sharp teeth digging deeper into his flesh.
Finally, Jeremy heard and felt a loud crunch followed by an audible gulp, the action causing him to drop to the floor.
Struggling to his feet, Jeremy scrambled away, letting out tearful whimpers as he sought to get away as far as he could.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' He mentally berated himself, running blindly with one arm clutching the remains of his burning elbow.
He should have been more careful.
Tears and snot ran down his face, the boy letting out a whimper as he glanced over his shoulder to see the towering and grinning countenance of his nemesis as it followed him wherever he went.
There had to be a portal somewhere.
He was not going to get cornered, not now.
Where is it?! Where is it?!
Round and round the endless hallways he ran, followed by the black devil close behind, until finally, he spotted his ticket to get out of here.
Jeremy felt a surge of adrenaline flood his system, hoping burning within him like never before.
'I can make it!' He thought with renewed determination. 'I can make it!'
Behind him, he saw Rex quicken his pursuit, his hingeless mouth opening wide in preparation, ready to snatch him at a moment's notice.
Jeremy felt every muscle burn in his legs, the youth straining with every ounce of energy he had, ignoring the burning pain in his shoulder.
He was ten feet away.
Nine feet away.
Eight feet.
Seven.
Six.
Rex was quickly gaining on him, its might mouth growing nearer.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Letting out an angry, defiant roar, Jeremy leapt with everything that he had, his body spinning.
"GET FUCKED, REX!" He shouted at his adversary, flipping him off with his remaining hand as he felt the familiar tingle of the portal as it consumed his form, watching as everything disappeared.
He was alone within a primeval-looking jungle, the blazing heat of the sun high overhead bearing down on his naked skin. Various ferns, cycads and conifers covered the forest floor, along with plants such as magnolias, figs, and sassafras, while looming around him were a number of large beech and oak trees, some of them carrying various nuts and acorns.
Raising himself off the ground, he watched in surprise as everything around him seemed to shrink.
Blinking, he lifted his head as a large dragonfly buzzed by his face, making him rear back his head.
Somewhere nearby, he heard a loud snort like a horse, causing Jeremy to whip around, startled by the sound.
Looking in all directions, Jeremy relaxed slightly as he realized that he was alone.
Letting out a breath, he walked forward, hearing and feeling the ground crunch beneath his feet.
He needed to find something to eat - right now, he was absolutely starving!
He let his eyes wander from side to side, taking note of the environment as he searched for food.
Was it him, or did he feel unusually heavy?
His eyesight seemed better as well along with his sense of smell.
He kept wandering around, taking in all the sights and smells, struck by how everything seemed so familiar, yet in some way so very and inexplicably different to him.
Looking up to the sky, he saw strange birds, including...a pterodactyl?
Blinking in confusion, he reared his head back.
No way did he just see that. He couldn't have- it must have been his imagination.
Lowering his eyes back down to ground level, he wandered through the trees, glancing around from side to side as he moved past the various leaves and branches, feeling the latter gently rake across his bare skin.
He kept wandering for a long while, moving through the primeval marshes for something, his eyes and ears searching for the faintest hints of food.
A loud crash through the trees startled Jeremy as he turned to his left, watching clouds of dust rise, covering the underbrush.
Once the cloud had parts, he spotted something - a faint glowing some meters away that let out a dull, rhythmic throbbing hum.
Blinking curiously, Jeremy cocked his head to the left, then to the right, hearing a loud sniffing before he suddenly took a hesitant step forward, then another. Feeling emboldened, he then headed directly toward the light, effortlessly pushing past the various branches, trees, and bushes in his way.
Closing in on the source, Jeremy suddenly paused at the unexpected discovery, staring down at the strange object.
It was small, no larger than a football, and a shimmering black, constantly shifting in its shape and appearance, rippling with electrical energy, if not some sort of greenish equivalent. Levitating just two or three feet off the ground, the object pulsated, changing from solid to liquid to gas, changing from ring-like to spherical to cubical to egg-shaped. The object then twisted into spirals, double-helixes, pyramids, and various other shapes that Jeremy had trouble naming, some of the shapes so alien in their geometry that he wasn't even sure there was a proper name for them.
A sharp whine made Jeremy's ears ring, causing him to wince slightly. To his surprise, his body started to move on its own toward the strange object, his head tilting from side to side with growing curiosity.
What was this thing?
He heard something like a loud sniffing, then, to his surprise, he found himself being drawn closer to the item.
'I wonder what it tastes like,' came the unexpected thought.
Some unknown part of Jeremy felt compelled to take a test bite, just for the sake of determining whether or not the object was potentially edible.
His tongue tingled slightly as it made contact, causing him him to withdraw as he thoughtfully considered the taste.
It felt a little odd, but as far as he could tell, it didn't seem dangerous.
Jeremy was too powerless to stop himself as he suddenly opened his mouth wider than he thought possible.
The taste was unlike anything he had ever imagined; words alone failed to describe the sensation that he felt as his mouth, throat, heart, skin and stomach burned with an intolerably scorching heat akin to a million suns.
Jeremy let out a loud scream as he felt his own body inexplicably change, his burning skin and muscles feeling as if they were slowly being peeled away, his bones aching.
'PLEASE GOD MAKE IT STOP!' Jeremy mentally cried in agony.
Finally, just when the pain became unbearable, there came an inexplicable flash of light, followed by darkness.
When Jeremy awoke, he let out a sharp intake of air, his eyes bulging.
What the fuck was that?! What just happened?!
Sitting himself up, Jeremy struggled to recover, looking around in all directions.
No sign of Rex anywhere.
Exhaling in relief, Jeremy massaged his forehead, wincing at the pain that he felt in his arm.
Looking over at what was left of his limb, he made a face at the exposed bone and burnt skin.
At least the heat cauterized the injury and kept him from bleeding out.
Shrugging off his backpack, he unzipped a compartment and took out a bottle of water and some duct tape.
Pouring the former onto his limb, Jeremy let out a string of curses.
"Fuck!" He swore.
Just his fucking luck to end up in this fucked-up mess.
Take the roll of duct tape, Jeremy proceeded to wrap it around his limb, face twisting in agony.
He hoped that he could find a way out of here, if not a doctor.
Tearing it with his teeth, Jeremy placed the roll away, slipping the backpack onto his shoulders.
That should hold for now. He just hoped that he could last just a little longer.
Getting back up to his feet, Jeremy tiredly continued his trek down the while and black labyrinth, his mind and body sore.