The Labyrinth

CHAPTER ONE (Lukas's POV)

Something shakes me from my dream. I groan and mumble, "Go away, I want to sleep."

"Lukas!" A feminine voice chastises me. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Luke! It's already noon!"

I roll away from the voice and pull the covers over my head. "A little longer. I'm tired!"

"Hmm. Maybe you shouldn't have stayed up til dawn last night partying by the campfire with your friends! Now get up!" She pulls the blanket off, which is wrapped around my body, and I go tumbling off with it. Of course, my sister chuckles at her accomplishment.

"Now get up, you have laundry today. There's a pile at the end of the bed, and Aunt Phoebe's waiting for you by the lake. She's not pleased, either. I'd hurry up if I were you. And how'd you end up in here anyway? Wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know." Then she walks off, shaking her head.

What is that supposed to mean? I sigh and stumble up to a standing position with a yawn. I hate doing laundry. Why do I have to do laundry again? Oh shoot... The drawing is tomorrow, isn't it... The sleepiness is now gone, and replaced by fear. Everyone in this village has a chance of going to that maze! My best friends, my neighbors, even me or my sister! I take a deep breathe to calm myself. What are the chances that my sister or I will get drawn anyway? One in a milion? Only two people from each village are chosen, what's the chance either of us will be the chosen ones? Exactly.

I look around the room, and realize it isn't my room that I'm sleeping in. It's feminine, with flowers draped around everywhere. Only a girl would take this much time to make her room look this perfect. What the heck happened last night! For fear that the owner will come back and I'll have to face enough embarrassment for another lifetime, I grab the clothes and run out of the room. The sun is blinding outside, but I fight through it and try to search the area for the trail to the lake, but bump into something hard and metal instead. The sun is gone because of the shadow above me, and I look up to see one of King Aegeus' guards staring down at me with a cheeky grin. He was probably heading to help set up for tomorrow's drawing. The bulky man grabs onto my arm and pulls me up from the ground.

"Watch where you're going next time, Luke! One of these days, you might just end up running into Felix, and it won't be so pretty." He dusts my back off and turns back towards the path he was heading down. Felix is the head of the guards. He thinks just because he's the captain, then he automatically he gets to push everyone else around. He's not a leader, though. He'll never be a leader. The only thing he'll ever be is a pompous ass.All the guards have always treated us kindly, as if we were equals. But not Felix. Never in a million years. I sigh grudgingly at the thought of his stuck-up face, then pick up all the dropped clothes and continue down my own path towards the lake.

When I reach it, I find Aunt Phoebe wringing out one of my sisters dresses, muttering something under her breath. Aunt Phoebe took us in when our parents were drawn to go into the maze. She isn't the nicest person. Or the most attractive. And she has a really short temper... But we love her nonetheless. She always says that we're the only one's who can make her laugh. She says we keep her young, but we all know she's already passed that mark.

My aunt looks up from her angry wringing and glares at me. "There you are!" She growls, stumbling up in the mud. "You!" She says pointing at me. "Are in big trouble! This is the LAST time you stay up so late partying!" She spits on my cheek at the 'p', but I try to ignore it and keep eye contact.

"Your sister and I have been up since DAWN preparing for the drawing! But apparently, you're privileged! Because you get to pass out in some strange girl's tent dreaming life away!" She flutters her hands around, almost slapping me in the process. And then she slaps me. Purposely this time. On the back of the head. I hear my sister giggle behind me.

Aunt Phoebe throws me the washboard, and I just barely catch it. Then she points to the big bucket sitting by my sister.

"Fill that up and get to work, ya little brat!" She curses at me. Then turns and continues wringing out clothes, muttering the worst names she can possibly think of under her breath.

I wipe the saliva off my cheek, then trudge towards my sister and pick up the bucket. She's still giggling like crazy, so I glare at her. Brynne just points at me, other hand on her stomach, and laughs. But I'm the brat here. I drag the bucket to the water and dip it in. The liquid slowly fills the metal container until its about three-fourths of the way full, and then I pull it out and dip the washboard in.

Turning to get the pile of laundry I had carried here, instead I bump into a body. Again. I need to stop meeting up with people like this. I look up. It was Cleo. Instantly, I feel my cheeks redden up from bumping into her. She has a reputation here. A throne, more like. All the guys are all over her, and all the girls want to be her. Except my sister, she despises her.

"Hey Luke..." She was rocking back and forth on her heels, smiling. "You didn't make the bed when you left this morning!" She giggles.

"Oh," was all I could manage to choke out, but inside, I was screaming at myself. Why did I have to get drunk, and more importantly, what in Hades did I do?

"Oh?" She laughs, and pulls something out of her satchel. "You left your sandals." I take them, still feeling idiotic.

"Thanks..." I mutter. Out of the blue, something flies out of the air and hits Cleo on the back of her head. Screeching like a banshee, Cleo whips her head around and glares at her assailant. Turning back to look at me, she growls, "Get. Your. Sister. OUT. Of my face!"

I smile, glad to be able to piss Cleo off, "Sorry, I don't happen to have any authority over her." Then, I brush past Cleo, and start walking toward my sister.

Suddenly, though, something grips my arm. Hard. Rolling my eyes, I turn around to see Cleo's face inches from mine. The bitch smiles sweetly. "Oh, dear. You really don't remember what you did last night, do you? I'm sure Iris wouldn't be too happy to hear about it..."

I swallowed. Iris is my girlfriend, hopefully not soon-to-be ex. I turned to my sister and grit my teeth. "Brynne! Get over here! Now!" I said, winking at her between every word. She hangs her head and frowns, walking to me glumly. I almost laugh at her theatrics, and have to bite my tongue. Cleo smiles at her accomplishment, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at my sister. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Brynne gritting her teeth and struggling to keep from punching the other girl. Which I can understand. Cleo certainly needs a good beating.

"Well, this was fun! Byeeeee Lukas!" She cooed. I ignored her, and walked away, all but dragging Brynne, since she was still glaring daggers at Cleo. But then we just started laughing. Like crazy. Holding onto our sides.

Suddenly, a screeching sound breaks us out of our laughing fits. Aunt Phoebe was screaming at us to go back to work. Jeesh, was she loud. I turned and began my work again, still laughing at the thought of Cleo getting hit in the head with a sandal.