Aarmau: Remember Me, Remember Us, Just Remember

Chapter 131

Aaron gives her a questioning look and then instinctively rushes forward as Irene lets go and Aph begins to collapse. She falls into his arms and he barely has time to keep her from hitting the ground.

Brushing the hair from her face she looks like she's only asleep. Closing his eyes he listens to the steady rhythm of her heart and sighs in relief.

As he lifts her up he looks up to see their friends rushing down the sidewalk with Aph's mother leading them. He watches Sylvanna's eyes shift from Aph to Zack. "Mija! What happened Aaron? And is that Zack? What in Irene is he doing here?"

Aaron glares at Zack, "Apparently he decided to pay Aph a visit and wants to play daddy dearest. He was upsetting her so Irene stepped in and dealt with him."

Eric growls under his breath, "Hopefully she killed the bastard."

Aaron frowns, "Using Aph's body? No, she put him to sleep and instructed us to lock him away in one of her contraptions, some kind of maze."

Sylvanna laughs, "He hated the hay mazes they set up at Halloween. It'll be a nightmare for him."

Aph stirs in Aaron's arms and as her eyes pop open she starts to cry, "Irene! What did you do?!"

Aaron carries her over to the porch steps and continues to cradle her in his arms as he sits, "Shhh, it's alright Aph. Irene didn't hurt him."

Aph sighs, "Thank goodness, I wanted the asshole out of my life, not dead."

Zane chuckles, "Well, Irene said you were getting upset and thought you might overreact. She didn't want you to do something you'd regret, especially since he kind of threatened Aaron."

The moments before Irene took over replay in her mind and she's afraid Irene might have been right. She was so angry she kept thinking she would do anything to get him out of her life, to get him out of their lives. Would she have killed him?

Aph shivers and curls into Aaron. "She may have been right. So what did she do to him?"

Aaron chuckles, "Put him to sleep. She also told Rowan to take him to something called the Maze."

Aph closes his eyes and after a couple of seconds smiles, "That place is perfect. It's huge with a plot of land in the middle. It gives the visitors shelter and food so they can survive but never escape. It looks just like an ancient hedge maze with 30-foot walls. If you manage to reach the top all you see is fog and the pattern changes every 2 hours and it's never the same twice. Even if they manage to find the entrance, stepping through it only brings you back to the center."

Zane frowns, "What if someone wanders in by accident?"

Aph shakes her head, "There are no accidents. Even though Irene created the forest, it's a living breathing thing. Every tree, every blade of grass, every animal is its own life force but they are all connected. When they speak, it's faster than the internet. They know who belongs there and who doesn't."

Aaron frowns in thought, "I wasn't able to see into the forest until you introduced me. But it sounds like the forest chooses."

Aph shakes her head again, "It's a very complicated security system. You needed me to see into the forest. Without me, it would have been darkness and shadows and you might never have come back out. That's why no one has ever mapped the forest, they needed the connection. Hyria can grant access but only for a limited amount of time and she must always be with you and willing. Of course, if I'm not a willing participant the forest will know and you most definitely will not come back out. It'll be the Maze without the survival gear. The Maze itself knows who belongs and who doesn't. It's something about the person entering. If a child wanders in, or if Zane pushes Garroth in, for instance, it knows they don't belong and will guide them out. Now if Garroth goes crazy again he might very well be stuck in there forever."