Joker

NINETEEN - Amaya

Lonely. Cold. Dark. Silent. Suddenly, bright lights and a booming voice: "Hearts, you're first. When this message has finished, you will hear a consistent beeping noise. After that, everything will go black. Your task is to get through the maze and retrieve your key; pretty simple, right? Just one tip before you go: don't let your heart take over your head. Have fun!" When the message had stopped playing, there was a piercing ringing sound; just as I was told there'd be. Everything went pitch black and I felt as if I was outside of my own body. I was awake, but unable to move my arms and legs. It was almost as if I was paralyzed.

I'd lost all sense of time. Had I blacked out? No, surely not. I was still in the same room, but in front of me was a door. Weird: I didn't see it when the lights came on the first time. Cautiously, I shuffled over to it. I pulled the handle down, and it opened. Before me lay a huge, grass maze, with a tower in the middle. "Guessing that's where I have to go." I whispered to myself. The ground beneath my feet was hard and dry. The sky above me was dark and grey clouds rumbled over my head. Tall strands of grass towered over me from left right and centre. After walking through the path for maybe a minute or two, I came to a clearing. There were 3 paths: the way I just came from, a turning to my left, and a turning to my right. How was I supposed to choose where to go? I could be here forever. Coincidentally, a shout came from the path to the right. It was calling me. The voice was oddly familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on how or why I recognized it. The moment I realised, my stomach dropped to the floor: Noah. I was about to follow his voice, but I was stopped as I reached the opening of the path. I felt really unsettled; Noah was dead. I saw his body, so surely this isn't him, right?. That's when I clicked. "Don't let your heart take over your head". The words rang in my ears. I now realised what was meant by them, and I headed left.

Another few minutes had passed and I couldn't help but feel as if I wasn't alone. My heart was pounding inside my chest and my legs began to carry me faster and faster, until I came to a stop. I swallowed hard at the sound of my mother's voice. She sounded as if she was weeping. "Ma?" I called. There was no reply. "Mama, is that you?" I expected no reply again, but I got a response. "I'm over here darling." My blood ran cold. She had never called me that before. My brain hadn't processed what was going on, but wind blew in my face as I ran, stinging my cheeks. I started to get out of breath, but I wouldn't let myself stop running. "It's not real. It's not real." I kept repeating to myself. That's when I came face to face with a large, wooden door.