Horror Labyrinth

Part 6

D

Daniel looked at the two girls in horror before realizing who they were. "Madison! Lily!" Gabriel was the first to hug the returning heroes. "Did Tom lock you down here? Where'd you come from? You do realize you walked through the wall, right?"
Daniel rolled his eyes. The fact that they were all together again was enough for him. "Where have you been? Did you miss us? How did
you-" "The key!" Felix laughed. Gabriel looked at Felix, hurt. Felix didn't seem to notice as he ran up to Lily and grabbed the copper key. Without looking at it, he stuffed it into the second lock. It didn't fit.
"What's happening?" Madison asked. "Is it just me or have the boys lost their minds?"
Daniel sighed. At least that's normal.. "It won't fit! Why won't it fit? It has a dog at the end of it but it looks really scary! It could pass!" Gabriel walked up to Felix and grabbed the key. He then placed it on the last lock and turned. It fit. "Oh..."
"What are you doing?" Madison asked. Daniel looked at her before realizing she was talking to him. "Oh- um..." Daniel didn't know how to start. "Apparently, Tom isn't a good guy." When did we end up with that conclusion? "And there's monsters here trying to kill us so we ran and found this key that fits this door and we think it might lead to the exit but we need one more key." God, why am I so terrible at explaining things? This seems more like a child's excuse for sneaking into someone's house.
Madison nodded. Daniel didn't feel too confident she understood but let it slide. Talking with her was bad enough. What's wrong with me? We've only been apart for a few hours and I feel as though she's a stranger.
Daniel followed Madison to the door. "We need one more key, right? Have you guys fully explored this area?" She's taking this so calmly... I'd almost think she deals with this all the time. "No, but I doubt it'll be here. We already got the first one. What I think is that the monster that's on the key is the monster we have or will face. Like a video game." Gabriel said. "Like a video game."
"Well, we faced off a monstrous dog so that counts... What's the last one?" Madison asked. And where. "Well where did YOU come from?" Felix countered. "You just walked straight through the wall!"
Madison looked at him, confused. "We went through that door..." Madison looked back to where they came and immediately realized her entrance was gone, whatever it was. "I swear we came through some bent halloween pumpkin door!" She argued.
"Mhm." Felix said, unconvinced. "Guys, look." Lily walked up to where the imaginary door was and put her hand straight through the wall. Daniel, Gabriel, and Felix gasped. How? Lily poked her head into the wall for a moment before coming back out. "It's where me and Madison went through. It's still the same."
Madison nodded and walked through the wall. Lily followed. "So what...? Are we supposed to follow them?" Felix asked. First it was zombies, then monsters, and now wizardry? What next, dragons?" Daniel walked towards the wall and self consciously pulled his hand, then leg, then arms and stepped through the wall. Lily smiled at his presence but Madison looked towards the ground, as if something annoyed her. Did they argue just now? How on earth could they talk that fast? Or am I just losing my mind?
Gabriel and Felix came shortly after. Everyone was here. "We haven't really looked everywhere here... but should we finish looking through your place or ours? A warning, our dog monster's still here." Madison said.
"Well, ours is too. And ours might be more scary than a dog." Gabriel looked at Lily. "No offence."
"So ours?" Madison asked. Everyone nodded. Madison led the way through the hallways while Lily explained the situation. Apparently, the dog will start barking loudly if it sees you and it refuses to go inside the sliding door rooms, which isn't guaranteed, though. Suddenly, Madison freezes. Gabriel paused right before hitting her and caused Felix to bump into him. "Hey, what's the big idea?" Felix growled. Madison didn't speak. She was looking up. Daniel followed her gaze and stopped when his eyes caught sight of a six legged spider creature on the roof of the ceiling. It was fully black with some gray lines around it's back and belly. On its neck dangled a copper key. It's eyes were as blue as diamonds and stared directly at them. Nobody moved.
Suddenly, barking sounded from just behind them. Madison charged forward, taking a right and opening some sort of door. When he got closer, Daniel realized it was one of those sliding doors Lily told them about. Daniel rushed in and helped Madison close the door behind it before the dog or spider could get in.
Gabriel and Felix sat on the couch inside, breathing heavily while Madison looked at the paintings and Lily stood by the small table in the middle, watching the door. Daniel walked over to the paintings. "Anything special about them?" He asked. Madison didn't reply. This is so awkward. What am I supposed to say? "The letters." Madison spoke. "Huh?" "The letters aren't abc so you could tell them apart. When I did the combination I did them by the order I saw the paintings. Not by letters." Madison looked at the others. "I think in order to get that last key..." She said, "Is to finish the maze..." She took a deep breath. "And kill the black spider. At least, if that thing really is the last monster we have to face."
"So we need to go back out there?" Felix whimpered. He hates spiders. So do I. "Don't be so scared, Felix. It might be able to scent your fear~" Madison teased. "Not funny!" Felix growled.
"Still, we have to get out of here. It's not like sitting here is helping." Gabriel commented. Daniel nodded. "He's right. I vote we go. At least dying trying to escape is better than dying in this room like a coward."
"Then let's go." Madison said. She walked towards the door but Felix blocked it, holding out his hands on both sides to block her. "Felix, what are you doing?" Madison asked. "Stopping you. This is a horrible idea. I don't want any of us dying!"
"Being sitting ducks won't save us either!"
"People might come looking for us! You never know!"
"Exactly! And I'd rather be saved by my own hands instead of sitting here wondering if everyone forgot about me and such. Even if they do find us, do you think even the police can kill the monsters that we've faced? We probably are only facing weaklings right now! Wait till the final boss appears!"
Madison glared at him. "Guys, we shouldn't fight at a time like this!" Gabriel said. "Let's just get out of here!"
Felix hesitated. "Fine." He said. Madison took his place and leaned on the door, pushing with all her might. The door slid open sharply, causing Madison to fall down. Felix chuckled but shut up when Madison glared at him once more.
Daniel looked out. There was nothing there. He led the way outside of the room before stepping sideways to allow Madison and Lily to lead. Together, the two girls seemed to navigate the maze pretty well, and even managed to turn quickly around when they ended up at a dead end. They barely slowed their pace to think about where they were going. Wow. I wish I had that sort of map memory.
Grmmm....
The group paused when they turned a corner and looked up. The spider was right above them with the same key attached to the necklace around its neck. Because of its eyes being fully blue it was hard to tell exactly which one of them it was looking at. "Gmm." It said, tilting its head slightly to the right. Things like this are slow to appear dangerous. I've watched enough movies to know that once you make a wrong move, it'll lunge and attack immediately.
"Tam... key..." It said, tilting its head once more. "Tam key."
Madison jumped up and grabbed the key around its neck, pulling the spider monster down with it before snapping. Everyone screamed when it got up and lunged at Madison, before being blocked by Lily. "KEY! GIVE ME! MINE!" It spoke. It turned its head around like an owl until Madison was in its sight. "Felix!" Gabriel yelled. "Yeah?" He replied. Daniel didn't hear anything else nor bothered to look. He watched as the monster held Lily down with four of its limbs and reached for Madison with the other two.
I'll protect her... when it gets too close...
Swishh.
The monster screamed as a dagger pierced one of its eyes. The monster turned around frantically trying to see the cause of its injury. Felix stood smiling at it with a knife in his other hand. We all thought it was safe at the door so I left my stuff there... (And also so he wouldn't have to explain it to the girls) ...Felix still kept his?
Felix threw his knife when the creature charged at him in rage. He stepped back and tried grabbing another knife from his pockets when the monster jumped on him, shoving him to the ground. Gabriel and Daniel grabbed the monster's arms (Or were they feet?) and tried pulling him off. The monster tore away from them and looked at Daniel with its one empty eye. "Save...me..." The monster said. Daniel stood in shock. "What're you doing? Help me!" Gabriel choked. Daniel snapped back into reality to see the monster trying to rip Felix's face off. He bent down and pulled with all his strength. Suddenly, the monster let go and pushed Daniel and Gabriel into Lily and Madison, who crashed into a open door and fell in. Daniel's heart gained speed as whispers invaded his mind so he got up and looked behind him. The door separating him and the girls shut behind him and the whispering stopped.
Daniel looked back to see Felix on top of the monster with his special sword right through it's back. Daniel couldn't move. He sat in shock for a minute or two before Felix broke the silence. "What was that?"
Daniel looked at him, confused. "The monster?" "No, the door."
Daniel got up, holding the doorknob to the opened door for balance, swiftly closing it. Daniel's eyes wide fed as he tried opening it. It wouldn't budge. Daniel tried harder. Still. "Here, let me try." Gabriel pushed Daniel out of the way and turned the knob. Still stuck. "Now that I think about it... that door wasn't open before, was it?" Gabriel asked Daniel. "No, I don't think so."
"Great. So now we're separated again. And in the exact same groups." Felix mumbled. "Why? Do you want to be with them?" Gabriel teased. "Do you think they're having fun right now? Trapped inside that room like a bird?"
"Even birds are dangerous." Felix argued.
"How so?"
"They scratch."
"Huh."
"And stop acting like Madison, it's scary."
"Okay."
Daniel ignored their conversation and looked at the door. It was just wooden. Nothing special about it. Once Felix and Gabriel stopped talking about the girls, they moved on to Halloween.
"If this place wasn't real, do you think it'll make a good haunted house?" Gabriel asked.
"Definitely! This makes me excited for next year!"
There might not even be a next year. Daniel thought. How could they be so shortsighted? They were about to die! "I'm hungry.." Daniel looked back at the monster that spoke. "Save me... save me... save me."
"Hey, Daniel, you alright?" Daniel jumped when Gabriel touched his shoulder. He shook his head to try and clear it. "Yeah, I'm fine." Felix and Gabriel exchanged a glance. They must think I'm not for shaking my head...
Daniel and the others sat near the door for a while. Felix and Gabriel's topic was now cookies. Seriously, what's wrong with them? By now, Madison and Lily must've been gone at least fifteen minutes. That's one fourth of an hour. Daniel froze. He heard voices. No, not the door again... Daniel turned and backed up, ignoring The Spider Man's body (Felix named him). Suddenly, the door burst open and Madison and Lily ran out, closing the door behind them.
"Welcome back, ladies-" Felix started before Madison grabbed his and Gabriel's arm and ran off. Lily gently tugged Daniel, too but he followed willingly. "Hey, let me go- arghhh! I hate you!" Felix complained. "Ow! That hurts, you know!"
Now that Daniel noticed, both Madison and Lily looked beat up. "Hey, what happened?" He asked Lily. She looked at him for a second before turning back to stare at the floor. Wow. I could never rely on my memory that much to trust my own feet like that. Lucky.
"When me and Madison were trapped, this big Shadow Eyes appeared. That's what I call him." What's with calling these monsters anything at all besides "monster"? "Anyways, he could talk and said that he wanted the key. Madison said no, and the Shadow Eyes got really mad. Shadow Eyes was just black and the whole room was black too, so we could only see his glowing white eyes. They were huge. Suddenly, swings appeared and Madison and I got on two separate ones and climbed up to his eyes." This sounds like a child telling their parent about a dream. "We stomped on his eyes and he got weaker until he was on the floor. Madison told him to let us out so he gave the door light to let us see it. We ran, but Shadow Eyes was still mad so he tripped me and Madison had to run back to get me and we both had to run out the door while Shadow Eyes grew bigger." Lily gasped. "That was a lot to say." No kidding.
"Here." Madison opened a door that had pumpkins and a few scarecrows on it. Oh. That door. They all walked through and entered the other side. Madison laughed. "We did it."
"Not yet," Gabriel said. "We don't even know that it leads outside."
"It has to."
Daniel looked at the key before she put it in. The end was shaped like The Spider Man and even had sapphire eyes. Daniel still couldn't get rid of the last words of the poor beast. Did no one else hear it..?
Madison turned the key and touched the doorknob. Really? Suspense? Now? Madison took a deep breath and turned the doorknob. The door opened. She opened it fully and looked up. Stairs. There were stairs! But that doesn't mean they lead outside.
Daniel followed the others up the stairs and looked around. This was the exact place where they fell through the floor. But there weren't any stairs before... Madison sighed. "Looks like someplace new."
"No," Gabriel looked around. "I remember this place! Don't you, Felix?"
Felix nodded.
Gabriel ran to the end of the hallway, followed by Daniel and Felix. Madison and Lily walked more slowly, talking to each other.
"Well, well, well."
Gabriel stopped and stared at what was ahead of him. Daniel froze when he saw the face, too.
Tom. The sneaky, horrible, fancy Tom. Daniel clenched his fists. "Who are you?" Madison spoke up. She wasn't looking confused, though. Is she testing him? How could she forget?
Tom laughed. "My, it's only been a day and you forgot!" A day? "My name is Tom."
"No, your real name. Full name, please." Madison demanded, stepping forward. "Oh, I see what you're doing!" Tom pat Madisn's head and recoiled just in time before Madison hit him. "Clever little girl, too bad you'll never know...
"We can tell the police, ya know." Felix joined in.
"Really now?"
"And we can tell them you kidnapped us." Lily added.
"You won't be able to get out of this." Gabriel said.
"No, you won't." Daniel added.
Tom looked conflicted."What're you gonna do now?" Madison asked. "Fool. You should've never done this. Luck brought us here but we won't need it to get out."
"Fine then!" Tom yelled. He grabbed one of the pictures on the wall and threw it, barely missing Gabriel's left eye. Felix dragged out his last knife and Madison slowly walked around Tom, blocking his escape. This seems like a real movie. Daniel thought. Whatever. Let me in, too. "Save me..." Daniel stood by his friends. The last words from The Spider Man still hung in his mind. Okay. Daniel thought. I'll save you.