One Killing Maze

Chapter 21

It felt like hours had passed instead of minutes. Jerry had woken Armen from his restless sleep to switch out with him; let's just say Armen wasn't the greatest morning person. He sat begrudgingly at Y/n's side, nodding off every now and again before his head would jerk back upright once more.

"You would think every person in this place would come running right to us," Armen muttered, the noise still loud in the room, "but no."

Y/n snorted. This attitude of Armen was quite funny.

"At least they didn't rush us all at once," she commented back, referring to the three that had attacked them not long ago. Armen's lips twitched and he nodded slowly in agreement. After that, his eyes grew distant.

The h/c-haired girl turned to look at Jerry, who, just like Armen, was having trouble falling asleep. Perhaps she was so exhausted earlier that her ears drowned out the noise. It was possible, but the noise was here because of Y/n specifically.

"Hey," she murmured, an idea flickering in her mind, "what if I step into the room across from here?"

Armen gave her a look, asking if she was crazy.

"I'll keep the door open. It'll keep the noise from...y'know, keeping you two awake," she motioned to herself, "I'm the cause for it anyways... And I'll come running back if something happens."

Armen was debating on it, Y/n could tell.

"I'll be fine," she finalized, causing Armen to sigh. He nodded his head.

"If anything happens," he pointed at her as she stood, "scream. Louder than this noise."

A smile spread across Y/n's lips as she nodded in return. Her muscles ached as she finally rose to her full height and stood there to stretch for a moment before b-lining it directly towards the door on her right after grabbing one of the small knives (just in case). They hadn't been this way before, but upon opening the door, she found a small room with only one other entry point. She glanced up, checking that this room wasn't a trap, but when she made sure it wasn't, she entered.

The noise followed her as she entered the room. This room was bigger than a walk-in closet but smaller than the other rooms in the maze. The floor was tiled and both sides of the walls were lined with large cabinets, their doors closed. Directly down her line of sight is the other door.

Y/n moved closer to the center of the room, looking around curiously. She then headed over to one of the cabinets, which were more like wardrobes, and pulled it open. It was empty, of course. The girl closed it again and stepped back. Even though that specific one was empty, she might as well check the others in case of something interesting.

She indeed found a few things interesting in only a small amount of the wardrobes. In one of them, she found a stack of books. One fell out, knocking on the floor with a light thud. She picked it up and read the title, How to Kill a Mockingbird. She placed it back with the others and closed the doors.

In another, she found a few potted plants. The majority of them were fake though, not holding a single dead leaf. Y/n sighed and stepped away from that wardrobe and continued on with her search; she turned her attention to the far side of the room, the side she had not entered through. Moving to that side, she noted it was chilly, the draft of cold air sending a shiver down her spine. She eyed the furniture, then slowly approached the door on the other side of the hall.

Open.

Barely, but the door had been opened. A cold chill ran through her veins and her stomach dropped at this revelation. The three of them had not come from this direction, if not them, then-