The Destined

Chapter 17: Melissa

    Melissa    

The air is overly humid and hot. Ever since the morning, I have had terrible headaches. There are also so many insects in the maze. I have three really bad spider bites on my arms and legs. We have no food left at all. Whatever water Avani filled up in the bottle is gone now. We hike north like we are supposed to, but it seems like this forest drags on forever and ever, and there is no end. Anna has this brilliant idea to stop and rest, especially after walking for half the day. We stop at a small clearing in the forest.

"I'm really hungry," Avani says, staring at the empty pack. Well, the pocketknife and water bottle are still in there, but all the apples are gone. I didn't suspect they were going to sustain us for long.

"This maze is strange," Avani begins. "One day it was winter, the next it was spring. Today's more of a summer-y type of weather."

"I guess it changes seasons," Anna says, looking up at the branches. The hot air is replaced by something colder almost immediately. I could actually see the leaves changing before my eyes. They go from huge green leaves to tiny, shriveled up yellow and red leaves and ferns. A sharp gust of wind blows through, and half of them detach from the branches and swirl aimlessly in the air before falling to the ground. "It's pretty, though."

I sigh. This maze is anything but pretty. It's deceiving. It's dangerous. I don't even know how long we have been in here. It might have been four nights, it might have been five, but it certainly feels like a long time. I always feel watched. You could make out distant roaring and yelling and the sounds of birds and crows as they fly away in a flock, because something must've startled them. We try not to pay attention to it.

We sit there for a while. And then Avani says, "We should start walking again."

"What about food and water?" Anna asks. I nod.

"We'll search for it along the way," Avani says. The worst part about this maze is you can't see ahead of you. The trees are close together, blocking your view from what's out there, and letting predators hide safely before they pounce on us like prey. Like easy, scared prey that has nowhere to hide and not much power.

Well, I guess we do have some kind of power. We killed a Cyclops and a banshee. I don't know what's next.

We finally start walking again. It's a little bit chillier. We scan the ground for any plants or small animals. It's stupid looking for the animals, though. They are smarter than we are. They actually hide. I've never seen plants like these before. On the ground, the bushes contain bright pink and blue berries, and I've seen these bushes around. I've also seen bugs and rabbits chew on them, and they seemed fine. We stop at one.

"I'll try it," I volunteer.

"Don't die," Anna jokes, but there's uncertainty in her voice. The berries are inside the bush next to the stem, so I have to dig my hand in there to get one out. It's soft and squishy, and it really smells bad. I pop one in my mouth.

"How is it?" Avani asks.

I don't have time to respond. I bite down on the berry and all this juice floods my mouth. It's horrible. The skin of the berry is fleshy and gooey and has a mysterious crunch on the inside. The juice tastes like that horrible medicine that pediatricians claim to taste like cherries, only it doesn't taste like cherries at all. I spit it out and gag, all the way up to the point where I throw up.

"Ew," Avani remarks. Anna laughs at me.

After that, we decide to stop experimenting with plants. It's not anywhere close to sundown, but we decide to find shelter anyway. One tree in particular is hollow and big enough for the three of us to fit inside. There are several spider webs in there, but we pull them out and we throw leaves in there to soften the ground.