Labyrinth: Stranded The Series (bxb)

Into the Mist

(Joshua's POV)

The bus rattled over the rough road, each bump jarring me from the thin thread of calm I was trying to hang onto. My leg bounced impatiently, an old habit I could never shake. I leaned my head against the window, staring at the fog outside. It pressed so close, it felt like the world had disappeared, like we were floating in some kind of limbo.

But this wasn't the kind of silence that soothed you. No, this felt like it was crawling under my skin, like something was waiting just beyond what I could see. My stomach twisted with that kind of dread that's impossible to ignore.

I tried, though. Hell, I was good at ignoring shit—my brother's arrests, my mom pretending I didn't exist while she worshipped the ground he walked on, the frat boys and their jokes that always cut a little too close to home. Yeah, I knew how to push things down. But right now? The bad feeling clawing at me wouldn't go away.

I shifted in my seat, feeling the weight of my earbuds in my pocket. Maybe I should put them back in, drown out the tension hanging in the air. I could feel it—everyone was starting to notice it too. The laughing had died down, and now the murmurs of conversation had that low, uneasy tone that made my skin prickle.

The fog outside thickened, swallowing up the trees, the road, everything. I couldn't see ten feet beyond the window anymore. It was like the world had fucking vanished.

I clenched my jaw. Something wasn't right. We were supposed to be on the highway, heading to the coast. Instead, here we were, on this creepy-ass back road that I knew wasn't part of the route.

"Why the fuck are we still going this way?" I muttered under my breath, glancing toward the front of the bus. The driver wasn't saying shit, and the further we went, the worse this felt in my gut.

I pulled my earbuds halfway out of my pocket, thinking about drowning out the noise with some music, but I stopped when I noticed Dillon shifting in his seat a few rows ahead. He looked just as uncomfortable as I felt.

Dillon Hayworth—the poster boy for rich-kid charm. Good looks, easy life. I didn't know much about him beyond the fact that we were in the same frat. He always had this easy smile, like nothing ever got to him. The kind of guy who didn't have to try hard because the world opened up for people like him.

Our eyes locked for a split second. His brow furrowed, and it wasn't the usual confidence I was used to seeing on him. He looked... uncertain. Maybe he felt it too. I quickly looked away, annoyed that Dillon was even paying attention to me.

What did this rich kid know about life, really? About what it felt like to always be on the outside looking in? My life was a shitshow from day one. My dad split before I could even remember him, my older brother was in and out of jail, and my mom? She acted like I didn't exist, compared to my brother. Like my whole existence was just a fucking afterthought.

I rubbed my jaw, feeling the tension knotting my muscles. Yeah, my life was a mess, but no one needed to see that. I kept it locked down. People saw what they wanted to see—quiet, angry Joshua Flinn, the guy who didn't talk much but got the job done. A scholarship to the best university around. A success story, right? That's what people believed.

I exhaled sharply, trying to shake off the feeling that something was about to go very wrong.

The bus slowed, the engine groaning as it crawled along the rough road. Then, without warning, it jerked to a stop, and the silence that followed was thick, oppressive.

"What the hell?" I muttered, pulling my earbuds fully out and sitting up straighter. Around me, the other students were doing the same, looking around with confusion.