Through the maze

Chapter 24

It just goes on like that. It will turn off and I think I might finally be able to relax and then it starts blaring again. Sometimes for only a few seconds and sometimes for what seems like hours.
It makes it impossible to get any kind of rest. After about ten of the cycles of the on and off noise I decide that it is useless just sitting here. If I am not going to sleep I might as well start walking.
I try to ignore the fact that I told my self I wasn't moving from this spot until I got some sleep. That my attempt to take some control failed miserably.
I finish off the water and eat the mangos as I walk. As soon as I am finished I wish I had saved a little water to get this taste out of my mouth. Don't get me wrong I love mangos but that after taste was just so anoying
The siren stops and I finally get a little peace.
I hope it stops for a little longer this time because when its on I can barely hear myself think.
No such luck. After only a minute or so the siren is back on. It is a little quieter then before but it isn't that much better.
I walk down a hallway and come to a crossroads. I can go straight, left, or right.
I really hate these because I always feel like I am making the wrong decisions. I decide left. As soon as I turn the corner the siren gets noticeable louder. I keep walking and it just keeps getting louder. To the point where it is absolutely unbearable.
I go back to the crossroads and it is at its normal volume again. I go straight and nothing changes.
I try right and the siren gets softer and softer until I can barely hear it.
I go back to the crossroads.
The voice obviously wants me to go to the right and not the left. That means the logical choice would be left but the more I think about it the more that makes me very nervous. The last time I went somewhere I thought the voice didn't want me to go My dad ended up dead.
Great that's just great. How can I decide which way to go when each choice is likely to bring in some horrible terror.
I could always go straight.
I decide to do that because currently the voice doesn't seem to care if I go that way.
But then again that could be the whole plan.
Urgh! It is so hard to make any kind of decision with this infernal noise.
I decide straight anyways.
The noise doesn't get any quieter or louder but I do come to a dead end. Apparently he does care if I go that way.
I go back to the crossroads.
Left or right?
Left or right?
Right or left?
Which one.
I choose right because I don't think I will be able to handle the siren of it gets any louder.
I keep one hand on my knife the whole time. I doubt it will do any good though since I have to carry it with my left hand.
The siren continues to get quieter and quieter until it is nonexistent. For a moment I consider trying to sleep. The siren is gone now.
I decide against it. Something is going to happen, I am sure of it. I don't want to be sleeping when it does.

After a while I begin to think that I might have been wrong. Nothing is happening. maybe I was supposed to go left. I keep walking anyways.
Then I come to another clearing. My first thought is checkpoint but there is no table, no supplies, and no other hallways to go down.
All there is at the far side of the clearing is a door. A door with words I never thought I would see.
In beautiful black cursive writing it says:
The End.
I want to scream and cry and jump up and down with joy.
I race to the door and almost open when I realize what I have determined happened to those who reach the end.
The voice kills them.
Now I really want to cry. Did I actually make it to the end just so he could murder me?
No.
Not me.
He may have killed the others but not me. I take out my knife and even hold it in my right hand. Even with the painful burn I can do more damage with it in my right hand.
I grab the door knob with my left hand and open it slowly.
It's a dark hallway. I step in slowly. The darkness here is so different from the bright maze. It makes me uncomfortable. I used to be able to see everything and now I can see nothing.
The door behind me slams shut and the darkness is complete. I run back and try to open it again but it is locked.
That was my only escape if things got to bad here. It's weird to think of the maze as an escape when it's been a prison for so long.
I keep walking. Waiting for my eyes to adjust but it doesn't happen. I keep on hand on the wall at all times so I can tell if there is a turn.
The wall is made of metal and is impossibly smooth. I like it better then the unrecognizable substance that made up the maze walls.
Crash!
Something big falls behind me and I jump forward. I think I might have shrieked as well.
I feel my way back towards the crash. I surprised to find that I can't go farther then a few feet back because there is now a thick metal wall blocking the path.
The voice really does not want me to back to the maze. This scares me. Whatever here must be so terrible that others have tried to go back to the maze. What could be worse then the maze?
Every few feet now I hear another crash. Another wall blocking the way back. I keep walking. There isn't anything else I can do.
I am just starting to think that this will go on forever when I reach another metal wall. This one in front of me. One in front and one in back. Does he mean to trap me here?
No he said he wasn't going to let me starve or let dehydration kill me. It must be a door.
But where is the handle.
I feel all over the door but there is nothing. No handle or any hinges.
How can I get in without a door knob?
I hear a familiar scraping sound. The sound of a wall moving closer. If I can't get in he will just squish me in between these to metal walls. I check again for a handle but there is nothing there.
Tears start coming but I push them back. There is always a way to beat his challenges. Why does this final one seem more difficult then the rest.
I start to bang crazily on the door and start to scream. Maybe the voice has to open the door. He might be on the other side.
I bang harder and throw myself against the door.
I know I have no hope of breaking down a metal wall but I don't have any other options.
As I throw my self against it the door flies open.
I start to fall into whatever is behind the door when two strong hand catch me.
I look up to see a smiling face. He looks like he is maybe in his early 20s. Is this the voice? Is this the end?
He sets me back onto my feet and I get a look around.
I am in a room that looks huge because I can't see the edges. The only source of light is a naked bulb hanging from a long wire in the middle of the ceiling. It flickers for a moment and everything is dark but then it comes back on.
When I look around the room again I see all the people.
I don't know how I missed them. Maybe because they all wear black suits like mine so the blend in. There are quite a few of them and they are all staring at me. Most have hands on colorful knives. Some are blue like mine but there are other colors too.
The boy who caught me smiles at me with this big goofy grin. He looks somewhat in charge but also laid back. He has his left hand casual on the handle of his lime green knife His dark hair sticks up in the weirdest places.
He has his hand outstretched for me to shake.
"I'm Benedict." I am surprised by his accent. It's Irish or maybe Scottish I could never tell, "what's your name?"
"Uh... Victoria... Tori..." I don't know what else to say so I reach for his hand and he shakes it gleefully.
"Well congratulations Tori You made it through the maze."