Author Games Compilation [Cycle 1]

Task 3 - The Minotaur Wars (AR)

It's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights. It was the first thing Aikin mustered in that brain of his once he realized where he stood: seventy feet above the ground, balancing on a very thin, unstable beam of metal. The room below, he realized, was a theatre, and again his curiosity sparked. In a moment of awe he ran his eyes along the ornate walls. The ground sloped, red seats placed in perfectly aligned rows all the way down to the stage, which adorned a billowing red curtain. Huh, he thought, a real show? Good for me. Just what I wanted while running for my life. Peachy.

"Hey!" someone called. Aikin whirled, nearly slipping off the beam and plummeting straight down. When he saw who it was, he merely placed a hand on his heart and breathed sharply. Gwen raised her brows. "You think we should go down there?"

Aikin couldn't help the frown that grew on his face. This could be my chance to get away, couldn't it? I did want to go solo, right? These people are only weighing me down...

He nodded his head, accepting their company. Gwen grinned, and Theo peered around her shoulder at him, clasping the arm he'd cut. That boy was wary, far more cautious than Gwen. And, Aikin figured, he should be too. The last thing I need is a child getting in the way...I know he's older than many here, but there's just something about him that radiates childhood.

Hm. Deep. Aikin turned, facing the maze of beams before him. Thick rods of rectangular metal crisscrossed each other, an endless stretch of rafters. He glanced down, then back up. Not worth it. I'd better head back.

But when he turned around, the door was closed. He raised a brow, carefully inching his way to the door and jiggling the knob. Locked. He'd been locked in this room, trapped in the rafters, with no way down. Maybe if he wasn't so indifferent about the situation, he would've been angry, enraged even. Betrayed. But no, he felt the same as he always had. Just another obstacle. Hey, on the bright side no one can get me up here.

He ran his eyes along the walls attached to the rafters for any sign of exit. They landed on a prize, a ladder. It was directly below the door, so it wasn't a long journey before Aikin was making his way down, one rung at a time. After a long descent, his feet met stable ground. The room felt much larger.

Cautiously, he took a few steps at a time, meticulously scanning the surroundings for any sign of danger. I swear, if I end up dying because a bear or something pops out of these seats, I will deserve every moment of being torn apart just for the sheer ignorance of missing a giant furry beast in the middle of the room.

Something attracted him out of the corner of his eye. Naturally, he looked, to find a separate little alcove where two sets of double doors taunted him. Between them, there was an old ticket booth, ginormous bulbs flickering in and out of life around a rectangle of indecipherable words: T E   H NG R   GA ES.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the next showing. Looks like I'm a little late, seeing how the show has already began.

Aikin sighed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, and began to advance towards the double doors. But something shifted behind the grime-coated glass of the ticket both, and he was pulled back. What the hell...? He cupped a hand around his eyes so he could peer inside. It's too dark... He squinted, straining in hopes that his eyes had only been deceived. Nothing.

Waste of time. He backed away, frowning at the ticket booth. The circle cut out of the glass in which one would exchange money and tickets was nothing more than a wall of cobwebs, and he had no intention of reaching through to continue his searches. The last thing I need is a snake or spider biting be and killing me off. That'd really suck, man.