Andrew Bailey & The Eternal Maze

Prolougue

It was coming at a rapid pace; it's crimson red eyes were locked onto me. Running away as fast as I could definitely was taking its toll on my body. The sheer weight of it coming after me was making the ground around me tremble. My body was gasping for air while my brain was trying to make sense of the situation. The more I thought how on earth did I get myself into this mess, the more confused I was. I knew I had no time for regrets because up ahead the road had split into two directions.
I took a gamble and went towards the left passage.

However, what was in front of me was a very long spiral staircase. I could already feel my feet cramping up.

"My luck, among both passages, I had to choose the route that goes so high up after being chased by such a beast." I groaned. Though I knew it was better to climb than take my chances fighting it.

With every passing second I was dilly-dallying, the trembling around me increased, I knew I had to move. The metal staircase was rusted and made a creak sound the moment I pressed my weight against it. As I begun thinking that it wasn't so bad, my leg had stepped through one of the steps as the metal gave way, giving me a nasty looking cut. I couldn't tell how bad the cut was; but the wound was bleeding profusely.

I pulled off my sleeve and applied pressure to the wound and wrapped it best I could, what I didn't know was that beast was enjoying my dripped blood from down below till it growled loudly after I stopped the blood from flowing.

"It's still following me? Geez doesn't it know when to give up."

After crawling my way up towards the top slowly, what awaited me was a small old room with no windows or doors. It honestly looked like it was hundreds of years old. Across it's long untrodden floor laid old furniture with pale white sheets covering them. Not to mention the walls laced with cobwebs and the room filled with old stagnant air.

As I leaned back against the wall and looked up onto the ceiling, I wondered what did I do to deserve this.

As my conscious was fading, all I could think of was everything begun because of that invitation. If only I never received it. Things would not have ever gotten this bad.

How did this all happen you may ask; I would have to go back to the beginning to explain all of this.

Ever thought that just one bad decision could change your life?

Well I'm here to tell you that yes just one single bad decision can turn your life
into a completely different direction.

This whole mess started all because of one invitation. Just one seemingly ordinary letter caused me a whole world of trouble. Opening it was the worst decision of my life.
Before we get into what actually happened, I guess an introduction is in order.

My name is Andrew Bailey and I was a Cryptographer for the navy. Just in case you are unsure of what a cryptographer actually does; it is basically the study and practice of techniques related to communication. Basically, we either crack codes or produce codes that are hard to crack.
My clearance was never too high for a certain reason; thus I did not usually have to handle that much high class intel. And so my life was pretty normal.

Joining the navy was a family tradition, my father used to tell me from young that joining the navy and serving your country is an absolute honor. Just like how my grandfather and great grandfather did. I idolized my father, he was a hero in my eyes. Being one of the youngest to be promoted to be an admiral in the navy. Respected, intelligent and dignified.
However as the years past, I noticed my body was not made for fast paced physical activity. I had difficulty in running; even getting sick quite often due to over-strain of my body. I was honestly ashamed to be related to my father. He did not deserve such a weak son. Being constantly compared to my father was not easy. Till one day he told me something I would never forget during the time I was on the verge of breaking, something I keep close to my heart till the day I die.