Andrew Bailey & The Eternal Maze

Chapter - 2

I felt something cold pressing against my cheek, as I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of complete darkness, along with chilling winds that sent shivers down my spine.

Where was I? Captured? What was the last thing that I was doing...

A meeting.. With the Admirals of the navy. Right... One of the admirals was explaining to me what happened to me, as I opened the letter... What happened? Did I black out because of that letter again? What of the Admirals? And what about father? Questions swarmed my head, the more I thought of the possibilities of what happened, the more questions came out instead. The dark environment was not exactly helping either.

As I scoured the area for a hint of an exit without my sight, all I felt were uneven stones as walls and floors. My imagination ran wild, it told me perhaps I was placed in a medieval dungeon like the olden days. Preferably it wasn't a torture chamber, was a joke that popped into my mind.

After sometime of feeling the area with my hands, there was a spot different than the other places I have touched with my hands. It was on the floor and it felt sort of like a doorknob. I tried turning it and pulling it to no avail. Thus I tried something a little unexpected. I pushed it. And there came a metallic rumble, like chains or cogs were being moved.

I had a gripping feeling that a trap was triggered, I crossed my fingers and prayed that it was not those types of death traps where the walls come together to squish the target or a giant rolling ball to deal with intruders. And the next thing that happened was neither of the two. But the classic under the feet trap door, trap.

I had always felt that after going through the Navy's tough training, I would have been prepared for almost any situation but this is entirely new. As I prepared myself for a rough landing, one preferably without spikes at the bottom, the next thing I know, I landed on my bum in a really bright room. After all that time in the darkness it really took time to adjust my eyes.

What stood in front of me baffled me even more than being awaken in a dark room without lights. Stood a room that seemed like it was a waiting room along with the grandest look I had ever seen. The furniture there looked all seemed hand crafted and had the best colour coordination with the colour scarlet as it's king. Whoever was behind my kidnapping was definitely had deep pockets.
But that wasn't even the shocking part, there were people in the room and every single one were famous people in different lines.
The funny part was, some of the ones I recognized were enemies with each other that normally would never be caught dead in the same room with each other. By the look of it most of them did not have any idea of what was going on as well.

What on earth was going on? A massive terrorist attack on the world followed by a massive kidnapping of high value targets? I wondered if they made a mistake capturing me after all I'm not exactly famous. Perhaps they wanted to target father and took me instead. After all I am merely in my father's shadow all this while, plus we do look similar, father has a youthful outlook after all.

"Andrew is that you?"

I was surprised someone knew who I was, as I turned my head, I thought I was dreaming.

"Why are b-both of you here? Alice, Michelle!"

Michelle Pearson was my brother's fiancée, a beautiful blond woman who had actually a short but apparent strong relation with my elder brother. They had only dated for less than six months and had decided to get married.

"We were wondering that ourselves you know Andrew. First stuck in some dark room and the next stuck in some fancy room and now running into you." Michelle said.

"Andrew!" Alice ran straight at me and gave me a hug.

"It's been so long Andrew! Sadly, our reunion wasn't under more of a better circumstance but nonetheless, I missed you!"

"I'm happy to see you too Alice but it's not exactly the time to be celebrating or hugging for that matter. Do you know where we are?"
"No Idea however now that you're here, It's going to be fine right?"

"I see that happy go lucky attitude of yours hasn't changed after all these years Alice." I could only smile at her, even in this situation she's still Alice after all.

Her name is Alice Woods. My very my-pace childhood friend. I've known her since we were kids. Funny thing was that she used to be such a shy girl. She used to always read her book alone in a corner during recess, she wasn't bullied if that's what you were wondering. Just simply a lone wolf, well till I came along. But that's story for another time.

As I scanned the room for a way out, all I could see was the panicking and the arguing of other people, it was completely sealed. It did not seem like it had any other rooms, doors or even any form of ventilation except for the hole I fell from. Honestly, we were in trouble.

"AHHHHHH , WHATS GOING ON HERE!" a voice screamed from above.

"Another guest I'm guessing." Alice said.

As I looked above from where I fell from, a pair of legs squashed me from where I was standing. I had to admit I should have moved away from where I dropped from.

"Where am I? A dark room and now this?"

"Please get off me.." I muttered.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I just fell from this dark room and I –"

"I understand please move, you are kind of heavy."

"Heavy? Me? How rude, I have you know that I train with one of the most intense training schedules known to mankind daily."

That feminine yet strong voice, the way the voice spoke was so familiar...

"Just please move." I said to the person on top.

As the person got off me, I noticed right away. Among everyone I know it just had to be that person. If I had to describe that person in a few words it would be cruel and ruthless. The demonic drill instructor, back when I was a recruit.

You may argue that recruits tend to be exaggerating when it comes to their superiors. I won't argue that isn't always the case however this one is definitely not an exaggeration. Demon instructor Quinn was beyond what people call tough. Quinn had a rather complicated childhood. Quinn was born in a war-torn country, after being forced to enlisted as a child soldier at eight, Quinn had to learn quickly the ways of survival to survive the war at such a young age. They couldn't afford to be merciful, enemies were moving targets not humans. You could not even trust the people on your own team. Anyone could be a traitor, even if they weren't, it was every man for themselves. Quinn truly learned how survival of the fittest worked first hand, surviving battle after battle. Quinn became a cold-blooded reaper on the battlefield, truly fitting of the word demon. However, when Quinn turned sixteen, the war in Quinn's country came to a halt. Both sides had a ceasefire and peace talks were underway. All because both sides actually had lack of funds to continue the war.

Just like that Quinn's whole life, Quinn's reason of being a soldier just disappeared like that. That chapter of Quinn's life was over. Imagine fighting your whole life and just like that, it's taken from you. Quinn was infamous throughout the country; it was incredibly tough finding any job. The Military basically had no budget left, most of the soldiers had to be jobless for that period. And no one wanted to be near a cold-blooded killer let alone give them jobs. The only job that was available to Quinn was joining the underground sector however Quinn's pride couldn't accept it. Perhaps it was fated that Quinn's life as a soldier ended right there and then. As Quinn thought that perhaps the only thing left to fight was the intense hunger. After surviving so long in the jungle, Quinn could instantly pick out edible plants and insects with a glance. The entire jungle was Quinn's buffet. While searching throughout the thick jungle it was then Quinn's new chapter of life begun. It was a chanced meeting of a lifetime. By sheer coincidence while gathering food, Quinn had met a very enthusiastic traveller.

"Hey there stranger, great day for hunting isn't it?" The traveller said.

"Get out of my Jungle foreigner. The locals know this is a dead man's land. Because you do not know the rules, I will show you mercy and let you leave with your head on your shoulders. However, you have to leave, now!" Quinn snarled.

"What do you mean by dead man's land?"

"Exactly what It means, anyone that dares enter, will be killed on sight."

"That is reasonable, assuming whoever does the killing can back up those words." The traveller shot Quinn a smug look.

"Don't say I did not warn you foreigner."

Quinn unsheathed the two daggers by the waist and made a straight dash towards the foreigner. Quinn was prepared to end it quickly, intending to aim only at vitals, Quinn started off with a low kick intending to make the opponent lose his balance followed up by a quick finish. However, the opponent's legs were like steel, the kick did not even make the foreigner flinch, instead sent a small shock in Quinn's own legs. At that moment, Quinn knew that that was no ordinary traveller.

"Was that it? Is that the best you can do?" The traveller shot Quinn another smug look.

Quinn's battle instincts kicked in, Quinn took the first dagger and flung it at the traveller, next transferring the knife from the left hand to the right, Quinn used the flung dagger as a distraction to get into the traveller's blind spot. It was a move that saved Quinn multiple times during a melee fight with a stronger opponent.

The traveller dodged the thrown dagger and Quinn went in for the kill. Quinn lunged at the traveller, aiming for the heart. At that moment Quinn thought it would soon be over but Quinn's instinct was suddenly screaming at Quinn that it would be a mistake to continue with the attack. Something was wrong but it was too late. Quinn had no opportunity to stop the attack.

Quinn's instinct was right, the traveller shifted his stance which dodged Quinn's strike and grabbed the hand while interlocking Quinn's hand behind the back. Forcing Quinn to drop the dagger. Quinn had never been this outclassed before, it was Quinn's lost.

"You have beaten me. Kill me and be done with it."

"Why are you so quick to die young one, I have not mentioned one thing about killing you."

"People on the battlefield die the moment they lose. It's a part of nature."

"Child, the war is over. I do not know what happened to you before but losing does not always equal death. Though not many have the experience like you. The experience with the constant dance with death isn't something anyone can simply have. The ones who have it, can emerge as monsters." The traveller gave Quinn a goofy smile.

"As I have seen, you already possess the battle sense and Instinct. But no one has taught you how to fight effectively. Your moves were too simple. An experienced veteran would have known the dagger you threw was a simple feint. Even the initial charge was too easy to read. You have talent young one however what are you doing here? Calling this dead man's land. Wasting your life away killing people just for entering."

"You foreigners will never understand. I spent my life fighting, day in day out. I did not even sign up to be a soldier. I was forced to enlist. Forced to fight, forced to kill. What do you think happened? All of a sudden, they tell us the war is over. Kick me aside once they are done using me as a weapon? I HAD A LIFE AND FAMILY AND THEY TOOK IT ALL AWAY! Every single one of them calling me a cold-blooded killer, when all I wanted was a normal life. No job, no money and no house. The only thing I could take for my work was this land for food."

"That means there's nothing holding you back here anymore is there? Come with me. I shall give you a home worth fighting for." The traveller told Quinn.

"What is your name stranger?" The traveller said while he gave Quinn his hand to help Quinn up.

"Quinn. How about you Mr. Foreigner?"

"That's a cute nickname Quinn. My name is Harold Bailey. Rear admiral of the United States Navy. At your service Quinn."

That was the moment where Quinn met my father at the time. With the recommendation from my father, Quinn was allowed to live in our country with full citizenship. In exchange Quinn would have to enlist in the navy. After entering, Quinn breezed through the basics of military training, becoming the top recruit among Quinn's peers easily. According to Quinn, the traditional navy hell week was simple compared to the dangers of real combat.
Quinn moved up the ladder of promotion at an incredible speed. Quinn's higher ups sung praises about Quinn and most of them all recommended Quinn to Officer cadet school. Unfortunately, at the time Quinn was only eighteen. The entry requirements to be a cadet at Officer cadet school was nineteen. That's when it was decided, before Quinn was able to be eligible for Officer Cadet School, it was decided that Quinn would become a trainer temporarily for the new recruits. Determining whether Quinn would be able to display qualities needed to be an officer. Funny thing was, that was also the time I enlisted.

When I joined, I knew that the navy was already considered one of the organizations with the hardest training regiments, Quinn made it several times harder than normal. When we were training, other platoons ran 5 kilometres, we did ten. When we were doing five sets of push ups, Quinn added another ten sets to our menu. My platoon mates were pushed passed the point of exhaustion daily. The higher ups kept their mouth shut about Quinn's Spartan training because of the evaluation, which we did not know about back then. Strangely not a single one of us dropped out. Perhaps we all felt grateful because we emerged as one of the top platoons when basic military training was done.

What happened after basic military training is another story, meeting Quinn as my instructor basically was a hell of a coincidence. And here we are in the present, seeing another hell of a coincidence. We can continue my past at another time.

"Quinn!? You are definitely Quinn right? What on earth are you doing here?"

"Oh Andrew. It's been awhile since I saw you, you haven't been slacking off with training have you?"

"Of course not Quinn, I have been keep- , Wait now's not the time to be talking so casually like this. Do you know where we are Quinn?"

"No I was in a dark room and I found a lever the next thing I knew, I fell down the hole and ended up here meeting you."

"Andrew stop flirting with this person and talk to me! We haven't spoken in ages."

"Flirt-. Wait Andrew and I? That isn't the case at all."

"Hmm? Are you trying to say I was merely imagining you were flirting with my Andrew?"

"Wait what do you mean YOUR Andrew? I wasn't aware Andrew was married." Quinn snarled.

"Guys stop arguing, this is really not the time to be fighting."

"Who do you think we are arguing for huh?" They both yelled simultaneously.

With that, all of a sudden the lights in the room went out. The room changed from shock into panic.

"Everyone calm down. Jeez can't a group of grown up adults act more appropriately." A voice shouted that sentence across the room.

"What! Who said that!"
"Honestly how rude, we simply panicked that's all."
"What do you mean we? Don't include me into your little group, I am nothing like you cowards."
"Cowards who are you calling a coward!"
"Yea! Say that to my face you little twerp."

As the petty fighting started, the surprise came out not soon after. The darkened room was greeted by a dim spotlight, upon a stuffed animal that was just sitting on the floor. It was a nutcracker doll. It was the much creepier version of the doll that looked like a toy soldier from England. Alongside it was a music box and as everyone in the room was slowly getting drawn to it, the music box started playing.


"The world was bright, the world turned dark,
It was just a moment till it broke my heart,
as I stumbled and fell right to the ground,
don't need to worry, don't need to frown,
as just another would come later as well,
as the great maze claims another one again."


Just when the music stopped, a loud thump filled the room. And with the nutcracker doll started making weird movements like a robot having a malfunction, when it finally came to a stop, a red liquid started flowing from its eyes as a finale. Almost looked like a person crying tears of blood.

It absolutely was horrifying, the creepy music, the creepy doll that went on the fritz. Normal nutcrackers do not move at all, trust me. And what was up with the red liquid, what kind of bad joke was this? Well at least the room stayed quiet. Guessing the haughty looking guests were all shocked at the moment.
But that wasn't the end, it was merely the beginning of a shocking discovery and a mind-blowing adventure.