Andrew Bailey & The Eternal Maze

Chapter - 5

This place is screwed up. What did this Snow make those people do? The whole group read the book in silence. Their past experience would not be in vain. We had properly received their determination to live. We pulled ourselves together and came up with a game plan. According to the book, there aren't any ways out of this floor. We would have to somehow get into another level where we would have to face this nightmare that the writer mentioned, well assuming that all the facts here were the truth. The whole time we were here on this floor, we had avoided the doors that seemed dangerous however perhaps it was a key to get to another floor. As I was trying to convince the group about opening a door and heading inwards. Alice, who was just behind us, out of the blue just walked into one of the doors! I ran towards the door grabbed it open but there was nothing there but darkness.

No Alice, just darkness. I was wondering what the hell was going on while I stepped in. It was then I was sucked into the room and the door went shut. I could not see anything, the next thing I knew, I was falling down somewhere.

When I opened my eyes, there I was, on a beach somewhere. Beside me laid Emma and Michelle, still unconscious. I looked around and was really confused. How did I end up from that place to a beach? It looked like an entire island with the sea in front of me. I could smell the unique smell of the seawater, there were even seagulls that glided pass me. Behind me on the other hand was a huge jungle. This wasn't a dream nor a man-made island. Somehow we were transported onto an island without us knowing.

"Where Am I? Why am I on a beach?" said Michelle, while getting up.

Michelle rubbed her eyes and looked around in a daze. She laid eyes on a unconscious Emma and snapped out of her daze. She panicked and started shaking Emma.

"Andrew is she dead? Is she dead? Wake up Emma, wake up!"

"She isn't dead Michelle, but if you continue shaking her, I can't say for how long."

"Oh I'm so sorry!"

"I think the person you should be apologizing to can't exactly hear you right now." Michelle blushed at her carelessness. It was kind of refreshing seeing a new side to the serious Michelle. I told Michelle that she should stay with Emma as I check out the island. I would rather not leave them alone especially with Emma unconscious however the sun was setting. It would be also dangerous to explore in the dark, so I made the decision to briefly explore the island before the sun sets. As I ran through the jungle, It wasn't long before I saw a change in terrain. In front of me was a huge mountain with many caves all over the mountain. I thought it was possible to set up camp in there just in case it was going to rain soon. As I entered one of the caves, there were writings over the walls. This island could be or have been inhabited. There were many writings that would give good Intel however, one of the writings caught my eye and made me shiver.

"To those who have just entered the island, heed this warning. The moment sundown comes, the beasts come out of hibernation. Do not leave the caves after sundown!"

I looked out of the cave and saw there wasn't much time before the sun completely sets. Give or take fifteen minutes before the night comes alive. I'm not sure whether the warning was real however there are animals that are nocturnal. This is bad, I made a beeline towards the beach, praying that I would make it in time.

As I managed to get back there with a lot of effort, I saw the two girls relaxing like they had no cares in the world, made me a little irritated.

"Andrew your back! Did you find anything?" Emma asked me.

"Glad to see your up Emma, I'll answer all your questions however we need to leave. This instant."

"What? Now? Where? Emma just got up, she should rest a little before moving."

"Emma, Michelle, if we do not leave right now, we may not live to see tomorrow." Once they heard those words, they grabbed their stuff so fast, it took less than a minute which was pretty impressive. As we made a run for the caves, there was barely any sun left. Birds were flying out of the jungle, this was really bad, animal instincts are usually spot on. Something was about to happen.

As we approached the caves. The sun had officially set, leaving us in stranded in the night. We were a few feet from the caves, as we tried to dash for it. Something appeared from the ground in front of us. A shadow, it was emerging from the ground, it had the appearance of a baboon with a tail that looks so sharp it could pierce something. It was the size of a human and it was black in color. That was definitely no animal found on earth. What the hell was that.
The girls looked at the baboon in fear. I grabbed my weapons just in case it was hostile, that was when I felt danger coming behind me.

I dodged in the nick of time, something sharp just nicked my shoulder, fortunately it wasn't too bad, just a scratch. As I looked behind, there wasn't anything there.

"Andrew! I don't believe my eyes but I just saw its tail go underground, was that why you got injured?"

I couldn't believe my ears, the baboon could actually strike from underground? This thing was more dangerous than I thought. As I moved in closer to strike it, there it was again, it's tail came out from the ground, trying to strike me. I tried knocking it aside which thankfully it did. I was glad the tail did not have the properties of a shadow like it looked. It was actually touchable. As I flung the tail away, I headed for the baboon, I swung my blade, trying to cut the baboon's arm however it was too hard. I was flung back by just one arm.

What was that thing made from! It's skin was so hard and dense, it was like trying to cut metal with metal.

"Michelle, Emma, I will hold this thing back, when I give you the signal, run to the caves."

"But-"

"No buts! This thing is a troublesome opponent. It's barely moving now but once it does, I don't think I can handle it without finding it's weak point."

While I was talking, the baboon started to move, it started charging straight at me. This was really bad. If it's skin was that hard, the hits wouldn't be light. As I signaled the two girls to head towards the cave, I tried diverting the baboon's attention. The baboon threw a punch at me, I dodged it by the teeth however that punch left a crater in the ground. One hit and it was game over. As I was focusing on fighting the baboon, I saw Emma fall to the ground. Something I never expected occurred. That damn baboon used its tail to strike Emma.

"EMMAAAAA!" Michelle screamed.

After hearing Michelle scream, the baboon showed a slight snicker. This baboon was intelligent, it wasn't just a beast. It was playing us the whole time.

"Michelle, if you can still move, get Emma back to the cave. I'll try my best to cover you this time, that tail won't have time to target you anymore."

I gritted my teeth, this time I couldn't protect them physically. I poured my anger into strength, if a single slash couldn't work, a double will do and if that doesn't do the job, a third, a fourth so on. This damn baboon isn't going to be laughing anymore. I was going to make sure of it.

The baboon once again threw an earth-shattering punch, I read its trajectory and used both blades to slash its abdomen. Two slashes weren't enough, I circled behind the baboon and tried repeated slashes till its tail got in the way. However, something the baboon tried to hide that I did not miss. Repeated slashes did do some damage.

The baboon was now furious, it now leaped from tree to tree, spinning in circles waiting for a chance to strike at me. If it had intelligence, it could be predictable. As the baboon used the tree like a jumping platform, the likelihood was clear. I knew where it was going to attack next.

The baboon saw me standing still, it thought I was a goner. He leaped to attack me, straight on with full force. Where did it choose to attack? It was simple, my back. The moment I heard the sound changed, I knew it was attacking, I moved towards the side and dodged the attack, the baboon's back was wide open. I slashed its back with both my blades followed by a double thrust, stabbing the baboon. It's exterior may have been hard but it's interior was soft as jelly. It finally went down. That beast finally went down. I dropped my blades and knelt to the ground. All I thought was that I could survive this place and I could protect the-. Before I finished my thought, I looked into the direction of the caves. Was Emma alright? Fear gripped my heart. I was so angry, so focused on the baboon, the fact that Emma was injured completely slipped my mind. I was the worst.

I grabbed my blades and headed back to the caves, I could hear the rustle of the leaves behind me, as I turned my head to look, the baboon's body was disappearing. It looked like each black particle on its body was evaporating up into the air. I was mystified by the sudden occurrence. But the scary part wasn't over. The moment I entered the cave where Michelle entered from, I saw Emma just lying there while Michelle was hugging her.

"How is she Michelle, is she going to be okay?"

Michelle looked at me with teary eyes.

"Andrew she's ..."