The Maze of Nightmares

Sixteen: Jack

Jack

Jack burst through the stone doorway into the center of the maze. Four doorways led into the center, each one made of matte black stone. Jack stood in the center, feeling the cold air of the maze brushing his face. As he skidded to a stop, people emerged from the other doorways.

When Mia ran out of the doorway across from him, he ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug. She wrapped her arms around him in response, burying her face in his shoulder. Jack felt a swell of relief at the knowledge that Mia and his friends were alive and well. And, Jack reasoned that if they were alive, his parents were as well.

Off to his left, he was aware of Rose and David embracing. Eventually, they broke apart and the four moved closer together. "Thank goodness all of you are ok!" Rose voiced.

"What's with this crazy maze?" David wondered. "It's so illogical!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Really, David, that's what you have to say about it?"

David shrugged. "Did you guys notice that the gold patterns are actually-" Mia started. She was cut off by a minotaur made of metal rising from the floor.

When the minotaur was completely visible, it raised its head, mechanical eyes glowing red in its bronze face. It spoke in the same mechanical voice hey had heard earlier. It said:

"Congratulations, you reached the center. Now, answer a riddle to ensure your safety. The riddle is as follows:

"I am no friend,

But I am not your enemy.

Do not banish me from your life,

But do not let me overtake it.

Those who do not appreciate me,

Hate me.

Who Am I?"

The Minotaur lowered its head, its eyes no longer glowing. It retracted into the floor, leaving the the quartet to stare at where it had been in shock.

Nightmares, personal fears, contracting room. Now this? What's going on here? Jack wondered. It seemed no matter what they proved, the maze kept tossing them more challenges. Why? What was to gain in tormenting four teenagers? How was this important?

Lacking answers, Jack turned to his new friends. "What do you think the riddle means?" He asked.

Rose and David looked deep in thought. David was pacing, muttering to himself, while Rose had her eyes closed and brows scrunched. Jack and Mia shared a glance, feeling left out of their companions inner musings.

"Guys?" Mia asked. Rose and David startled out of their reveries. "Oh, sorry!" Rose said, a sheepish grin on her face. "I was thinking." David also smiled sheepishly and nodded his head. "Yeah, sorry."

Jack smiled. He was glad that he wasn't alone to face this maze. His new friends were with him, as well as his sister. They would beat this!

"Okay," Jack said, "Let's beat this riddle and go home!" The other three nodded, determination evident in their faces.

"Okay, the first two line: "I am not your friend, but I am no enemy,' What could that mean?" Rose asked.

"Well," David said, "it can't be something to dangerous because then it would be an enemy."

"Yeah, I guess..." Jack said. "But remember the part where it says 'don't let me overtake your life, but don't banish me from it?' does that mean that it is something that needs to be, I don't know, kept equal?"

"Maybe it means that it needs to be in small measures?" Rose added.

"Yeah, but what about the part where it says that some people hate it? Does that mean it's bad?" Mia asked.

"I don't think so, because it also said that only the people that don't appreciate it, hate it. What does that mean?" David wondered.

"Well, what's something that we need in life that we don't necessarily like?" Jack questioned.

The four of them stood in silence, swallowed by deep thoughts. "Death?" Rose asked.

"Nah, that probably counts as an enemy. What about war?" David suggested. Then he frowned, "No, that doesn't make sense either..."

"What about-" Jack started, but Mia cut him off.

"Fear."

The word reverberated in the air. A dark cloud of smoke appeared where the minotaur had been and coalesced into a cloaked figure.

When the figure pushed back his hood, a golden mask shaped in the likeness of pure terror was revealed.

Jack saw Mia's eyes open wide with sudden understanding, as the complete picture that had been eluding him came to her.

She gasped out on word:

"Phobos."