Capewood (Book I) *Completed*

Katherine

Have you ever heard absolute silence? Not silence you would listen to when you're taking a test, or when you're at a movie and having not to talk. I'm talking silence that can cut you like a knife. The silence that you hear and it only drives you crazy wanting to fill it with something. That's the kind of silence we heard as we watched Eros leave the room and close the door. 

The water is steadily falling into the room. We are probably a foot deep in water, and no one has moved towards the keys. Time seems to move in slow motion, and if we all sit here and wait for the water to rise any higher, we need to go now. 

I'm the first to stand up, and everyone looks at me with wide eyes. Before anyone has a chance to react, I run to the keys and quickly take off one of the keys, but before I get a chance to get back to my lock, a body slams into me. I fall to the ground and drop my single key into the water. I quickly get up and scavenge for my key, but the ripples in the water from everyone else continues to mask where the key is. 

"Yes!" shouts a male voice from the corner.  I look over and see the boy that's been attached to the stunning girl since we got here unlatch his chain and stand up. He reaches over to another boy right as he is about to unlock his chain and begins to squeeze his neck. The other boy hands him the key, and he gives it to the girl with the striking features. 

Figures. 

 The water is now up to my lower thigh when I stand up. I realize quickly that there's no hope in finding the single key, I turn and see a kid struggling with the keys, and some others already unchaining. There are four of us left in the room now that the boy and girl went into the hallway. 

"Come on you stupid key," says the kid anxiously. "The water is rising,"

He's struggling to keep the key ring open as his hands twitch. I look over at him, and my heart breaks for what I'm about to do. 

I stand up, and the water is halfway up my stomach at this point. Walking over to the kid, I poke my finger directly into his eye. He lets out a scream and drops the keyring, and I  catch it before it hits the water. I quickly run back to my chain to unlock it when feel someone grab my hair from the back of my head. 

"Give me that key, bitch," says the boy I just stole the key from. He pulls me back and puts my face underwater. I struggle to get up, but he isn't budging. The water is now up to our chest, and almost covering the lock on the wall. He still has me under the water, but I refuse to let go of the key. I calm myself down for a moment, and then lean over to the boy's leg. I open my mouth and bite down on his leg as hard as I can. 

I don't hear anything, not a scream, not a howl of pain, and the taste of blood fills my mouth, but he lets me go. I pop up from under the water gasping for air and spitting the blood from his leg out of my mouth, but immediately start swimming for the lock on the wall. 

I make it to my lock, and jam my key into it. The boy that I stole the key from tries to stop me, but the key automatically turned once it hit the lock. He holds me underwater as my chain released, and once again he let go. Under the water, I see one of the girls from the competition with her chain wrapped around her neck. Her eyes are full, but there is an emptiness to her as she just floats there. Lifeless in the water. 

The first kill in this competition. I think to myself sadly. But you're not going to be the second.

I swim up to the top of the ceiling right as the water is filling the rest of the room. Getting one last breath in, I quickly swim back underwater and head for the door. A hand grabs my ankle, and once again I'm looking at the boy who tried to steal his key back. I kick backward once, and my foot collides with his face. He lets me go, and I swim for the door. The water is filled to the ceiling once out of the room. The hallway is long, and on the other end of the hall are the stairs that will lead me to freedom. 

My lungs burn as I start to swim towards the exit of this watery nightmare, but my body begins to slow down as the pressure builds for me to take a breath. 

You did your best, Kat. 

I blink my eyes hard and continue to swim. No! No, no, no! I will not die here. Eros' Domain is not the place that Katherine LaClair will take her last breath. He will not get the pleasure of having my blood on his hands.

I kick as hard as I can while swimming in the hallway, and when I finally get to a point on the stairs where there's no water, I collapse and begin to breathe. I allow myself a couple of seconds to catch my breath before I start to crawl slowly up the stairs. 

By the time I get to the top the water is filling the stairs. The boy I stole the key from is dead most likely, and that poor girl that had the chain around her neck will forever be burned into my head as a mental image. I grab my neck and shiver at the thought of dying like that. Someone was ruthless. 

"I'm so sorry that you had to die," I whisper under my breath for both of them. Tears start to fall down my face as I realize the harsh realities of what just happened. Just like that, two young lives are no more.

I collect myself and look around at my surroundings. It seems like I'm standing in a basement, or some sort of warehouse, filled with a maze. There are three entrances to the maze, and each of them looks scarier than the next. The walls are about 12 feet tall, and there are little lights that light the way of the paths in each entrance. There are windows at the top of the ceiling, and to my relief, they don't look to be underwater. It does, however, it does seem to be nighttime by the little light that is seeping through. 

"Katherine?" 

I jump halfway out of my skin and prepare for a fight. I turn to see Alicia from the night before looking at me with a confused face. I keep my guard up but relax a bit. I don't think she has anything out for me. "I've been waiting for you to get out," she says with a worried expression. "I thought you didn't get a key!" 

"Where is everyone else?" I ask her. My body's adrenaline is depleting, and I realize just how worn out all that made me. If Alicia wants to fight me, I'd have no way of beating her.

"They all ran into the maze," she says. "I-" She pauses, she looks nervous and clears her throat as she smiles at me. "I was hoping that you and I could team up in this thing. I have thought you were brave since the first night you talked to Eros, and honestly, after what we just saw, I don't think I can handle all of this alone." 

An ally might be useful in this situation. Granted, I just met this girl, and have no idea if I can trust her, but if she seriously sat here and waited for me, I don't see her turning on me anytime soon.

"So what do you say?"

"I say let's do this. If today has taught me anything, it's that every single person in that room can turn into monsters to survive. I think it'll be a good thing having someone in our corner." 

She smiles brightly, and we look at each entrance to the maze that sits before us. "Where do we go?" she asks me.

"That's a good question, Alicia," I say to myself as I look into the large three entrances. "That's a good question indeed." she chuckles and begins to walk towards the central entrance and I nod, and follow. The long hallway is dimly lit, and if we find anyone in this maze, it will be hard to escape if they're looking for a fight.

I just hope we make it through the night.