Maze

"So like a game?" The short but thin lady questioned. She still didn't entirely trust the man in the black suit who sat in front of her and she doubted she ever would.

"In a way i suppose, but it's strictly for neurological testing purposes only." The man attempted a smile but it looked out of place in the stark environment of the sterile room they sat in.

"So you'll be testing my brain then?" She looked unsure of the concept. "Yes, but it should bring no harm to you. Just a challenge to see how your mind will react."

His words came out cold and unconvincing but she nodded anyway. She needed the money.

It had only been a week since she saw the ad in the paper offering anyone who completed the neurological challenge a prize of ten thousand dollars. She promptly called the given number and submitted her information.

And now she was here. In the stark room that looked similar to an interrogation room. It even included the deceiving one way mirror.

"Well then if you'll just follow me, I'll lead you to your challenge Miss Messina." He attempted another smile but it fell and shattered on the cold cement flooring.

She stood and followed the tall suited man into another room and then to a hall which smelt just as a hospital would. She found the connection disturbing and did her best to forget it.

"Just through here Miss." She entered the room as directed and the door abruptly shut behind her. Her eyes filled with panic as she whimpered to herself.

Her cries were emediatley responded to by the same cold straight voice. But this time he was nowhere to be seen.

"I apologize Miss, but from here on i will only be able to communicate with you through the intercom." Her eyes scanned all four white walls and saw no intercom installed but nodded anyway.

"Now, as you attempt the challenge, we will be monitoring you through hidden surveillance cameras." She looked a second time and saw no camera either.

"Okay." She responded, but the word failed to reach the hidden "intercom."

"Now if you'll just enter through the door ahead of you, your challenge awaits."

She began doubting everything all at once and considered dropping out but did not. She needed the money. She took a single shaky breath before reaching out and turning the cold door handle.

What met her were more walls. Lots of them. Each at least 10 feet high before stopping. The ceiling however looked infinite. This scared Carol even more.

In front of her were three choices. Left, right, or forward. She would have to find her way through a maze.

The walls and floor were painted white. She assumed the ceiling was white too if there was one. Although no lights could be seen, everything was heavily lighted.

"You may proceed." The voice permitted and with that Carol began walking forward. The only thing that could be heard were her footsteps.

For almost a minute no new choices presented themselves. Carol considered turning back but before she could turn she saw a wall ahead of her.

Now the choice was left? Or right? She choose left because she was left handed and began walking again.

She encountered a right turn then a left. She walked forward until the walls widened and she was almost in a small room. In the center something say limply.

She approached cautiously knowing this was most likely some kind of mind trick. What she found glorified her beyond measure.

In the middle of the room sat Scruffy, her first dog. The same dog who had gotten hit by a car not but a month after they got him. Still a puppy then and still a puppy now.

She almost screamed but held it back. She couldn't show the cameras she was afraid. She looked up and saw once more a choice between left, right, and forward. This time she choose right.

Three minutes later she would wish she wouldn't have. She approached the next room cautiously aware it would hold something else for her.

The walls once again widened and once again something sat in the middle of the room. But this time it was worse.

Sitting in the middle of the room was a cardboard box with a red liquid beginning to leak out the bottom. She did not open the box. She didn't need to to know.

It had been Halloween and she was only eleven when someone left it on her porch. The box with the bloody hand in it. But they couldn't possibly know about that!

She ran from the room and didn't look back. She ran and took turns without second thought. She didn't stop until she encountered the next room.

She took one look at large car and turned back. She couldn't stand another second with it. It was that exact car that had hit her dad while she was in college. It even had fresh slick blood on the front bumper.

Tears ran down her face and she quickly wiped them away. She took a left and was at another room. She kept her eyes down and slowly walked forward, hoping to avoid whatever horror this room held.

She had cleared about half of the room and thought she was safe when she ran right into the body. She leapt backwards in fright.

She had run right into her brothers body. Hanging from the same looking rafter that had ran above his bedroom as a kid. She looked up and his bulging eyes looked down accusingly at her.

This time she couldn't hold back the scream. She ran again and stopped to catch her breath once the room was out of sight. She sobbed and walked down the hall hoping she was near the exit.

She looked up and choked on her own breath. She was still in a hall with no room in sight. The white walls and floors were splattered with blood.

She stopped inches away from it and knew she'd have to walk through it to get around the corner. She held her nose but the coppery smell of the blood still filled her.

She turned the corner and gagged at the sight. Sitting in the thickest of the blood lay her daughter face down. Just as she did the day that crazy man had entered their home and beat her to death.

She covered her mouth and tried to keep herself from vommiting but couldn't stop herself. Everything she had in her stomach came spilling out and she began running down to the next turn.

She was still crying when she came to the next room. This one seemed different however, it had no other turns leading out of it like the others did.

In the middle sat her couch along with her family room coffee table. She noticed that something was sitting on the table and she began walking towards it.

She walked up, still sniffling and saw the revolver sitting on the table. Just as if it was yesterday, she could remember how depressed she felt.

She had just come home from the doctors discovering that she had breast cancer. And worse, that she didn't have the money to pay for it.

She could remember pulling the revolver out of her closet, and actually considering suicide. She could remember feeling that her life couldn't get any worse and that she would be better off dead. And all at once that feeling was starting to return.

She sat down on the couch and remembered that the only reason she hadn't killed herself was that she has seen the ad for this challenge. And suddenly she was starting to wish she had pulled the trigger.

She pulled the gun onto her lap and held it to her head. And this time she didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.