Capewood (Book I) *Completed*

Alicia

The walls start to fall in the maze again, this time Katherine and I both let out a yelp. I look down over at her and see her alright posed and ready to fight. She takes a deep breath, and then over the wall about five turns away from where we were, lies Julian next to two bodies. 

"JULIAN!" I scream as I run over to him. I jump over the walls that are coming down, and I pause in terror as I see Autumn lying in a pool of her own blood. Her eyes are wide open, and she's not moving. "Oh my gosh," 

Katherine follows me as we run over to him. He's just staring. He's not moving, crying, or even breathing if you were to look at his chest. He's just staring at her lifeless body on the floor. I reach out to put my hand on his shoulder, but he jerks it away. 

"She's gone," he whispers. I'm not sure if that was to himself or us, but he still doesn't look up. 

"Julian, we need to get away from here," says Katherine in a soothing tone. She places her hand on his shoulder, and he lets the touch happen. I notice that guards in babydoll mask are starting to crowd around us to collect the bodies. He doesn't move. Instead, he just continues to stare. 

The babydoll masks approach the three of us, and they carefully watch Julian making sure he won't respond violently. To be honest, I'm a little nervous that he could react violently too. "Don't touch her," he says finally looking away from Autumn's dead body. "Don't touch her you filthy bastards!" he screams. He stands up and hovers over Autumn's body in protection. "She'd still be alive if it wasn't for you!"

"Julian, this isn't a fight you want to pick," I say looking down at the guns on each of their hips. 

"I don't care anymore! They don't deserve to touch her! They don't deserve to even look at her!" he says sinking down into the ground. He begins to weep, but instead of looking at him in sympathy, I can't help but notice the three little lights on the side of his ankle. 

We are the final 3.

Readjusting my face, I grab onto Julian's arm and pull him away. He begins to fight me, but Katherine steps in and calms him down. We get about 10 feet away before we realize that the babydoll masks are not trying to get the bodies of Autumn and her kidnapper, they're coming after us. 

"What?" asks Katherine harsher than someone in a life or death situation should have asked. 

"The boss needs you three," says one of the babydoll masks. "He's instructed us to come and get you, please just listen and follow instructions," they say. 

The circle around us like a mob, and usher us through the room. Julian flinches and keeps turning his head to look at Autumn as we walk towards the other side of the room. 

Towards the staircase.

We walk to the base of the steps, and two of the babydoll masks stand in front of the staircase blocking our way. "Don't touch anything," they say in unison. "Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't talk back to the boss. Do as your instructed, and you'll live." 

I gulp as they begin to ascend the stairs. We follow behind them and wait a couple of steps from the top while they knock on the door. Not even a second after they knocked on the door, Eros' appears in the doorway. 

"I knew it would be you three!" he says jollily stepping aside and ushering us inside the room. 

There are computer monitors that line all the walls. We see a video of Katherine killing the girl with the backpack on one. There's another screen with Julian choking a kid in the water room trying to get a key for Autumn. On another is a video of me...killing the Reaper. 

In the center of the room lies a big table with five chairs surrounding it. There is a vase with white roses sitting in the center of the table, as well as a placemat seated at each spot at the table. There is a full sized bed about 8 feet away from the table, and the only other thing in this room is a door directly next to the entrance of the room. 

"Other than Eddy you three are the only ones who really branched out and embraced your survival instincts," says Eros with a charming smile. "I've known that it would be you three since the second you knew the water was leaking. You three are my success stories! You've outdone yourself," says Eros.

"What type of game are you playing right now?" I ask him. My voice was not as confident as I'd have hoped it to be in this situation. This whole time I've been in here I've been hoping, praying, for a chance to speak my mind to Eros. Now that I'm standing in front of him, one of the last three left in this little game that he is playing, I want nothing more than just to throw up. 

"Not a game anymore, Alicia," says Eros. "You see, you three are like me." He ushers us to a table, and then pauses and holds up his hand. "Please go to the bathroom and wash up. You guys stink," he says honestly. 

He points to the door that is right next to the entrance and then shoos us with his hands. I'm the first to get up as I go to the door and open it. Inside is three individual showers each with our names on it, and toothbrushes set up for each of us. There are shelves right next to the showers with each of the utilities that we would need for both a shower and to brush our teeth.  We look at each other awkwardly, and a babydoll mask comes into the bathroom holding a stack of clothing. They walk right past us and then place it on the shelf on the very bottom. 

"He grows impatient quickly," the babydoll mask says. "I suggest you hurry," 

Katherine is the first to move to her shower, and close the curtain behind her. She throws her clothes over the shower rod and turns on the water. I follow her lead, and walk over to mine and let the water fall over my face. 

At least I won't die dirty.

When I finish the shower, I grab for the towel on one of the shelves. I quickly dry off, not wanting to piss off Eros, and then slip into the clothes he had for me. They fit perfectly, which sends a chill down my spine. He did his research. 

When I get back into the main room, Katherine and Julian are already there. Katherine has her wet hair dangling down in a wave down her back, and Julian's hair that is normally spiked is flat on his head.

"That's much better, isn't it?" says Eros as he snaps his fingers. 

The babydoll masks spring into action laying different platters with a silver top on each placemat. Once each person has a plate in front of them, they remove the top, and I'm left staring at a hamburger pizza. My mouth salivates as my favorite dish is sitting in front of me. I don't even hesitate to pick up a piece and taking a massive bite out of it. 

"I got each of you your favorites," says Eros. "You three have earned it. As I was saying before, you three are like me," 

Katherine has a plate of chicken tenders and french fries with honey mustard on the side. Julian has a steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I look back at Eros who has a grilled cheese and a bowl of tomato soup in front of him. He smiles. "You three are survivors. You know, I was once in your shoes," he says. "I played this game a long time ago too." 

I choke on the pizza in my mouth, and Eros giggles as he ushers the babydoll masks to get us a drink. A glass of water is placed in front of everyone at the table, and we all take a sip of the water. 

"How could you do this to us if you've been through this?!" I scream at him once I get the pizza down. "You went through this, and you decided to continue on the tradition?!"

"Well, of course, Alicia," he says. "This is a game of survival, and I'm a survivor." 

I start to feel woozy and then look at Katherine and Julian, and they aren't looking much better. "He drugged us again," I say looking at the food and drink before us. "You sick bastard, what are you doing?" I say as my eyes start to fall. A loud thud hits the table, and Julian is hunched over on the table. 

"You'll see Alicia," he says as my head falls on the table, "You'll see."