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Racing down the clearing, I struggled to breathe, choking on the fear that still had me in a stranglehold. I jumped at the slightest sound. Froze with each apparition—growing mad with paranoia. I didn’t know how much time we had left, or how close I was to the exit, but I’d already spent too much time wandering through the maze.
I couldn’t think straight. My reflection a ghostly reminder. I needed to get out of there before I lost it. Before my mind shattered.
Death called to me like an old friend. A promise of peace. A promise to take away all my suffering, the torture I’d experience for weeks to come at the whim of the fae king.
I made another right—skirting to a stop as Kelvin appeared at the end of the same hall, but I couldn’t be sure that’s where he was. My pulse rang in my ears as he copied me step by step, his brown eyes tracking me. I clenched my hands at my sides, desperate to get away from him.
“What’s wrong, bastard? Don’t tell me you’re scared.” His face pulled into a sneer. “You sure were brave during assessments. Where’s that same energy?”
“Screw you.”
Kelvin sucked his teeth. “I figured you’d say that. I enjoy games.”
My chest tightened as he circled me, and I slipped into a cove, losing him for a split second before he reappeared behind me. I turned around—my back flush against the wooden post.
He continued, “You see, I’m making it out of here one way or another, so I’ll give you two options.” He paused. “One, you can run, or two, you can watch me kill him.”
Kelvin jerked Lewis into view, his hand covering his mouth, and my pulse raced in my ears.
Lewis silently pleaded for my help. Eyes wild.
“Let him go.” My voice shook as I spoke, and Kelvin’s smile grew, enjoying the effect he had on me.
“Oof. Too bad that wasn’t an option.” He clicked his tongue. “I’ll give you a few more seconds to decide before I make it for you.”
“I didn’t peg you as a coward. If you want to kill someone, kill me.” I held my hands out in front of me, hoping to call his bluff. “Kill someone who’ll put up a fight. Not a defenseless child.”
Kelvin stepped forward. “Ah. But what would that prove, hm? I want everyone to know I’ll stop at nothing and no one. That I’m not one to back down or fuck with.”
Lewis thrashed, but Kelvin’s grip on him tightened.
Horror surged through me as I raced to find where they were, to save Lewis, but all I met was my reflection at each turn. He needed to get back home to his mother—to live his life—he was just a kid.
My chest ached.
My nerves splintered in a million directions as I rushed through the maze.
Lewis shook his head, sniffling away his tears. “At what cost, Kelvin? Show some humanity.”
I turned another corner and came face to face with them. Not their reflection. Not an apparition. Them. Lewis’s chest rose and fell in haphazard intervals as I dashed toward him.
“That died a long time ago.” A quiet, menacing tone coined around each word, but there was a hint of regret, too.
I was less than three feet away when Kelvin released him.
“Run! You can?—”
Kelvin gripped Lewis’s head and twisted.
The scream that escaped me muted the nauseating crack that followed, and I collapsed to my knees. I wanted to run to him. Hold him. Tell him everything was going to be okay. Tell him how much his mother loved him and never gave up hope.
I gagged as Kelvin released his lifeless body, tossed him aside like an unwanted toy, and stalked toward me. My fingers dug into the ground as if I’d float away. Tears streamed down my face.
My knees trembled, but I tried to stand.
All he’d wanted was a fair chance, and yet there he laid.
I tried to find my footing again. To scurry away from Kelvin as he inched closer. To finally run. “You’re a monster!” I spat. “A waste of air. The moral equivalent of a disease-ridden swine. People like you never win!”
