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My stomach flips at the evil thought, convinced this isexactlywhat Principal Windsor wants—not to strip us of our humanity, but to use itagainstus. Some students turned their backs on others in need for their own interests, but I wonder how many have secretly been helping one another—or not so secretly in the case of Bentley and Cashel. I shake my head to clear it. Right now, I can’t be bogged down with these worries, not when I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Brett, the asshole guard, leads us through a large, wooden archway sealed shut with twin, towering doors. He pushes them open like he’s a fucking gladiator, and I expect to see something akin to ancient Rome inside. To my surprise, there’s a giant hedge labyrinth instead. The Colosseum is a massive structure, so I can only imagine how big the maze is, but I can’t see beyond what’s in front of me.
Suddenly, it hits me… the map in my shoe is of the maze!
A giddiness sweeps through me at this knowledge, and I wiggle my right foot to ensure I feel the familiar crinkle of paper. Reassured that it’s there, I relax a little, but not entirely. I doubt this is just a maze—more like a death hedge if I were to hazard a guess. Around the thick labyrinth is the normal tiered seating you would expect to see in the actual Colosseum. They’re empty, except for where Professor Vaughn, Cashel, Bentley, Bianca, the other two students, and a handful of guards sit with a perfect, bird’s eye view of whatever upcoming horror we’re about to encounter.
The speakers around the stone structure crackle, signaling their impending use, and my momentary ease passes as swiftly as it came. Before he even speaks, I know whose voice is going to come through. Fucking Principal Windsor, except where are the cameras for his precious Gallery? As if answering my silent question, a sudden buzzing sound fills my ears, and I glance above me to see a dozen or so drones flying above the maze.
“Hello, everyone and welcome to today’s game. It’s a special one because only a quarter of you are going to live through it!” His words immediately get a reaction as students around me gasp and shout in denial, but Principal Windsor only cackles maniacally. “The first twelve students to make it through the maze win! Their prize—surviving another day at Bitterwood. Everyone else will be shot, that is, if you even make it out alive to begin with. Good luck, and as always, I’ll be watching along with The Gallery and those in the stands with a pass.”
Nearby, a female student has crumpled to the ground and sobs uncontrollably as if she’s already lost. I can’t watch her lose control and turn to inspect the labyrinth before me, instead. It has six entrances, and each entrance has three paths that you can take. I quickly do the math in my head—that’s eighteen different ways to go, meaning this thing is more than fucking huge.
Principal Windsor means for us to never get out, no wonder he didn’t want anyone to have this map, making my sacrifices even more precious.
Guards usher us forward, indicating for us to pick an entrance. There are about fifty students who have lived through all the games thus far, but only twelve are going to survive the towering hedge maze—and nearly thirty-seven are going to be shot to death or die within. It’s a damned engineered massacre, and against my will, tears spring into my eyes for the senseless cruelty of it all. At least, Bianca, Cashel, and Bentley will continue on, but for what? Every game Principal Windsor has thrown at us is more sadistic than the one before.
Is it better to die now than in a worse way later?
My thoughts are interrupted when a boy limps over to wait next to me. How he’s even standing is unimaginable. His body is covered in open wounds I assume he obtained from the scavenger hunt. There’s no way on this green earth he’s surviving this maze. As if thinking the same thing, Bianca screams at the top of her lungs for everyone to freeze. In unison, we all turn to face her, staring like she’s grown a second head.
“I give my pass to him!” she calls, pointing to the injured student next to me.
“No!” Professor Vaughn booms, rising to stand next to her and placing a proprietary hand around her wrist that makes my stomach clench. “Youcan’t.”
“Watch me!” Her whispered hiss echoes in the round Colosseum-like arena, easily reaching my ears. My roommate yanks her arm free and marches off before he can stop her. It takes a minute for her to walk all the way down the hundreds of steps, but eventually she comes to stand next to me, proud and tall, while the boy stumbles away.
Honestly, I'm touched by Bianca's bravery and kindness. Once more, it dawns on me that Principal Windsor wants to isolate and pit us against one another. When you only care for yourself, you think you have a greater chance of surviving. But the truth is, when you work together, you’re more likely to survive because you have someone looking out for you—like Bentley and Cashel. After what happened in The Pit, I owe Bianca—even more so after she gave up her free pass to save a student that I doubt she even knows.
The speakers crackle again.
“In an interesting turn of events, Bianca Abbot gave up her pass to someone else to play in today’s game—she must really want to die!” Principal Windsor crows in delight.
Professor Vaughn’s angry snarl reverberates around the arena, and I realize that Principal Windsor only allowed Bianca to give her pass away because it hurts her boyfriend. Of course, this doesn’t surprise me, but saddens me more than I can even express. How this evil man still manages to extract these heartbreaking emotions from deep inside of me, I’ll never know.
“At the sound of the bell, begin!”
I touch Bianca’s arm to get her attention after Principal Windsor finally shuts up.
“Stay with me—I have a map.”
Her eyes widen, displaying the knowledge that she understands what I must have done to get it. I don't share the same haunting look as her and Cashel, but I did walk through hell and back to get the damned thing. Hell, I might have even enjoyed the pleasure at the hands of the devils who tortured me, but that doesn't make it any less stripping of who I am.
I gave myself of my own free will to Bentley and Cashel, but at the same time, I didn't. There is an underlying layer of coercion that can never be erased, and if I'm being honest with myself, that layer excites me. I liked having my free will taken away and being bent to their sexual needs, but I’m lucky it was those two who forced my hand. Another student—or even a guard—would’ve forcibly used me without my consent. At least Cashel and Bentley didn’t take me against my will.
The loud ringing of the bell jolts me into action, signaling the start of the race. My objective is clear—get through the maze first. With a map, there should be no reason why I don't, but knowing I’ll be shot if I'm not in the top twelve to cross the finish line first makes wings sprout on my feet. I take Bianca's hand and weave a few feet into the labyrinth before pausing to yank off my right tennis shoe and pull out the map.
Unfortunately, it’s not marked and both the top and bottom of the maze have the same number of entryways. The map isjustof the hedge, not the stone arena around it, so I can’t accurately say which part is the start and which is the finish. Goddammit, of course that asshole principal would have a loophole, even in something like this.
I’m squinting hard at the map, trying to decide where to run when Bianca touches my arm. “Do you really think he's going to shoot everyone that doesn't make it out first?”
I don't answer Bianca's question because I'm not sure if it's rhetorical or not, and because I really don't want to contemplate the answer that I feel down in my bones is affirmative. Principal Windsor wouldn't hesitate to shoot a student, look at the atrocities he's already done.
What's stopping him from simply killing us in a different way?
I realize Bianca's just looking for some comfort, but there can't be any of that right now—only our survival is important—and we need to figure a way out of this maze. Tracing my finger along where I think we ran, I map out a path to the end. There are certain symbols on the map that I can’t figure out and wonder if they signal Windsor’s booby traps.
But why would he warn of those but not label the damn thing?!
