We talked another minute, teasing and trading jabs like no time had passed. He made me giggle once; the sound felt foreign in my mouth. Then the call ended, and the silence crept back, heavier now.
I set the phone down, sighing, as my chest filled with knots of emotions I couldn’t untangle. I hated him for not being here, but I missed him so much more that it hurt. And I was jealous; jealous that he had a life, a reason to be late. While I…I was just here.
The storm outside hadn’t let up, so I pulled the curtain back and caught the flash of movement, of eyes glinting in the dark. It was a cat, perched at the edge of the maze, watching me. I let thecurtain fall, and my skin prickled with the feeling that something in this house had been waiting for me.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” I whispered to myself.
But it was too late now, wasn’t it?
Chapter Three
Elena
The rain had finally stopped,but the world outside still looked soaked, glossy, and silver under the bruised sky. I could still hear water dripping off the gutters, a slow, rhythmic sound that filled the silence of the house. The house that was way too big for one person to be in, and too quiet for a heartbeat that wouldn’t slow down. I’d showered, unpacked, thrown on the only thing that made me feel like myself; a thin, white nightgown with twin slits that reached my thighs. It clung to my skin in the humidity, translucent in places, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t expecting anyone; no one ever came here without an invitation.
The peanut butter jar sat beside me on the couch, as I slowly dragged a finger through it and licked it clean while the TV flickered in the dark. Some Christmas movie played on the screen. People laughed, kissed under mistletoe, and were full of warmth and cheer that felt like a lie. Christmas movies always brought me comfort, and strangely, it didn’t feel weird watching it here; it felt good…very good.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the lights dimmed for a second before steadying again. I pulled my knees up to my chest and listened to the rain pick up again, making the house creak the way all houses do when they’ve been empty too long. Decembers here were always wet. It was either wet with snow or the never ending rain, but being alone here just made it creepy.
Just as I settled back into a better position and scooped the next finger full of peanut butter, I heard a soft, distant sound at the door. I froze.
I must be hearing things, right?As if on cue, to answer my question, it happened again. This time it was more gentle, almost polite even. Like the way a little girl would knock on an old lady’s door to sell cookies.
Was it Max? He had his key, so he wouldn’t be knocking, and even if he was, that was definitely not how he’d do it.
I finally got up after the third knock, moving toward the door, barefoot with the hem of my dress dragging lazily over the polished floor. The air near the door felt colder, sharper even, and when I peered through the glass, nothing but fog was rolling across the porch.
“Is someone there?” I asked, trying my best to sound stern. I wouldn’t want them thinking I was some timid person. But no reply came, and as I was about to turn and head back to the couch, something moved, like a small, quick shadow.
I opened the door, only to be met by a black cat that sat there with its fur slicked with rain, and its yellow eyes fixed on me. I’m certain it was the same one I’d seen earlier by the maze.
It meowed, the sound coming out in a low, almost broken noise.
“Hey, you again,” I whispered, crouching down to its level. “You’ll freeze out here.”
But as I reached out, it darted back, paws splashing through puddles as it took off.
“Wait…” I called, trying to have the poor thing come back, but it ran straight toward the hedge wall and into the maze beside the house.
“Fuck,” I cursed, looking up at the sky. The storm was coming again, I could feel it. The strong wind was already beginning to scatter the dead leaves, and the ever comforting smell of wet earth only grew stronger. Then lightning flashed, lighting the maze’s entrance for a split second, almost like an invitation.
“Fine! Guess I’ll be rescuing a cat today,” I muttered as I started my walk toward the maze.
It was slick with rain, making the earth soft beneath my bare feet. It made me think of all the times I would run in here just to be chased by Max.Oh, how silly I was then. The cat was nowhere to be seen as I stepped into the maze, the place was just shadows, and the soft drizzle of rain was turning heavier by the minute.
“Here, kitty,” I called out, my voice small in the open air. “You’re gonna get yourself lost…”
The hedges swayed as though they welcomed me home. I took another turn, certain this one led toward the fountain in the center, but instead, the path narrowed, slowly becoming suffocatingly tight, before splitting into two. I frowned, that wasn’t right.
I knew this maze, I mean, I grew up tracing its routes like the veins on my palm. I knew where the dead ends were, where the exit met the garden fence. But now, something was wrong, because nothing matched. The turns were wrong, the hedges were in different positions…something was very wrong.
I walked faster, brushing rain out of my eyes. “Okay…this is not funny,” I muttered to no one. “Left, then right, then right and two more lefts, then…”
A dead end.What?
I turned back the way I came, but the path behind me wasdifferent too, narrower, darker than it had just been. As I stood looking around, making sure I remembered this place correctly, the hedges leaned closer, slick with water, and closing in.
My chest tightened. “Hello?” I called out in a shaky voice. “Is anyone there?”
