The wind answered first, howling through the maze, then thunder rolled over the estate. Rain began to pour in sheets, drenching my nightgown until it clung to every inch of skin. Everything about this made me feel uneasy, startled, and slightly afraid. I was done searching for the cat; I had to find my way out of here first, so I began walking. I finally found the small patch of pavement Max and I had built for when we got lost.
“Perfect!” I grinned. I could find my way out now. “Two rights…” I turned. “Then a left…” Did that. So far so good. “And three rights, then a…”Oh God.
No, no, no, no, no…this wasn’t right. This should’ve been it! This was the way out, so why was it blocked?
As panic kicked in, the thunder began to get worse, frightening me completely, and without thinking twice, I began to run. I had to find a way out, I had to get back home.
My feet slipped in the mud as I searched, my hair plastered to my face, yet every corner looked the same; green walls, glistening, and fucking endless. Oh God!
“Help!” I screamed. “Somebody, please!” My voice broke in defeat. No one would hear me; there wasn’t another house for miles.
Then something brushed my leg, and I gasped as I looked down. It was just a root, I thought, it had to be. It was really windy, so yes, it was only a root. The ground was uneven and tangled, but I kept going, faster now, until I felt another tug, this time sharper, pulling at the slit of my gown.
“Fuck,” I whispered, yanking it free. “This fucking rain!” Why did I like the rain again?
After freeing myself, another tug pulled at my dress before I could take the next step. This time it was harder, almost like something…or someone was pulling me. My breath hitched, and I spun around, but nothing was there. Just the rain hammering the leaves, the air trembling with thunder, and my heart thundering in my chest. I needed to take a breath, take a minute to calm my nerves, then move with a clear head. It was just me here. I had checked everywhere before settling in; there was nothing to be afraid of.
Then…then something smacked me…on my ass. A quick, sharp slap that made me flinch and stumble forward.
“What the…” another smack, this time harder, louder, the clap sound was undeniable even in the rain, and I did the one thing my body let me do, I screamed.
Terror tore through me, raw and animal, and without a second to waste, I ran, this time with no direction, no thought of where I was going, just away.My throat burned from shouting, tears mixing with the rain. I could feel it behind me, whateveritwas. I could feel the way the air shifted with every step I took, I could feel cold fingers brushing my skin, but never quite touching.
I didn’t dare look back, I couldn’t, so I ran and ran and ran. My lungs burned, begging me to stop, and my legs ached, but still I ran. Every turn looked the same, a series of endless hedges, and shimmering green walls that swallowed me whole. My nightgown clung to my skin, becoming heavier and colder, dragging itself against the mud. I finally slowed down only when my body couldn’t take it anymore. My chest heaved, and air rasped through my teeth, like my nose wasn’t doing a good enough job anymore.
Maybe it was all in my head,I told myself.Maybe I was seeing things, feeling things. Maybe it was the meds they gave me last week?
I turned, slowly and carefully, squinting through the rain toprove to myself that it was all in my head. As I thought, I was met with nothing but mist and darkness. My heart started to settle…until I felt it. Hands, cold and heavy pressed against my shoulders, I screamed and twisted away, falling hard into the mud. The shock of it knocked the breath clean out of me. I scrambled back, my palms slipping, my eyes wide as I stared at the space where the touch had come from. The rain softened, almost expectant, and then, I saw footprints. Bare feet, one after another, forming in the earth and walking…straight toward me.
“Oh God…” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, no, no…”
I crawled backward some more, the mud streaking my arms. The footprints stopped just a few feet away, and I felt the air shift again, almost like the maze itself was breathing. I stayed silent, watching the ground where the footprints had stopped, but nothing, no movements, just the dirt and water staring back at me. I held my breath, too afraid that if I breathed, it would come for me, so I stayed calm, too calm. When I couldn’t hold my breath anymore, I was forced to let it go. Within a second, the footprints moved, running toward me.
“No!” I screamed as I tried to get up, but I wasn’t fast enough. Something tugged at my gown, and the sudden pull made me gasp. It grabbed at the fabric, tearing it with one forceful tug, and in seconds, I was naked, bare, and utterly exposed. My body welcomed the biting cold air, and in that moment, I didn’t know what scared me the most; the fact I was in this maze with something I couldn’t see, or the fact the air touching my nipples made them hard…and not in the way I could blame just the cold air for.
The fear was so intense it almost felt like a sting under my skin, turning off my thoughts and reason. My vision blurred, and my hands shook as I tried to crawl away, but the ground beneath me moved. Black, wet roots slid from under the soil, wrapping around my ankle. I kicked and pulled, but they heldfast, tightening themselves like cuffs.
“Let me go!” I screamed, clawing at the dirt. My voice cracked, and all I could hear was the rain and the slow, deliberate crunch of those invisible footsteps drawing nearer.
Rain pounded on my back, as the wind roared in my ears. And behind me…I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it, standing just behind me; a presence close enough to steal the warmth from my skin. Close enough that when I breathed, I swore I could taste it in the air. A pressure in the air, thick and suffocating, pressing down until I could barely breathe. The scent of earth and rot filled my nose, and my mind screamed for me to run, to fight, but my body wouldn’t obey. My mind yelled at me to fight harder, push harder, improvise, do something, but my body…fuck, my body was feeling something else, doing something else…something I couldn’t understand, something depraved and shamelessly sinful.
Then, a close whisper came, sounding too close, too near, too haunting and…fuck me! Hot? “Stay.”
Then, something inside me snapped, and I screamed until my throat was raw, until the sound tore through the rain and vanished into the night. The thing was this…I stayed. I screamed my lungs out, but I didn’t fight. I wanted to move, to fight; instead, I stayed and trembled.
It was madness, pure, cold madness, to feel that rush in my veins, that shiver that wasn’t just fear. It made no sense; it wasn’t right. But neither was this place, and neither was I. The storm swallowed me whole, and somewhere between terror and surrender, I stopped knowing which one I wanted more.
Chapter Four
Elena
The rain came down insheets, drumming against my skin, soaking my hair, and biting into my back. I stayed bent forward, hands braced against the cold, muddy floor, trying to pull my feet loose.
“Look at you from behind,” a voice whispered, low and commanding, drifting through the rain. It made the hairs on my arms rise, made my teeth ache against the cold, and I froze. That voice…it didn’t sound human. It was far from it. Yet it knew me, my every misstep, every gasp, every trembling breath, it knew. And it knew too, what my body was feeling.
“Do not fight,” it said darkly, before I felt its fingers, like claws, tracing down my spine, making my body ache, in what? I had no idea. “You cannot escape me, you will not escape.” Its claws moved slowly, tracing my ribs, journeying to my breasts.
“No! Leave me alone! Let me go!” I struggled because that’s what I should be doing. I had no idea what was happening, who was doing this, but I couldn’t stay still and do nothing!
