One Killer Maze

Chapter 17

The two of them ran through the forest, Y/N was still quite confused about what they were running from. She had a clue why they were running; the key. Was he the one that stole that key from Candy Pop? If so, they didn't need to run. The only way the jester could come through to the real world was the mirror at the rose maze.

"Levi," she spoke his name, the two of them racing down a hill. Her voice did not reach him, "Levi!"

That did the trick. The young boy stopped, face pale as a bedsheet. He looked up at the other contestant, clutching the key so it wasn't bouncing wildly in the air.

"What are we running from? Why?" She questioned, kneeling down. They were at the slope of a grassy hill. It was a field of the lush ground, stretching far to her left and to her right, but there was a pine forest just up ahead. At least ten seconds of running and they would reach it.

"I...I found an old house. The door was open and.." His voice cracked like he was reliving a ghost story, "th-there was blood. Everywhere. Two of them - two bodies."

He swallowed, lips trembling, "Esther.... Esther was one of them."

The H/C-haired female visibly winced. Esther had been one of the people that took care of Levi when he was in shock on the very first day of the maze. How long exactly have they been in this maze?

"Did you recognize the other?" She asked, then realized how terrible her words were, "sorry! You don't have to answer that."

Levi's lips formed a small smile, but they dropped quickly as he shook his head.

"There were so many papers on the ground. Each one had a crossed-out circle drawn onto it." He then lifted the key and pulled the loose necklace from around his neck, "this was on a desk. The drawers were filled with random things."

Y/N glanced at the key. It was clean, not rusted at all. The dark metal shined against the moonlight, creating a cold glow. The thin string that it hung on looked slightly worn.

"You should keep that around your neck," she told him sternly, almost like a mother, "I could retie it for you too."

Levi shook his head, thrusting his hand out to the girl, "you take it."

"What?"

Levi looked suddenly embarrassed, "th-there was something in the drawers... It said something about you. Take it...please."

Y/N furrowed her brows together (something she had been doing a lot) and hesitantly took the key. It felt heavy like she was carrying some sort of burden. Lifting the necklace by the end of the string, she looped it around her neck. At this point, a few more people would know what to look for. She tucked the key underneath the hoodie, hiding it from view.

The two of them stood up in silence. Y/N didn't exactly want to know what that something in the drawer said about her. It was probably wrong anyway.

~

Two hours ago...

Levi had gotten lost. He was traveling with Esther and some other girl they had met. It was the same girl that had escaped that one scarred killer; the other contestant wasn't so lucky.

"E-Esther..." The young male called out, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't want to be caught in this forest. Alone. Defenseless.

Well, he did know how to run. He ran very fast. He was even faster than this white-masked man that chased him not too long ago during the time when the sky was painted red and his surroundings were dark. A shiver crawled up his spine when he thought about that dreary time and kept forcefully trudging on into the forest.