Roenan woke up to his parent's laughter. He bolted up, despite his throbbing head.
"Mom?" He rasped. He opened his eyes and his blurred vision seemed to be moving in waves. He felt drowsy and his body felt heavy as he attempted to move. He heard his parents laughter again, and the volume of it sounded as though the laughter was fading in and out. "Dad?"
"Roenan," His mom voice said behind his right ear. "You have to keep up with us." Roenan's head snapped over his shoulder toward the voice but he saw no one. He turned his head to the left and gasped when he spotted his parents. "Please keep up." Her voice sounded like it was coming from behind him, but he had watched his mother ahead of him as she'd spoken. It was disorienting.
His parents were standing at what looked like the entrance at the front of a maze made of ceiling-high hedges. He looked down at the tiled ground, but when he moved his hands, it felt like he was running his fingers through carpet.
He shoved up and began walking toward his parents. They turned and dashed into the entrance, disappearing from view. "Wait!" Roenan yelled after them. He sprinted through the entrance and skidded to a halt. He looked to the left and then to the right. He saw the tips of his mother's dark-brown hair disappearing around a corner. He sprinted after her and fell through the floor, landing roughly on his back to where he originally started. He sat up and shook his head in confusion, staring at the entrance of the maze from the spot he'd been just moments ago.
He pushed off the ground and ran back in though the entrance, following the steps he had already taken. "Mom? Dad?" Roenan yelled as he ran through the maze. He was making sporadic lefts and rights, hitting dead ends and having to back track. He brushed his hands along the pine-like hedges to support himself but it felt like he was running his hands through water.
"What's happening?" Roenan heard his own voice ask, even though he hadn't spoken. It echoed through the maze.
Roenan heard his mom's laugh again toward the right of where he was standing. He ran down the right and was forced to make a left. His mom was standing with a gun in her hand pointing at Roenan. His dad lay at her feet, blood pooling around his body. "Mom, no!" Roenan yelled. She shot twice and the bangs pierced Roenan's ears. He flinched falling backwards and closing his eyes. He landed painfully on his back again.
Roenan opened his eyes and he was staring at the ceiling until he lolled his head to the side, and realized he was back in front of the maze. He sat up slowly and reluctantly looked toward the entrance portion again.
Drakke was standing in the entrance, leaning on the hedge. He was in his school uniform, studying Roenan. A smirk was making its way across his features. He pointed behind him and said, "I heard that a certain someone's sister is at the end of this thing, you want to help me find the exit?" He turned and walked in, disappearing like his parents had. Roenan got up and quickly walked toward the entrance. He stared cautiously, not permitting himself to enter when Drakke's face popped around the far hedge on the left side. "You coming or what?" He grinned, before he disappeared again.
"Drakke..." Roenan said stepping forward and into the maze. He looked left to see that Drakke was walking away with his hands behind his back and his smirk over his shoulder. "I found something I want you to see." He said.
"Drakke, wait." Roenan begged, but Drakke took a sharp right and disappeared around the hedge. "I'm waiting!" Roenan heard him say in a muffled sing-song voice.
He walked down the row and turned right, but was instantly forced to take another right. Drakke was waiting at the end of the row with a cigarette in his mouth. He brought two fingers up and pulled it down from between his lips, letting the smoke trail out of his mouth slowly. He tossed the cigarette to the floor and twisted it under the toe of his shiny black school shoes.
"Slow as ever, I see." He mumbled as he turned and disappeared around the hedge to Roenan's left.
Roenan ran over to where Drakke had been standing. He looked down at the cigarette and saw a rolled up playing card. He bent down and picked it up to unravel it, but when he did he realized there were actually two cards. They were both sevens.
"Those are our favors, remember?" He yelled from somewhere to the right again. "You said you'd trust me and I have something I want you to see." He said.
Roenan dropped the cards to the tile and walked forward before turning right again. He didn't see Drakke at the end but he ran down the row and turned to the left again. He could either go right or left but there was no sign of Drakke. "Drakke, say something." Roenan demanded.
"What, you've lost me already?" Drakke asked from somewhere straight ahead of him. There was a hedge in the way and he had to make a choice. "What direction do you associate me with the most?"
Roenan thought for a few panicked moments. "You always took the bed to my right in the hospital." Roenan answered quickly.
"Well done!" Drakke said. "Pretend this is the hospital, then!" He exclaimed. Roenan was about to step to the right, but froze. He thought about what was located to his left in the hospital and instantly turned on his heels and sprinted to the left, his heart beginning to pound in his ears. He took the forced left and found himself looking at Saive, lying in a square-shaped cove at a dead end.
"Saive." He breathed. He surged forward and slid on all fours as he rushed to Saive's side. He touched his arm lightly. His eyes snapped open and Roenan jerked his hand back so he wasn't touching him anymore. "Is it really you?" Roenan breathed.
Saive's eyes were distant and he was in the ascension, and Roenan didn't want to touch him again in case he was real. He sat down next to him and watched his face closely. For a few minutes. He thought of a memory that had been on his mind recently.
"I never told you this, because I figured you'd call me an idiot... but I remember one time in Jaeda," Roenan began, his voice soft and story-telling, "my parents took me to that one popular spot with those purple butterflies in Naira. You know the spot I'm talking about? I don't know a Jaedan who never went at least once. The butterflies only come during the spring season. It's in all the travel books. But, it was before the war, obviously everything was easier back then. Anyway I remember this tour group passing by with a ton of young kids. The supervisors were clearly irritated because there were only about three of them and about twenty-five kids and the kids were kind of running around and making a fuss. But there was one kid who stood out to me. He was small and tan, he had dark hair and the most silver pair of eyes I've ever seen. I mean, these were a special pair of eyes. It's why I always remembered. But, in the middle of all the chaos of the other kids, a purple butterfly fluttered down and landed on that boys nose. And his silver eyes crossed as they stared at the butterfly. And then it suddenly lifted off and fluttered away. But I swear to you, that butterfly was as drawn to those eyes as any human would be. And, I kid you not, I have always thought that that boy could have been you, Saive. Do you think it's possible we crossed paths before? Do you think we were brought back together through some type of fate?"
"Roe." Saive rasped. Roenan hadn't realized that Saive had come-to since his eyes had wandered as he'd spoken. He turned his head to look back down at him.
"Is it really you, Saive?"
"Yeah."
"I'm glad." Roenan whispered. "I'm really glad."
They were quiet for a moment. Roenan was staring at the lining of the bush next to him and it seemed to be rolling. He cocked his head to the side when it started turning into a brighter green color, but when he blinked it was a dark color again.
"Saive, can I see your tag?" Roenan asked abruptly, turning to look at him. "There's something I need to clarify."
Saive looked at Roenan with a puzzled expression, before pulling his tag out from under his shirt and holding it out for Roenan to see. Sure enough, the last part of his tag read "Jaeda". It indicated the place of birth. Roenan nodded and Saive tucked his tag back into his shirt.
"We're drugged." Saive said weakly.
"What?" Roenan gasped.
"We're drugged. And we're in a room that has a maze built in. I've been attempting to wait it out since the drugs faded enough for me to realize what I was experiencing wasn't reality."
"So nothing I've experienced before you was real?" Roenan asked.
"It's unlikely." Saive responded.
"They must have drugged us after the office." Roenan said. "When they opened the back door I had imagined that I saw your body lying in that room."
"That was probably actually me." Saive countered. "The first thing they did was knock me out when I entered the room. I think they drugged us then."
Roenan thought harder and vaguely remember someone grabbing him and a pinch on his arm after he'd left the office. It had probably been a needle. He looked down at Saive, and he felt his own face softening in relief. "How are you holding up?" He asked.
Saive glanced up at him. "Roenan, this is just the beginning. What comes next is the worst part." Saive responded closing his eyes and squeezing them shut, like he was fighting if a wave of a headache.
Roenan tilted his head, frowning, until a look of shock replaced his frown. "Saive, don't tell me you've been through this already." He stared down in horror.
Saive opened his eyes only enough to glance at Roenan. Just a sliver of silver under his eyelashes. His expression hadn't changed much and he pick one of his frail hands up to rub at his eyes.
"I can't believe it." Roenan shook his head in disgust, before looking quickly back to Saive with wide eyes. "Do you remember how to get out of this thing?" He asked quickly.
"I didn't make it out." Saive said curtly.
"What do you mean you didn't-"
"What was that?" Saive said, cutting Roenan off and shooting up into a sitting position. His eyes were wide and alert.
"What was what?" Roenan asked.
"Shh!" Saive hissed.
And then Roenan heard it, low snarling from somewhere not far from, them over the hedge behind Saive. Saive shot up to his feet. "They're driving us out. We have to get to the end. Go!"