Hans Baumann
"Take a left here, then take an immediate right," the voice that sounded sincere directed, the words appearing in my head as if they were my thoughts, but the sound each voice made was distinctly separate from how I perceived my own thoughts. It was bizarre to think about. Each of those voices held a different cadence to them which made each of them sound different from each other. How bizarre indeed.
"We aren't bizarre," the second voice stated, a low tremble accompanied each word, as if the bass on their voice had been dialed up to maximum. Each word this voice spoke, hung in my mind a few seconds longer than the others, and not entirely due to its volume.
"Bizarre? Don't call us Bizarre, you fucking dick, we don't call you names, or say mean things about you," the third and final voice stated in an angered tone that teetered on the edge of annoyance and disrespect. I could sense a feeling of disagreement wave through me from the other two at the thirds words and I believe that I could even hear the second let out an exhausted sigh in response.,
"Really?" the first voice questioned as I ignored the third's remark and continued straight. The walls, ceiling and floor looked identical among the different turns of the maze, making it easy to lose direction. Luckily, the first voice seemed to know the route. Each of the voices had distinct characteristics that made them easily discernible from one another, the first was akin to an innocent child or younger brother or sister. Their tone was always sweet, kind and endearing. The second was likened to an older sibling, whereas the first sounded youthful in dialect, the second sounded more adult-like. At times, happy to joke, but usually more serious than the other two. The third on the other hand was more of a rebellious teenager than anything else, striking out against those in disagreement, even attacking those it agreed with. The third seemed to like the attention their bashfulness gave them, thus giving them no cause to stop and change their attitude.
"Take another left here Hans," the first voice said and I followed the direction, which led me into yet another mirrored corridor, almost identical apart from small differences in the laying of vines. "Keep going forwards Hans," I nodded, though realising after the fact that the gesture was almost pointless.
"Thank you," I paused, "what do I call the three of you?" I pondered now that I had given the situation thought.
"Hmmm, we don't have anything like names," the second voice answered, uncertainty lacing its usual baritone voice, "or if we did, then we have long since forgotten." I could feel the thirds emotion seep into my mind, anger and sadness mixed into one.
"We've never needed them before, but if your tiny brain needs assistance in remembering us then, I don't mind you giving us one," even though the third sounded indifferent, his almost permission at giving them names spoke the truth loud and clear.
"I've got to apologise, I'm not the best at naming things, ah, is it a left or right here?"
"Left," the first said and I turned heading that direction, "but you will be fine, I'm sure we will love whatever names you give us. As I raced down the long corridor, still trying to catch up with Jason, though hoping I hadn't missed him, I thought through various names, but with each thought, I could sense their uncertainty at each that I had come up with, their reactions similar to that of a child forced to smile and state that they enjoyed their present. As a few more names flitted across my mind, names like Kate, Alex, James, Jane and Maria, I sensed the same uncertainty, which led me to a new idea.
"How about Alpha, Bravo and Charlie?" I asked aloud, giving them call signs instead of gendered names, they were after all figments in my mind. An uncomfortable silence greeted me, and as I started my thought process again, the first voice spoke again.
"We like these names, Alpha, huh, it has a nice ring to it," the first voice, Alpha, said, an obvious gleeful tune in their voice.
"Why are you Alpha," the third voice responded with disdain, "I should be-"
"Just give it a rest Charlie," the second voice, Bravo, stated which caused Charlie to fall silent. "Thank you for these names, you are the first to grace us with a name each."
"First?" I questioned, the implication of the words weighing me down.
"As much as we are overjoyed that you have granted us each a name, I unfortunately can't divulge this information to you, at least not at this point in time."
"Thank you," I almost didn't hear Charlie's words and I found a smile creeping along my face.
"Ah, it's a right here," Alpha directed and as I turned the corner, I skidded to a halt. Sitting on the ground was a figure with short white hair, however the shade of white looked too perfect to be natural. As I cautiously stepped forward, he held up his right hand and I noticed the intricate black tattoo that covered his entire arm, the deep black stood out against his tanned skin, but as I slowed my approach, I noticed that the tattoo wasn't one large design as I had previously thought, but instead made up of many smaller designs, all spherical in shape and each was intricate in their own right.
"Shhh, I don't want you to wake him," the figure said, his voice soothing in its delivery. I cautiously stepped closer to the stranger, the silence stemming from Alpha, Bravo and Charlie's absence put me on edge, more so than being alone in the maze.
"Who are-" I stopped talking as I saw the unconscious form in front of him, Jason. He seemed to be breathing, his head using the stranger's lap as a pillow. "What have you done to-"
"I haven't done anything to him, I simply found him like this, he was thrashing about when I saw him, I have only just managed to calm him. This place," he gestured to the surrounding walls, "this, theatre, as you guys have so interestingly called it, holds many monsters, I was under the pretense that one of these creatures caused your dear friend here to find himself unconscious, trapped in his mind." He tapped his forehead with a finger and turned to look at me, unlike the odd hair colour and black tattoos, his face was utterly indistinct. Blue eyes, clean shaven and white teeth. "Now that you have caught up, would you like to do the honors? I've really got to get going, I would prefer not to be stuck here longer than absolutely necessary." Without waiting for my reply, he carefully placed Jason's head onto a protruding vine and stood, stepping over him with a tentative step. I studied Jason's face which looked pained, his expression twisting into wordless screams and dried tears were reinvigorated by new ones at irregular intervals. I had never seen him look this way before, I hated to admit it, but Jason was strong and dependable, but here, he looked weak. I knelt down, searching for something, anything that could be the source of my friend's pain.
"Thank you," I said in a low whisper, but as I looked back up, the stranger was already near the next fork in the maze.
"No problem," he raised his hand in a wave goodbye, "hopefully next time we meet, you can introduce me to the three friends you have hidden there," and then he rounded the right corner, disappearing from sight. The quietness in my mind was suffocating, even though only ten or so minutes had passed since they appeared, but their absence of speech in that man's presence had caused dread to run through me. What was he to make them quiet ? I stood for a few excruciating moments longer, watching the end of the corridor, but only the natural shadows could be seen.
"Hans?" the voice belonging to Charlie said, the tone scared.
"Yes?" I replied back. Charlie's tone put me on edge, the haughtiness had gone from his voice, the reply coming back as a mere whimper in my mind.
"Who? Who was that?"
"I don't know," I looked down at Jason's unconscious body, he had kept an eye on him, but if he was a genuinely good person, then why were the three of them so, afraid. Was that the word I should be using?
"Be careful of him," Bravo said, his tone normal, seemingly unshaken by the events that had just transpired. Jason muttered something indiscernible as he twisted and started to thrash on the floor. I pinned his arms down, changing my position to make sure he couldn't move and accidentally injure himself in the process. His expression contorted into a wide grin that made me freeze before his body went limp, his expression now connoting a deep, blissful slumber. I checked for a pulse and checked his breathing, both seemed normal, but as I laid there for what seemed like hours, the man from earlier wandered back down the corridor, his attire of jeans and plain coloured t-shirt were drenched in blood that dripped from him like wax. Then a familiar body slid along the ground to my side, flung from the opposite direction, the teenager gasped out in pain as he looked down the corridor where he had just been thrown, his earlier uncaring nature distorted into pure fear. Blood seeped down from a wound on his head and he cradled his left arm with his right, judging from the bone jutting free, it looked broken. I gulped as the realisation hit me, I followed the teens gaze, the minotaur stood in the center of the corridor, a wicked smile on its face as it had realised the same thing I had just realised. The teen was now mortal, and none of us had the power to fight it off any longer.