Jacob Malnew
I felt cold as I withdrew another jet of flames back within me. I wiped my forehead as I trudged forwards. The maze looked the same to me and I swore that we had gone in circles more than once. Harley watched from behind, to ensure we didn't get ambushed again. He remained quiet, only speaking up if he noticed something, but other than that, we allowed silence to hang in the air, comforting in the coldness of the maze. We rounded another corner, seeing another long corridor. I sighed out in frustration as the obelisk that Isaac had explained prior was still nowhere in sight. How long has passed? Are the others ok? Henry, Sebastian, how are you two faring?
"Are you okay?" Harley asked from behind as we rounded another corridor, only to be met with clumps of ash, a sign of our previous passing.
"No, I'm not okay. We are still no closer to the end of this fucking maze," I exclaimed with anger.
"How about you let me lead?"
"And how do you think that is going to make a difference?"
"We don't, but I can tell you are not thinking straight." I turned to face him, fury not exactly hidden from him, but he stared me down all the same. He wanted me to deny it, but a part of me understood where he was coming from. I relented and gestured for him to lead.
"I hope you have better luck than me."
"I hope so too." Harley stated under his breath, before heading down a different corridor.
Isaac Woodman
T2 2025 - Minutes passed by, feeling as if they were hours. Maybe it was hours? The lack of natural light made it difficult to judge. We sat along one of the walls, relaxing but keeping alert in case anything wandered in. So far, nothing entered the room, which was a blessing, but none of us felt happy about the fact, we were much too tense to realise our luck. I looked to Hans who seemed to be talking to himself. Who is he ? I don't remember him from the past, is he not supposed to be here ? or maybe our interference saved him ? I pondered for a long time, asking myself questions and coming up with various answers to those questions. Another few minutes passed without much fanfare, until the room shook like an earthquake, loose particles of dust falling free in a downpour.
"What the fuck is going on ?" Jason asked as he pounced to his feet. I slowly stood also as the small flames in the room snuffed out, sending the place into a void of darkness.
"They did it." I muttered under my breath, allowing a smile to spread across my face. "They did it." I turned to Hans who was now on his feet. "You're up Hans, you sure you know where we are going ?" He nodded as he helped Levin to his feet.
"Took your friends long enough," the voice was new as the figure stepped into the room. I couldn't make out any specific features in the darkness, but I didn't recognise the man's voice.
"You must be the mystery stranger." I stated and heard a laugh.
"Yeah, guess you can say that. But I reckon you lot should get going, I'm going out the real way."
"Who are you?" I asked the man, his words reminding me of myself, the assuredness of knowing events before they transpire. Is he like me ?
"Just a simple stranger, but I will introduce myself properly when we meet again." As the stranger spoke, each word slowly grew quieter as he turned, walking away from us. "And keep doing what you are doing Isaac."
"How do you know me ?" I asked the stranger, but he didn't respond. Am I right ? Does he have an ability similar to mine ? But I need to see him in a proper light to know for certain. My thoughts were interrupted by a shout of panic.
"RUN!" The words were accented by a plume of amber fire which lit the backs of two sprinting figures. I looked past the two figures at the creature following them. In the dark abyss of the corridor, the bipedal form of the T-Rex roared as it thundered after the two. I turned to Hans.
"Get ready to lead us to the dead end." He nodded as I turned back to see Jacob and the older man, I recall his name being Harley, throwing themselves into the room. Jacob sought me instantly as the T-Rex slid to a halt at the entrance. Its figure seemed to be formed from the darkness rather than invade it like our presences. It dipped its head into the room, the large snout sniffing and growling as it scanned the darkness before its large eyes stared straight at me. Its form seemed to crumple in on itself, the process completely silent. Two large legs shrunk as its torso twisted into one more human like, but as it completed its transformation, the features weren't quite right. Fingers were slightly too long, bent in angles that would've broken skin and bone if the flesh was real. Its neck was a tad too long and as my eyes looked it over, sweat dripped down my forehead. Hair raised on my arms and Hans doubled over next to me, clutching his head, screaming. Where its face would've been, instead hung two swirling spirals of white dust in place of eyes and its mouth was a crescent moon of white. I jumped as I felt the wall against my back. When did I move ? I thought to myself as my eyes didn't leave the form. No, why? Why here? Why now? Did it follow me? It wasn't here the first time. It shouldn't be here, it's too early. We, we. I noticed my ragged breathing but as I tried to calm myself, I felt the atmosphere in the room shift. We need to get out, we need to run, we have to get out of here!
Hans Baumann
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The three voices threatened to split my head in twine as I doubled over at the sudden outcry. Pain thrummed alongside the screams and my head felt as if it had caught fire. I looked over at the figure and as I did so, seeing two swirling eyes and a wide-toothed smile, the screams grew more terrible, causing me to look down.
"ISAAC!" Who was that? "ISAAC!"
"HANS" I turned to see Jason, his face a mask of fear. "Are you-" I couldn't hear him over the screams. I looked over at the being once again, and fear flowed through me. Was it laughing? What is that thing? No spoken answer was given to my question, but the answer I came to know was dread.