I messed up!
I went back out and 'Kathryn' wasn't there. I looked around but I couldn't find her. I heard giggling next to me and I saw Tyson still living in la-la land. How could he be so relaxed right now. I stomped up to him and dragged him away as he staggered behind me.
"Tyson get a hold of yourself! Have you seen Alex?" I asked softly and he only smiled. I stared at him confusedly and grabbed him by the collar "Tyson"
"She's such a beauty" he sighed as he stared into space. My brow furrowed as I finally caught sight of his eyes. His emerald green seemed to have deemed.
"Tyson? Tyson? Hey Tyson get yourself together. Tyson!" My voice coming out a little louder now. I tapped his face repeatedly as I kept calling his name but it was no use. I clenched my teeth as I did the next thing I could. Pulling my hand as far as I could, I punched him on the face real hard as he fell to the ground. I pulled him back up to look into his eyes. No change. He still had on his stupid grin even as his nose bled. She's had him too.
Shoot!
Is it some kind of spell? I thought as I looked back to the fountain. No one was there. They were all gone. Where'd they go? I didn't see them leave. I let go of Tyson as I ran my fingers through my hair. I let down my guard.
I tried to keep my calm and think things through. How long has it been since I left Alex with her? It been quite a while. She could be anywhere in this maze. What if she's in one of the secret rooms of the maze? I can't start going around to search each room, there's no time for that. I don't even know how many rooms are in here! Tyson's no help right now.
I pressed the bridge of nose as the thought of something happening to Alex right now made me lose my cool. I paused and looked at my palm as a crazy idea crossed my mind.
"I don't think that's such a great idea Tyler" I heard behind me. I spun back and saw her alone once again. No Alex.
"Now that's one scary look on your face. What has you glaring dagg..."
"Where's Alex?" I shot out as I wasn't in the mood for jokes anymore.
She looked confused "what do you mean? I'm sure I told you she was taking a bath"
We were both silent for a while. Until she finally let out a mischievous smile "Guess you're not falling for that"
"Don't give me that and tell me where Alex is right now"
She scoffed and gave Tyson a glance. "Alex this, Alex that. You're not even concerned about what I did to your brother. That's a bit too harsh isn't it?"
I finally heard Tyson giggling on the ground. I wouldn't say I wasn't worried but he was next to me. Alex on the other hand was nowhere to be found. She was obviously in the hands of the enemy and that was a million times more worrisome than a giggling 20 year old.
"I wonder why my spell didn't work on you. You're the first and I must say you have no idea how exciting that is. It makes me curious" she said as she walked closer to me. She stared at me weirdly and her fingers crawled to her cheek. Then she said out in the creepiest tone I'd ever heard "I see"
She suddenly let out a loud laughter and I felt a chill run down my spine as her face morphed. Her smiled literally curved up to her eyes as her tongue slithered out like a snake. The stench of seawater and dirt thickened. What on earth is she?! She stopped laughing and her face morphed back.
"Your heart is quite the dedicated one. Now that's something I want. So Tyler. How about we have a little fun. I have questions for you" she said as she turned and walked towards the fountain.
Fun?! Did she just say fun?! I'm having anything but fun right now. She had just morphed into a freaking monster in front of me! My heart was beating like crazy.
"Why don't you tell me where Alex is first, then I'll answer your questions"
The other monsters so far were the type we could just fight our way through but this is different. She's the first monster we've come across that has a human body and mind, putting me in a bind. So all I could do was listen and have my guard up. No matter what, I had to find Alex.
"Oh don't worry about that. She's right here" She replied like she read my mind and with the flick of her finger, something sprang out of the fountain. I saw a bubble floating in the air, inside it was...
"...Alex!"
She was wrapped in a vine, her head was bleeding as she looked like she was in pain.
"You know Tyler. I thought you would be happy to see her but you don't look the least bit excited?" She said as she sat at the edge of the fountain.
"What'd you do to her?!"
"I tried to be gentle with her but she had to go ahead and try to intimidate me. Now I can't have that happening in my territory" she said as she looked irritated for a minute "I would have been done with her a long time ago but I'm sure you wouldn't want that, right?"
She looked like she was enjoying this.
"What do you want?"
She stared into space for a while like she was thinking about it. "Well if I'm to answer that it's quite simple... I'm just having- fun"
"You see- I'm what they call a siren. For thousands of centuries I've only been interested in the juicy parts of you humans. Your heart" she pointed at my direction "To be exact, the heart of men. I have no interest in girls so as you can see Alex is simply an hindrance in my sight... Or so I thought but taking a closer look at things, she just might be what I need"
I hated this.
I hated the way I couldn't do anything. I hated the way I was just standing and listening to her. I had to do something.
"Forget it. You can't do anything right now. I already gave you an option. Answer my questions and I might just let her go...might"
I stared in awe as I realized the first time wasn't a fluke. She could actually read my mind.
"What's the question?" I gave in as a smirk appeared on her face. She adjusted herself and cleared her throat.
"First question. What am I?"
'Is she joking around right now?'
Fun fact, yes she is.
"You're a siren?" I said unsure of myself. The question was too easy.
"Bing bong! Correct" She said with a smile and I could make out most of the vines falling off Alex. She coughed out.
"Alex are you okay?" I yelled out to her and I saw her nod her head. I looked back at the monster and swallowed. So if I get the riddle, she'll let Alex go? Seems sketchy but it's all I got right now.
"I see you finally understand. Do remember, I let her go if you get it right and if you get it wrong... I'll crush her"
"What?!"
"Second question. Am I beautiful?"
"Yes" I said immediately
"That's a lie-- but the correct answer"
More of the vines fell. Just a little more left, I thought. I didn't really care about her beauty. I just wanted to get Alex down.
"Now that's just plain rude" she said and I knew I'd hit a button. "Playtime's over. Third question, What is my name?"
How on Earth am I supposed to know that?
"Kathryn"
She did say her name was Kathryn. She could be Kathryn but just not the Kathryn we were looking for.
She stared at me for a while and then smiled "Wrong"
She squeezed her palm and I heard Alex scream. The vines had wrapped her back up and it looked tighter than earlier
"Stop it! You're hurting her!" I yelled and she tipped her head to the side
"That was the point all along"
I clenched my fist as I was getting impatient.
"Fourth question. Who do I crush first? Tyler or Alex?" She flicked her fingers and immediately vines rushed out of the hedges and wrapped around Tyler. Lifting Tyler off the ground.
I looked back at her and she flashed me a curious smile.
"Enough already." I glared at her as joke was getting too serious for me. Once again she let out a loud laughter as her face morphed again.
"You humans are so simple! Just listen to the sound of that heartbeat, so exciting" she attempted to wipe off the tears of her eyes from laughing too much when I heard a sound coming from Alex. I looked up and my eyes widened at the sight of Alex. Blood dripped out from the corner of her eyes and mouth. She winced in pain and tried to move but she seemed to have run out of strength. I froze at the sight of this and our eyes met.
"Alex"
Her eyes dropped and I saw her lips move.
The words came out softly but I could read her lips.
'Tyler... It hurts"
I lost my reasoning for a while.
I felt hot. I could hear the imposter saying something but I couldn't make it out. She froze immediately I looked back at her this time. I didn't care about her expression anymore or whether she could hear my thoughts. Only one thing went through my mind at the moment.
"Burn"