Chapter 23: The Maze Walker!
"W-what's going on speed? Don't scare me like that, I- I know you're joking." Hearing Speed's plea, Melissa didn't want to believe that it didn't end right there, but when Speed turned to look at her with tears on his prideful face, she knew he wasn't lying.
*Slash*
"Kukikiki, KUKYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Speed's body was slashed in half as a dark entity walked out from behind the statue.
Its large, 3-meter-long body was hunched over, spikes coming out of its spine, and its mouth was disgustingly cut in four, a long tongue coming out of it as saliva dripped out. It had two holes instead of a nose and its face was long like that of a chimpanzee; its eyes were black with white pupils, and two tiny horns came out of its crane as black fear decorated its abyss-black body.
Its long arms had blood drippinf from their long dagger-like claws as the hellish entity turned to gaze at Melissa, who was scared sh*tless.
"KUKYAAAAAA!" The entity cried once more as its body disappeared like mist, leaving Melissa as the only living being within the room.
"KYAAAAAA!" Melissa's expression turned crazed as the second she came, she turned back to run as fast as she could, her eyes opened wide from fear, her face turned pale and sweat drenched her entire body.
*Thump*
Melissa stumbled and fell in her attempt to run away and without missing a beat, she got up and proceeded to run out of the gate, looking behind her from time to time to see if that entity was following her, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Melissa traversed the entire distance; she just crossed back in hope of finding the group.
She would beg, she would grovel, and she would do anything for them to forgive her and save her from whatever that thing was.
Unfortunately, when she got back, there was no one there.
"No... No, No, No, No, No! I can't die like this; I CAN'T!" Tears fell from Melissa's ears when she realized that she could die... that there was no one to save her.
After stopping for a few seconds, the image of that hideous existence resurfaced in her mind, causing chills to run down her spine.
*Gulp*
Looking at the dangerous path forward, whose trap locations she didn't know, she swallowed.
"Why did I have to be a bitch and scream at them? Why did I have to be dumb and move all alone with that useless fucker? Why? Why? Why?" Melissa caught her face as fear and anger caused her blood to boil; she didn't even feel it when she pierced her skin with her sharp nails and blood seeped out of her face.
If only she was a good slut and sat down, waiting for the whole group to move before she would. If only she were more compassionate and kinder, a good girl who everybody loved. If only she wasn't self-centered fuck. If only...
"KUKYAAAA!" Out of nowhere, black fog enshrouded the area Melissa was in as the entity's presence drowned out the room.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"What was that?" Lisa, who was close to Sabrina, asked as she felt like she just heard something.
"I didn't hear anything." Sabrina, who was too angry to care, didn't manage to catch the echoes of Melissa's last screams.
'Oh, she died already?' Zen, who heard Lisa's question to Sabrina, thought in his mind that a glint passed through his eyes that nobody managed to catch.
"We got one!" Dali shouted at full force, a scroll in his hand.
The group was in a small corridor, where Zen managed to find a chest. Dali was the one to open it and check it out and after 3 chests, they were lucky enough to find a scroll.
"What does it say?" Alex asked before anyone else could.
"Uh, One second, lemme just... Oh, there it is. 'The room of the statue behind the gate of death is your last trial...'" After reading this part and gazing at the second, Dali's hands started trembling.
"What is it?" Alex asked, worried by Dali's reaction.
"Look here." He pointed at the scroll as Alex, Max, and Yu, who were closer, all clustered around to read.
'Beware of the Maze Walker sleeping behind the statue of death, for if he does not die, there's no escape.' Cold sweat ran down everybody's backs when they read the words out loud.
"Does this mean?" Everybody looked at each other.
"Guys... I think I just heard a scream." Lisa, who was hiding behind Sabrina, remembered the echoes she just heard and thought of...
"Melissa." Sabrina voiced out.
"When did you hear it?" Zen asked, acting oblivious.
"She just told me before Dali opened the chest." Sabrina replied in her stead.
"This means..." Zen gritted his teeth, looking at the floor.
"Yeah, Melissa is dead." Sabrina confirmed her words; silence drowned the corridor as, day by day, the situation they were in just got worse.
"B- but guys, remember the first part." Dali, trying to ease up the mood, spoke, coming out of his shy shell to make such an effort, which did show the young man's mental development in such a situation.
"'The room of the statue behind the gate of death is your last trial.' He read it once again.
"You're right, as long as we manage to kill that Maze Walker fella, we can get out of this hell." Sabrina confirmed.
"But we don't know anything about him; what should we do? Go back and take a look to see if Melissa is still alive. After all, we don't know if she really died." Yu asked, his face showing his uncertainty.
"Don't be dumb, Yu. If anything, now that we are sure these scrolls have answers inside of them, we should look for more; maybe the next one will tell us what we have to do." Pablo said.
"You're right, let's go."
------End------