A guy speaks up, “I will go first if none of you want to.” There is no objection to his decision, so he walks out of the darkness, makes his way over to the other side, and stops midway as Aiden did.

When he enters the light, I can see that the guy is about thirty years old. The guy looks vaguely familiar. I think he works at the clothing store or department store or something like that. I just know that I have seen him before, but I don’t know who he is. He has what looks like some blood on his shirt, but it does not look like he has any injuries on him, so I try not to think about where the blood came from.

His movements are not as stealthy as Aiden's, so when he runs, the sound of his shoes hitting the ground echoes through the night. I wince at this and hope it won't alert anyone. He navigates his way between the two games where Aiden is hiding, and Aiden puts his hand, signaling us to wait.

Aiden peeks out from behind the booths, his eyes scanning the area before he retreats back into the shadows. About ten seconds later, the silence is broken by the sound of heavy footsteps coming our way. I exchange a worried glance with Devin, fearing that the guard will find us.

Devin's expression matches mine, along with the other two people we are with. We all quickly move further back so that we are more hidden in the darkness. I see three guards walking by quickly, and I let out a sigh of relief when none of them look our way and instead just keep walking.

I make my way back over to the edge of where we are standing, and I look for Aiden. I see Aiden peeking his head out from behind the games on the other side once again, and I assume he sees nothing because he then waves the next person over.

Some girl goes next, followed by the younger girl, who I assume is the same girl who was concerned for Theon’s group when the gunshots were heard. When the young girl runs across, I can see that she looks to be twelve or thirteen, and I once again can’t help but think she’s too young to experience something like this.

She was probably having a great day with her parents, possibly siblings, and friends when the government came and destroyed her outlook on life. I think about the fantastic night my Dad, Devin, and I were having before going to that stupid surprise. We should have just ignored this whole event, but we were in such desperate need for entertainment and fun.

After she makes it to the other side, Devin and I are the only ones left hiding in the dark pathway. I don’t want Devin to be left alone, so I suggest he go first. He looks concerned with my decision but does it anyway.

I don’t know if our Dad survived the shooters, and I have no idea what they did to the people who didn’t show up to the carnival like my mom. All I know is that Devin is the only family member that I know is alive and well right now, and I can’t let anything bad happen to him.

I watch Devin as he goes across. He looks around as he makes his way to the booth midway. Each step he takes is cautious. He bends down a little as he walks, but I can tell he’s not comfortable doing this.

When he eventually makes it to the other side with the others, I am able to relax, knowing that he is alright, but I get tense again when Aiden waves me over.

I take a moment to breathe and look around before quickly moving toward the same booth everyone else stopped at. I am hyperaware of the lights on me, and I try turning them off with my mind. Obviously, that doesn’t work.

I try taking small, light steps in hopes of remaining quiet, and I think this works. I am about to reach the booth in the center, but I catch the sight of a tall, moving figure out of the corner of my eye. I only get a quick glance, but I think the person is dressed in a dark uniform and is walking by the Ferris wheel, which just so happens to be only a few feet away from me.

My fight or flight instinct kicks in, and I quickly run into the booth and get down lower to try to hide myself as well as I can. I am not about to find out if I am a good fighter or not, at least not today.

I sit down and close my eyes, waiting to hear the sound of a gunshot. Stupid Sam, now you are going to die. You should have looked more thoroughly before crossing. I wait another minute, but nothing happens.

I slowly reopen my eyes and look around. The guard is only a few feet away from me, but he doesn’t seem to see me. I quickly scoot further into the booth, hoping he doesn’t look my way.

I look over to Aiden, who is just visible in the darkness. He looks at me and puts up a hand to tell me to stay where I am. Then he disappears into the darkness again. I catch the sight of Devin, and he looks worried, but when he catches me looking at him, he gives me a weak, encouraging smile.

When Aiden comes back out of the darkness, he has something in his hand that is too small for me to tell what it is. He looks to the guard, who is facing away from him, and he throws whatever he has in his hand in the direction the guard came from.

The guard immediately pulls out his gun and runs over to the noise. I look back at Aiden and see him waving me over to the group. I run as fast as I can over to them. I think I am going to have a heart attack because of how fast my heart is racing. I look back to see that the guard is gone, and I relax. “Thank you,” I say to Aiden.

“No problem.”

Devin hugs me but doesn’t say anything as Aiden leads us behind a row of game booths. It’s dark behind the booths, but there is still about a foot and a half of light separating one game from another. Along with that, there are also many wires, so we all have to be careful.

We all slowly and carefully step around the wires and do our best not to get stuck in them. The young girl in front of Devin and me almost trips a couple of times, but luckily, we only have to catch her from falling once. The girl is young, and I can tell she’s scared. I understand what she’s feeling, so I hold her hand until we get to the end, where there are no more games to hide behind.

In front of us now is another open area, but this one is not as big as the last or as brightly lit up. Across the way is our destination, the mirror maze. I give the young girl’s hand a small squeeze to let her know that we are almost out of this nightmare.

Instead of running to the other side like last time, Aiden leads us through a series of dark spots to get there. There are some gunshots heard in the distance, and the girl holds my hand tighter. I look around, but I don’t see anyone. The area around us is hauntingly quiet and dark.

We reach the mirror maze, but Aiden takes us through the exit door instead of going in through the entrance.

Once inside, Aiden addresses the group, “Stay close so no one gets lost. Hold hands if you have to.”

I take Devin’s hand with my free one, and we follow Aiden through the maze. The maze is still lit up, and I can’t help but stare at myself in the reflection as we walk. The bright light around the mirror gives me the unfortunate ability to see myself very clearly.

My shirt has some spots of dirt on it, and my jeans have a hole in the knee that was not there before. I have loose strands of hair sticking out in weird directions from my head, and my face looks different somehow. It is like today’s events have taken away some of the liveliness in my features.

My eyes do not seem as bright, and my mouth doesn’t hold a smile. I thought I lost the feeling of a kid when I grew up, graduated school, and got a job, but now I know that that’s not true. I still had some child-like tendencies and thoughts, but not anymore. They took whatever part of me that was still a kid that was left in me.

I look beside me at Devin, who has a leaf stuck in his hair. He looks tired, sad, and drained of all the joy he had earlier today. I look at the rest of the group and see that we all look to be in the same condition, beaten and tired.

Aiden stops in a corner of the maze, and we all watch as he pushes one of the mirrors, which swings open like a door.

The other side of the door is dark but I can just make out the trees of Treegrass in the distance. Now that we’re here, I have no idea what to do. We are supposed to go out the door and do what exactly? Run from the government? Join the Jumpers? Go home?

Then another thought occurs to me. What if my Dad is still inside the carnival, and we are leaving without him?

Aiden steps out the door and then turns around to look at us after we don’t follow, “Are you coming or what?”

Chapter 11

0 Comments