The Escape Room

Maya?!

Ulric's Point Of View

"Oh my God!" 

"Where is he?"

"Andrew!" We were all calling out to him.

"What happened? He was here one minute and he wasn't the next minute," I asked Joyce, she seems terrified. Visible shaking!

"I don't know," she replied before she started crying.

"I was just talking to him when he lost it and started walking away when he stop suddenly and started looking to his left and right, gripping hard to his sword then he tripped and fall then boom, he was swept off," she explained still crying while my eyes survey our environment for the creature I saw earlier.

"I should have paid more attention to what he was looking at than at him or instead quickly try to help him when he fell," she complained.

"You did your best, Joyce! You can't blame yourself or anybody for anybody's death here," I consoled her but it wasn't working.

"It's fine! It's going to be fine! It will," I said reassuring her but more to myself.

"Guys!" Saya screamed, startling all of us but I knew where it was going to. Our eyes met and just as expected, she shouted "Run!" 

We weren't told the second time when we dived into our running spree. Even Joyce who was crying over spid milk, was the one leading the team. We ran for what felt like eternity but we had to continue. The ground seems to be cruved, as we run upward like to a hill or something, it immediately turns to a down hill, and we going struggling down. We don't even know if we are on the right path but what we know for a fact is that we are running.

"ROOAAARRRRR!" His beastly roar filled the entire place, we don't know if we are to call it what it appears to be on the outside, a cave, or what Teach Carolina told us, a natural escape room that was used back in the days for fun. Crack the nut and get the hell out of it unscratched. But it seems to not work that way anymore and is filled with all sorts of unimaginable creature, monsters, demon like and unusual animal. 

Now a shadow like creature was chasing us in the woods. Yes! In the woods, we have moved in all sorts of place and the woods is one of them, appearing more than once nor twice.

"Guys, I think we are running in circles!" Joyce announced and everyone stopped immediately. What the hell?

"For how long?" Brian asked.

"Who knows? I think we have been running for the past thirty minutes," Adams interjected.

Thirty minutes! I don't think so! Everyone was disappointed but we still had to catch our breathe.

"No! It's… been mo… more… than… that," Chris said with heavy Australia accent, he was panting heavily. An athlete should be fit and ready at all time but I guess when it's not associated with fear.

"Yeah! We've been running in circles," I announced as I picked a piece of Andrew's clothing I had noticed when consoling Joyce, it must have cut off when he tripped, fell and disappeared, any of those times.

"Ohh, true!"

"Yeah, we were," they all chorused when I showed them the piece of clothing.

"Oh, please!" I said to Joyce when I saw her getting emotional again.

"I can't help it, he was my friend but now, he is gone!" She said, shaking but with a straight face.

A loud deep rumbling sound filled the entire wood. There were trembling in the ground. A chill cold wind blushed our faces and we all looked at each other eyes wide opened.

"What the hell?" Helen said with her doe eyes opened wider than the rest of us.

"I think we should take the other path in that place that a letter T shaped tree," Brian suggested.

"How do we know if that path wasn't the one we took early?" Kunl asked.

"Guys! Let leave this place, it's scary! The beast is close by," Maya interjected.

"Or should we just part ways at the T sign?" Lucy, the timid girl suggested.

"No!" We all chorused.

"Have you forgotten what happened when we tried that?" Saya asked her. She seems to have forgotten.

"Guys! Let's move on!" Maya yelled.

"Calm down, Maya! Without plan, we are bound to kill ourselves," Finley said to her, harshly.

There was a few minutes awkward silence, then I saw the shadow creature, not one but two, sweep afar.

"Guys! Now! Run!" I yelled as we scrambled our way out, running like maniacs. "Let take the same route, please!" I pleaded. Once beaten, twice shy, they say even if I don't understand where the context beat and shy means.

Please, I hope we are not running in circles! Please! I pleaded with the heavens and guidance of children and teen on earth. My legs hurt like mad! 

"Ouch!" Adams cried out from the front but he was still running.

"What's that?" Milicent asked him, she running faster to meet him.

"My legs feel hot, hot as in like I deeped it in a fire or boiling water!" He explained.

"Same here!" Everyone started saying after hearing Adams explaination.

"You all know we can't stop, right?" Saya yelled, running with all her might.

"This is hard!" Lucy cried out.

After few more laps of running we started hearing running water from far of.

"Guys, there is a cooling spot!" Brian announced beating me to it.

"Oh my! Thank goodness!" Maya shouted.

"ROOOAAAAARRRRR!"

I looked back and I could see the shadow creature bleezing behind us, there were five of them. F^çk!

"Guys! Faster! Faster!" I yelled with all my might.

"What's that?" Maya questioned.

"Don't question me, only if you want to be their dinner, you won't be enough though," I yelled back at her.

I looked back and there were no where to be found, what the hell? Where did they go?

"Guys…"

"Haaa! What the freak is this?" Maya yelled, catching my attention. And there it was, standing tall in front of the stream. Oh my! This is huge! It was literally blocking the stream, just one.

"We are blocked! My legs are bleeding hot!" Finley warned. I looked back again and spotted one walking carefree towards us at a good distance.

"To the left or right?"

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Right, guys! Right!" Saya commanded as we all leaped into the bush by the right side of the path.

"Be watchful of the rope holder!" I yelled, warning them. I struggled passing through the branch like bush.

"Ouch!" I heard from someone.

"Please, guys! Don't stop, I know you are all tired!" Saya pleaded.

"Blood!" I heard again. What?

"Who?" Saya asked still running, looking to her sides. "Watch out for those spring string creatures!" She added. They were all spread out, running.

"Adams is bleeding… by the side, his stomach side!" Milicent announced!

"What?" Everybody chorused.

"Don't worry about me, just keep going. I will endure it, I can endure it!" He proclaimed, holding onto his side.

We have been running in the most dense part of the woods for hours, it's a little bit dark but we weren't save yet.

"My leg is cool, the hottest is reducing!" Milicent called our attention to our legs. We had learned to deal with it just the way it was and I guess when your action is fuelled with not wanting to lose your life, you can go extra miles.

"Adam?" I heard few call out. Oh boy!

"Pull him into that clearing!" Saya ordered. Oh, so there is a clearing? Where have you been? Not like it was going to help much then but it more useful now. 

Brian, John and Kunl helped carry Adams to the middle of the clearing, there was a little digged space not far of, Mia went over to it.

"He looks so pale," Chris said.

"He doesn't look pale, he is pale," Elian corrected him.

"There is a flowing water here and we can get out of it," she announced before bending down on her knees and scooping some water out of the space onto her face.

"Aren't you scared? What if it was something else?" Amy asked her while searching the bags on something that can be used on Adams.

"What's life without risk? Death, baby sister, death! Life is no fun without risk, you know?" Mia said smiling, proud of herself.

"So death is fun?" She asked her sister.

"Of course, baby sister!" She said before scooping more water into her mouth.

"Oh, jeez!" She exclaimed.

"Water please, for Adams cut, he lost quite some blood," Elian said before throwing a bottle at Lucy.

"How quite is it?" 

"Substantial" 

Some bandage, antiseptic, cleansers, antibiotics, wraps, wipes, scissors, ointment, plaster, and cotton wool was found. And Elian applied little of everything to his (Adam's) cut, it was slightly deep.

We gathered our bags together and placed them under his head. Then one after the other, everyone took turns to scoop water out of the space to do whatever he or she was interested in. Saya stood up to count us out but the look on her face was disturbing.

"Where is Maya?" The distraught question came out.

"What?" I questioned, getting up from where I was bent over the water space.

"Where is Maya Clark?" She asked again looking around, now everyone attention was catch.

I looked around and couldn't find the red headed petite girl whose white joggers had seen the living hell of this hell we were stuck in.

"She's not here," I confirmed.

"No! No… no… no…" Amy cried out.

"What's… go… ing… o… n?" Adam struggled to say. He just woke up to this chaos.

"Maya is missing!" Finley informed him.

"Do you think she went left when we all went right?" Helen asked, looking at each and everyone's face.

"I guess so," Amy answered "because she ought to be by our side now if she had followed right like we all agreed to," she added.

"That's not the problem now, the problem is where the freak can she be now?" Mia asked, visible distraught.

"I think we should split up, one half will stay with Adams and the other half will…" Saya said trying to come up with something.

"What? Go look for her or what? Or go through that dense bush again? Never, count me out!" Amy yelled, interrupting Saya. This is unusual of Amy, I watched her as she stomped away and sat on some rock far of.

"Wow sis! That was mind blowing, I never expected that! Woah! I want to be surprised each day like this," Mia called out to her sister, jubilating, jumping about with her hands out stretched.

"This is something to be serious about and not less concerned, a whole person is missing. What if it was your sister, will you care less?" Milicent said to Mia, addressing the situation.

"Oh, no I thought it was an big animal that was missing and not a person besides, don't ever call my sister into this, she is smarter than that," Mia warned sterningly.

"Big animal? This just shows how dumb your are for saying that," Milicent resorted.

"Oh, hear the fool who is talking! Aren't you just concerned because Maya still owns you? You don't want her the money to hell, right? But why are you worried for nothing, you will surely meet her there and settle your score," Mia argued, looking like she was ready to throw a punch.

"What?" She yelled, "have you gone crazy? Oh, sheet! This place does make people crazy and you are no exception," she added laughing crazily. 

"Wow, you sure do have a comeback, don't you? I pit…"

"Guys! Just shut the sheet up! Just shut your god damned mouth up and just follow me," Saya ordered.

"Just follow me dumbbies!," She ordered before pointing at some rescue team.

"Yah! Let's move it and rescue our friend!"

"She's definitely not my friend and she's going to collect some whipping when seen!"