98
Glaring, red, bright it burns into my vision. I stare at it, “If whoever did this to me is listening, you’re a goddamn monster for doing this.” Taking time to calm my breathing, I repeat my previous preparations, taking a pair of planks from under my bed to use as trap finders. “Alright, back to the horrible darts instant of death, or do I see if I can beat the trapdoor and get through the door in time.” I think on my options, the trapped door is farther along, I think because I already had to bypass one trap to get to it, whereas I don’t know what’s after the darts.
“The darts, I want to make sure I can safely bypass it, or at least set it off from safety”
Walking down the hallway, I take a left again and go forward until I think I’m where I set off the traps. Taking a careful look, I don’t see anything so I step back, and toss my wooden plank forward, hoping to catch the tripwire.
*click*
The tripwire triggers and I see small seamless holes open briefly, allowing several darts to fire out of the wall and clatter against the floor before the holes close again. Carefully nudging the darts out of my way on the floor and retrieving my plank of wood I continue my walk, coming to a sharp left turn. Checking the ground and then peeking around I see a metal door just a few steps away with one of those big turning wheels in the middle. “Finally something different. That’s worrying though, there has to be a reason it’s different.” Waving my 2 by 4 in front of me to check for tripwires, I then make my way towards the door tapping the ground as I walk. I carefully examine it and can tell it’s meant to be airtight. “Now why would a maze need some kind of hatch here. Maybe the other side is flooded… but I can’t make progress if I’m too afraid to check things out.”
Grabbing the wheel on the door, it turns surprisingly easy, catching me off guard. After barely turning it halfway, I hear a click, and the door pops open slightly, surprising me. I jump back as the door swings itself open away from me and I see what looks to be a metal hallway, quite the change from the concrete I’ve seen so far.
“Alright, something different. I’m going to take that as a good sign and hope it means progress.” Stepping forward, I shove the tip of the wooden plank into the room, and when nothing happens I carefully step in. The walls curve upward and the floor is a very slight ramp down, leaving the impression I’m in some sort of tube, and the ceiling is just barely high enough that I can’t reach it with my plank of wood.
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On the ceiling and walls are small circles, giving off a sickly yellow light that flickers and shifts like the light source is moving behind them. “They look to be made of glass. Might try breaking them later to see if there’s anything in it.” I mutter to myself. My footsteps echo loudly as I walk down this hallway, the walls are studded with bits of metal, reminding me of a ship being riveted together. The creepy lighting flickering as I walk is making me jumpy, constantly seeing my shadow move out of the corner of my eye.
Shortly the floor evens out and I see farther down the hallway another metal door that resembles the one I used to enter this area. “Alright, most of the traps so far have been pretty close to the next door, I should be careful.” I throw one of my wooden planks forward, it skitters across the ground with nothing happening. Gingerly walking forward I step up onto a small rise just before the door, pushing down on it with my plank, then putting one foot down to see if it’s safe, nothing happens so I take the last step to reach the door, as I put my full weight on it, I feel a sudden shift downward and hear a loud Crack, the small glassy lights near me all suddenly burst open, spraying me with water. It’s freezing and I’m immediately soaked.
I finally see that the light from what I now realize are windows is coming from small glowing fish. A few of them flooding in with the sudden spray, “Fuck” I turn around and start running back towards the previous door, “Shit, I hope this is just regular water.” Reaching the sloped part of the floor, I try to run up it but slip on the slick metal, “Damn it, damn it!” Standing back up, I carefully walk up, taking my time to avoid falling again.
As I reach near the top I see the door has been slammed closed by a spray of water, coming from a well-placed window, and on this side, there is no handle. “Fuck, wait, the other door, maybe I can still get through it.” Turning around, I see the water has risen, if I go down there it will already be up to my shoulders, deciding there isn’t another option I turn around and try to rush my way back to the other door. Making my way there I get a chance to look at the fish, They glow a sickly yellow, and seem to be avoiding getting near me.
Reaching the new door, I twist the handle easily, but can’t pull it, the weight of the water holding it closed. I put my legs against the wall, and pull harder, but it won’t budge, and the water is rapidly getting higher as it continues to come from every little window along the hallway now. Realizing I’m trapped I breathe and calm down, “It’s fine… You’ll just wake up in your bed again, it won’t be permanent.” At least, I try to do that, but all that comes out are choked sobs of panic. I swim upward, hoping maybe the water will run out, or it will drain somewhere. As it finishes filling the room I hold my breath as long as I can, my lungs are on fire, my heartbeat in my ears as my vision begins to darken and I can’t stop my body from taking in a breath any longer.
Darkness. Now that I'm paying attention, it feels warm here, safe. I accept the calm darkness, it’s better than the panic I was feeling moments ago. I sit up, I’m back in my bed, looking around it’s the same room. I lie back down and begin to cry, my pent-up fear and rage from the last room getting to me as I lay in the only familiar thing I have, the only sign of my normal life before whatever this insane maze is.