Hesitatingly, she entered the door, and just as she crossed the threshold, it slammed shut behind her. She looked back and saw… darkness. Endless haunting emptiness of the dark sewer welcomed her. There were no doors behind. It had seemingly vanished similar to how the first one had. She was back. She was back in the maze.

It took her a moment to realize she was free. No more did she have to worry about the goblin. The goblin was gone. The room, however, had similarly disappeared along with him. Gone was the warmth, the hard creaking floor, the safety. Her desire, the heat, the love, the lush, all gone and cooled, replaced by a bone-chilling coldness, a stinking stink, dreading darkness, a knee-high pool of dirty brown-muddy water, and mind-numbing emptiness. Yes, the sound of moving water accompanied her, but what did it matter. She was promised freedom, but what she had found was far lesser than that.

“GRRRR!” she growled at her fate. Raised her clenched fists above her and kicked the water bathed sewer floor. She managed to create a splash, which infuriatingly, helped her become even filthier.

Sniffling a cry, she walked forward mindless of everything around her. A memory played kindly in her mind. A funeral she saw quickly passing through in front of her eyes. A casket was slowly being buried in the dirt. Swollen eyes wet with tears. Rising chests bellow of fear and insecurity. There she stood hunkered and alone- mindless, staring, cold, and then she heard a sound.

It got her attention. The memory disappeared and the darkness returned. There was no light only a flash of radiance lighting the water surface and the surroundings around. The flash had no source just like the room before. It was just there, out of place.

“Keep calm, keep steady; eyes open, stay ready.” She softly whispered to calm her raging heart. When was the last time she had felt so alone? It was such a long time ago she couldn’t even remember it any longer, even when she tried.

Her eyes furiously looked around for the source of the sound. A sound meant presence. There is no way it would have come without something else moving in the tunnel with her. She had thought herself alone, but she could supposedly not be alone anymore. However, eager though she felt, she didn’t become complacent. She stayed vigilant. The debacle of her previous mysterious tackle wasn’t worn off her yet.

“There is someone here…” The sound could have been her delusion, a growth of her scared mind. But she needed it. She badly needed to feel that she wasn’t alone. And now that she had found inkling, she clung to it despite its authenticity.

The morbid silence and darkness however restricted in more than one way. She walked forward, hunched with her hands spread out in front of her. She walked and walked and walked. Her feet hurt. Just imagining how close she was to get seriously ill was making her itch all over her body. Her clothes didn’t help against the coldness either. She needed to find a dry spot. She wanted one urgently.

Just when her resolve started wavering, the splashing sound came again from somewhere in the distance. What would she do? It was up to her. The sound broke her concentration. Angry and frustrated she might have been but her emotions kept her busy, kept her mind off her situation. The sound just did that. It reminded her of her present. It made her hesitate, and brought her back, out of her delusion and into the sewer.

The sound came again. This time a ripple followed it. She made up her mind and ran after the sound. She had already experienced the horrifying. At least a part of it was not untouched to her anymore. There could be monsters waiting for her in the darkness, creating sounds to play games with her. However, what choice did she have? The goblin hadn’t asked her to enter the room, but she had. He hadn’t forced her to drink his milk. He hadn’t even touched her when she was ready to be touched! It was her own two feet she had walked on. Her own hands had raised the glass higher and higher. Her own mouth had swallowed his cum sip by sip. Nobody had forced her.

She knew it was a gamble. Her running after ghostly sounds and illusionary people didn’t improve her situation. They only gave her hope. And that was all she needed. She didn’t know what waited for her at the source of the sound; what will be asked of her; and whether she’ll be helped or not. But she had to take to step forward to see for herself. She could flee or fight. And she had decided to fight.

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She had already tried tracing the length of the sewer and what had that gotten her? an endlessly looping maze. At least there was something there. In the swirling, rippling water, where plastic bottles and bags floated and moved, she actually had a chance of finding hope. The mortifying stench didn’t help. Her memories didn’t help. Her worries didn’t help. The knee-high water didn’t help her. It was the only chance she had at moving forward. Where ever it leads her. She knew she couldn’t be complacent.

“I have to get out of here.”

Hence, she ran, awkwardly at first, and then determined, she ran through the drowned sewer. She ran without worry. She didn’t have the energy to waste on such worries. She wasn’t exactly hungry; however, she wasn’t completely in control of her thoughts either. What will I do if I’m given something to drink again? What will happen to me then?

With worries keeping her occupied and her fake confidence driving her, she continued moving. Light peeked inside the sewer at some places- not brightening the sewer, only making the darkness a shade or two lighter. Tired and sulking, thinking and trying to figure out how she got here, she mumbled her thoughts out loud. She wasn’t turning senile. It was just a habit she had grown into. Something which had helped her in school, though annoyed her mates, and kept her mind occupied. It preserved her sanity in a way, kept her from breaking down.

Then she saw. A bit further away from her, a man. A hat covered his head, a long coat dropped from his shoulders and dragged behind him on the water. His legs she couldn’t see. Probably underwater, she thought. He moved, creating ripples. He was far, but his presence kindled a spark inside her. I’m not alone. The thought made her lips quiver and tears formed in her eyes. Joy appeared. Hope arrived.

“Mister!” she spoke first, then yelled loudly. Her voice quivered in helplessness.

The man stopped. The ripples stopped with him. He turned his head. The hat moved as he looked at her. She couldn’t see his face, but it gave her a sense of security. At least his head didn’t turn a whole 180 degrees, like a ghost. The silly thought made her smile. Thanks indeed. Because that would have made him another inhuman creature; she didn’t have the heart to face another one of those. Not right now. One is the most vulnerable when they are the happiest. And she hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

But after glancing at her, the man in long camel-colored coat walked away. Down the dark tunnel, he went, paying her no further attention.

His nonchalance surprised her. She wasn’t expecting to be ignored. In the darkness, he went. She took a step forward in a daze, and then ran after him, screaming.

“Sir, stop! You have to help me. I can’t get out. Please-” but her feet failed to find footing. She fell forward as if she had missed a stair. She hadn’t stumbled. The floor was actually uneven. The momentum carried her feet down and it slammed on the sewer floor, which was a good few inches deeper. A sharp pain shot up from her foot to her hip. She yelped up in pain. Her second foot followed and she found herself standing in waist-high water. The change had happened too suddenly. The water surface had remained the same but the floor hadn’t. It was like she had walked into a different section of the sewer.

Her stubbed fears found a crack to rush out through. The worry of being attacked made her flinch. But the man was walking further and further away. The water didn’t seem to be restricting him. He was already so far away; she could only make out a general shape of him. The tunnel was too dark. The light didn’t help.

Worried, she ran after the man. The water made her slow. The various artifacts littering the floor further hampered her movement. “Hey, why aren’t you stopping?” she yelled. Her voice, however, only echoed, it failed to find ears to scratch. Slowly, the man disappeared from her view. She followed him for a few more steps, eventually; she lost her will to continue.

Defeated, she came to a stop. The constant stress made her wonder more, made her hesitate, it made her weaker than she really was. Should she stop following the man and look for an exit, instead? Maybe this dark tunnel really had an end? Maybe it wasn’t a looping maze like the one before!

Yes. It ought to be! She thought, but deep down she knew there was no exit. She had walked straight for so long. The sewer hadn’t even branched! How was she supposed to find an exit in this straight tube?

“Who am I kidding?” She mumbled. “I need to make up my mind.” Ria knew she had progressed forward only after meeting the goblin. Before him, she was stuck. Just like how finding the room had given her a chance to escape. She had already found the odd one of this stretch of tunnel. She just needed to confront him. She couldn’t give up now! No, she wouldn’t!

Glowing with newfound vigor, she steeled her heart for her future. “There is no exit.” This was the first thing she needed to understand. “The only way out is down.” This was what the goblin had repeated to her. “The only way out is down.” Taking a deep breath she decided. “I’ll go down.”