Page 23 of Bloody Valentine

I made a face, and Teagan cackled.

“I don’t have to admit shit.”

Our phones chimed in unison, and my stomach fluttered. However, I couldn’t say if it was in disgust…or anticipation.

After barely figuring out that stupid maze, we made it to the school chapel. As predicted, the priest was like a character from a bad mobster movie. He reached his hand out, expecting me to respond.

“Uh…Hi, father?” I said, hesitantly reaching one arm out.

The old gross ass made out with the top of my fingers, and Teagan cracked up beside me while I paled.

“Never give the priest your hand,” she said between bouts of laughter. I looked at the wet spot left on my skin.

“Yep…noted,” I said as I cringed.

We found our seats in the pews of the chapel. This place was beautiful. It followed the same gothic haunting beauty of the university. It was clear they were connected. There was a buffet table where people were taking plates of meat and potatoes, but I felt too nauseous with my restless sleep.

Instead, I watched the students mill in, and at the front, the professors of the school started lining up…all but my professor.

I looked at the people around me. The nerds I knew from before were congregated in a corner of one of the pews. They looked upset, and one of them was missing—the pig-tailed woman.

I tried to shove away the thoughts of the shadows from my mind, but the feeling was so strong that it took my breath away. I stood up from the pews, my ability to breathe escaping me.

Teagan was talking, but I couldn’t respond.

I walked toward the back of the chapel, finding an exit away from the creepy priest. The cold air was sobering, and I took handfuls of breaths, trying to collect myself.

It was quiet back here, with no chattering of students or awful organ music playing in the background.

I leaned against the chapel, noticing the back of the maze led out here. The church was directly in the center of it, and I wondered what was at the end of this massive green wall.

Was it just a trick to lead you on a wild goose chase back to the beginning…or was there something else behind it all?

Walking along the edge of the green shrubbery, I ran my hand on the snow-covered brush. I gasped when, in the snow, I saw…red.

There were speckles of crimson leading deep within the maze. I tried to steady my breathing, walking along the route, following the droplets. It was blood. I could smell the iron even in the cold snow.

Someone was hurt.

Running through this maze?

I continued to follow the blood trail, noticing that the farther into the labyrinth I traveled, the darker and thicker the blood droplets became.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” I chanted, that smell of iron getting so strong that it breached the air’s chill.

I arrived at a large opening. The trail turned into larger pools of blood, leading to a massive oak tree. I followed the lake of red, a sinister feeling creeping up my spine. I shivered, annoyed at myself for my hoe-style of clothing in the freezing weather.

“Hello?” I said stupidly. Like whatever had bled out would answer me.

I couldn’t see anything. The tree was so dark. The higher I looked, the darker it became. The blood trail ended here. No other blood speckles were leading anywhere else.

Confused and thoroughly freaked out, I walked around the thick bark, using my boot to dig into the snow. There was nothing. Nothing at all.

Was I imagining the blood? Was this some fucked up delusion like my grandmother’s voice in my mind?

I blinked a few times, trying to will the blood away.

It didn’t work.

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