Page 106 of Losing the Rhythm

“Are you okay?” Toby asked, reaching for my hand and holding it.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“If this isn’t what you want to do, we can do something else.”

I swallowed past my growing fear and smiled at him. “Oh no, we are going. I want to hear your screams.”

Toby’s eyes widened and then he broke out in a huge laugh, pulling me into his side and hugging me close. “Good luck.”

The group of three in front of us went in. The maximum amount they allowed in a group was three or it wouldn’t be too fair for the monsters as they tried to handle larger groups. From the talk of some of the groups, larger ones broke up and turned it into a competition.

“We’re next,” Toby said.

“Ready for your doom?”

“Oh? If I go down, I’m taking you down with me. No man left behind.”

“We’ll see,” I said.

“Good luck. Have fun. Be safe,” the older woman said, waving us through. The entrance to the maze was covered with a flimsy veil, and we went through it and into the maze.

It was dark.

Toby turned on his flashlight, and I did the same.

“If we get chased, duck low and turn your flashlight off,” I said. “Turn it on and off just enough for us to see the turns.”

“Those are some specific instructions,” he murmured, matching the low whispering I was doing.

“We’re going to be super sneaky, they’ll never realize we’re right under their eyes. I’m also assuming they aren’t using flashlights, so use it to blind them temporarily. We need to destroy their night vision.”

“Okay, now I feel like I’m with an assassin,” Toby said.

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go.”

We held hands as we listened to the screaming and laughter around us, along with the spooky cries of the monsters hunting us. There was one who crackled almost like a hyena, but they were further away, so not in our area. There was another making a kind of booming, whooping sound, again not near us.

“Is it me, or is it quiet on our side.”

I leaned into him. “It’s quiet on our side.”

There was a crack to our right. We both heard it, freezing in place. There was another crack, but then it stopped.

And so it began. We were being hunted.

I tightened my grip on the flashlight, noting the turn that went left. I turned off my flashlight. Toby followed. We ducked down and walked slowly, hoping to not give away our position. Screaming broke out again, someone obviously being chased, so we moved as quietly as possible at the same time.

We got to the turn and went left. I quickly used my flashlight, keeping it low to the ground. Then there was a left and a right again up ahead.

“Right,” Toby whispered.

We did as he suggested.

I thought I heard something from behind us, so I stopped. Then there were steps.

Close. So dangerously close. My skin prickled. I squeezed on Toby’s hand in warning and then moved forward carefully. We managed to find a small alcove by luck in the dark and tucked ourselves in there. I felt for the ground until I found what felt like a twig. I gave it a toss away from us. It made a soft sound further down the path, away from us.

We waited.

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