Labyrinth of the Runaways

The rotting corpse of a sixteen-year-old girl slumped in the corner of a dark and dusty cellar, Amanda Mei whimpered and shook as she held a flashlight pointing toward the cadaver.

"H-hurry up, Jack!" She hissed, as she watched a spider crawl out of the eye and into the mouth of the brunette carcass before her.

Jack Achmetha rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Would you relax?" He grumbled as he continued to remove a vent cover off of the wall. "I just have to turn this piece and-"

Suddenly, a loud clang rang through the room as the vent cover fell to the floor.

Amanda shrieked loudly and turned to point her flashlight at the black-haired boy.

"Jack!" She screamed in a huff. "Would you please-"

"Don't take your light off that thing!" Jack shouted as he stood up, gripped Amanda's shoulders and roughly pointed the blonde and her flashlight back toward the corpse in the corner.

Amanda felt her heart sink as she saw that the corpse had moved.

It was no longer slumped against the far wall. Now it was laying on the floor, frozen in mid-crawl coming toward the two kids.

Amanda started to shake as Jack slowly let go of her.

"If you had kept your light off of that thing for any longer, we would both be goners!" He growled. "Now stay here, I'll be back."

"What?!" Amanda shrieked, looking back at the boy. "Y-you can't leave me here with that thing!"

"Relax, I'll be back." Jack sighed. "I'm just going to find the room those goons took our stuff and get my supplies. Once I've done that, I can come back and open that old rusted door."

Amanda whimpered and looked back toward the corpse. She felt fear-filled tears prick in her eyes.

"P-please don't leave me alone." She begged, screwing her eyes shut.

Jack stopped just before entering the vent. He tried to talk himself out of trying to comfort the girl.

I t's just a waste of time. He told himself. The sooner I get my supplies, the sooner I can finally get out of this hell hole!

But as he listened to the quiet sobs of the blonde girl, Jack couldn't help but be reminded that he had felt that same fear when he first arrived in the labyrinth.

It had been years since he had seen sunlight. Years since he’d run away from society only to be trapped inside this never-ending prison of hallways.

Jack didn’t know much about this place, but what he did know was that only runaways have gotten trapped here. Kids who think they would be better off on their own and leave with little more than a note left behind.

Jack was one of those kids. And if his theory was correct, so was Amanda.

Jack wasn’t exactly what one would call a “well-behaved kid.” He was always getting into trouble with authority figures like teachers and even actual cops. In all honesty, it wasn’t Jack's fault though. At age five, his father had taken him away from his mother to teach him how to be a criminal. By the age of seven, Jack could steal every little coin from someone's pocket just by bumping into them. He had gotten so good at his thieving crimes, that Jack’s father had decided that he was going to go on his first real heist at the age of thirteen. No one would have thought that they would get caught when Jack had cut the wrong wire to the security system by accident. Or rather, on purpose. Jack had never wanted to be a criminal, but following in his father’s footsteps and teachings were his only means of survival. He couldn’t find words to describe the amount of satisfaction he felt as his father was taken away in cuffs while he whimpered and acted like a victim. But if he had to find one, it felt euphoric.

However, when Jack wasn’t taken back to his mother, he felt confused.

Shouldn’t they be taking me back home? Jack had thought.

It was only years later, after finding out his mother had died just months after he had been taken by his father, that Jack had decided to run away.

He didn’t care where he ended up, dead or alive, he just wanted to be away from everyone. Jack doesn’t know how, but he eventually wound up inside this hellish prison of doors and hallways.

Now, here he was, a twenty-one-year-old in the body of a sixteen-year-old. Trapped inside a never-ending labyrinth with seemingly age defying physics.

Amanda sniffled quietly, snapping Jack back to reality.

He sighed in annoyance and stood up. Jack walked up next to the blonde and crossed his arms.

“Alright look,” he huffed. “I know you’re new here so let me tell you what’s going on.”

Amanda looked over at the boy, tears blurring her vision.

“We are trapped in a never-ending nightmare. No one knows the right way out, but there are plenty of theories. Everyone around here is going to try to kill you! If you don’t suck it up and act tough, you’re going to end up like compost-pile over there.” Jack gestured to the brunette corpse. “So, stop crying and just sit here for a few minutes while I go get us a way out of this room, okay?”

Amanda sniffled and wiped her eyes, trying to stop crying.

Jack quickly held onto the flashlight to keep it pointing at the cadaver on the ground.

“H-how do I know y-you’re actually going to come back?” Amanda whimpered, her tears shaking her voice.

Jack stopped for a moment. He rolled his eyes and looked at her.

Jack raised his right hand and looked at Amanda in her pale green eyes.

“I solemnly swear, as a thief, to come back and get you.” He spoke.

Jack let his hand fall back to his side.

“Happy?” He grumbled.

Amanda looked at him with a skeptical and sad look.

“Th-that’s not proof that you’ll come back.” She sniffled.

Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“You have my word, what more do you want?!” He yelled, glaring daggers at the girl.

Amanda flinched at his raised voice.

“I-I don’t know… s-something that you would come back for.” She stammered. “L-like an i-irreplaceable trinket? J-just something to assure m-me that you’ll actually come back.”

Jack was taken aback.

Is she being serious? He thought.

Jack growled.

“Fine, fine!” He huffed. “You want to have an irreplaceable trinket to give you reassurance that I’ll actually come back for you? Fine!”

Jack then reached into his shirt and pulled out a pair of rings on a chain necklace. One was a thin golden band, while the other was a thin silver ring with a small cluster of tiny diamonds at the top.

He took it off and placed it over the blonde’s head, leaving the rings dangling from her neck.

“There, happy?!” Jack huffed. “Now you have something irreplaceable that I’ll come back for. Now, stop crying and stay here.”

Amanda looked at the rings in confusion as Jack walked back over to the vent.

“W-what are they?” She asked, as she steadied the flashlight in her hands.

Jack stopped.

“They’re rings.” He answered plainly.

Amanda sighed at the boy’s answer.

“I know that.” She muttered. “What are they for? Whose are they? Why do you-”

“Are you going to ask me a million questions or do you actually want to get out of this room!?” Jack shouted, getting annoyed at the blonde.

Amanda flinched and looked back at him.

“I-I’m sorry.” She mumbled. “I-I just don’t understand why a thief would want some old rings. They don’t look very valuable.”

Jack sighed and turned to look at Amanda.

“They were my mother’s rings.” He muttered. “They’re the only thing I have left from her.”

Amanda stared in shock at the black-haired boy.

“J-Jack, I-” Amanda started, but Jack stopped her.

“Just stay here and don’t take your light off of that corpse.” He said, turning back to the vent and crawling inside. “If you do, it’ll kill you faster than you can scream in fear.”

Amanda gulped and quickly looked back toward the cadaver, making sure it was still in the beam of the flashlight.

Jack crawled through the vent and looked for the security room.

“C’mon, you jerks.” He muttered. “Where are my-”

Jack then heard some jabbering from a vent nearby.

He grinned and shifted toward the vent opening.

Jack peaked in through the vent slits. There he saw a room full of discarded belongings. Broken phones, ripped up backpacks, and even small toys. Anything you would think a runaway kid might take with them, it was there and there were plenty of copies.

Two creatures were seemingly having a conversation while sorting through the belongings. These creatures looked human, but something was wrong. They were zombie-like. Moving with jerky, sluggish movements as they sorted through the belongings. They were standing in front of a moving conveyor belt. Newer looking bags were being carried on the belt toward the two creatures. Each time a bag came in front of the creatures, they grabbed it and started to tear through it.

As Jack looked over the room, he felt his stomach twist.

How many kids have been trapped in this place? He thought. How many lives has this labyrinth claimed?

Jack looked back to the two creatures. Upon further observation, Jack realized that they were kids!

A small boy and girl. They couldn’t have been older than ten or eleven-years-old. They were just mumbling incoherently as they searched through the bags.

Why would kids like them be going through bags? Jack wondered. What are they looking for?

After a while, the boy slumped over onto the conveyor belt as though he were falling asleep. A few silver strings descended down from the ceiling right over the kid.

They wrapped around the kid’s wrists and yanked upward roughly, forcing him to stand back up. As if he hadn’t just face planted on a rough surface of rubber, the boy went back to searching through bags that came in front of him. The strings remaining around the boy’s wrists.

This labyrinth is controlling kids! Jack realized. Making them search tirelessly for something, but what?

He shivered in disgust as he watched the boy being forced to tear apart another bag, searching for some unknown object.

That’s just sick. Jack thought. They’re being worked to death.

Jack watched from the vent for a few moments more before he spotted his black bag.

Time to move. He thought.

Jack turned slightly to put his foot against the vent grate.

He pulled his foot back and kicked the grate with all of his might. As expected, the grate flew right off of the wall, flying across the room and landing on a pile of cracked phones.

To Jack’s surprise, neither kid reacted to the loud noise.

Jack slowly peaked out of the vent to see just how high the vent was. Luckily, the vent was just a few feet off of the ground. Low enough for him to get out safely, high enough to keep those little kids inside.

Jack nodded to himself, confirming his plan to get his bag.

He carefully lowered himself to the ground and snuck toward the conveyor belt.

The boy and girl didn’t react to him at all.

Do they even know I’m here? Jack wondered.

Jack stepped closer to the girl and waved his hand in front of her face to see if she would react. She didn’t.

Jack shrugged it off and retrieved his bag with, surprisingly, no difficulty.

But just as Jack was about to turn back to the vent to get back to Amanda, something the girl pulled out of a small bright blue duffle bag caught his eye.

It was a picture of a family. A family with a familiar looking blonde girl in the photo.

Without thinking, Jack grabbed the photo from the little girl to get a closer look at it. Just as he thought, the girl in the photo was Amanda.

That means this is Amanda's bag. He realized. If she ran away, then why would she have a photo of her family?

Before he could look back to the bag, the little girl leaped onto him with an inhuman screech.

Jack cried out in surprise and shielded his face with his arms as the little girl started to claw at him, seeming to try and get the picture back.

What is wrong with this kid?! Jack thought as he struggled to push the girl away. Why does she want this photo so bad!?

Jack gathered up as much strength as he could and pushed the little girl off of him, successfully sending her crashing into the conveyor belt.

The boy turned to Jack with a dog-like snarl.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Jack muttered as he quickly shoved the photo into his bag and slung his bag over his shoulder.

The boy tried to lunge at Jack, but luckily the silver strings kept him in place.

The little girl turned back to Jack, and he realized these kids must have been dead for a while already. After the girl crashed into the conveyor belt, her face must have been jammed into the side of it, because half of her face was now torn apart. Her eye was hanging off of her face, being held by a very thin string of muscle. Her teeth were showing clearly through the now torn muscle and skin. The sight of her was sickening.

Jack took note of the sudden smell of old rotting flesh. He knew this wasn’t there before. The age defying properties of the labyrinth must stop bodies from decomposing until they get cut open. As the smell got stronger, Jack realized that the girl must be decomposing at an accelerated rate.

The girl lunged for Jack, ready to use her dull nails to tear into him. Before she could get to him, another pair of silver threads gripped onto her wrists. The girl thrashed against the threads violently, reaching desperately toward Jack.

Jack gulped and stepped back from the girl, ready to head toward the vent. He gasped when he stepped on something that wasn’t flat ground.

Jack quickly looked down to see the bright blue duffle bag. The little girl must have thrown it away when she leaped onto Jack the first time.

He sighed and reached down to pick up the bag.

Blondie better be happy. Jack thought. I wouldn’t have grabbed this if it hadn’t landed here.

He then turned to the vent, ignoring the inhuman shrieking and snarling from both kids behind him.

Jack crawled back through the vent carrying both bags.

He soon made it back to the room he and Amanda had been trapped in.

As Jack made it to the opening of the vent, he noticed that Amanda had sunk to the floor.

Thankfully she was still pointing the flashlight toward the corpse on the ground.

Amanda was shaking, quiet hiccupping sobs could be heard coming from the girl.

Oh great. Jack thought. Now I have to deal with her tears again.

Jack stood up from the vent and dropped the bright blue duffle bag on the ground, startling Amanda.

She shrieked and instinctively pointed the flashlight back toward Jack.

He immediately knocked it out of her hand to where it was pointing toward the corpse once again.

The cadaver had moved again, this time it’s claw-like boney hand was almost touching Amanda’s leg.

Amanda immediately scooted backward from the corpse.

Jack growled angrily at her.

“What did I tell you!?” He yelled. “Don’t take your light off that thing!”

Amanda sniffled. “I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t expect f-for you to- Why would you s-startle me like th-that? I-I thought-”

Jack sighed and moved toward the rusted door.

“Just stop being so stupid.” He grumbled. “You shouldn’t let your guard down so much. It’s either a miracle or dumb luck that you’re still alive.”

Amanda whimpered as she looked back over to the corpse of the sixteen-year-old girl. She decided to tear her eyes away from the dead girl and looked toward the vent where she spotted the bright blue bag.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the bag.

“H-how did you find this?!” Amanda exclaimed as she looked toward the black-haired boy.

“Find what?” The boy hummed as he pulled out a small crowbar from the black bag he carried.

Amanda growled at his answer. She grabbed the bag and stood up, glaring at Jack.

“My bag.” She seethed. “How did you know this was my bag?”

Jack glanced back at the girl and rolled his eyes.

“Some k-.... Creatures were going through the bags.” He said. “I noticed some of the things in this one and figured it was yours.”

Amanda kept glaring at him.

“We’ve only known each other for an hour at most.” She started.

“Three actually.” Jack dead-panned as he searched around the door to find a good spot to start prying it open.

Amanda rolled her eyes.

“Whatever!” She huffed. “My point is: you haven’t known me long enough to guess my things. What could you have possibly seen in this bag to know that it was mine!?”

Jack sighed and turned back to the girl.

“Do you want to get out of here or-”

“Tell me how you know this was my bag!” Amanda shouted.

Jack sighed and reached into his bag once again, looking for the photograph he shoved in there.

“Well, I don’t know about you…” He started.

Jack found the photo and pulled it out, keeping the picture facing him. He saw that there were four people in the photo. A woman sitting in a chair, a father standing next to her and a little boy sitting on the woman’s lap. And just off to the side, seemingly rejected and excluded from the rest of the group, stood Amanda. Jack noticed that there was a small crease separating Amanda from the rest of the people in the photo. Like someone had purposely folded it to hide Amanda.

Jack knew this kind of scene. Amanda most likely got a little brother, possibly three- four years ago, and her parents fawned all over him. Completely disregarding her.

That’s why. Jack thought. That’s the reason Amanda ran away. She was jealous of her younger brother.

“But I don’t know any other blonde girls with pale green eyes that wound up here.” He said, tossing the photo to the ground where Amanda could see it.

Amanda glanced down and gasped at the sight of her family photo.

She quickly reached down and snatched up the picture.

“You went through my stuff?!” She shrieked. “And you kept my photo!?”

Jack rolled his eyes and looked back toward the rusted door.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Blondie.” He muttered. “There were a couple of kids going through bags, and I saw the photo in one of the kid’s hands. So, I guessed the bag they had was yours.”

“My name is Amanda.” She huffed.

Jack slammed the crowbar next to one of the rusted hinges on the door.

“So, you’ve said before.” He strained as he began pulling on the crowbar in order to break the hinge. “What am I supposed to do about that?”

Amanda slipped the photo into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, placing the strap across her chest.

“You could stop calling me ‘Blondie’ and use my real name.” She sighed.

Jack fell backwards as the hinge popped off of the door.

The flashlight shifted slightly as he landed, now only shining a beam on the torso of the corpse.

Amanda quickly grabbed the flashlight and pointed it at the corpse’s head.

It’s arms had moved as though it were trying to crawl out of the light.

“Smart move, Blondie.” Jack hummed as he stood up. “Now keep that light on her while I get us out of here.”

Amanda huffed and sat down on the floor, keeping the flashlight pointed at the brunette corpse.

She found her fingers fiddling with the rings on the chain Jack had handed her.

Amanda then felt some sort of scratch marks along the inside of the golden band.

She quickly glanced down at the rings. Amanda looked toward Jack, ready to ask him why there were scratch marks on the ring, but decided against it.

He’ll just yell at me for asking him questions. She thought.

Amanda glanced toward the cadaver and then quickly down at the rings.

She thought for a moment before taking the chain off and bringing it into the light so she could look at the markings.

Inside the golden band were words scratched into the metal.

Amanda squinted her eyes in order to read them.

“Follow broken locks.” It read.

Amanda blinked in confusion.

What is that supposed to mean? She wondered.

Amanda glanced back at Jack to see that he was fiddling with the broken hinge of the door.

“H-hey Jack?” She gulped.

Jack sighed as he yanked the rusted hinge off of the door so he could move to the second hinge.

“What is it, Blondie?” He hummed.

Amanda ignored his nickname for her and went on with her question.

“What do you find when you follow broken locks?” She asked, deciding to try and trick Jack.

“You find you're way to a thief’s heart.” Jack answered absentmindedly.

Amanda blinked in surprise, not expecting Jack to respond with that.

It took Jack a moment before he realized what he had answered and how Amanda knew that question.

He turned and stomped toward the girl with angry daggers in his eyes.

Amanda gasped in fright as the boy approached her.

Jack reached down and snatched the chain carrying the rings and huffily placed it around his own neck.

“You should stay silent for a while.” He growled, turning back to the door.

Amanda gulped.

“W-what does that mean?” She asked.

Jack turned back to her and screamed.

“It means, BE QUIET!” He yelled.

Amanda shrank back and whimpered at his raised voice.

“I-I meant-” She tried to explain, but was only met with more of Jack’s yelling.

“I don’t care what you meant!” He shouted. “Don’t you ever say those words again, understand?! Nod your head if you understand!”

“I-I-” Amanda tried to answer but Jack shouted again.

“I said NOD YOUR HEAD if you understand me!” He growled.

Amanda whimpered and shrank back.

She felt tears prick in her eyes as she slowly nodded her head.

“Good.” Jack huffed. “Now stay quiet and just watch the corpse.”

Jack headed back toward the door, tucking the rings back into his shirt.

Amanda shook as she fought to keep from whimpering aloud or sobbing.

Why is he so mean to me? She wondered. All I did was ask what that saying meant. Was that so wrong?

Amanda thought back to the picture Jack had tossed back to her. She reached into her bag and retrieved the photo to look at it.

It was a picture of her own family, it had been taken just a month ago when they had gone to her brother's birthday ball. Or rather, her adopted brother’s birthday ball.

Amanda was born into a rich family. Her father was a wealthy businessman while her mother was a famous actress. Her life was perfect. Well, she always thought it was. Now, Amanda realized that her parents never spent any time with her. She realized just how little they cared about her, when they brought home that little boy, Articus. Both of them were smiling ear to ear as the boy happily jumped around without a care.

When Amanda had asked why they brought him home, it became clear that both of her parents hated her.

Her mother huffed, losing her smile rather quickly.

“Well, we can’t very well let your father’s business be run by some girl, now can we?” She sneered.

Amanda’s father stepped over to her and rather roughly shoved her in the direction of her room.

“Enough fussing now.” He said. “Go make yourself useful and take Arty to his room.”

Amanda spun around to look at her parents with wide eyes.

“Arty?” She questioned.

Her parents ignored her and looked over to the little cherry headed boy.

“Articus~” Her mother cooed. “Ready to go see your room?”

The boy cheered happily and leaped off the couch.

Amanda stood staring in shock as her parents walked back and grabbed the boy’s luggage before stopping back in front of her.

Her mother rolled her eyes.

“Are you deaf now, Amanda?” She asked, venom in her voice at the girl’s name.

Amanda snapped out of her stupor before looking at her parents with a questioning look.

“B-but… I don’t know where his room is.” She protested.

Her father sighed.

“Don’t you know anything?” He asked, annoyed. “We’re putting him in your room.”

“What?!” Amanda shrieked. “B-but where am I supposed to sleep?”

“Just take us up to the room and we’ll figure something out.” Her mother said, annoyed.

Amanda went to argue but the angry look in her parent’s eyes forced her into silence.

Without another word, she turned to the stairs and led them up to her room.

She watched as Articus was allowed to jump around and tear through her belongings, taking anything he found interesting or wanted to have.

Soon enough, he had a large pile of trinkets and treasures Amanda held dear, claiming them all for his own.

She tried to argue.

“Oh, hush, you have millions of them.” Her mother sighed, waving her off as she watched Articus jump up and down on Amanda’s bed.

“N-no I don’t!” Amanda whimpered. “Th-those are important to me!”

Amanda’s father guided her roughly out of the room.

“You’ll be able to move your things to your new room after the ball.” He said.

“B-ball?” Amanda wondered. “Wh-what ball?”

Her mother sighed.

“The ball to celebrate your new brother of course.” She said as though it were obvious.

She walked past Amanda, carrying Articus, and looked back at the girl.

“Now get ready, we’re going to take a family photo to show everyone at the ball.” Her mother said with a smile.

Amanda stared shocked as her mother and father continued to fawn over the little red-headed boy in her mother’s arms.

She felt her eyes water as she slowly entered her room. She looked around her now destroyed room.

Amanda sniffled as she trudged over to her closet.

She opened it to look for something to wear to the ball. Amanda glanced down at the floor of her closet and caught sight of her bright blue duffle bag.

She knelt down to look inside it. It still had everything she had packed inside of it. A jacket, a flashlight, a spare change of clothes, a guide to surviving on one’s own, and multiple other supplies that she thought she would need to have if she ever decided to run away.

Amanda had thought about it before when she started to notice how her parents would get mad at her for no reason, but she always talked herself out of it.

They love me. She reasoned with herself. They just have a unique way of showing it.

Amanda zipped the duffle bag back up and looked around her closet once more, deciding on a light green dress.

She put it on and headed down stairs to see that her family was already in position to take the photo.

Luckily for her, the cameraman noticed her coming down the stairs.

“Oh, looks like we were missing the beautiful princess of the family!” He exclaimed with a smile gesturing toward Amanda. “Fashionably late, like every princess is known to be. Why don’t you come join your family, Sweetheart.”

Amanda felt herself blush and smiled at the cameraman’s words.

She walked the rest of the way down the stairs and walked up next to her family.

Amanda took note of her mother’s slightly angry glint in her eyes as she looked at her.

Amanda hung her head a bit and just turned toward the cameraman.

He walked behind the camera and got ready to take the photo.

The cameraman looked over at Amanda.

“Scoot in just a bit for me, Princess.” He instructed.

Amanda took one step closer to her family. Just enough to be close enough to reach out and touch her father’s arm.

The cameraman smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, my dear.” He said.

The man then ducked back behind the camera.

“Alright, ready?” He asked.

They all nodded and smiled.

Though, Amanda remembered the angry glint in her mother’s eyes and felt her smile falter.

“Smile for me, Gorgeous.” The cameraman called gently.

Hearing the compliment, Amanda couldn’t help but smile widely as a small blush crossed her cheeks.

“There we go.” The cameraman hummed as he took the photo.

After the photo was printed, the man handed it to Amanda’s mother.

“There you are, ma’am.” He said. “I’ll let you take this one for now. I will have the others ready for you within the next few days.”

Amanda’s mother smiled at him.

“Thank you.” She said.

She then turned to everyone else.

“Alright, let’s get going.” She said.

Amanda’s father guided Articus gently outside as her mother followed just behind them.

Amanda trailed behind them as they walked to the front of their house.

As she passed the cameraman, he stopped her for a second.

Amanda hummed and looked at him curiously.

“You should smile more, Your Majesty.” He said.

Amanda once again felt herself blush.

“W-why?” She asked.

The cameraman smiled.

“Every prince in the room will fall at your feet if you did.” He grinned. “You are too beautiful to look sad.”

Amanda smiled as she felt her cheeks warm even more.

“Th-thank you, sir.” She muttered timidly.

The cameraman smiled gently at her.

“I should be thanking you for allowing me to have such a beautiful princess in my portfolio.” He said.

He then lifted her chin and patted her head gently.

“Now run along.” The cameraman said. “Your prince is probably waiting in the dark for that bright smile of yours.”

Amanda smiled and trotted out of the house.

She glanced around for where her family had gone, when she noticed a lit-up house just at the end of her street.

Amanda quickly walked to the house and went inside. She was greeted by many of the people she had seen with her parents.

She looked around the party but couldn’t find her parents or Articus.

Oh, I’ll just find them later. She told herself.

She then went on to enjoy the party. Amanda laughed and danced with many kids her age.

After a few hours, Amanda spotted her parents.

She excused herself from the dance she had just been a part of and went toward her family.

“Mom, Dad-” She called but found that her mother was carrying Articus, showing him off to everyone.

Everyone was fawning over the boy, just like her parents had.

Amanda continued on her way to her family when she saw her mother hold up the photo to show a woman.

Amanda smiled as she thought about the cameraman’s compliments.

She went over to them, catching a question the woman asked. It made her stop in her tracks.

“Where’s Amanda?” The woman asked. “Wasn’t she there for the photo?”

Amanda was confused.

But… I am in the photo. She thought.

“Oh, she was too busy getting dressed.” Her mother replied as though she weren’t lying. “You know how she is, always fussing over her looks.”

Amanda felt heartbroken. Without realizing, she stormed up to her mother and ripped the photo out of her mother’s hand to look at it.

“Amanda!” Her mother scolded.

Amanda ignored her as she looked at the photo.

It was just her mother, her father, and Articus. But Amanda noticed something that made tears leap into her eyes. The photo was folded over.

Amanda gently unfolded the photo and nearly burst into tears as she realized what her mother had done.

She was just far enough away from her father that the photo could be folded to take her completely out while still making it look natural with how her father was standing.

The woman that had been shown the photo, covered her mouth in horrifying realization. Everyone was now staring at the family.

When Amanda’s mother noticed this, she tried to get the photo back from her daughter.

“Amanda… Sweetie, give me back the photo.” She said, forcing a gentle tone.

Amanda sniffled.

“You purposely tried to keep me out of the photo.” She muttered as her hands began to shake while gripping the photo.

“Amanda!” Her father warned. “Give your mother back the photo.”

Amanda hiccupped and glared at her parents, feeling anger rising in her lungs.

“NO!” She screamed, tears racing down her cheeks. “I hate you! I hate you all!”

Amanda then raced out of the party, taking the photo with her.

“AMANDA!” Her parents yelled after her.

She didn’t stop. She ran straight to her house and rushed into her room.

Amanda ripped off the dress she wore, not bothering to clean up the ripped-up cloth as she threw on the first clothes she could grab that she had bought herself. A pair of jeans and a random shirt. She threw on her tennis shoes, and a jacket.

Amanda quickly grabbed her bright blue duffle bag. After she had collected everything, Amanda stopped to catch her breath and sob a bit as she realized what just happened.

She sobbed and looked down at the photo. Amanda felt anger rise in her chest again as she opened her bag and shoved the photo inside roughly.

Amanda sniffled and wiped her eyes. Deciding to finally go through with her plan to run away, Amanda quickly raced out of the house, running as far as she could.

She didn’t know how, but after a while she found herself in this labyrinth.

Suddenly, a loud clang snapped Amanda out of her thoughts. She glanced back toward Jack to see the rusty door now on the ground.

“Finally.” Jack sighed as he stepped back from it. “I thought I’d never get that last hinge off.”

Amanda, felt a drop of water hit her hand. She looked down to see the photo was clenched in her fist.

She tsked and shoved it back into her bag.

Amanda wiped her eyes, realizing what hit her hand must have been her own tear.

She looked back over at the corpse. Amanda was shocked to see that it was now looking at her.

B-but… i-it was in the light the entire time! She thought. How is it looking at me?!

Amanda continued to look at the corpse.

Suddenly, streams of blood ran down it’s cheeks as though they were tears.

Amanda gasped and scooted back from the corpse, making sure to keep the flashlight on it.

Jack walked over to her.

He shook his head as he looked at the cadaver.

“I told you to keep that thing in the light.” He sighed.

Amanda looked up at him.

“B-but I did!” She protested.

Jack rolled his eyes and walked back toward the door.

“Whatever, Blondie.” He muttered. “C’mon, it won’t follow us outside of the room. We just have to step out into the hall. Then you can take the flashlight off of it.”

Amanda started to protest but a low sad groan sounded from right in front of her.

Amanda and Jack immediately looked toward the corpse. It was now bleeding heavily from the eyes.

Jack grabbed Amanda and pulled her to her feet.

“Let’s go!” He shouted.

Jack then immediately ran out the door.

“Keep your light on it until you’re out of the room!” He called back.

Amanda looked at the corpse, making sure it stayed in the light as she slowly walked backward toward the door.

She watched in horror as the corpse’s face followed her to the door.

Amanda was about to yell at Jack that it was moving when she saw something she couldn’t believe.

The corpse looked sad. Not just because it had blood running from it’s eyes like tears, but because it actually looked like it pitied Amanda.

Like it knew what Amanda had been remembering and it felt sorry for her.

“BLONDIE!” Jack yelled, snapping Amanda out of her trance. “LET’S GO!”

Amanda glanced back at him and then to the corpse and continued to step out of the room.

Once she had stepped completely out of the room, Amanda slowly lowered her light away from the corpse.

She half expected to be killed by the creature as she turned toward where Jack had run off to.

But, just as Amanda was about to run off after Jack, she heard something. Something that made her heart skip a beat and her skin crawl.

The faint voice of a girl. So clear you would believe that she was still alive.

The voice sent shivers through Amanda’s spine as it whispered one sentence.

“I’m sorry.”

Amanda stood there frozen in place and shivering out of fear.

Jack snapped her out of it by grabbing her wrist roughly.

“Are you stupid!? Don’t just stand there!” He screamed. “Let’s go!”

Jack then gripped onto Amanda’s wrist and pulled her down the hallway.

Amanda couldn’t get the voice out of her head.

As she processed what the corpse had whispered, one question popped into her head. A question Amanda was afraid to get an answer to.

Why?