Chapter Three
Elena
The rain had finally stopped, but the world outside still looked soaked, glossy, and silver under the bruised sky.
I could still hear water dripping off the gutters, a slow, rhythmic sound that filled the silence of the house.
The house that was way too big for one person to be in, and too quiet for a heartbeat that wouldn’t slow down.
I’d showered, unpacked, thrown on the only thing that made me feel like myself; a thin, white nightgown with twin slits that reached my thighs.
It clung to my skin in the humidity, translucent in places, but I didn’t care.
I wasn’t expecting anyone; no one ever came here without an invitation.
The peanut butter jar sat beside me on the couch, as I slowly dragged a finger through it and licked it clean while the TV flickered in the dark.
Some Christmas movie played on the screen.
People laughed, kissed under mistletoe, and were full of warmth and cheer that felt like a lie.
Christmas movies always brought me comfort, and strangely, it didn’t feel weird watching it here; it felt good… very good.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the lights dimmed for a second before steadying again.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and listened to the rain pick up again, making the house creak the way all houses do when they’ve been empty too long.
Decembers here were always wet. It was either wet with snow or the never ending rain, but being alone here just made it creepy.
Just as I settled back into a better position and scooped the next finger full of peanut butter, I heard a soft, distant sound at the door. I froze.
I must be hearing things, right? As if on cue, to answer my question, it happened again. This time it was more gentle, almost polite even. Like the way a little girl would knock on an old lady’s door to sell cookies.
Was it Max? He had his key, so he wouldn’t be knocking, and even if he was, that was definitely not how he’d do it.
I finally got up after the third knock, moving toward the door, barefoot with the hem of my dress dragging lazily over the polished floor. The air near the door felt colder, sharper even, and when I peered through the glass, nothing but fog was rolling across the porch.
“Is someone there?” I asked, trying my best to sound stern. I wouldn’t want them thinking I was some timid person. But no reply came, and as I was about to turn and head back to the couch, something moved, like a small, quick shadow.
I opened the door, only to be met by a black cat that sat there with its fur slicked with rain, and its yellow eyes fixed on me. I’m certain it was the same one I’d seen earlier by the maze.
It meowed, the sound coming out in a low, almost broken noise.
“Hey, you again,” I whispered, crouching down to its level. “You’ll freeze out here.”
But as I reached out, it darted back, paws splashing through puddles as it took off.
“Wait…” I called, trying to have the poor thing come back, but it ran straight toward the hedge wall and into the maze beside the house.
“Fuck,” I cursed, looking up at the sky.
The storm was coming again, I could feel it.
The strong wind was already beginning to scatter the dead leaves, and the ever comforting smell of wet earth only grew stronger.
Then lightning flashed, lighting the maze’s entrance for a split second, almost like an invitation.
“Fine! Guess I’ll be rescuing a cat today,” I muttered as I started my walk toward the maze.
It was slick with rain, making the earth soft beneath my bare feet.
It made me think of all the times I would run in here just to be chased by Max.
Oh, how silly I was then. The cat was nowhere to be seen as I stepped into the maze, the place was just shadows, and the soft drizzle of rain was turning heavier by the minute.
“Here, kitty,” I called out, my voice small in the open air. “You’re gonna get yourself lost…”
The hedges swayed as though they welcomed me home. I took another turn, certain this one led toward the fountain in the center, but instead, the path narrowed, slowly becoming suffocatingly tight, before splitting into two. I frowned, that wasn’t right.
I knew this maze, I mean, I grew up tracing its routes like the veins on my palm. I knew where the dead ends were, where the exit met the garden fence. But now, something was wrong, because nothing matched. The turns were wrong, the hedges were in different positions…something was very wrong.
I walked faster, brushing rain out of my eyes. “Okay…this is not funny,” I muttered to no one. “Left, then right, then right and two more lefts, then…”
A dead end. What?
I turned back the way I came, but the path behind me was different too, narrower, darker than it had just been. As I stood looking around, making sure I remembered this place correctly, the hedges leaned closer, slick with water, and closing in.
My chest tightened. “Hello?” I called out in a shaky voice. “Is anyone there?”
The wind answered first, howling through the maze, then thunder rolled over the estate.
Rain began to pour in sheets, drenching my nightgown until it clung to every inch of skin.
Everything about this made me feel uneasy, startled, and slightly afraid.
I was done searching for the cat; I had to find my way out of here first, so I began walking.
I finally found the small patch of pavement Max and I had built for when we got lost.
“Perfect!” I grinned. I could find my way out now. “Two rights…” I turned. “Then a left…” Did that. So far so good. “And three rights, then a…” Oh God.
No, no, no, no, no…this wasn’t right. This should’ve been it! This was the way out, so why was it blocked?
As panic kicked in, the thunder began to get worse, frightening me completely, and without thinking twice, I began to run. I had to find a way out, I had to get back home.
My feet slipped in the mud as I searched, my hair plastered to my face, yet every corner looked the same; green walls, glistening, and fucking endless. Oh God!
“Help!” I screamed. “Somebody, please!” My voice broke in defeat. No one would hear me; there wasn’t another house for miles.
Then something brushed my leg, and I gasped as I looked down. It was just a root, I thought, it had to be. It was really windy, so yes, it was only a root. The ground was uneven and tangled, but I kept going, faster now, until I felt another tug, this time sharper, pulling at the slit of my gown.
“Fuck,” I whispered, yanking it free. “This fucking rain!” Why did I like the rain again?
After freeing myself, another tug pulled at my dress before I could take the next step.
This time it was harder, almost like something…
or someone was pulling me. My breath hitched, and I spun around, but nothing was there.
Just the rain hammering the leaves, the air trembling with thunder, and my heart thundering in my chest. I needed to take a breath, take a minute to calm my nerves, then move with a clear head.
It was just me here. I had checked everywhere before settling in; there was nothing to be afraid of.
Then…then something smacked me…on my ass. A quick, sharp slap that made me flinch and stumble forward.
“What the…” another smack, this time harder, louder, the clap sound was undeniable even in the rain, and I did the one thing my body let me do, I screamed.
Terror tore through me, raw and animal, and without a second to waste, I ran, this time with no direction, no thought of where I was going, just away.
My throat burned from shouting, tears mixing with the rain.
I could feel it behind me, whatever it was.
I could feel the way the air shifted with every step I took, I could feel cold fingers brushing my skin, but never quite touching.
I didn’t dare look back, I couldn’t, so I ran and ran and ran.
My lungs burned, begging me to stop, and my legs ached, but still I ran.
Every turn looked the same, a series of endless hedges, and shimmering green walls that swallowed me whole.
My nightgown clung to my skin, becoming heavier and colder, dragging itself against the mud.
I finally slowed down only when my body couldn’t take it anymore.
My chest heaved, and air rasped through my teeth, like my nose wasn’t doing a good enough job anymore.
Maybe it was all in my head, I told myself. Maybe I was seeing things, feeling things. Maybe it was the meds they gave me last week?
I turned, slowly and carefully, squinting through the rain to prove to myself that it was all in my head.
As I thought, I was met with nothing but mist and darkness.
My heart started to settle…until I felt it.
Hands, cold and heavy pressed against my shoulders, I screamed and twisted away, falling hard into the mud.
The shock of it knocked the breath clean out of me.
I scrambled back, my palms slipping, my eyes wide as I stared at the space where the touch had come from.
The rain softened, almost expectant, and then, I saw footprints.
Bare feet, one after another, forming in the earth and walking… straight toward me.
“Oh God…” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, no, no…”
I crawled backward some more, the mud streaking my arms. The footprints stopped just a few feet away, and I felt the air shift again, almost like the maze itself was breathing.
I stayed silent, watching the ground where the footprints had stopped, but nothing, no movements, just the dirt and water staring back at me.
I held my breath, too afraid that if I breathed, it would come for me, so I stayed calm, too calm.
When I couldn’t hold my breath anymore, I was forced to let it go.
Within a second, the footprints moved, running toward me.
“No!” I screamed as I tried to get up, but I wasn’t fast enough.
Something tugged at my gown, and the sudden pull made me gasp.
It grabbed at the fabric, tearing it with one forceful tug, and in seconds, I was naked, bare, and utterly exposed.
My body welcomed the biting cold air, and in that moment, I didn’t know what scared me the most; the fact I was in this maze with something I couldn’t see, or the fact the air touching my nipples made them hard…
and not in the way I could blame just the cold air for.
The fear was so intense it almost felt like a sting under my skin, turning off my thoughts and reason.
My vision blurred, and my hands shook as I tried to crawl away, but the ground beneath me moved.
Black, wet roots slid from under the soil, wrapping around my ankle.
I kicked and pulled, but they held fast, tightening themselves like cuffs.
“Let me go!” I screamed, clawing at the dirt. My voice cracked, and all I could hear was the rain and the slow, deliberate crunch of those invisible footsteps drawing nearer.
Rain pounded on my back, as the wind roared in my ears.
And behind me…I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it, standing just behind me; a presence close enough to steal the warmth from my skin.
Close enough that when I breathed, I swore I could taste it in the air.
A pressure in the air, thick and suffocating, pressing down until I could barely breathe.
The scent of earth and rot filled my nose, and my mind screamed for me to run, to fight, but my body wouldn’t obey.
My mind yelled at me to fight harder, push harder, improvise, do something, but my body…
fuck, my body was feeling something else, doing something else…
something I couldn’t understand, something depraved and shamelessly sinful.
Then, a close whisper came, sounding too close, too near, too haunting and…fuck me! Hot? “Stay.”
Then, something inside me snapped, and I screamed until my throat was raw, until the sound tore through the rain and vanished into the night. The thing was this…I stayed. I screamed my lungs out, but I didn’t fight. I wanted to move, to fight; instead, I stayed and trembled.
It was madness, pure, cold madness, to feel that rush in my veins, that shiver that wasn’t just fear.
It made no sense; it wasn’t right. But neither was this place, and neither was I.
The storm swallowed me whole, and somewhere between terror and surrender, I stopped knowing which one I wanted more.