Page 19 of The Player
“I can’t wait to find out what you’ve got hidden in the middle of this maze,” I said, waiting for a response. “I mean, with you guys, it could be anything… a rose garden, a table set up for dinner, a crucifix to hang me on… who knows? But that’s what makes it so much fun, right?”
He turned to look at me and cocked his head to the side, but that’s all I got.
“You know, for a guy who can’t shut up, you’re doing a really good job of playing up to the whole silent serial killer thing,” I joked, then sighed when he ignored me and carried on walking.
Farther and farther we went, twisting and turning our way deeper into the maze. My breaths appeared in front of me as white puffy clouds in the chilly air, but I didn’t feel cold; suspense and intrigue had made the adrenaline block everything else out. All I felt was anticipation for what might happen next.
“Did you install this maze ready for Halloween?” I asked, and he nodded, but still, no words.
“Why haven’t you opened it up tonight? For the party? Isn’t it ready yet?”
He shook his head, no.
“I think it’ll be a big hit. I know the Joker’s fun house was the main attraction last year, but I think you could go one better with this. Maybe have a few live actors in here, jumping out at people. Really get people hyped up. Who knows, you could recycle your outfit. Come in here yourself and stalk a few people.” He shrugged. “Are you going to chaseme, Michael?” I asked in a husky voice. “Like in the horror movies?”
I stared at him as we walked slowly forward, and he held his hands out as if to say, ‘I don’t know, maybe.’ And as he did, I went to turn right, and in doing so, I bumped right into his chest.
We both stopped dead at the crossroads, neither one of us moving.
“You’re supposed to go right, aren’t you? Isn’t that the key to finding the middle of the maze?” I told him, remembering an old trick my mum had taught me years ago when we’d got stuck in a maze as kids. “Something about the right-hand rule,” I reiterated, but he shook his head and pointed to the left.
I wanted to argue. Tell him I was right. I wasn’t one hundred percent confident in his navigation skills, but this time I humoured him. This was his adventure, after all. He must’ve known where he was taking me. And if we got lost, I’d enjoy taking the piss out of him for the rest of the night. So it wasn’t all hopeless.
“It’s probably a dead end, but fine. Left it is then,” I muttered under my breath and proceeded to turn down the path he wanted me to take.
We walked right down to the end, and as I went to make another left-hand turn, I saw a clearing with what looked like a heap of something, clothes maybe, piled up on the floor. Will stayed in step with me as we moved cautiously closer to whatever was down there. And as I drew nearer, I realised it wasn’t something, but someone.
“Oh my God, who is that?” I glanced at Will, who’d stopped still in his tracks, and then back at the person lying lifelessly on the ground.
Dark jeans, a white T-shirt now covered in grass and mud stains, and trainers were all this guy wore as he lay curled up with his back to us.
I took two, three steps closer, and as I did, a feeling of dread and fear dropped hard into the pit of my stomach.
One more step, and then my whole world came crashing down around me.
Blaring screams of terror rattled through my body, squealing in my ears. Blood rushed to my head, making me dizzy and sick, and I dropped to my knees right there in front of him.
Soft brown hair, now caked in mud. A face I knew, now devoid of any expression or sign of life. A body slumped, waiting for me. The sickest discovery I’d ever make.
I reached out, every instinct inside me needed to help him, make sure he was okay.
My Will.
Lying there.
Dead.
I leant over his body, praying to every God there was that he wasn’t dead, that he was still here with me. My fingers traced his neck, trying to find a pulse as I begged, “Please, Will. Wake up. Wake up.” And when I found a weak pulse flickering under my fingertips, I let out a shaky, desperate breath.
Then reality hit me.
It gutted me right where I was kneeling.
I’d just walked through this maze with someone I didn’t know.
Will was lying here.
So, who the fuck was standing behind me, dressed up to look like him?
