Note:

This chapter contains vulgar language and slight gore. Be prepared!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You immediately shot up from the bed, casting aside the dizzy feeling as you watched the door in pure agony. You had figured it out again. You hadn't just taken a step forward, you wholeheartedly jumped right out of the monster's beak.

You had snatched the flame out of the greedy hands of these demons, reawakening the fire inside as Sandy's voice echoed loudly in your head. All while this riddle began unfolding in your mind, opening yet another way of survival.

You know where the key to the arsenal is.

~~

Your eyes searched around the room like a wild animal caught in a cage, wanting to know if there was an immediate danger present. You sniffed loudly, heart pumping at full speed. You know where the key to the arsenal is.

Right at that moment, when realizing that you had once again figured it out... Once again prolonged your execution... Something inside of you sprung. All the thoughts, the thinking... Everything you had planned before leaked out of your system. Your breathing became heavy as your sight was blurred by a familiar picture.

The key.

The key.

A loop of memories and experiences surrounding the small object played through your head and it was the only thing you could think of right now. The only thing that could help you out of here. The only thing that could take back your grip on your own life.

The key

You know how to stretch your existence on this earth a little longer, and if not, you know how to cockblock these monsters.

Oh god, that felt like raw ecstasy.

This feeling was intense, this feeling was pure bliss. It was something you couldn't describe, something you had never ever felt before. But god did it feel like a drug, did it feel so amazing.

You felt the heat of the adrenaline crawling through your veins, causing goosebumps to raise on your skin. You had thought of every possible scenario, but you had never thought that you would find out something like this that easily.

When Sandy had been dying she wasn't telling you that she couldn't speak because of the blood. She wasn't telling you that she had been filled with blood and that her end was near... She was telling you exactly what you needed to know.

She was telling you what the key was and where it resided.

Lola's necklace.

Sandy had once again pushed you into the right direction, just as she did with the code of the blueprint. Which made you seriously doubt her involvement in this all. But that wasn't of importance right now.

There was a lot which could give you doubt, a lot to think about.

You could doubt yourself. You could doubt Sandy and your memories. You could doubt that Lola's father would be so stupid to use his decoy to its full extent, yet forget about the key and completely trap himself... But there was no time and above all no room in your mind for doubt.

You had been thinking every decision over and over again, thinking of every possible scenario which only got you more confused. Normally you would think this through again... Weigh out all the options against each other and somehow form a conclusion... It is what kept you alive, what made duck before death's scythe could reach you.

But something prevented you from seeing anything else than the key, from thinking anything else than the key.

It was now time to act, now time to give your impulses the right to take over. Each plan you had made was always rearranged at the last second, since this house and its inhabitants were unpredictable.

It was now time to retrieve the key and stay alive long enough to get back here.

You'll see what happens after that.

You ran your hand through your locks, wondering if you would remember the way to Lola's body. You knew that it was in the basement and not in the maze itself. It was one of the first times you actually went there, and you were pretty sure it wasn't that far in.

Clenching your fist while you rubbed your broken hand against it you turned your attention to the door. Jeff was gone, and you had no idea where he went. He could come back any minute now, but he also could stay gone for another few hours.

It didn't matter, you weren't going to wait for him anyway.

You quickly hurried over to the door, completely focused on retrieving that key at any cost. Your good hand reached for the handle, as all the thoughts from before had ebbed away. Only one goal remained, only one thing had to be done.

Turning the handle down you opened the wooden portal, quickly peeking outside to see if it was safe. You had been way less cautious than other times, but you were now aware that every second counts. You couldn't afford to take any more time.

There was no one in the corridor, so you shot outside, running over to the small, old door at the end of the hallway. You didn't want to risk the chance that someone was near the other staircase and this one always seemed like it wasn't used that much.

The other door creaked loudly, but you barely had time to register it. The familiar groan of the old steps filled your ears as you descended down the stairs with top speed. Once you were down you stopped for a mere second, listening whether you heard something on the other side.

Silence.

You reached for the knob, feeling the cold metal in your hand made you shiver a little. Turning it quickly you glanced around the corner.

Nothing.

You speeded out of the room, not even bothering to close the door behind you.

If they wanted to find you, they would find you anyway.

Flashbacks of every time you had walked or run through this hallway filled your mind and you had to physically shake your head to get them out. No time to get distracted by your own nightmares.

You almost flung at the familiar door to the basement, being filled with adrenaline and determination you swung it open. Only darkness greeted you and you now knew that your sight would be momentarily useless.

Not that it mattered much.

You flew down the stairs, your already cold feet colliding with the concrete floor, sending jolts through your whole body. Your mind didn't register it as cold or unpleasant. It was focused on only one thing, it craved only one thing... That damned key.

You ran past a few doors, hoping that you were sane enough to recall what the door had looked like... But they all seemed to look the same. Being in this complete frenzied state caused you to get angry. You needed to remember, you needed to calm the fuck down!

Stopping right in your tracks you felt your muscles screaming at you to continue. The beast in your mind was scratching at your skull, pushing you to continue on. Gritting your teeth in order to detain the monster, you took a few steps back, staring at the first door you had encountered down here.

Ignoring the urge to hurry and smash every door open, you managed to think hard enough for you to know that this couldn't be the door Lola was in. It was too close to the staircase, there was too much light.

Giving in to your demon you sprinted to the next door, having enough energy to stop yourself once again as your hand had clenched itself around the handle. Was this the one? Should you just look? No! It was far too dangerous to just go around and slam every door open.

You had no idea what could be inside, no idea what things you would see. Think (Y/N), goddamnit, think! Why isn't this the door? A small glistening caused by the little light of the bulb above you made you realize... This wasn't the one. It was stained by blood a little too much.

As soon as you had given the reason why this couldn't be the door your body ran again on its own accord. Tired of the constant thinking and reasoning it charged at the next portal. Slamming roughly into it as the old wood gave in from the impact.

There was no room left for rationalizing, you needed to know.

A loud 'thud' was heard as the rotten door fell to the ground, leaving you staring into an empty, almost clean looking room. This wasn't it either.

You turned around, almost tripping over your own feet as you flew out of the room. It must be the next one, it needs to be the next one. Your mouth was filled with mucus and breathing became harder and harder with each step you took.

Your eyes were wild like you had been taking a shitload of heroine and you licked your lips at the thought of finally getting your hands on that small object.

You nearly ran through the next door, but before you had the chance to open it, your body suddenly stopped. A flashback entered your mind and you saw yourself standing there.

Standing in front of this exact same door. You looked healthier than you do now, cleaner... Even more naïve. Your wide eyes stared at Jeff, who was looking at you with a sadistic glimmer. You saw your shaking hand reaching for the handle as you pushed the door open.

You saw how your nose crinkled up in disgust, smelling the foul scent of a rotten body. You heard yourself calling for your friends in the dark, the sheer sound of hope ripping through your ears like a knife.

Your past self would know the truth soon enough.

You saw how Jeff had turned on the light and how your face turned from hopeful to pure horror.

Slamming your head against the door, you tried to get yourself out of that memory. Saliva was dripping from your open mouth as you gasped for air. Your forehead was pressed against the cold wood and you had trouble getting your sight back to the right time sequence.

Past and present were overlapping, and you had no idea if what you saw now was correct, was real. But you didn't need to know that. Without waiting for your mind to have calmed, your hand slid down, to the handle of the door.

This was the right one, you knew it.

Your sight still was partially blurred, but you relied on your other senses to guide you inside. You opened the door and your nose got greeted by the familiar, if not worsened, foul smell of a rotting corpse.

You didn't need the light, you didn't need to see to know exactly where Lola was lying. Your feet tapped on the cold floor and you ignored the squishy feeling of insects and other foul things underneath your feet.

A bone was felt against your big toe and you immediately dropped to your hands and knees. Your hand met other bones and insects, while your knees were scraping against the concrete. Following the carcass of your dead friend you trailed your hand up her body.

You didn't care in what you were poking, you didn't care what beasts would be crawling onto you. The only thing that mattered was the key as your hand continued to search for her head. Your finger got caught into a wet, slimy hole and by feeling more you recognized it as an eyehole.

Your hand slid down until you came to what you thought was her neck. Using your broken hand to search as well, you began to get impatient. Her neck was slimy and still covered in several insects. There was no skin left, only mere bones.

Your nails scratched against the bone to feel whether something metal would be caught in them. When nothing was found once again the frenzy took over. You began to search more erratically, ignoring the groans your broken hand bones gave you.

If the key wasn't here, you wouldn't know what you would do.

You wouldn't know what would happen to you.

A feeling of stress overwhelmed you and cold chills were spreading through your body. They can't do this to you. They can't be lying! You need this key, you crave this key.

Your breath got stuck in your throat as you suddenly felt something caught underneath your finger. You quickly tried to grab it, not wanting to lose the feeling. Examining it more with your fingertips you began to realize it was a small chain.

A chain small enough to be a necklace.

You followed the chain, tugging at it and maneuvering your hands underneath the dead body. It was then you felt the familiar shape of the object, the shape you so desperately wanted to have in your hands.

It was the key.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another cliffhanger because logic.

No idea when I'll update though. I'll have to wait till I'm free again to start writing it.

Hope you enjoyed.

Have a terrific day, darlings.