The Playing Fields First Draft

Chapter Fifteen

     At first glance, Mari seemed like an empty-headed model. Something that Claire quickly realized that the former model was much more than anyone could expect. There was a very clear bond between Rick and her, one that Claire was admittedly jealous of. However, Claire knew the signs of someone who was reaching breaking point.

     After all, Claire was there before.

     "How are you holding up?" Claire asked.

     "Fine." Mari said.

     "Are you certain?"

     "Yes, Claire. I am." Mari moved away from Claire as quickly as she could.

     She's on the verge of breaking down. Claire realized.

     It wasn't a surprise for Claire, Mari was the heart of the group and now that group was down to just two, she wasn't taking it well.

     "Mari, I think we need to talk." Claire said.

     "About what?" Mari asked, frowning instead of the constant smiling Claire had always attributed her to. "About how things are going? About how this place will ultimately kill us?!" Mari was nearly screaming at this point.

     Let it come.

     "Mari, you suffered a horrible blow." Claire said, she approached the older woman with caution. "You lost Rick, the man who picked you up from nothing, and built you up when no one else would give you the time of day."

     Mari pulled back from Claire, she glared at the younger woman. "Have you been reading my mind?" Mari demanded.

     Claire shook her head. "No. I don't need to use something that my eyes could do themselves." Claire replied.

     The former model sighed, and leaned against a wall. "You got me." Mari said. "I'm just a fracture away from shattering, and I don't know if I have the strength to continue on."

     "You're more than what Rick made you."

     Mari laughed and shook her head. "No Claire, it's more than that. I'm an empath, you know what that is, right?"

     "Yeah, I do." Empaths were fairly common psychics, along with mind-reading abilities, empaths could sense the emotions of their clients. That ability did come at a cost as the empathy would often demonstrate negative effects on the human mind. "Are you saying that your empathic abilities are still with you?"

     Mari nodded. "They were muted, I-I..." Mari took a deep breath in. "I didn't realize I still had them until Rick's death."

     Claire looked down. "I hoped that he would show up again, lead us to the Playing Fields exit..."

     Mari shook her head. "Sadly not." Mari said.

     I was hoping that he would mentor me... Claire thought, bitterly.

     "Let's get going." Mari said.

     "Don't you want to rest first?" Claire asked.

     Mari shook her head. "No." she said. "I'm fine, really." With that, Mari turned to continue onward.

                                                                                            ********

     It wasn't long until Mari and Claire reached the entry to the final field, the City.

     Claire was amazed, and horrified, by how much the City looked like Lakewood, with the exception of it looking as though a zombie apocalypse besieged the city. Although there were no zombies to be found, Claire wondered what kind of creatures were lurking in the shadows. Whether they be helpful as in the Forest, or mischievous like in the Farmhouse, there was always something about each field and their creature population.

     It felt odd that the only place that didn't have creatures populating it was the Fields. Although Claire did have the feeling that something was always watching her. Were the creatures in the Field meant to just be observers? Claire wondered. It also left other questions, if there were some kind of objective to leave each location, how were the abductees able to meet? Did they go through those objectives, or were there limitations on how many could travel together without meeting objectives?

     I'm certainly getting to the end. Claire thought. I'm asking all the questions I should have asked a long time ago,

     Then again, Will wasn't an immediate threat now, they found all three key components, and now they're looking for the escape hatch. At this point, it looked like Claire and Mari were home free.

     Over-confidence is the undoing of many horror movie victims. Claire reminded herself. Remember how many final victims were on the cusp of escape, only to fall because they let down their guard! It always bothered Claire whenever she'd watch a zombie movie, and they'd go through the motions of discovering that headshots put down the zombie, as though they didn't live in a world that would have zombie movies.

     And Claire didn't want to be known as the "almost-final girl".

     "Where do you think the hatch is?" Claire asked.

     Mari shook her head. "Other than the damn thing being in the ground, not a clue."

     Claire thought it over, this world the fae dropped them in was strange, yet it worked in rules that were fairly familiar to them. There wasn't any extreme examples of occurrences where doors could appear in ceilings, or upside down rooms. Perhaps the hatch is on a ground level. Claire thought. That should eliminate any need to explore any higher levels.

     "Good point." Claire remarked. "Let's search ground level, and below ground level areas, the rules have been fairly consistent so far." As Claire started walking away, she turned toward a grinning Mari, though a profound sadness still possessed her. "What?" Claire asked, confused.

     "Nothing, just that you remind me of Rick, that's all." Mari's grin cracked.

     "Thanks, but I'm just another college student." Claire said. "A failing one at that."

     "Sometimes we're more than we think we are." Mari replied, the two began walking. "I know that Rick changed me after I met him, he built me up to be much more than a former model."

     Claire nodded, pretending to understand what Mari was saying. "Sure." Claire said.

     "What do you think I'm saying?" Mari asked.

     Moments passed before Claire could reply, she was so used to empty conversations about the same subject that Claire had no response ready. Why does this have to be so hard? Claire wondered.

     "I actually don't know." Claire admitted.

     Mari nodded. "I was like that too."

     Surprised, Claire expected Mari to mock her about not knowing the answer. The older woman increased her pace. "Come, if we're to survive, we need to find the hatch!"

     Claire followed, and shesilently hoped that Mari would lead her to a better path in her life.