lost in the labyrinth of my mind

Chapter 10

Max has known different types of darkness over her life.

Hiding in closets, under beds, or in little nooks with an erratic breath and a desperate attempt to control it, the straining of ears over a racing heart to guess where your hunter walked during an intense game of hide-and-seek.

That anticipating joy was replaced too easily by slithering terror as Max learned where to wait for the cooling of Billy's and Neil's ire. Dark summer nights clinging for more time with crickets chirping, creating a simple ambiance and whatnot.

The capturing darkness of winter: quiet reigning as the snow keeps: every breath, breeze, and bristling branch, like a precious treasure. The enveloping and comforting darkness of a cinema and the warmth of an arm brushing against hers. Whistling and paranoid nights, straining to hear for danger.

The terrifying darkness of oblivion. Of grasping hands and fading breaths, and pleads to be held. Of fear and wanting more time you've squandered, of choking tears and streaming tears of hot blood, of dying in someone's arms.

This was none of that.

This was dull darkness. This darkness was the equivalent of a dentist's office. It was checking above her to see the neon red bar load up to carry her and Lucas to the next level.

Lucas.

"Lucas, how are you here?"

"Max, what do you remember?"

Max tried to recall every muddled memory. She didn't know what was real or not. She knows, now, that something had been an illusion. Seeing those innocuous beige lockers flash before her eyes shifted something in her mind. As if she was seeing the world through red-tinted glasses, and now everything was a little green. Not the complete truth but more honest than the hellish colouring.

"The Arcade. You came to rescue me. But I'm not exactly helpless here," She flickered her sword to make her point.

"Max. This isn't real. It's some mindfuck. I remember things I know I have never done. It felt real, but I know it isn't. We need to get back to the real world."

"What's so great about 'the real world'? I can do things here, we can, that we never could outside. All I remember about it was pain," Her voice wobbles without her consent," and darkness and suffering." Her mind is drawn to the memory of radiating and overwhelming misery that was her legs before it all went black. How cracked and twisted they must be, "I can walk. I can run. I can ride a fucking horse! Can the outside promise me any of that?"

"But it's not real! You're being a coward. Yeah, you're hiding behind all of this. The Max I know would rather fight than let anyone lie to her."

"Maybe I don't want to fight anymore! I'm done with all of that. Life here isn't perfect either, but at least I know I can win. The monsters die for good. There's more than empty hope that the monsters won't strike again."

"Then I'll fight for you. So many people would. Like El and even Mike."

"Even Mike?" A semblance of an inside joke grows. The way Max would spark ire from Mike had been a great source of amusement for Lucas and Max.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"But we finish the game first," Max knew it was vital to finish it. After all the times she stayed through it: it was only fair to see the end of the story.

Reluctance pulses from his body, his shifting body and eyes. His hesitation is annoying, but Max hopes Lucas will agree. She doesn't know if she could do it without him. She can remember