Vivid Imaginations [A Collection of Short Stories]

Maze of Terror

<Contest Entry for SandyGraves "Psychological Torture" Contest>

Shadow's POV

I hiss as I am strapped to a smooth surface, almost like a table, but is tilted.

I am in a room. A dark room, to be precise. It's like a dungeon, but it seems like it's used for torturing people.

She binds my wrists to a part of the table, and pins my tail and neck as well. I don't get it. Why are they doing this?

They've gotten Kat and the turtles too. I realize, and struggle against the bindings.

"It'sss too late," Karai hisses, holding her snake arms out towards me.

"Snap out of it!" I yell, "They're mind controlling you!"

But of course, my plea didn't work. In fact from what I've learned over the past few years, pleading never works. Strapping some sort of headgear to my head, she leaves the prison cell-like room.

Suddenly, an alarm goes off, like someone had set it off. But I know who set it off. No one did. The turtles and Kat were in their own individual cells, and Karai had just pressed the button on her controller.

A shock jolts me from my "calmer" behavior, making me shriek, and I start panicking. The room darkens around me, and I black out almost immediately.

******

Opening my eyes, I find myself in a maze. But that's impossible! I think. I was just in that dungeon room a few minutes ago!

I hear a chuckle echoing throughout the whole area. I look around, trying to find the source of Karai's voice.

"Oh, Shadow, you are so naive," she sneers, cackling again. Sighing, she continues. "You have to find a way out of the maze. Every time you fail to defeat an obstacle, you will be zapped by electricity. Oh, don't worry, it won't kill you. It'll only weaken you. But, if you get shocked quickly enough, you may die. Have fun!"

I look around myself, studying the concrete walls of the maze, deciding which route to take first. Vines and other greenery crawl up the walls. Fog covers the whole maze, making it even more creepier.

I slowly enter the path to my right. Slithering through the corridors, I try to make out any figures in the distance. This section seems to be more misty than the other section, but I spot something abnormal about the fog. It's tinted pink.

I know exactly what, or who that is. Voices start whispering and screaming at me, throwing words at me. It's Lyz.

"She's evil!"

"Why do you even care about her?"

"She never cared for you!"

"She's a traitor!"

"A liar!"

"A coward!"

"She's always hated you! Kat never loved you!"

I cup my hands over my ears, trying to block out the voices in my mind. But I can't. The voices ring out loud and clear. I feel a tingling feeling running down my back. I let out a yell of agony as I get shocked, running through the fog with my eyes closed and my hands over my ears.

I keep running, and screech to a halt when I see what's in front of me.

It's a cave. There was no other place to go, no other path to take, so I cautiously slither in. Everything is dark, and I have to squint to make out a figure sitting on a rock.