The Color of Knowledge

Chapter Four (pt. 3)

The gymnastic-type room had changed, and now had ten-foot high white metallic walls. Ivy looked up to the right to see another glass mirror on another level. She figured Nadia and Enzo were there, watching her.

"You have twenty minutes to complete the maze. The clock will start when you do," Enzo's voice said.

Ivy set off in a run into the maze as the clock started to count down. It was a good thing she had been forced to sprint to school almost everyday before graduation, or else she would have been winded by the time she rounded the long passage and chose to go left instead of right. She was left handed, so it had to be lucky. As soon as she ran down the passage, she had to make another immediate left, then right.

Turning the corner, a ball of black light was floating in the air in front of her. Ivy came to an abrupt halt and proceeded with caution, inching closer to the ball of light. It was blocking her way to go either straight or to the right. She wanted to go right. All she had to do was pass the orb. If she went too slowly, she would not have as much time to complete the rest of the maze. After a tense moment of thought, she sucked up her fear and ran full speed toward the orb, which dropped before her and transformed.

In front of her was a fully matured land creature. She had learned about them in school, but had never seen one in person. Unlike the harmless creatures that flew over The Society, these were not. It stood on all four short legs, had short, wiry fur, was dark as night, obese, and had a tan tail that was several feet long. Worst of all, it had its beady red eyes set on Ivy.

It only took one low growl from the beast before Ivy broke right and sprinted harder than she ever had before. Taking glances backward, she could not see the creature behind her, but could feel it was there, chasing her. After all, the only thing scarier than being chased by something is not being able to see it. Her tense muscles threatened to cramp up as she ran.

She turned right again to see a tall rock wall growing larger as she approached. Ivy climbed as fast as she could, being careful not to slip. The creature below her, unable to climb, snarled in fury and started to ram its body into the wall.

Ivy's muscles screamed in protest as she climbed higher and higher. The growls and gnashing of the creature propelled her forward. By the time she reached the peak of the tall wall—out of breath—she took a moment to survey the maze. It was vast and looked as if it went on for several miles in all directions. Ivy gasped when she saw how much she had to complete in fifteen minutes and counting. She determined it had to be some sort of illusion, as the room hadn't looked to be that big from the outside looking in before.

Back on the ground on the other side of the wall, Ivy could still hear and smell the creature. Similar to the air creatures, its smell lingered in the air. She set off in a panicked sprint—she had to hurry. Left, left again, right, right, left. Ivy had no idea of the progress she was making in the maze, if any at all, or where she was going. She was making quick and thoughtless decisions with the hope that she was on the right path to the exit.

As soon as she rounded the last left, another obstacle stood in her way. Three doors: one blue, one yellow and one green. Above all three read a small passage: "Through each of these doors lies something you fear. Choose to be led by your greatest fear, or be left alone with a lie." Three words appeared, one on each door. The blue door read Death, the yellow read Loss and the green read Failure.

Dripping with sweat, Ivy had to make a decision. She figured she had to choose the door that depicted her greatest fear, and she should not lie to herself. She knew she was not at all afraid of death. She could never explain to herself why she had never feared it. Much like a moth to a flame, she was interested in the concept, so much so that she was unafraid. She cancelled the blue door out.

Opening the yellow door, Ivy felt a wave of sadness overcome her. Her eyes drooped and she began to tear up. Her shoulders became heavy with an invisible burden and she was only able to make slow and deliberate movements. All she could see before her was a yellow florescent orb. Everything else was pitch black. It was as if she were shut in a box with nothing to keep her company aside from a dying flashlight. Ivy followed the orb into the darkness. The door through which she had come shut behind her.

Ivy knew she had to hurry, but she didn't care. She felt as though a cloud of depression had settled over her, muffling her thoughts. The light led her to the right four times before leading her left twice. She could feel how close she was to the end. In fact, she could make out another source of light ahead. The feeling of extreme sadness was lifted off of her shoulders as she neared the exit. She was just about to step through the threshold when she heard it.

"Ivy!" Spencer cried out behind her in the darkness. "Ivy, please help, Ivy, I need you!" The bitter sound of Spencer's cries pierced Ivy's heart, and before she knew it, she was sprinting back down the dark maze towards the sound of Spencer's voice. No longer being led by the ball of light, she could hardly see. She found herself having to feel the walls to get a sense of where she was going.

Spencer's agonizing cries and pleas still rang in the air. It took three turns before Ivy reached the source. Spencer stood in a corner of the maze, crying and pleading at the top of her lungs. The only problem was, the figure didn't look like Spencer. Ivy's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see partial details of the thing that stood before her. The young girl stood with her head bowed and her hair looked as if it were caked in mud. Though the screams were violent, the girl did not move under the pressure of expelled air.

After a brief moment, Ivy realized with fear that she was being set up. It was a trap. They knew she would go running if she heard her Spencer was in the slightest trouble, and she had fallen for it. Ivy looked up at the digital clock, counting down in yellow numbers. She had three minutes to complete the maze. She turned to sprint back, but not before the simulated Spencer let out her biggest shriek yet. It sent cold shivers down Ivy's spine.

Ivy heard a shuffling of feet, and knew the girl had set off in a run behind her. Ivy sprinted even harder, pushing her legs to go faster. Spencer was no longer screaming, but she could hear the girl's shallow breath behind her as she turned down passageways, trying to remember her way back.

Turning left, she could see the end of the maze again. She pushed to go faster. The fraudulent Spencer had started to shriek again, letting Ivy know just how close behind she was. Nearing the end, with Spencer at her heels, Ivy leapt through the open doorway. She landed on her hands and knees. Sweat dripped from her face to the floor.

"Having fun down there?" said Zari. She too was sweaty and looked to be extremely tired. She looked less put together than Ivy. There were even narrow, longitudinal tearstains streaked down her face.

Ignoring Zari, Ivy got up to survey her surroundings. They were still in the large white room, but the maze was behind them. She spotted a door in the corner and figured it was the way out.

"There's no use trying to open it," said Ronaldo, looking just as worn out as the rest of them. "It's locked."

"How are we supposed to get out, then?" asked Ivy, pulling on the door handle anyway.

"Well, I have a theory," said Ronaldo, starting to pace. "I think we have to make our way back through the maze together. We have yet to be judged on how well we work as a team."

Zari looked panic stricken. "I'm not going back through there! You don't know what I saw—what I didn't see," she finished in a whisper.

Ivy started to make her way back towards the mouth of the maze. She stopped before its threshold and peered into the eerie darkness. She did not want to see what had terrified her either. "We have no choice. I'm sure we've all seen something horrible, but we have to push through."

With a moment's hesitation, the two sighed and followed Ivy back into the maze.