Inside this Twisted Labyrinth

Chapter Five

AN: See Chapter One for warnings

***************************************

Day 8

Jaime stumbled next to him for the third time in almost as many steps it seemed. The bassist just barely caught himself on the wall, and stopped for a moment, pausing to catch his breath before jogging back to Vic's side. Mike and Tony had fallen behind further and further as time dragged on.

"I think we need to stop and rest," Vic finally said, glancing at his brother and Tony who were leaning heavily against one other as they walked, each taking turns keeping their eyes open to steer the other in the right direction. He hated to admit it, but they would need to rest and recover before they moved on. This was not a maze they were going to be able to make it through in one day, and they would be of no use to Kellin and the rest of SWS if they dropped from exhaustion while trying to rescue them.

"We're almost to the next trap. Why don't we stop there," Jaime said. His jaw cracked around a huge yawn.

"We should probably eat a protein bar, and catch a few hours of sleep if we can," Tony said.

"As long as the floor doesn't shock me," Mike grumbled, rubbing his foot absentmindedly against the ground.

"How much farther, Jaime?" Vic asked. His own legs felt sore and weak. They were all in excellent shape – performing several times a week necessitated that each of them were at the peak of health – but this maze pushed them to the limits, pushed them so far past anything they had ever endured before, probably as it was designed to.

It was meant to break them.

But Vic would not allow that.

"It's in this hallway," Jaime said, cracking another huge yawn. "But I can't be certain how far."

Vic felt his eyes droop closed as they continued on. Even Jaime had fallen silent, something they would have teased Jaime for if any of them had the energy. With nothing but the monotonous concrete walls for entertainment, staying awake got harder and harder. He felt his eyes slip closed for what felt like just a moment, and then he felt weightless.

He jerked awake when his knees hit against the concrete floor.

"Woah, you okay there?" Jaime asked, extending his hand to help Vic up.

"M' fine," he mumbled, letting Jaime pull him to his feet. He dusted his pants off, even though at this point the gesture was pointless.

"Maybe we should stop here," Mike suggested, leaning his weight against the wall and letting his eyes slip shut.

"We've got to be close to the next trap, though" Jaime muttered, bringing he blueprints almost to his nose as he inspected them.

"Actually, I think it's right there," Tony said, shining the flashlight down the hall. Just on the edge of the flashlight's beam stood a solid iron door, an exact replica of the door to the first trap.

"I really hope that we haven't gone in a big giant circle and that's the same door," Jaime said with a nervous chuckle.

"It can't be. We left that door open," Mike said.

"Who said we were down here alone?" Jaime said.

No one replied. Just because they hadn't seen anyone else didn't mean their kidnapper wasn't right around the corner watching their every move. Vic shuddered in disgust at the thought.

When they made it to the end of this maze, he vowed to burn the whole monstrosity to the ground.

Wearily, they stumbled to the door. What was maybe a 100 feet felt like a mile in the dark endless maze.