THE MAZE

Chapter Three

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"It's 11:01. Didn't the letter say that this thing started at 11?"

The eight guests continue to wait impatiently outside the gates, some tapping their feet and some rattling the cast-iron bars.

"If nobody comes within the next five minutes, we're out. I have an important call at 1:00 that I cannot miss," Mr. Fitz grumbles.

"Look, someone is coming!" Gavin cries, jumping up and down and tugging on his mother's sleeve even harder.

All eight shove their faces up against the bars, trying to get a glimpse of who I am as I exit the front door and begin to walk down the drive.

I cannot remember the last time I have left The Maze. The fresh air feels overwhelming for a few moments, threatening to capsize my lungs. But after a few deep breaths, I begin to adjust to it and continue to walk down the long drive to my guests. I keep a stolid, unyielding expression on my face. With their wide eyes and faces pressed up against the bars, the guests remind me of children at a zoo lion cage.

I am the lion and they are the spectators.

When I finally reach the gate, I silently pull out a brass key from my pocket and twist it in the lock. After a soft click, the double gates begin to slowly swing open, ominously creaking on their hinges.

Even once the gates have fully opened, the eight still stand outside of them, unmoving and unblinking.

"Well don't just stand there, come in," I say.

Immediately, they all walk through the gates, gathering around me in an apprehensive semicircle.

"Welcome to The Maze," I say.

Silence.

"Thank you all for coming. You, unlike some of your peers who declined my invitation, are about to embark on a challenge that will change your life," I announce.

"What about the million dollars?" Miss Eleanor Rizby pipes up, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What about it?" I reply neutrally, looking her in the eye.

"How do we win the million dollars? Because that's why I'm here," she says, an edge of irritation in her voice.

"By winning the challenge," I say placidly.

"What is the challenge?" Professor James Eilers asks curiously.

"Your challenge is to navigate your way to the Room Forty-Five, the Center of The Maze, and back. Whoever does it in the quickest amount of time will receive the prize. You may choose to go alone or with one other person. However, if you work with someone else, you must share the earnings fifty-fifty," I explain.

The guests begin to murmur amongst themselves, looking around at each other.

"What is this 'Maze' like anyways? It looks like a giant mansion to me," Mr. Fitz asks, waving his arm at The Maze.

"It is much, much more than that," I whisper under my breath, quiet enough so that no one can hear me.

"What did you say?" he asks.

"Nothing," I reply robotically.

"So that's all we gotta do; be the quickest one to find our way to the center of this Maze thing and back and we win a million dollars? It's that easy?" the teenage girl asks.

"Yes, it's that easy," I lie.

I give them a few moments to decide if they want to go alone or in a pair. Once they have it all figured out, and look down at my watch.

11:07 A.M.

Right on schedule.

"Before we begin, I got one question for ya. Why us?" Mr. Fitz asks.

"You are all the perfect candidates for this challenge," I reply.

Those words are exactly what I have said every time to each previous group.