Descending from Ordinary

Chapter 16

The three of them turned into a new passageway—one that looked quite different from the others. That passageway had...flowers on the bushes. They were light blue flowers that gently swayed in unison ever so slowly, which had to do with the time curse, Jacob assumed. The odd thing, however, was that the flowers weren't...open. They were merely fully-grown flower buds that had yet to bloom.

"We can talk about it more when we find the rest of your comrades, I suppose," Tom suggested simply.

"Do you...really think we'll be able to find them?" Jacob asked, not sure if he could answer the question himself. He really, really wanted to find the others. Ace, Jace and Cole...regardless of how small the amount of time they'd spent together was, Jacob strongly felt he needed all of them to be together. It didn't feel right to him if they were split up. It really didn't. But how the hell were they supposed to find three small people in that large, endless maze?

"From where I stand, it sounds like you should be asking yourself that question."

Well, he wasn't wrong, Jacob thought. He decided it would be best not to respond, so he simply dropped his eyes and watched his shoes as he walked. But...instead of thinking about anything else, he just his let his mind fall blank. Sometimes a blank mind filled with empty nothingness was all Jacob needed to pull himself back together.

Mateus was growing worried about him, honestly, but refrained from showing it. He wasn't one to typically throw his emotions out there for anyone to read, but it was growing harder and harder in situations like their current one. Jacob was right, there were probably very little chances of being able to find the others in the huge mess of a maze they were in... but they couldn't give up before they had even started. Besides, they had Tom with them—someone who clearly seemed to know his stuff.

From a few meters back, the sound of a small 'poof' caught Mateus's attention. He shot a glance behind him but saw nothing. He turned back around—but then he heard it again. Twisting his gaze backwards again, his eyes met a blue mist lingering in the air a few meters behind him. He came to a stop.

"Hey, Tom," he called, slowly nearing the mist. "Any idea what this is?"

Jacob and Tom stopped a few meters ahead and looked back at Mateus. Tom shook his head. "This is my first time seeing it..."

Suddenly, one of the blue flowers bloomed, spitting the same mist into the air. Mateus watched in amusement. "Ah, I guess that's why the flowers were closed."

Tom eyed the flowers suspiciously. Something didn't add up...In his opinion, the whole situation was sketchy. "Mateus... you should probably get away from that. We don't know what might happen if you touch it."

"Alright, alright." Mateus stood up.

He turned to make his way back to Tom and Jacob but, before he could take his second step, another flower bloomed. This time, the flower was closer—close enough for the emitted mist to completely surround Mateus, finding its way through his body and inside his lungs.

A heavy cough escaped his throat, sending him kneeling on his weak knees. Jacob instinctively plummeted towards Mateus out of pure concern, but Tom held him back. "Don't! You might get hurt too!"

Mateus's vision slowly became as blurry as his bones felt like they were melting. He barely had the strength to hold himself upright, even though he was almost completely on the ground anyways. His head thumped to a dissatisfying beat that made his stomach churn, and he prayed that Jacob and Tom would run as fast as they could away from that stupid mist. And then everything went black.

Jacob escaped Tom's grasp with a sudden tug, ripping his arm from Tom's hand. Without hesitation, he ran to an unconscious Mateus at the speed of light. "J-Mateus? Hey, are you okay??"

Tom knew it'd be best if he had just ran, leaving the two behind. But...his head wasn't always bigger than his heart. Giving in, Tom let out an exasperated sigh as he ran to Mateus as well.

"Hey, we need to get him up and hurry! We don't know when—" Mid-sentence, another flower bloomed next to the group of three.

"Hold your breath!"

Jacob did as he was told and held his breath, along with Tom. The two boys heaved Mateus off the ground as quickly as they could, pulling one arm over each of their shoulders. Mateus's surprisingly heavy weight caught Jacob off guard, causing him to stumble and breathe out the breath he'd been holding. Out of instinct, Jacob sucked in a quick sip of air—which unfortunately had been contaminated with the blue mist.

Jacob took Tom's lead, who wasted no time and hurried back down the path, away from the blooming flowers. But the quicker they ran, the quicker the flowers bloomed. Every step they took, it seemed, they would hear it: Poof. Poof. Poof. Jacob's heart raced at the familiar, terrified pace from before. He glanced at Tom, whose expression wasn't very readable. He wasn't sure if he was scared, nervous or even assured or determined. But Jacob knew one thing, and it was that he himself felt like a cup overflowing with water—except the water was pure fear and anxiety.