around me, no sign of the dozens of other people in the class, and I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve been going so slow or if the… magic or whatever is happening here has put us all in different places in the maze.
All I know is that the walls are all made of black bricks and the ground is concrete, stained in places and very obviously the spilled substance was blood. Fuck, there’s a stain big enough that the person had to have died there, no matter what Gabe said about this place being monitored.
Death isn’t exactly the worst option here but it’s also not my first choice.
I’m too busy freaking the fuck out to notice the sounds of footsteps, but the roar of something definitely gets my attention.
There’s a shifter nearby.
I don’t know what Gabe can turn into, but there’s three other shifters in our class, so I can’t assume he’s come to find me. Knowing my luck, Brenton is also a shifter and he’s come to rip my throat out and make a whole new stain on the ground. We all need to reach the center to win, but I’m sure Zoey is fine with losing me and taking the hit on her point tally.
I step back, pressing my back against the wall behind me and preparing myself for whatever the hell is about to happen when there’s a grinding, groaning, snapping sound—
And then the walls start moving.
What in the Harry Potter bullshit is this?! I have to spring away from the wall behind me but it’s not the one moving. No, it’s the one across from me, rushing towards me and I’m about to be crushed to death if I don’t get my shaking knees under control and move my ass.
The panic flooding my entire body is actually a good thing because I’m conditioned to work at my peak performance while absolutely shitting myself, so I manage to get my legs working and dart out of the way. There’s a crunch and a thud, then a small flash of light before I hear the groaning of whoever the shifter is now that they’re trapped on the other side of the wall, very obviously injured.
Do I call out to them? Do I call out and hope someone will come help them or will I just give away my position doing that and get myself killed for my kindness?
A voice calls out and makes up my mind for me, “Fuck, Martinez, what are you doing getting snapped by the walls? That’s rookie shit!”
I have no clue who that is but the panting shifter answers, “I could smell the new girl, I thought we could use her as bait for the pond bitch.”
Uhm, first of all, fuck Martinez. I can’t believe I was going to help the asshole, but secondly, and most importantly, what the fuck is the pond bitch?
I think I’m going to puke.
I also don’t have time to let my nerves get the better of me so I push on, choosing the only path I can that appears to circle the entire maze. The only other direction I can head in is backwards and I don’t want to go through the deprivation area again, thank you very much. I have to block out the screams of the other students as much as I possibly can as they echo around the room.
I start at a walking pace but then I start to get the creeps about the walls caving in on me and pick up the pace, jogging so I don’t run out of steam so early on.
The sounds in this place are kind of terrifying.
There’s a flame in here somewhere and every time I see the bursts of light reflect onto the ridiculously high ceiling, I start to panic all over again about air quality and the entire basement burning down. My feet move faster without me even trying, the adrenaline kicking in, and I only slow down when I finally reach the corner at the end of the building.
I stop and take a breath there, forcing my heartbeat to slow down because panic is a great motivator, but I need to use my brain here. I have no access to my gift, and although the training in this stupid class has upped my stamina, I still have very little self defense skills.
If I get around this corner and find myself staring at a fully shifted wolf or cougar or something, I am well and truly