The Maze The Lost Labyrinth - By Jason Brannon Page 0,22
into the illuminated room and inspected him, wondering if he‘d been hurt in the fight. Although the dog showed no obvious signs of injury, I noticed that he was covered in blood.
“Did the minotaur hurt you?”
I combed through his black fur with my hands, expecting him to wince and growl at any minute. The dog surprised me; instead of flinching, he kept nuzzling my hand and licking my face. It was the closest thing to comfort I had felt in a very long time.
After giving the dog the once-over and not finding any outward signs of injury, I came to the conclusion the blood belonged to the minotaur. Evidently this dog was a more formidable adversary than he appeared. As a reward for his help, I sat the jar full of jelly down in front of him and watched as he lapped up the sticky treat with his tongue.
The dog didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. Evidently, I had a new friend.
“What should I call you?” I noted that his most striking feature was his black fur. “How about Midnight?”
The dog didn’t argue. Instead, he showed his approval of the name I had given him by licking my hand again.
Chapter 12
I wandered deeper and deeper into the maze with Midnight by my side. Every so often, I stopped to rub him behind the ears or to stroke his fur. I wanted him to know that I was his friend, and to stay with me as I tried to find my way out of this hellish place. Thankfully, he didn’t seem in any hurry to leave my side.
For a while, we followed the blood trail that the minotaur had left behind. The blood was copious and had already started to coagulate. It looked like Midnight had done quite a number on the creature. It was only after we had been walking for ten minutes or more that I realized my mistake and took a path that veered away from the blood and off toward another wing of the labyrinth. The last thing I wanted to do was to run into the bull creature again, and tracking it seemed like an assurance that we‘d have another encounter. Midnight was pleased with my decision, and nuzzled my hand to tell me so.
At length, we reached the beginning of a fresh set of hallways. A block of marble had been inlaid into the floor and embossed like a grave marker of some sort. It read “The Hall of Barabbas.” The thought gave me chills, and I couldn’t help thinking of the murderer mentioned in the Bible who had been set free so that Christ could be crucified in his place. Mama didn’t just take me to church; she read the Bible to me every day until I could read it for myself. I never thought it would come in handy like this.
Sets of rusty shackles had been fastened to the floor with lengths of heavy gauge chain. Instruments of torture were lined up across the opposite wall, ready to be used on whatever prisoner was unlucky enough to be restrained. A set of thumbscrews glistened faintly in the hallway as if recently used. The walls behind the iron maidens and the beds of nails were made of mirrors.
“What do you think this place is all about?” Midnight didn’t bark like I expected him to; instead, he growled and bared his teeth. Something up ahead didn’t sit well with him.
He raced ahead of me and faced one of the mirrors, barking as if Satan himself leered at him from the glass.
I joined him. “What is it, boy?”
The imposing figure in the mirror glared at me as I studied him carefully. Although there were no pictures of the criminal, Barabbas, I knew this had to be him. The man was built like a rock wall: rugged, sturdy and capable of withstanding a lot of punishment. His bald head was shadowed with day-old stubble, and his teeth were black from all the blasphemies he‘d spoken while alive. A spiked club hung from a loop on his belt; it looked like it had been used extensively.
Barabbas studied me too, watching me with black, unfeeling eyes like a deadly animal in a cage. Without warning, he rushed at me from his side of the mirror. I jumped back, nearly tripping over my own feet in an effort to get away. My heart hammered in my chest, and I looked at the murderer in disbelief. How was this possible?