CHAPTER 103: _ THE LABYRINTH

Heidi’s wolf howls with bitter laughter at Morgan and Grayson. "Don’t worry? From them? Oh, that’s rich. As if a pat on the head from the peanut gallery ever helped anyone survive a death maze."

She feels a flicker of annoyance, but beneath it is also a strange, and misplaced gratitude. Their easy and confident movements seem to belong to a different world; one where "it’ll be fine" is a guarantee, not a joke. It’s an infuriatingly useless comfort, yet it’s comfort nonetheless. She’s annoyed by it but also, in a deep, desperate corner of her heart, she’s a little grateful for it.

The rune finishes searing itself into her wrist. Heidi jerks her gaze away before Darien can act, before Amias’s steady eyes can undo her, and before the twins can annoy her further with their everything will be fine gesture when everything is clearly wrong. She tears herself from their world and steps forward into the portal.

The air collapses around her.

For a split second, she feels herself ripped apart and stitched back together, like every molecule of her body is being rethreaded through a cosmic needle.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The world around her dissolves into a kaleidoscope of colors and a sensation like a million tiny needles pricking her skin. It’s not painful, but it’s disorienting, and for a terrifying second, she feels like she’s being stretched and pulled apart like a piece of taffy. Then, as quickly as it started, it stops and...

... she’s standing on new ground.

The labyrinth.

The moment her feet land on solid ground, a wave of cool air washes over her. The first thing she notices is the silence—a profound absence of noise that feels louder than any sound.

Junie, who is a few paces ahead, is the second. Her hands are clasped to her mouth, eyes widened.

"Heidi," Junie whispers. "Look."

Heidi’s gaze follows Junie’s, and the world clicks into place. Before them is a maze. But to call it a simple maze would be an insult to the architects of this particular brand of torture. The paths are made of something that looks like polished, obsidian-black stone, so dark that it seems to drink the light. The walls of the maze stretch high, impossibly high, disappearing into a sky so far away it’s just a haze of light.

Valentina materializes beside them a heartbeat later, her presence sudden like the snap of a whip. A flock of Moon Blesseds follows in a stream of bodies pouring from the portal. Every new arrival seems to carry a fresh splash of disbelief into the already stunned scene.

Right now, they are all presented with two options.

To the right, the paths descend into shadow. The air there looks heavier, the kind of darkness that isn’t simply an absence of light but a substance of its own. Cold drafts curl outward, carrying with them the faint tang of blood and the sour bite of rot.

To the left, the paths glow a little. Not warmly or comfortingly, but with a kind of glistening shine that reminds Heidi of polished glass. The walls shimmer like they’ve been dusted with stars. It should be beautiful, but it feels too artificial and too perfect.

Behind them, the portal continues to pulse as more Moon Blessed stumble through, their eyes snapping wide at the sight. Murmurs erupt immediately, confusion and fear layering atop one another until the air thrums with noise.

"What the hell is this?" someone mutters.

"Two paths?" another hisses.

"They didn’t tell us about this!"

Junie edges closer to Heidi, clutching her sleeve like a lifeline.

Valentina scoffs, folding her arms. "Of course. Of course, the school sends us in here blind. They knew. They absolutely knew we’d be presented with this choice, and they couldn’t bother telling us a damn thing about which path is right."

Her voice bursts through the rising panic, and the group quiets just enough to hear her.

Heidi’s wolf tilts her head, amused. "Ah yes," her wolf drawls. "Choose between the path of instant death and the path of sparkly doom. What a lovely semester this is turning out to be."

The others continue to shuffle nervously, torn between darkness and glittering light. Heidi stares at the two paths, and her stomach turns. Whatever choice they make, none of them is coming back the same.

Suddenly, there’s an audible sound. The noise begins subtly at first.

It’s a soft hum, like the vibration of an empty fridge left running too long. No one notices it until it deepens into something more gruff, like a throat clearing from the belly of the earth.

Heidi freezes. Her ears twitch in spite of herself, wolf senses drinking it in. It’s coming from the dark path. The yawning tunnel of shadow that is slick with wet air, seems to pulse with sound. It’s not quite a growl, and not quite wind. To her ears, it sounds like claws scraping against stone far, far inside. A few students gasp and shuffle back, as though the darkness is reaching out to taste them.

As if that’s not enough, music starts to drift into the air.

This time, it’s from the opposite path, the one glowing with unnatural light. One can hear the lazy plucking of strings.

Heidi squints at the sound: is it a guitar? A harp?

No, this one is too crisp and perfect, like a recording played through hidden speakers. The melody lilts and sways, sweet and inviting, the kind of music that makes your body want to move even if your brain is screaming that something is wrong.

"Okay," someone blurts out, her voice cracking like she’s trying to laugh but failing. "So we get to choose between ’horror-movie death’ or ’hippie rave.’ Great."

The murmuring starts then in an avalanche of whispers, nervous giggles, and protests. Shoulders bump as they crowd closer together. A girl grips her friend’s wrist so tightly her knuckles turn white.

Another mutters, "Nope, nope, nope. We’re not doing this. No one said anything about sounds and paths!"

Heidi can’t help but agree how deep a mess they are all in. Who would know which way to proceed?

To follow the light or thread through the darkness?