The Recall Trials-Chapter 88: Fear Is a Mirror

Zaara raised her head, and widened her eyes in surprise.

"Really?" she whispered.

I nodded slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes," I said. "I love you."

I kissed her lips slowly, and when I pulled away, she smiled.

Just as I was about to say something else...

BZZZZZT.

The speaker above crackled like a devil clearing its throat.

Zaara groaned. "Ughhh..not again."

"Hello, contestants. Get ready for the next game, which will begin in thirty minutes. You will be escorted to the Arena shortly. Dinner will be served afterward... if you make it through."

The line went dead.

I looked at Zaara.

She already looked tense again. "They really know how to kill a moment, huh?"

I touched her hand. "Whatever happens in there... stay close to me."

She nodded.

And then the lights in the hallway flickered red.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Guards began ushering us out, one group at a time.

Few Minutes Later

We stood in the prep chamber. A holographic screen flickered on above us.

The Voice returned:

"Welcome to the Maze of the Mind....a personalized psychological labyrinth. Within these walls, what you see... may not be real." freewebnøvel.coɱ

"You’ll face illusions, fears, memories and your darkest desires. Only by finding the Center Room can you exit the maze. But beware....some never make it out. Some lose their minds before they lose their lives."

"There will be no clues. No maps. No mercy."

The lights dimmed. The door creaked open.

A blast of cold air swept through.

And then we were shoved forward, into the darkness.

Into the maze.

A sign overhead read:

MAZE OF THE MIND

"Everything you see is a lie. But what you feel... is real."

Jojo coughed behind me, still weak.

"What kind of mindfuck is this?"

Zaara squeezed my hand tighter. "Something tells me this won’t just be about getting out."

The voice returned:

"This is not a race. There is no time limit. The only way out....is through your own truth."

Immediately we entered the maze, the fog swallowed us.

The moment I took three steps in, Zaara’s hand slipped from mine.

I spun around.

Gone.

No one.

Not Jojo. Not Nomi. Not Carter.

Not even walls. Just white.

Fog.

Silence.

Then...

"Vincent..."

A whisper. Behind me.

I turned..

She was standing there.

Asha.

Alive.

Bleeding from her throat. Reaching for me.

Vincent: "No... this isn’t real. I..... I saw you die..."

She didn’t blink.

"A monster who kills the ones he loves doesn’t get to cry," she whispered. "You let them kill me. You let them win."

I staggered back.

Except now, my feet were soaked in blood.

The fog curled tighter around my body.

My breath came out in short, ragged bursts. My fists clenched at my sides.

I wasn’t even sure if I was moving forward anymore. The floor felt like it was pulsing beneath my feet.

Then..

The fog parted.

I don’t know how long I’d been walking.

The halls kept shifting.....every time I turned a corner, something vanished. Or reappeared.

Time didn’t exist here.

Only fog.

Only flickers.

Only guilt.

I thought the worst had passed.

I thought the images of Asha was hallucination.

That the blood under my feet wasn’t real.

And I saw them.

Not just Asha this time.

Asha. Kai. Aaron.

Standing shoulder to shoulder like statues from a graveyard I forgot to bury. Blood streaked their faces. Their eyes were hollow.

Vincent: "No... no—"

But they didn’t speak.

They stepped aside.

And behind them...

Someone else stepped forward.

Not them.

Her.

Ella.

The fourth.

The one I never talk about.

The one I couldn’t even remember how I killed.

She walked in slowly, barefoot.

Her eyes weren’t crying like the others.

No.

She was smiling.

Dark.

Twisted smile.

"I was wondering how long you’d pretend I wasn’t real," she whispered. Her voice echoed all around me. "You remember now, don’t you? How I begged. How I called your name."

"Ella, please don’t..."

"Don’t what?" she tilted her head. "Don’t remind you what you really are?"

She stepped aside.

And behind her... was Zaara.

She was tied.

Her eyes were full of fear.

"No," I whispered. "No, please, don’t touch her."

Ella smiled again. And this time...she pulled out a knife.

The same curved dagger from the Hunter’s Game.

The one I used on Jojo.

"Let’s take the last thing you love too," she said softly. "Let’s make you empty again."

I screamed.

"I’m sorry... Please don’t hurt zaara, take me instead."

But I couldn’t move. My legs were frozen in place.

"PLEASE!"

I fought it...my limbs felt chained by invisible ropes, my voice distorted by the maze.

Zaara looked up.

Our eyes met.

And just as I lunged forward..

The knife went in.

Right between her ribs.

Her body jolted. Her mouth opened. But no scream came out.

Only blood.

Dripping slowly from her lips.

Blood sprayed across my skin. Her body crumpled in their arms.

I collapsed to my knees.

"Not no not her," I whispered. "Zaara please look at me."

"No. No. NO!"

It was too late.

And when I looked up...

All four of them were gone.

Just got now.

And blood.

And Zaara... unmoving in my arms.

I was trembling. Crying. Screaming her name like the sound would rewind time.

I pressed my forehead against hers.

"Please wake up. Please. Please. I can’t.. I can’t lose you too.

I thought my biggest fear was being like my father.

Or being unloved. Unworthy.

I thought it was being called a wildcard. A mistake. A monster.

But I was wrong.

None of that mattered.

My real fear?

Losing her.

Losing the one person I was in love with.

"ZAARA!" I screamed again, the sound ripping from my throat like it was tearing something out of me.

Then....

A hand reached out touching my shoulder.

I flinched.

"Vincent?" a voice whispered.

I opened my eyes, raised my head to see who it was.

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