We all ended up outside to see Jessica's giant head rotating clockwise with the word "ANNOUNCEMENT" blinking above her. Shelley and Richard hung back a bit, and Patti was near them, wagging her tail happily. I noticed Jay was knitting something new while talking with Laura, so I went to stand next to Church, who looked at me worryingly.
"What do you think this is about?" he asked. I just shook my head and spread out my hands.
"Dude, I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about it." Which I did. Something in Jessica's eyes looked especially unhinged to me in this moment. They were bloodshot and had bags under their eyes. Her head finally stopped spinning, and Jessica spoke.
"Hello, everyone! This quadrant of the maze has successfully changed into MYTHICAL BEEFACAKES!" She yelled the theme again, causing a few of us to wince at the loudness of her voice. "Now, as promised, we have also set up a great world event for your quadrant as well! We have spoken about how many are already dead, but that number is just not enough, not for us. We are hungry boys and girls, and demand more blood. There is a new structure inside the maze, the Tower of the Verloren!"
With that said, green lights came on, illuminating a structure in the far, far distance. It was twisted and gnarled-looking, filled with spikes from what I could make out. It reached high up into the sky, which helped make it visible to us. Jessica continued.
"The Tower of the Verloren is a really cool structure with fun games inside that you will all get to play, and there will also be pizza and soda pop at the top! Now, this here is the important part, so pay close attention because it is very, very important! There are just too damn many of you left! So, only the first fifty thousand of you will be allowed to enter the tower. The rest of you will be stuck outside and be forced to face some crazy shit!"
Jessica's giant head stayed in the sky, unmoving and smiling for a moment while we all stood stunned. Laura and Richard Kelley looked with hardened faces at the sky, but Church was beginning to look very worried. Shelley and Patti both flanked the young man to comfort him, with the old woman rubbing his back and offering a candy from her pocket. Church took the candy and popped it in his mouth. I turned to Jay, who was back to knitting nonchalantly.
"Jay, is this normal?" I asked. Jay kept her focus on her project as she answered.
"Yeah, they usually do this closer to the end to speed the process up, but this is pretty normal."
Jessica's mouth opened, and the sound of inhaling breath was heard. Did she need to breathe? She then spoke very quickly. "Okay, go!" and her head popped into an explosion of confetti. With that, we all looked at each other as we stood. It was Mrs. Kelly who broke the silence.
"Oh dear, that woman is not playing with a full deck." Church and I let out a laugh as Laura and Jay looked confusedly at each other. Jay leaned in to whisper to me.
"What does that mean?" she asked. Church, who was in better spirits after the candy, replied before I could.
"She's saying Jessica is crazy," he said with a laugh. The mood seemed to lighten up, but Richard kept his stern look. I could see his jail timer was over. Was he going to pop back in there and leave us behind? Church reached into his pocket to grab a treat for Patti, who immediately noticed. She stood in front of him, tail wagging, and he held it up in the air. As she jumped up to get it, she froze in the air. In fact, everything froze as a yellow tint covered everything.
"What the fuck?" I began to say before realizing what was happening. "Uh… Jessica?" A rapidfire laugh went off behind me, and I turned to find Jessica. She was still wearing my clothes, but now also had a baseball cap on. It was backwards, and I could tell it was one of mine. "Did you go back to my house to take more of my stuff?"
Jessica threw her head back to laugh into the sky before running up to stand in front of me. She had her crazed grin and wide eyes, but she was looking tired. I wanted to ask if she was feeling okay, but she spoke before I could.
"My Maximillian, you need to do more with what you've been given."
"Yeah, I know. I just don't know how to-" I was cut off by a slap. It freaking hurt! "What the hell-" Again, cut off by a slap. Jessica grinned at me and spoke before I could.
"This will guarantee your group entrance to the tower even if it's full. Does that make you happy?" I just looked at her, dumbfounded.
"You gave me…" I trailed off as I looked at her.
"Special entrance! I'm trying really hard to help, Max, but I also have to run this game. I'm sorry I couldn't do more earlier when you met Othryn." She shuddered at the name and looked, well, normal there for a moment. The crazed Jessica recording looked vulnerable and human. Her face was uncertain with worry as I reached down and hugged the diminutive woman. She stood rigid for a brief second before lightly hugging me back.
"Thanks, Jess," I said. We let go of each other. I was about to say more when she shook her head to silence me.
"Max, you need to utilize the power given to you by my original. You're still playing by the rules, and that will get you and your friends killed. Please don't waste this opportunity. I don't want to lose you again."
I was stunned. I had never seen her so lucid before. Was this the recording or the real Jessica? Before I could ask, a portal ripped open behind her, and her eyes and smile went wide and crazed once more. "Time for me to go again, toots! I'll be watching!" At that last bit, she used her thumb and index finger to open her eyes to their maximum. She backed into the portal while holding that face. The portal disappeared, the world returned to normal, and Patti caught her treat in the air.
Everyone began walking back towards the entrance except Jay and me. She seemed to notice something was off.
"Max?" I eyed the octopus woman. She had helped me so much and was so kind. Then I looked to Church and Laura, who made this hell feel less so. Even the Kellys, in their old people ways, were a comfort.
"Jessica visited me again." That caused the group to gather around me.
"Who's that?" grumbled Richard to no one.
Church leaned in to say, "She's that crazy head lady in the sky. She also has a crush on Max, and I think it makes Jay jealous."
Jay shot him a glance before looking back at me. "What did she say?"
I just kept looking at the group. These were my friends. Maybe we wouldn't have been friends if the world weren't going through some apocalypse, but it was now. Patti walked up to sit on her haunches and wagged her tail in front of me. How long has it been since this all started? A week? More? And there's already this connection. I won't let any harm come to them.
I looked at Jay and said, "She told us to cheat, and that's just what we're going to do."