My heart was beating so fast it hurt. Each thump echoed in my skull, a dull hammer against bone.
My breath came out uneven— shallow, trembling— as if the air itself had gained weight. Cold sweat slid down my temples, collecting at the back of my neck.
'How... did I not see this coming? Why did I assume Josh was actually Human? Why did I... trust him so easily?'
Too many thoughts blurred together for me to hold onto any of them… but I recognized that smile.
Before I could speak, a sharp "Hiup!" tore through the silence.
Sarah lunged forward. Her blade sank cleanly into Josh's neck.
The sound-- the wet, stuttering gasp-- was followed by a violent spray of red liquid. She ripped the knife free, stumbling back to gain distance.
Josh's hand shot toward her, twitching, desperate
and before I could even think, my body was already moving.
The spear in my grip slammed into the back of his head with a crack that shook my arms.
'Huh...? When did I-'
The point of the spear burst through the other side of his face, shearing through flesh and bone, carving one eye out with sick precision.
My body won't listen.
But deep down, I understand why.
It's kill or be killed now.
I tried to yank the spear back, but it jammed deep into his skull. It refused to budge-- until it finally snapped in half with a sharp crack.
I caught the upper half of the shaft before it hit the blood-slick floor and stumbled back, mirroring Sarah's retreat.
For a moment, everything went still.
The air hung heavy-- a silence so deep it felt like the maze itself was holding its breath.
Josh's body twitched once, twice, then went limp.
The sound of dripping blood filled the hall, echoing faintly against the concrete walls.
Sarah stood frozen, knife still clenched, her arm trembling.
Her lips parted like she wanted to say something- anything- but the words never came out.
Then came the sound.
A wet crack, quiet at first, then another. And another.
The spear's broken shaft began to move, not from the wind, not from gravity, but from inside his head.
"Yuwon…" Sarah's voice was barely a whisper.
Josh's fingers spasmed. The hand that had fallen slack now clawed at the ground, scraping against concrete. His head twitched to the side -- once, twice -- before rotating far beyond what a human neck should allow.
The hole where his eye had been wasn't bleeding anymore.
It was stretching.
His skin began to sag and split, melting in uneven patches down the left side of his face. Beneath it, the bone wasn't white — it was dark gray, glossy, almost metallic. Something pulsed underneath it, like black veins crawling across a shell.
His voice came next-- choked, distorted, layered over itself.
"...You shouldn't have done that."
I stumbled a step backward, raising the jagged half of my spear.
Sarah's breathing quickened beside me-- shallow, panicked.
Josh, or whatever was left of him pushed himself upright, the movements jerky, puppet-like. His smile returned, wider now, splitting the corners of his mouth as a low hum escaped him.
'He's not even angry,' I realized.
'He's enjoying this.'
Then he took a step forward. The floor beneath him hissed as droplets of blood sizzled against his skin.
He stepped closer.
Each movement made the blood ripple outward, the waves slapping softly against our knees.
The air itself felt wrong-- too still, too thick, as though the maze was watching through him.
"Josh-" I started, but the name didn't fit anymore.
That thing tilted its head, smile trembling, a low sound crawling out of his throat. A hum that made the walls quiver.
Sarah threw her second knife.
It hit his shoulder cleanly-then just stopped.
No jerk, no recoil. He only looked down at the blade lodged in him as if she'd brushed his sleeve. Then he took another step, and the knife slid out on its own, clattering uselessly into the blood below.
"Run!" I shouted.
We moved together, but he was faster.
The echo of his steps filled the hall- three steps was all it took him to catch up to us. I barely raised what was left of the spear in time; the impact sent a shock through my arms and hurled me backward into one of the pillars. My vision flashed white for an instant.
Sarah slashed upward, trying to drive him away. He caught her wrist mid-swing.
No sound came from her- only a gasp as she staggered back, her hand trembling, fingers refusing to close around the weapon.
He didn't chase immediately. He was playing with us.
That grin never wavered, his head twitching in short, broken angles, like a marionette pulled by too many strings.
I forced myself up, lungs burning, spear half raised.
The creature turned toward me again, that single ruined eye glinting with some mockery of light.
"Why-" The voice layered over itself again, one tone calm, one echoing like a radio glitch. "-run from me?"
The maze reacted to the sound.
Walls shifted in the distance, groaning, like the entire structure leaned closer to listen.
"Sarah-- back!" I yelled, hurling a chunk of broken wood at him. It hit his chest. nothing.
He blurred forward, the air cracking around him, and before I could blink he was in front of me again.
I swung. Missed.
He didn't.
The world spun. Then a cold surface met my back again. I heard the splash of Sarah hitting the blood nearby, choking on her breath.
He stood between us, still smiling, that faint hum rising into a tone that buzzed in my skull.
It felt like the maze was humming with him.
For a moment, I couldn't tell if the sound was real or inside my head.
Everything throbbed in rhythm with it- my pulse, the ground, even the faint shimmer in the blood around us.
Then his smile deepend, ripping the skin and flesh in his cheeks.
He crouched slightly, like an animal about to pounce.
I knew we wouldn't outrun him this time.
And then the change began.
His eye turned black- pure, depthless black-- as viscous liquid dripped from the hole my spear had made.
Dark spikes tore through the skin of his back, his spine arching unnaturally as his hands trembled. Bone stretched through his fingers like pale knives until the skin gave way, splitting open.
He lunged six meters in an instant.
I tried to move, but his foot came down on mine. Not just breaking, but completely shattering it into too many pieces to count.
Pain exploded up my leg. I screamed- raw, animal, uncontrolled.
He grabbed my chin, lifting me like I weighed nothing.
That hum again. soft, pleased.
"I thought we were friends, Yuwon," he whispered, tone almost gentle. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"--Haa!"
Sarah's blade tore through his back, the tip bursting out of his chest. He dropped me, coughing thick liquid that wasn't quite blood.
He should've fallen. He didn't.
I hit the floor, gasping. Tried to stand- my leg folded under me. The world tilted, spun, blurred red.
Josh turned to her, voice cracking into a scream.
"Exactly! I've done nothing wrong!"
His arm lashed out-- faster than sight. She barely ducked, slashing across his torso in a desperate counter. Dark liquid splattered, but it wasn't enough.
'How is he still moving?!'
I forced myself upright, twisting my ruined foot just to stay standing. My whole body shook. My breath hitched.
But I wasn't done.
Not yet.
I slowly adjusted to the pain as I sprinted towards josh and Sarah, she was somehow dodging his blows quite effectively while also striking back.
'Is she in some sort of flow state or something?'
I brushed those thoughts aside, as i picked up the broken spear and continued.
'He's done for if i can get rid of his other eye aswell'.
I gripped what was left of this piece of the spear tightly for splinters to dig into my hands.
Aiming for his head i kept running until I was right behind him.
All of a sudden his head turned 180º to look at me
"Gotcha!"
His fingers now extended through his growth in bones acted as claws.
He threw his claw like hand-- shattered this half of the spear completely and proceeded to backhand the side of my torso, breaking 4 of my ribs and sending me flying into the wall.
I crash into the wall and fall into the blood thats covering the entire floor of this demonic hall.
'I have to get up--'
I attempt to but my body wont move. The blood on the floor enters my nose and mouth.
'Im drowning..'
I attempt to get up again
But the broken ribs pressing against my internal organs dont let me.
"Yuwon--!!"
I hear Sarah call out for me.
The thought of her mutilated corpse crosses my head. And I attempt to get up one more time.
My body screamed with every movement.
The blood clung to me like glue, thick and lukewarm, dragging me down.
But I forced my arms under me.
One push. Then another.
Every nerve flared white. My vision warped. The world tilted sideways-- but I didn't fall.
Sarah was still moving, somehow. Her steps were unsteady, her blades trembling in her grip. Josh, no, the thing towered over her, its back hunched, its spine jutting out in sharp, shifting ridges that pulsed with faint light. The spikes along its back twitched like antennae, tasting the air.
"Sarah-!" I croaked, but it came out as a rasp.
He moved before I could blink. One moment he was standing still-- the next he was there, arm extended.
Her body flew across the hall and slammed into a far wall. The sound-- the crack-- made my stomach turn.
"Stop…" I whispered, pleaded. "Stop…"
He turned to me.
That single black eye found mine.
And then he smiled again.
"Stop?"
The word came out in two voices, layered and warped, like a recording being played backward. "You stabbed me first."
He began to walk toward me, step by deliberate step, the blood rippling outward from each footfall.
My broken ribs ground together. My lungs fought for air. I could hear my pulse in my ears-- a frantic, desperate rhythm.
But beneath it… there was something else.
A vibration.
Like the maze was whispering just under the sound of my heartbeat.
I reached out blindly, my hand brushed something hard. The splintered other half of the spear.
I grabbed it. Tight.
He stopped a few meters away. His body bent and cracked as it straightened, joints snapping audibly into new places. That black liquid was seeping from every wound now — running down his arms, pooling at his feet. But somehow, he looked stronger.
"You always talk about teamwork," the creature murmured, the voice breaking between Josh's tone and something deeper, older. "About trust."
He tilted his head. "Was that a lie too? Or does breaking my trust not count at all?"
I didn't answer. Couldn't.
My throat was dry, my tongue thick with the taste of blood.
He took another step. The air around him warped, like heat distortion.
Then Sarah moved again. Somehow.
She pushed herself off the wall, staggering forward, both knives in hand. Her arms were shaking, but her eyes-- her eyes were burning.
"Hey, monster," she spat, voice hoarse. "Shut up and fight me."
The mimic's smile widened.
"As you wish."
He blurred forward.
The next second was chaos-- blood, motion, sound. The floor split beneath his step. Sarah ducked under his first swing, the claws missing her head by inches. She spun, slashing his ribs open, but his other arm came around too fast to dodge.
The impact sent her reeling. She hit the floor hard, knives scattering.
He turned again, toward me.
I gripped the broken spear so hard my knuckles went white.
I didn't think.
I just moved.