Capitulum VIII

D espite knowing I was likely the last personed she wanted to talk to, my feet repositioned themselves, following her trail as she disappeared into the hedge. But upon entering the fire pit myself, I couldn't find her face in the crowd.

After exhaustively asking around, every lead came up empty. It hadn't ever occurred to me any other possible destination lay in the maze, but it stood to reason.

As it was transparently stupid to go skulking off into the unknown darkness without at least notifying someone, I flagged down two yearlings, one of which I was sure lived directly above me.

"Hey, do you guys know Rigel?" I asked.

The two girls looked at each other and giggled. "Yeah."

"Can you stop by his room and tell him to come to the maze because I found her?"

"Found who?" one asked.

"Don't worry about it. He'll know what I mean."

"What's in it for us—"

The Iudex girl elbowed her in the ribs.

"We'll do it."

The spark of mischief in her eyes told me I was giving her an excuse to track down and directly interact with a handsome upperclassman potentially back on the market. It probably seemed too good to be true if word hadn't gotten around that he was half a lunatic.

I left them to their task, hearing the other girl's frustrated grumbles as I rounded the corner.

The farther I got from the fire, the more the darkness swallowed me. None of the lightning bugs seemed interested in hanging out this far, so the swirling stars overhead were the only thing that lit my path. Feeling seasick, I might as well have been a marble in a tilting labyrinth.

I wasn't sure how deep I went. I'd done my best not to take too many turns, but I couldn't see any signs of civilization.

That's when I stopped. "Lindy?"

My voice cut through the air, but nothing moved to return the sound.

I walked farther, rounding a corner before trying again.

"Hello?"

That time, shifting weight crunched the frosted grass.

I waited for her approaching footsteps to follow, but they didn't, so I walked toward the noise.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" I called, trying to see if I could make out her shape in the darkness.

"Listen, I know it's been a lot, and maybe you don't want to see Rigel, but can we at least talk, please?" I asked but, once again, was met with silence.

The rustling continued.

Inching forward, I spotted a turn ahead.

"What the hell are you doing this far out?" I called, pausing as I turned the corner.

The maze opened into an ample, overgrown space dotted with what appeared to be... headstones.

I touched the arching stone that jutted out of the earth, feeling the cold roughness against my fingertips.

I wondered if it was meant to be a kind of ironic performance art. Despite looking normal, the stone sent an icy jolt down my arm.

I recoiled, instincts screaming at me to run, as something rustled the tall grass nearby. A dark silhouette that my brain had disregarded as a product of the layering headstones suddenly shifted out of the corner of my eye.

Whatever it was, it was way too big to be Lindy.