The Maze The Lost Labyrinth

CHAPTER 26



I had a very familiar sensation of déjà vu as I tried to escape the minotaur’s wrath. I heard him chasing me, snorting and bellowing like a wild animal caught in a trap. As I rounded a corner, I realized those sounds were actually coming from me.

“Can’t you help me, Connie?” I gasped for air

“I really shouldn’t.” Her voice came at me from a hundred different directions. “This is your test.”

“Yes, you should! I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I want to change my ways. I’ve endured test after test and lived to tell about them. I’ve wept. I’ve ached. I’ve fallen to my knees and prayed a prayer that was sincere enough to make a dog named Midnight manifest to help me. Cut me some slack here.”

Connie didn’t answer right away. The maze, it seemed, was pondering my request.

“When the passageway forks up ahead, go left. Asterion knows the true purpose of this place, but sometimes he forgets and lapses back into old behaviors. No doubt he’s remembering the days when humans were fed to him as offerings.”

“He wants to eat me?”

“Just your sins.”

“So why wouldn’t I let him? That’s the whole point of this exercise.”

“He would have to eat his way through your ribcage to get to your soul. You probably wouldn’t live more than ten seconds after that.”

“That’s a good enough reason for me.” I took the left hand path as I’d been directed.

At this point, I was running just as hard and as fast as my legs would carry me. I almost didn’t stop in time to avoid falling into the pool.

“Whoa!” I stopped to catch my breath. “You didn’t warn me about this.”

This was actually an underground cavern of some sort that had its own private lake.

“Immerse yourself. You can hide in there. It‘s the only way.”

It was only as I jumped in that I realized something was wrong. The water wasn’t cold like it should have been. It was tepid, and thicker than any water had a right to be. It was like I was swimming in a reservoir of motor oil, but that wasn’t exactly right either. The smell was wrong. This place had the stench of open cuts and emergency rooms.

“Blood!” I dog-paddled to stay afloat. “This is a lake of blood.”

“Better than a lake of fire,” Connie said. “Now do as I told you and immerse yourself. You do want to live, right?”

“It will never work.”

“Trust me. I know Asterion better than you do. I also know the way this place works. The minotaur has sniffed you out by your sins. Blood is the only thing that can cover sins. If you go under, you’ll be invisible to the minotaur.”

The approaching sound of hooves on stone convinced me to dive deeper into the crimson pool when nothing else could. Being submerged in blood was like being back in the womb, insulated from all sight and sound. I had absolutely no idea what was going on above me. For all I knew the minotaur was getting ready to jump in after me. I hoped Connie knew what she was talking about.

I must have held my breath for a full minute before the need for oxygen forced me to the surface again. I gasped for air the moment I emerged from the pool. Thankfully Asterion was gone. No doubt he had gone back to the fork and taken the right passageway, thinking I might have chosen that route instead.

“This isn’t Christ’s blood.” I swam to the edge of the pool and hauled myself out. “How did it protect me?”

“It’s symbolic,” Connie said. “Haven’t you been taking notes this entire time?”

“Symbolic. Right. Is my family going to be safe since I eluded capture?”

“If Asterion is anything, he’s honest. If he told you your family will be safe, then there won’t be a hair on their heads that’s harmed.”

“Darrell Gene Rankin is in my house.”

“True. But God is dealing with him. You don‘t have anything to worry about.”

“Is God dealing with him because of the things that are going on in this maze?”

“God works in mysterious ways.”

“So I’m learning.”

“I’m going away now,” Connie said. “I’ve helped enough for the moment. I’ll be back when you need me.”

I didn’t get a chance to argue. Connie was gone again.

Cautiously, I emerged from the cave on the far side. I was still wary of running into Asterion, but there was no sign of him. Instead there were various souvenirs of the man I’d become scattered about. An empty whiskey bottle. An adult video receipt. Around one bend, there was an emaciated bank account statement that suffered from a terminal case of compulsive gambling. Hiding in another dark corner was a police report for DUI. Then there was the broken clock whose only purpose was to remind me of all the time I had wasted on selfish pleasures that could have been better spent with Amy and Peter. Would my torments ever end?

Although the labyrinth was dark, the walls glowed with a purple effulgence as if illuminated by black light. Strange indecipherable glyphs and sequences of raised numerals tattooed the polished stone hallways. The labyrinth was just as weird as it had always been, and I was just as lost.

I didn’t know which way to go now, what to do or which side Asterion would be on the next time we met. The best I could tell, everything in this place was designed to make me reevaluate my life and my behavior. In that respect, the labyrinth was functioning marvelously. I was scared to death of the man I’d become. In confirmation of that fear, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a sonorous thudding sound reverberate through the maze.

Boom!

The sound was loud enough that I could feel it, jarring my bones and rattling the fillings in my teeth.

Boom!

It reminded me of a rock concert I’d gone to in my rowdier days. I’d had front row seats. The bass was elevated at such a level that each new thud and beat was like a slap to the face.

Boom!

It sounded like a giant hammering away at an enormous door.

“Connie?” I hoped she might still be close by, but Connie wasn’t in much of a giving mood at the moment. It was up to me to figure out what was causing all the commotion. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Boom!

It was the kind of concussion that would accompany the demolition of a skyscraper by dynamite.

Boom!….

--came the cannon fire.

Boom!….

--was the sound of two cars colliding head-on at ninety miles per hour.

The noise seemed to come from everywhere, like Connie’s voice, only much, much louder.

“Why won’t it stop?” I placed both hands over my ears to help block out the roar.

The thunderous sound suddenly stopped as quickly as it had begun. I wondered if I was to blame. Still, I knew there wasn’t time for quiet introspection. There was only time to keep pushing forward and to react in whatever way the maze demanded. My family was depending on me although they didn’t realize it.

I walked ahead bravely, hoping Asterion hadn’t figured out where I was. I wasn’t even sure where I was until I saw a sign.

“The Hall of Silicon Eden.” I read the notation carved into the base of a statue made in the likeness of a snake devouring its own tail.