GHOSTING

CHAPTER TWO: COLD CRASH

THE first thing she felt when she opened her eyes was the cold metal beneath her.

She'd assisted in the swipe enough to know that she was in the box, and she was being sent up to the maze. But this one was different, it wasn't like the one for Trial A, it was another one, one she didn't recognize.

Sitting up, she took note of the gown she was still wearing, why hadn't she been dressed like all the other subjects sent inside?

Esther reached her hand to the back of her neck and gently rubbed at the sore skin, they'd sliced it open and tried to install the chip, and while it worked, the swipe hadn't taken it's hoped effect. She should've been dead, they didn't put malfunctions in the maze, they killed them behind the privacy of closed doors before telling the others that they had turned out to be susceptible to the flare and had a bad reaction to treatment.

She would never understand the cruel ways of WICKED. Ever.

Sitting up she scooted backward and pressed her body into the hard metal frame behind her, she wondered which maze it was she was being sent to, which hell they'd tossed her into.

She knew they were watching her.

She could feel it.

They had never been subtle unless it gained them a reaction of sorts that they were unable to gauge with their tools.

Using the wall for support, she stood her feet burning with every passing second as she stood across the metal panel below her.

"I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME!" she yelled her voice echoing throughout the shaft as it continued to ascend the sight of an end- or top- out of sight.

The one thing she couldn't remember, was why she remembered, how she did.

It shouldn't have been possible.

And yet, there she sat, in the hospital gown with her fists clenched at her sides as she thought about the boy and the brunette female, all she could think of was how she'd dosed her and demanded Thomas attempt the operation a second time.

She wished she had gotten the chance to pummel Teresa with her fist, watch as the girl let out a gasp, and tumbled to the floor in shock, but she couldn't. She was being sent into the maze, and as to which one, she still wasn't sure.

Esther didn't bother to stand, she knew what was coming, the sickening lurch that would occur as the elevator slammed into the top of the shaft, she knew it would be less painful if she stayed seated on the floor.

So she did.

And picking at the ends of her shirt, she thought about what her next move would be.

She couldn't exactly escape if she didn't know which maze she was in, but then again, she'd only really ever seen a few of the mazes, and a few of them seemed to have meshed themselves together in her current memory.

No doubt the effects of the operation at work.

But she didn't believe it was from that, even Teresa had known the operation had failed, so why couldn't she tell the difference between the maze blueprints she'd managed to concoct based on memory?

She shook her head, thinking too much about it was beginning to make her brain ache, and she needed to be on the top of her game if she was to figure out how she was going to get herself out of this situation.

Esther really wished she hadn't gone with Janson to "talk" to Ava.

Ava.

The backstabbing liar.

She'd lied to her.

What sort of job was this?

Being lied to and tossed into a maze, if she ever got out, she was going to wreak havoc upon the witch and her little organization.

Not that she hadn't already.

The explosion.

She couldn't have planned it any better.

With the explosion from earlier, Ava would be stuck supervising the reconstruction and wouldn't have much time to supervise the mazes and the control variables, she might actually have a chance of escaping, and hopefully getting anyone else there out as well.

Christ, she was hoping she got put in Group C's maze, it was a small rainy location they'd built, but that was what made it so wonderful. Hardly any opportunities to sweat to death and it seemed far more peaceful than the rest.

She would have loved it there.

But sadly, that wasn't where she was going.

She was going somewhere, far more... bone-chilling.

A few more minutes passed before Esther heard the grinding of gears and realized the elevator was picking up speed, she was getting closer to the top.

Letting out a shaky breath, she scooted towards the closest corner and folded her legs in towards her, covering her head with her arms, she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth together to avoid the possibility of biting through her tongue at the impact.

Except, when she reached the top, it didn't collide quite as harshly as she had thought it would, opening her eyes, she peered out through the small gaps between her arms her eyes immediately flicking to the tiny sliver of dim light that had found its way into the shaft.

Esther cast a silent look in the direction of the hidden camera, while she wouldn't be able to find it- much less use it to her advantage- she could at least show WICKED that she wasn't scared of whatever they had planned for her, she knew it couldn't be good.

Letting out a sigh, she slowly stood shuddering at the sudden loss of warmth that hit her within seconds, drawing in her arms across her chest she took a few steps closer to the center of the elevator and glanced upwards.

Hopefully, someone would open the door and let her out, she didn't want to be in the dark more than she had to, it always felt like night, whereas with some light, she could at least tell the time, and currently, all she could tell was that it was daytime.

The girl wondered what she'd done wrong- besides setting off the explosion- to land her in one of the mazes, she was never meant to be a subject, at least not to her knowledge.

Thinking further on that topic, she wouldn't be surprised if the female Thomas was always with had something to do with her being sent down, in fact, maybe she had even suggested the notion.

Esther narrowed her eyes, it seemed lately her luck had been drawn thin, and now, it was out.

A sound whined out overhead, craning her head towards the ceiling, she watched as the doors swung outward and light washed over her.

Closing her eyes, she reached out her arm to block the light from blinding her further, after a few moments, she found herself opening her eyes to take in the sight before her; girls.

It seemed that's all there was, girls.

Letting her eyes weave through them, she took notice of the fact that she only recognized two of them, lo and behold, the only set of surviving siblings she knew of, Kennedy and Lucia.

She had wondered where they'd disappeared to, sadly, it had been to the maze. And from the looks of what she could see so far, she could only assume she'd been sent into Group B's maze.

"Get her out."

Esther turned to try and locate the source of the order but was met only with patient faces and a girl leaning down with a rope to pull her out, "Kennedy, go grab a coat and some pants for her..." the voice paused and the girl finally located who the source of the orders was, a tall lean girl with a long bit of hair tied up into a top knot.

"Grab her a pair of boots too, Inge, get the fire started." glancing away from Esther, the girl found herself eyeing a shorter female, "Inge, did you hear me?" she questioned, the girl shook her head, "we don't start the fire for another hour or so-"

"I said to get the fire started, lord knows it won't hurt anyone." the girl gave a small nod before quickly splitting away from the rest of the group.

Suddenly aware of her situation- and the cold weather it seemed to have brought on with it- Esther wrapped her arms around herself to try and lock in as much heat as possible, it took everything in her to not let her mouth fall open and let the sound of chattering teeth ring out for everyone to hear.

"Vera, get her out of there." the girl- Vera being her name- tightened her grip on the rope as she leaned down to let it fall in front of Esther, she watched as the girl wearily looked at it before looking up at her, almost as if she was questioning how much she could trust either.

The girl cautiously grabbed the rope and wrapped it around her hands, she knew how to get out of the box, but knowing how to do something and actually doing it were two very different things, and doing it proved much harder than she'd originally thought.

As she approached the ledge that led into the dropdown of the elevator- or box as she'd realized they had begun to call it- Vera reached out and grasped her hand roughly pulling her into the snow-covered ground beside her.

Shivering more than she had been before, Esther looked around in an attempt to locate the girl that had been barking out orders, "Lise." Vera spoke, the red-haired girl reappeared through the mass of other girls and looked down at them with her emerald green eyes, she could've sworn she recognized her, but she couldn't begin to try and place her finger on where it was that she'd run into her.

"Hmm?" she mumbled casting a sideways glance in the direction she'd sent Kennedy in, "she's freezing." Vera stated, when a few seconds went by and the girl didn't respond, she found herself removing her own jacket and wrapping it around the girl's torso, Lise let out a sigh before glancing over her shoulder, "Lucia, go see what's keeping Kennedy."

The black-haired girl ran off from the group quickly making her way to a building of sorts, Vera, still taken with the girl, pulled her in towards her chest and wrapped her arms around her in an attempt to keep her as warm as possible.

"I don't get it, they usually send them up dressed..." Vera paused casting a glance at the girl's outfit, "not in hospital gowns." Lise didn't respond and instead averted her attention back to the building, lifting her hand up to her face, she bit down on the nail of her index finger, she hated this.

The sudden changes that were occurring, the disruption of their routine.

Esther watched as the two girls appeared from within the building and quickly made their way back to where the majority of the large group waited, "sorry..." Kennedy spoke letting out a pant as she approached Vera and set the requested items down, Lucia followed behind her with a pair of socks and boots in hand, "she was upstairs." she spoke a cough parting her cracking lips.

Lise pushed past the few girls in her way and settled herself in front of the girl in Vera's lap, "the rest of you can go to the fire, we'll join you shortly." when no one moved she looked up into their questioning faces, almost as if she was ordering them with no words, "go."

Kennedy grabbed Lucia's arm as she cast a final look over her shoulder, it wasn't her place to question, much less disobey, that was how they maintained order, and without it, they would all fail to survive.

As the group dispersed and the last of the girls were led away from the small trio, Lise found herself quickly grabbing the long sleeve shirt from the top of the small pile the two girls had created, "lift your arms up." she spoke her voice softer than when she'd been ordering the girls about moments before.

Esther did as told and slowly raised them up- the coat falling from her frame as she did so- "do you know your name?" Lise questioned raising her eyes to meet the girl's gaze, "Esther." she mumbled watching as the girl continued to dress her.

Vera- still holding the girl in her lap- picked her coat from the snow and pulled it back on as Lise carefully pulled the last of the two boots over Esther's foot.

"That should keep you warm." she stated quickly standing up, Vera shifted beneath the girl and let her arms reach out behind her to hold her up, Lise reached her hand out to Esther watching as she eyed it for a moment before grabbing it and allowing the girl to pull her to her feet.

"Well, welcome to hell Esther."

GHOSTING

CHAPTER TWO: COLD CRASH