GHOSTING

CHAPTER FIVE: BLEEDING THOUGHTS

ESTHER woke within seconds of seeing the boy.

She'd gone to bed after devising a decent enough plan to kill Harriet and from the way her mind was still churning, she wasn't sure if she'd actually seen the boy or if he was simply part of her imagination. But now, as she looked back at it, he had definitely not been real, otherwise, the snow would've landed on him rather than avoid him.

Yes, he was not real.

She took a small breath, more to calm herself than because her lungs needed the cold air, not that it was very good, it left her throat with a dry ache and she almost wished for the hot air she had once experienced in the summers at WICKED's facility.

She wouldn't get that back until she corrected the trials, then, and only then, would Ava allow her to return.

As Esther slipped out from under her bedding she glanced around, numerous girls were already out of their beds and pulling their packs together, night had barely begun to set over the maze and its inhabitants and still, most seemed worried.

Harriet had sent them to bed early, in hopes of getting the girls rested before they ventured out into the maze. Esther didn't feel very well rested, she felt like a ton of bricks had been slammed onto her head and then tied onto her back. And the feeling only intensified as she moved to slip on her thick pair of boots.

God, how long did Ava expect her to stay here? It was already awful enough interacting with the people she had grown up watching and practically torturing on a mental- and somewhat physical- scale, but to have to kill one? She'd have to ask Ava to have the memory removed once she returned to the facility, she didn't want to have to relive Harriet's death night after night.

She watched as the other girls slipped their packs onto their backs as if this wasn't something new to them. As if going into the maze at night had been the most normal idea in the world. What Esther wouldn't have done for a few extra hours of sleep...

But she knew there was no rest for the WICKED. And she knew that she had a very important task waiting to be completed, and the sooner it was accomplished, the better. For her and everyone else.

Once she finished dressing for the cold night she too slipped her pack onto her back and began to follow after the nearest girl, she couldn't remember her name but could slightly recall it began with an E, perhaps it was Elsie or Ellen, she'd figure it out later, that is, if she wasn't gone by then.

A large group of girls, led by Harriet, had gathered near the entrance to the labyrinth they called the maze. She let her eyes follow after each girl as the one he'd been following- Elsie or Ellen- drifted off towards a small group of girls within the larger group that Esther had identified as her friends before being sent into the maze.

Part of her wanted to follow them, to join them, but she knew the more attachments she grew here the harder it would be to leave. And she wanted to leave, so badly.

At the front of the group, Harriet had begun what looked like a head count, she was over forty by the time she reached Esther and the girl knew it wouldn't get much higher than this, they'd stopped sending girls to the specific maze about two weeks ago, so for them to get one at such a random time was odd. But not quite noticed.

What would be noticed by everyone though, would be when they welcomed Aris or didn't. They didn't know how that would go.

Esther didn't really care if she was being honest, as long as a variable came out of it, a useful one.

And even if they didn't get one, at least they would know what to expect in the other mazes.

Harriet's voice died out from the front of the group and looking around to see where she was, she noticed that the girl was pulling a decent-sized sharp pole from her belt. With a cough that carried over the noise of the girls, Harriet watched as their conversations died out and they all turned to her.

"Is there anything anyone needs before we head out? A weapon? A pair of goggles? Anything that could protect you?"

When no one spoke up, Harriet took that as her sign to get the girls moving, "remember," she called out, "small groups of up to six, we need to cover as much ground as possible tonight."

Silently, the girls quickly began to split off from one another and into smaller, predetermined groups. Turning her head towards Harriet, she was yanked in the opposite direction, and as she turned to face her "attacker" she found a smiling Lise. "You can be in our group tonight, make things a little easier on you and give you a sort of walkthrough on how to handle those things."

Esther found herself smiling a small smile, she couldn't recall ever having friends, but, maybe this was what they were like. Helpful, thoughtful, kind even.

She let her smile drop, she was not supposed to be happy here. She was supposed to be happy at the idea of returning to the WICKED facility, and the more happiness she experienced in the maze, the more likely it would be that she wouldn't escape it.

Just as the two of them joined the rest of their small group, made up of seven individuals including Esther and Lise, Harriet had already begun to send the girls out group by group, she would follow up in the middle to keep an eye on both the front and back of the entire group of girls.

Esther prayed she would get an opportunity to kill the girl. To do something that would result in her immediate death.

As they walked past the towering walls of the maze, she ran through all the different ways she could play it off as a grieved. All she needed to do was get separated from her group, which she could easily do, and corner Harriet, which would also be easy.

She just needed some commotion to get the ball rolling.

And soon enough, that commotion came.

Two grievers, one running after the other, stumbled across their path about an hour upon their entry into the maze, and god, were they colossal.

Sure, Esther had seen plenty up close in their comatose state, but running right at her and alive and designed to kill, she couldn't have been more scared.

While the other girls fought against the attack, Esther managed to locate Harriet in the madness, a third griever was hiding just beyond the shadows about two hundred meters away from Harriet, waiting for the right chance to lunge. With a quick cry leaving her lips and her legs kicking into action faster than she thought possible, she abandoned her group and snatched Harriet up by the arm right as the griever lunged.

Dragging her away from the thing- and the groups in the process- she led them through the concrete walls lined with vines and kept running until she was sure she'd thrown the thing off their trail.

And then, while the girl was still heaving from fatigue, Esther curled her fingers into a fist and swung it right at Harriet's left cheek. With a cry and a thud, Harriet staggered away from the girl while holding her cheek. She looked up at her, somewhat confused before she let her hand fall and lunged at Esther.

Esther felt the tip of the pole Harriet had showcased earlier slice across the clear pale skin of her forearm, and felt tears prickling at her eyes. Holding in a cry, Esther's cheeks turned pink as her blood began to take in the adrenaline rush, she let a small scream of sorts leave her lips as she shoved Harriet onto the ground.

The girl's pole clattered onto the concrete ground as she tried to right herself, but it was no use, in a rage, Esther was on top of her in seconds and wasted no time in wrapping her smooth hands against the girl's worn-in skin. She would not let Harriet stand in the way of their trials, and she would go to any length to make sure she didn't cause them any problems.

Gasping, Harriet's mouth opened, "y-you're one of t-them," she wheezed, her hands limply prodding at Esther's as she tried to free herself from the girl's deathly grip, with a small nod of her head Esther squeezed harder, she needed her to die. And quickly.

Within the next two minutes, Harriet was dead.

And it was odd, Esther didn't feel anything but justified.

She dragged the girl's body into a small bundle of vines at the base of one of the walls, knowing no one would ever bother looking for her, and just for good measure, she took the girl's sharp pole and jabbed it into the girl's neck.

It was a cruel act in all seriousness, but Esther wasn't concerned with that. She reached down to the pole and cleaned it off on Harriet's shirt before taking her hands and covering them in the girl's blood. If she was going to convince the others that a griever had taken off with Harriet's body she would need to show them that she had tried to save her, that the blood on her was from trying to rescue the already injured girl.

Her plan had worked out perfectly. Now Lise could take over and everything would go back to the way it had been.

But as Esther looked down at her hands, the pole still in the bloody things, she felt hot tears prickling in her eyes again. She'd killed someone. An actual human being.

What was wrong with her?

It was fine, everything was going to be fine. Ava could fix this, she could remove the memory and any traces of it completely. She took a deep breath and let the tears fall down her cheeks, it was then, and only then, as she ran away from Harriet's bleeding body, that she actually felt guilty.

When she reached the clearing in between the maze walls and saw the group she slowed, not because she was scared of what they would do, but because she didn't think she could go any faster. Her mind had cleared of any guilt now, and still, with tears pouring down her face, she managed to tense up her face as she approached before dropping to her knees in an awful body-racking fit of sobs.

'The things- the grievers, they took her-"

The girls exchanged a look as Lise pushed her way up to the front of the group, "took who?"

Esther sniffled and reached her bloody hand to her face to rub at the snot, which only further smeared the blood and the snot across her face. "Harriet, t-they took her," she sobbed. Harriet's pole clanged against the concrete as Esther released it from her grip and continued to sob, "I tried to save her, but they just wouldn't stop- they mutilated her."

Lise's expression was as grim as she expected, and as much as she wanted to drop down to her knees beside Esther and grieve, she knew they still had to make it through the night before they could all hurt for Harriet.

"Vera," she called, flat and loudly, the girl made her way to the front of the group in complete silence before pushing up next to Lise.

"Get her cleaned up, I want you to stay beside her all night."

With a small nod, Vera moved to the ground beside Esther and opened her pack to reveal a small box full of medical supplies she had brought along, "your group will stay with you, I'll lead the others further in."

And it was just like that, that Lise had become the new leader of the group.

GHOSTING

CHAPTER FIVE: BLEEDING THOUGHTS