T W E N T Y - O N E
Seek Fuel, Lose Shelter

WHEN WE HAD finally reached the locked room in which the rest of our team were hiding in, I did not hesitate before pounding heavily against the door. My fists slammed against the wood, my panicked voice possibly tearing down the hallways as I screamed myself hoarse.

"Open the door!" I yelled, pleading as my heart beating at incredulous speeds.

In an instant, the lock clicked open before the door swung, allowing both Lucius and I to tumble into the room before quickly locking the door shut behind us. Leaning with my back against the door, I sighed in relief, sliding to the ground as I could finally take a breath of relief.

"Geez, Addison. What happened out there?" Minnie asked, walking over. I could feel Cassiel's cold hands wrapping themselves around my upper arm, hoisting me to my feet as I leaned into his comforting hold.

"And where are the drinks?" Bella called from the other side of the room, a mocking smirk on her face.

"We ran into another one of those things." Running a hand through his tousled platinum blond hair, Lucius looked every bit flustered as I did. His usually pale face was now a blushing vibrant ruby, hinted with a tint of gold. It seemed as though his blood was causing his skin to shimmer with a sort of iridescence. "It was War this time."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Cassiel's jaw clenched hard, his mind reeling with a thousand different thoughts as he gently let go of me. He had a scowl on, one with loathing and irritation as he folded his arms across his chest.

"It didn't get you guys, right? Not a single scratch?" He asked, eyes glancing me over as if to check for injuries.

"No no, we are fine. There was a man in the hallways though and he got torn up. Literally. War caused certain bruises and wounds to form with each passing second and all I could smell at that moment was the coppery pungent smell of blood." I answered, wrapping my arms around me to somewhat block me away from Cassiel's view. If he realized my small action, he did not say.

"What a waste of a trip, then." Bella scoffed from the other side of the room. She twisted her feet back and forth as if testing out the extent of her injury from earlier before. At her words, silence engulfed the room as the group of us plunged into an awkward tension.

A low grumble echoed through the room, breaking that silence immediately as Lucius blushed profusely before running his hand through his messy hair. "Sorry, that one's on me."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am starving. Is there a place here with food?" Beaming with the entire world's falsity, Minnie bubbled joyfully as she smiled brightly at everyone. It took a skilled eye, but her smile was faked, forced. She was only doing it for show, to ease the tension between Bella, Cassiel and me.

"We walked past a small kitchen before we met you guys," Gabriel spoke up for once, his eyes still emotionless and tone unmoving. "This place did use to be a town hall, and perhaps even a mansion before it was renovated. The fishermen might keep some food down in there for when they visit. After all, the rich stop here for replenishments. Besides, this had been a party before the turn of events. There had been food laying around."

"Wonderful idea, Gabe," Minnie chirped joyfully before pulling me towards the door, her other hand grabbing Gabriel's before she opened the wooden door to peek outside. Once she noticed that it was safe, she nodded her head outside, eager to get a move on.

The hall was quiet, containing an eerie silence that matched the creepy stillness of the night. No matter how brightly the sun shone from outside, there was an unexplainable darkness that had spread through the building. There were no screams, and no obvious murder though the hallways were covered with a thin layer of dried blood. It felt as though all the other party-goers were already dead, and we were the lone survivors.

If that was true, then the odds are against us. We were – I was – the main target from the very beginning. Though I was given a fighting chance to survive, the others weren't offered such a luxury. They were fresh meat left for the dead. Without any sort of weapon or escape, not even a sober mind as evident to the drunken man we had spotted taken victim by War, they could be taken down easily.

And there, I prayed.

I prayed that Porsha was the first and last person in which I knew and thought of as a friend long ago that had died. I prayed that no one else I knew was a victim of this twisted killing spree. I prayed selfish prayers, and yet I would not take anything back.

And that was because, in the end, only the selfish would have the self-preservation and cowardice to survive.

At the current moment, I could not decide which was worse. My starving hunger that made me weak in the knees or that one of my best friends were staring daggers right into my back just because the boy she fancied paid me a little more attention than he did her.

Ever since our return from the yacht, Bella had been acting awfully distant. It could be the toll of fear building up on her and eventually cracking her mentality and personality. Yet, it could also as well be that jealousy is beginning to form root in her heart. Green was most certainly not a color meant for Bella. She wore it in a way that made her entire being revolting to be around. It made her vile.

It was daybreak, and that meant that the creatures of the dark would have a harder time creeping up on us than at night. Even if they didn't have a harder time, I still found great peace in seeing the light shine through the windows. It just gave off that ethereal feel in which I desperately needed now in this time of despair. How strange it was that people who feared to be in the dark were not actually afraid of the lack of light but rather the monsters that might dwell in it. The shadows hide things that no one wanted to face; be it imaginary monsters under the bed or our own demons.

Down the hallway walk towards the kitchen, I asked Minnie the questions that burned in my mind.

"Did you try to break the windows while we were gone?" I turned to Minnie, eyebrows crumpled, watching her intently for her reaction and answer.

"Yes," she shook her head dejectedly, "but they won't break. Not even a budge. Gabe's got a bandage over his right elbow because of that, actually."

True enough, a small white piece of cloth was wrapped over Gabriel's right elbow, supposedly injured and in pain from attempting to break through the glass. I frowned, eyeing the bit of cloth that greatly resembled his own t-shirt that he had on.

"If the glass didn't break, why does he need that bandage? There shouldn't be a cut."

"The glass didn't break, but his bones did. There was a nasty crack too. The glass did not even have a single scratch on them. Can you believe it?" Minnie sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "I had to pop the bone back into place due to the fact that it got dislocated. Thank my lucky stars I took a medical course a few summers back."

"You guys don't have to stay here, you know. You could leave. Swim out of here. Or better yet, the lake is frozen over. You just have to walk across and climb the fence." I frowned slightly, pursing my lips into a thin line. "I'm the only one that has got to stay. I need to find those orbs. But you guys don't."

"Cassiel mentioned that he had tried. He said that when you were on the yacht, he tried to climb over the fences. They were electric, and almost three stories high. There was no possible way for him to go over without electrocuting himself." Minnie sighed, her eyes softening for a moment. "And besides, I will not leave even if it was possible, and I'm sure neither will Bella no matter how annoyed she is at you. We are your friends. A bunch of guys won't get in between us, just like how Porsha didn't."

I had flinched slightly when Porsha was mentioned, but if Minnie had noticed, she did not say a word. I felt bad for ending things this way, but what's done is done. She is dead, and all I can do now is hopefully survive this ordeal and give her the proper burial she deserved, no matter how much of a bitch she was or how horrible of a friend she had been. After all of that, she was still a daughter, a sister, and someone loved by her family and perhaps even her friends.

"So," I began, a teasing and much lighter tone to my voice as I wiggled my eyebrows slightly, "what's up with you and Gabe?"

If I had asked in a normal manner and refrained from stressing on Minnie's new nickname for Gabriel, perhaps Minnie wouldn't put a beetroot to shame. Instead, her face was as bright as a good tomato, her eyes dipping down to eye the floor as we continued our way as a large group.

"Is there something that is supposed to be 'up'?"

"Oh, don't think that I hadn't noticed, Minerva." Nudging her just the slightest, I nodded once towards Gabriel before smiling down back at her. "I've noticed the small fleeting glances he casts you, and you at him. Nothing escaped my eye back in high school, and it won't escape now. It's nearly disgusting, really, how cute you guys are."

Well, nothing escaped my eyes except my friend backstabbing me by breaking a sister code. But other than that, I'm pretty good.

"There is nothing between us." Minnie forced a laughter, shrugging in an almost exaggerated manner as she rolled her eyes. "We're just... acquaintances."

"Right," I drawled. "I wouldn't have believed it even if you said that you two were friends. And now you're using the term 'acquaintances'? Geez Minnie, how old do you think I am? A five-year-old? There is obvious tension between the two of you."

"Okay fine!" Groaning, Minnie twiddled with the ends of her long red hair, her cheeks flushing brightly to match. "We sort of... kissed."

"What?!" I exclaimed in shock, eyes widening to the size of saucers as I gaped at my friend. "When? Spill the damn tea already, sister. I can't believe you tried to hide that from me."

Minnie rolled her eyes at my statement.

"When you left with Cassiel earlier this morning. I was pacing back and forth, worried about you two's safety, more you than him, mind you, and suddenly he walked over to comfort me. I didn't know how to even react, Addy! He had been so quiet for the past few hours, and when he finally started talking, I just babbled on in an attempt to keep the conversation going. He really understood me, and I guess one thing led to another, and I kissed him back, and—"

"Wait," I paused, eyes wide with surprise. "He made the first move? He kissed you first?"

"Well," she paused as if to assure herself that the fact was a hundred percent and not something she had dreamt up. "Yeah. Surprisingly, he did."

"Wow, I didn't even know that he had it in him," I admitted, pulling down the sleeves of my sweater to cover my fingers.

"And Cassiel? You two weren't on the best of terms when you left the room. What changed?"

"He saved my life, Minnie. Twice in a night." Biting onto my lip, I flashed back to the little scene where he fired a bullet at the ghoul that had come after me in the hallways, right before the yacht incident.

"But that doesn't make you two instant friends. He's suddenly so kind to you. Did you two...?"

"No!" Nearly screeching, I took a deep breath to calm myself down, rubbing my fingers over my temples as I took a calmer approach and shook my head. "No, nothing happened."

"Maybe he likes you?" Minnie smirked, gladly taking the teasing row now that I had practically thrown it at her. "You are a very beautiful girl. Both inside and out. Boys and girls both would be dumb to not realize that."

I couldn't find the will in me to reply to that. It had been odd that Cassiel had taken a whole turn in regards to his attitude towards me, but that didn't need to mean that there was something going on in between us. Maybe there was just a bond that was created right after he saved my life.

"Whether he likes me or not, I cannot get too attached to him. It's weird. I just got out of a relationship with his friend. And you too, Minnie. You barely even knew Gabriel for a week and you're already all cozy? You ought to be more careful." I shook my head, stealing a glance at the boys.

"I know and I will pace myself. Don't worry, Addison. I know the limits and I will not put myself in a danger like that. It's just a kiss."

Barely even looking Minnie in the eye for I knew that she was lying, I toyed around with my dirty sweater. There were random tears here and there, ruining the perfect gray knit that it once was, but that didn't matter. I was too preoccupied with the events of last night to even think about my outfit right now. The maze had been a real test of courage for me and being granted the right to say that I had passed that test, I was proud. Proud that I could be as brave as I wanted to be.

I could sense Minnie's eyes raking over my body, and one look from her and I knew that she was assessing my form. With one perfectly arched eyebrow raised, she gestured to my clothing. "What got you so damn dirt up?"

"Listen, Minnie." I dropped my voice to a whisper, a soft hush as I took a quick glance at Cassiel. He was walking alone, way at the back behind Lucius and Bella. With his head dropped low and light brown hair messily disheveled into that 'just got out of bed' look, I couldn't deny that he was an attractive man. His lips were shaped into a slight scowl, eyeing the area in disdain as he trudged just a few steps slower than everyone else. "I think that the maze, the carnival. It was all real. There is no possible way in which I could've gotten my sweater torn. The only thing in which would be plausible would be when I jumped through the hedge to escape the damn clown. Other than that, I barely even touched anything. I fell once, but that was it. And my bracelet, another diamond changed its color. Don't you see? I finally figured it out. Those are the bullets for the pistol. The diamonds! And they will change color accordingly to the ghoul that they hit."

She gritted her jaw, mind reeling as she slowly registered my words. Minnie didn't need to say it out loud, but I already knew that she believed every single word I had just said. Out of the three of us, she had always been the one more into the fairytale side of life rather than reality. Minnie grew up on happily-ever-afters and romance movies. Bella and I grew up with the cold hard facts of reality.

"I believe you. But everything is just too fishy right now. We will find a way to solve this damn mystery, but right now, we have to get your riddles solved." And then, she paused, eyes lighting up in excitement. "If the maze was real, it would mean that the second riddle is solved, wouldn't it? You said you broke the orb, and that was the way to solve it."

Air clogged up in my throat as my hands fumbled through my pockets, searching for the little bit of paper. Once my fingers came into contact with the crumpled note, I withdrew it, eyes scanning through the thing eagerly. True enough to Minnie's assumptions, the words had changed, revealing the third orb's location as the ink twisted itself into cryptic messages.

Seek me where you seek fuel. A car can't race without its oil, and the hurricanes can't howl without its winds.

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