I should honestly have some sort of will power within me. It was abundantly clear that I had minimal say in anything I wanted to do. Or if I said no, people really didn't seem to take me seriously.

Where the hell is even one ounce of strength I have within myself. And some power over myself. Where? Where?

"You look so pretty." Emma coos, dabbing some freckles with the tip of her brown eyeliner all across my face.

"Why are we doing all of this if we wear masks anyways?" I asked, and quite frankly I was so disgusted in myself of even allowing her to do this.

I said no.

But tell me why my whole body was dragged out of bed when I was in deep sleep, my mind conjuring up images of different ways I could throw a brick on Nate's head. I was content to stay in that dream, even if he was respawning everything and each time he was getting more sexier in my dream. It was leading to something explosive, I could infer that.

Emma was quite strong for someone with her build. She managed to drag me out of bed, into the chair she has pulled into the door (mind you, all of this was done whilst I was snoring away) and pulled me down aggressively. She seemed pissed that I was delaying the time of leaving and she was quick to help me get ready. All this time, incoherent mutters fell under her breath and I had zero qualms to ask her what she was going on about.

There were fights to pick. Fighting with Emma seemed like a losing battle.

"It's just for fun. You excited to just escape life for a few moments?"

Now, regardless of how annoyed I was at myself, the idea of escaping life for a few moments was beyond amazing.

"Is this like the movies where you can even kiss strangers and they wouldn't know?"

"You sure as heck can!" Emma replied with a massive cheeky grin.

"Are you going to do it?" I asked her in a teasing tone, knowing who I exactly meant. I did not miss the interactions between her and Claud. There was something there brewing between the two of them.

"I'm not sure..." she said, her words trailing away.

"I know I definitely won't. So shall we stick together?" I asked her.

"What about Nate?" She asked, wriggling her brows down at me. I grabbed her thigh in mock squeeze.

"I don't know who that is."

Emma's dancing eyes slowly faded, until they turned serious. Her expression was so different from what I'm used to. "He's a really great person, so whatever he has done, believe that he's never done it to harm a person."

I lifted up my hand, asking her to slightly to stop the conversation straight away.

"It's a hard to swallow the pill he handed me. Especially because he was my escape from reality, someone that was mine and mine only in times I needed him most. But it wasn't for him."

Emma let out a sigh. "These men are honestly the reason we take our last breath on a cuss word."

"Mine will probably be damning him to hell with me."

Emma smiled, "where he most likely belongs. And I mean next to you. Not in hell."

I rolled my eyes but allowed her to finish up my face. I was helping whenever she needed but I quite enjoyed having her mess around with me. She wasn't trying to make me perfect but more fun and adventurous and I was devouring every second of it.

"All done!" She said on a small shout. She quickly made me look into the mirror before rushing around the room. She packed the make up she needed in case for a touch up and motioned for me to follow her out.

I glanced at my outfit one final time and did an inwardly freak out. I never had this much colour on me but it was so perfect at the same time. I gave off festival vibe but dressed for the winter.  I had on flared black pants but they were sheer enough for my whole skin to be visible. A body corset that clung onto me like second skin, with hues of blues and burning oranges. The reds and yellows in there also added to the illusion that I had on a fire shirt. It was too bright and chaotic.

My mask covered my whole face and it had similar colours of my shirt, but the feathers resembled a bird. Was I a flaming bird? I don't even know. Or the bird in Harry Potter. Can't remember the name.

My heels were high red stilettos and that just threw my whole outfit into a sexy piece.

Emma was dressed in a similar way, expect she resembled more of a forest creature with the greens and the browns and the bright blues. Her hair had tight curls in before and she ran her fingers all through them, creating this beautiful mane.

We looked like twin flames and I loved it.

***

There were several new faces I was introduced to at the entrance of the maze. I nodded as if I would remember their names and it was also extremely hard to focus on anything when I could only feel a set of eyes burning holes in my back.

He was here.

Damn him.

Claud was here too, but for some unknown and unusual reason, he was silent and taking everything in. But his eyes left Emma. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one that noticed his whole body shift whenever she walked closer to him. He was noticing her and his body physical reacted to everything visible now.

"May the best person win! And remember, in there we don't know whose whose. Shame on you if you remember the outfits. Boohoo."

Everyone in the group laughed at her voice before they slowly disappeared through the entrance. I stood behind, waiting for Emma to go. She seemed to be wanting to go last.

Nate walked past me and through the entrance without making any eye contact. I looked at his outfit but it was plain black cargo pants with a black thermal long sleeve top. His mask was not on him. He really didn't get the memo to get dressed up.

Once everyone was in, Emma whipped her whole body around and quickly motioned for me to strip. I gauged my eyes at her.

"Now?" I whisper shouted at her, watching her take off her clothes and fish out a whole new outfit from her bag.

"What the hell?"

Emma was panting as she tried to explain her whole game plan to me. "They've looked at our outfits and watch them all try to sabotages us. So I used it as a decoy kind of thing. Our real outfits are these skimpy skirts and bralets. No one will stop us now because they'll genuinely think we are two skimpy girls drunk as heck."

As she's explaining it to me, she's tugging down her pants and putting on this whole new outfit.  I was beyond amazed.

In a rush of excitement and a hint of nervousness, I quickly swapped my outfit just before stepping into the maze. My whole new outfit consisted of purple and violet colours. Emma even had new masks for us, this one resembling a white swan. Emma and I shared a moment of playful laughter, the anticipation of what lay ahead binding us together.

As we ventured into the maze, a mischievous thought danced through my mind. In this new ensemble, I was convinced that I had transformed into someone unrecognizable. Especially to Nate.

As Emma and I delved deeper into the maze, our laughter continued to echo against the walls, carrying a sense of adventure and camaraderie. Each twist and turn seemed to hold a new surprise, and the excitement was palpable in the air. But as we progressed, the dim light that had guided us began to fade, and an uneasy feeling crept over us.

Laughter turned to cautious whispers as we navigated through the increasingly dark corridors. The maze seemed to have a life of its own, changing its layout just as we grew accustomed to its paths. We exchanged worried glances, trying to keep our spirits up even as uncertainty settled in.

Then, in an instant, Emma and I were separated. Panic clutched at my chest as I realized the darkness had swallowed her form. "Emma!" I called out, my voice echoing hollowly through the labyrinth. But my only answer was the haunting silence that seemed to press in from all sides.

Alone and disoriented, my heart pounded in my chest as I stumbled forward. The walls seemed to close in around me, the air thick with a sense of foreboding. And then, out of nowhere, a strong arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me forcefully against a hard body. My scream was stifled by a hand, and I found myself trapped, unable to see who or what had snatched me from the darkness.

In the grip of uncertainty and fear, I was suddenly met with a familiar voice that sent a shiver down my spine. "You think I wouldn't recognize your whole outfit change?" Nate's words were a mixture of amusement and something else, something harder to decipher.

"Let go of me," I demanded, my voice shaking with a mixture of anger and anxiety.

"No," he replied, his grip unyielding.

"I'll scream," I threatened, my voice growing louder.

"No one would hear you," he retorted calmly, his breath warm against my ear.

"Nate, let go," I pleaded, my heart racing as panic threatened to consume me.

"Not until you give me what I want," he stated, his tone taking on a determined edge.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, despite the tense situation. "So cliche. Get away from me."

A dark chuckle rumbled from him. "You once told me you are a sucker for anything cliche. Just giving you your dream."

I couldn't help but let out an incredulous laugh. "Funny you mention dreams. I dreamed of throwing bricks at your head earlier. It was amazing."

As he moved closer, his body heat enveloped me, causing a cascade of flutters in my stomach. It infuriated me how my body seemed to betray me, melting against him despite the tension and frustration that coursed through me.

"Give me what I want."