MADISON

Madison was in a very bad mood when she fell asleep that night. In addition to all the yelling and arguing among the students, she was furious with herself. It was partly because she knew nothing about what was going on. The rest of her anger came from the realization that she was no longer having dreams.

She had closed her eyes so many times, but nothing came to her. It was a strange feeling, since she had gotten used to seeing pieces of dreams even when she blinked. It made her uncomfortable that something so consistent could suddenly stop. It didn't feel right, and she was mad at herself for it. Why can't I do it? she interrogated herself. Why can't I be useful?

She tossed and turned for a while before falling into a light sleep. It wasn't long before someone said her name. "Madison."

"Whaaa...," she mumbled sleepily, opening her eyes in tired slits. They flew open completely when she saw that she wasn't in the library anymore. She was in the theater, lying on the floor in the left wing of the stage. She jumped to her feet and looked for the person who had called her name. To her discomfort, she found no one.

"Madison," the voice repeated, making her heart lurch. She took deep breaths to calm herself. It's just a dream, she thought. They're back. It's a new one. Maybe I can find out where Roy is. Maybe I can find the murderer....

"Madison," the voice repeated eerily. Madison looked in the direction it had come from. If she was hearing it right, it was coming from the middle of the stage. She went to it and looked around. "No one's here," she said to herself.

"Madison," the voice crept up from beneath her. She looked down and saw that there was a board that stood out from the rest of the stage. She pulled at its corners. It moved, but only slightly. She had to push, pull, and shake it before the piece of wood came loose with a human-like sigh.

A pulsating red glow rose to meet her and lit her face with a sunburned hue. Shielding her eyes with her hand, Madison peered into the hole, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was creating the light and calling her name. She saw a bright red, fist-sized gem nestled at the bottom.

Madison reached down and wrapped her fingers around it, carefully lifting it out of the hole to examine more closely. The gem lost its eerie glow, only shining when light from the stage reflected in it. Madison didn't think it was strange. It was only a dream, after all. She turned the gem over, letting the light sparkle and shift across its facets. It was beautiful.

Then the dream shifted. Her thoughts sped her out the door of the theater, down the halls, and around corners. It was so blurry that she didn't know where she was going until she had stopped.

Madison was standing in the glass pavilion. The bright walls and floor were darkened with night. Cool shadows swayed across the room, ebbing and flowing with the wind that blew outside. There were no oil lamps or candles to light this room. There were only the stars twinkling through the glass ceiling above. The moon was not out.

Madison didn't know why, but she headed for the grand piano, still and dark in the silent room. Her footsteps echoed through the room with every step she took.

Looking at the instrument, Madison noticed something that no one had before. The top board that covered the inner workings was propped up, and inside Madison could see a strange metal platform with an angular hole cut neatly into it. Before she had time to wonder what it could be, her hand reached out on its own and set the gem firmly into the slot.

Seconds later, a loud groan rumbled throughout the room. At first Madison wondered if she had triggered something that would make the room crumble and fall  apart around her. But only the floor changed. A large circle cut out of the floorboards around her and the piano, creaking as it pulled away. After it was separated, the circle began to slowly sink down.

Madison made up her mind to get off when she saw the rest of the floor a foot above her, with the distance steadily growing. But when she tried to move, her feet stuck to the descending platform with some invisible force.

"No!" Madison exclaimed. The floor passed her eye level, then it was above her head, and then she had to crane her head back to see the hole that she had gone through.

Madison accepted that it was hopeless, that she was going to go down until she reached the bottom. Instead of searching for the dim light from above, she examined her surroundings. She was going down a wide tube. She could tell that the walls of the tube were made of metal because of the way they reflected the slowly vanishing light. When she touched them, they felt cool and smooth.

While Madison was making these observations, the invisible grip let go of her. It would have been nice if that happened before I sank into this hole, Madison reflected. Whatever had not allowed her to move obviously wanted her to go down.

After what felt like an hour, but was probably five minutes, the platform slowed to a more sluggish pace. Madison was wondering about it when the platform shook and sent her tumbling to the ground. When she got to her feet, she realized that the platform had stopped. It was pitch black and silent. She stood in anxious anticipation. What now? Am I trapped here forever?

A sliver of light appeared on the wall in front of her and gradually grew. She watched as the light expanded until it became an opening into another room. Madison stepped through. It didn't take her long to recognize where she was.

No way, Madison thought. It's the entrance to the maze. She turned to go back, but the opening had sealed up behind her.

It's all right, Madison reassured herself. You've done this maze a million times. You'll be fine. Soon you'll just wake up.

A little more confident, Madison stepped into the first passageway. She fell into a familiar rhythm, turning when she knew to turn and avoiding dead ends.

Her pace increased as she grew more and more sure of herself. She took a right, then walked a few yards, took another right, then an immediate left. It was easy. She took another right.

Then she screamed.

"You shouldn't be here," said J. Q. King. He was standing right around the corner, his face as white as a ghost.

Madison screamed again. "You're dead!" she cried. "You're the one who shouldn't be here!"

J. Q. King fixed his dark eyes on her. "You shouldn't be here," he repeated. "You don't remember; you cannot make it through."

"What are you talking about?" Madison said. "I can solve this maze with my eyes closed! Literally."

She jumped when someone touched her shoulder from behind. She whirled around and saw a second J. Q. King, looking at her with the same dark stare. "You cannot make it through," he insisted.

It was too much for Madison. Both J. Q. Kings became fuzzy as her vision clouded. She swayed on her feet and collapsed.

"Can't make it...."

Madison woke up with a jolt, face-first in the floor. Her heart was pounding and sweat beaded on her forehead. That dream had been the worst. She didn't know why, but it had felt so real. She opened her eyes and looked for the dark bookshelves around her.

Madison froze.

She scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding faster and faster. She was not in the library. It was a dark hallway with wooden floors. She yelped when she saw a corner. The same corner that she had gone around...

...and found J. Q. King...

...two of them...

...in her dream.

Madison pinched herself with a shaking finger. She felt pain. It was all very real.

My dream is real, Madison thought, I'm really in the maze.

"You cannot make it through."