The blonde looked left. Then right.
I'm being followed, aren't I?'
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~
Preston's eyes fluttered open, and he sat up. His blaze rod was gone.
"DAMMIT!"
He shouldn't have trusted that jerk! His instincts, for the first time, had failed him--

"Hey, kiddo." the man's voice called. Preston flinched, then turned. The man handed him his blaze rod.

"Sorry for taking it, but if I had let it lie, it would've killed the flowers. I can't have that happen."
Preston looked around. Flowers of all shapes, sizes, and species were growing all over- blooming on the ground and through cracks in the walls.

"Oh... That's pretty." He murmured. The man nodded.

"Thanks. I grow them... They keep me sane."

"O- oh." Preston stuttered, glancing at the man timidly.
"What's your name, Mister?"
The man snorted, choking back a laugh.
"Mister? That's a first. But you tell me your name first, kiddo."
"Um, well, u- uh... Preston."

"Preston, eh?" The man mumbled, trying the word out. "Suits you. Anyway, my name is Rob, or Robert. I'm the one most newcomers try to find, and the one that survivors avoid."
"Why would they avoid you?" Preston asked curiously. Rob grinned a Cheshire cat grin.

"I tell them how to survive. No one lives and sees me twice, because if they do, I'll be surviving off of their lives and loot."
His tone made Preston shiver.

"But you, kid, you need to be healed. So you can stay longer, and I won't hurt you. I'll protect you." Rob stated, ruffling Preston's hair. Preston looked at him meekly.
"Alright Rob..."
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~
Mitch finished sewing his hoodie up, putting it back on to cover the bite.
'Something tells me I should cover this...'
Suddenly, two young girls jumped out at him, knocking him down.

"Nice sword, punk. We'll be taking it- and your life!" They started to stab at Mitch. Then, as he dodged, tore his right shoulder's fabric.
They froze, staring at the angry red bite marks covering his shoulder.

"N- No..." one whispered.
"Mary, let's go! We need to get away!" the other cried, tugging her.
'ℊґґґґґґґґґґ'
The beast appeared, fangs bared, and stepped towards the girls, frozen in fear.
The growling became speech-like in intensity.

"ʏօʊ Ꮶռօա աɦǟᏆ ɦǟքքɛռֆ Ꮖօ Ꮖɦօֆɛ աɦօ ɢօ ǟʄᏆɛʀ ʍʏ քʀɛʏ..."
Mitch felt the branching start from the outside corner of his left eye as he watched the beast rip the girls apart in front of him.
'no...'
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~
The masked turned away. That's exactly what happens to those who get in the beast's way. That entire room- what used to be a clean, mossy room- is now a complete red room. The creek was stained, though soon, it wasn't.
The beast loped off, leaving the checkered one terrified. But something about him was off...
His face. Around his left eye were a few cracks- like broken porcelain. The bite looked bad, but not as bad as before. Before, it was a bloody mess. It was red, but the kid still looked pained.
He leapt up, and held his body in the corridor roofing. The checkered wandered under him, holding his shoulder and rubbing at the cracks along his face.
The cracks had a blueish tint to them, like the were traced.
The only odd thing, the cracks weren't there before he was attacked. They only showed up after the beast had appeared.
The masked let the preyed boy keep roaming, and went to look for the blonde.
He was halfway across the Maze, and the masked was sure his presence was noticed- rather, felt.
It was as if the blonde was aware of him, but didn't know where, who or what the masked was. The blonde spun and faced where the masked had been mere seconds before.
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~
'Blonde? That's it?' he thought. Whoever was following him, knew something. They clearly refused to show themselves, but were following him anyway. They hadn't killed him- maybe they were afraid of him? What was this guy's problem?

"Come out! I don't care who you are. Come out and stop following me!"
No one came, but a pebble fell from the wall, to reveal nothing.
At first, his brain said, 'It's just a figment of my imagination,' but his being and eyes knew otherwise. 'I found thoughts- a heat signature- there is someone following me.'
He thought back to his first day he was thrown into this Maze- when he met Rob- the one who was here first out of everyone roaming the Maze. He had crucial survival information. Hopefully he was still helping.
He did have valuable items, but everyone knew what he did to get those items. He was the one with- 'No. I shouldn't think about it. Someone could have a similar ability to mine.'
Yeah.
Rob knew how to set people... Free.
Supposedly, only Rob knew what the beast truly was. He refused to tell if he did. But he would crack eventually.
Eventually...
For now however, who was following him?
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~
-A/N-
There is Chapter 3! This is really fun to write. I love this book way too much... Love you guys!
~Percabeth1Jackson