With Fear or Without

44- Everything, Immediately

The sounds of polite applause and wistful melodies faded behind them as the trio walked through the entrance hall, maintaining (with some difficulty) the image of purpose until they chose a hall at random and turned the corner.

Stopping to release their nerves, Cleo looked around. "Great," she grumbled. "Back in this place."

Either side of the passageway they slipped into was identical. So were the beige plaster walls, the faint iridescent lights above, the dust and occasionally cobwebs lining the corners. All three of them experienced extreme deja-vu. Of course, they knew they really had been in this place before; it hadn't been the greatest experience.

Andy looked at Cleo expectantly. "Got another brilliant idea?"

"Don't we already know what to do here?" Charlie said. "Remie said you'd be able to figure out the way."

Cleo stared at the ground. She remembered the conversation, the way Remie had sounded so confident in her. She didn't know if she could do it. In fact, she was scared and rather sure that she couldn't and she had led her friends into yet another maze with no exit.

Silently, she turned her back to her friends and closed her eyes. Staring into the blackness of her eyelids, she tried to imagine she was back in that glass box; just another trial, another test, another day of harmless training. She thought about how it felt when her thoughts were blurred by the dream world, the way it cleared suddenly when she found her bearings. She chewed her lip, thinking of the burning, desperate desires that would fill her up until she could feel nothing else. How the air around her shifted and obeyed her command. That is, when it worked.

This wasn't one of those times. No matter how hard she tried, nothing happened. The air stayed stagnant around her, as solid and stubborn as stone. When she opened her eyes, she saw no rosy glow to guide them to safety. Just the same boring, infuriating hallway.

Cleo spoke over her shoulder, not wanting to look her friends in the eye when she admitted her defeat. She didn't want to see the dread she was feeling mirrored in their eyes. "I'll keep trying. For now... there's only one way we can go, so it seems like a good start."

She couldn't see their faces, but she could imagine the disappointment, the pity on their faces.

"We'll follow your lead," Charlie said, trying to sound encouraging.

At first, Cleo was lucky. The path held no choices. No hallways branched off from the single tunnel. She continued to concentrate, to find the right way, but she was getting into her own head, running circles around her own abilities. She couldn't focus because of the nagging feeling that she would never figure it out. And, of course, she kept thinking about what they ran into the first time in this maze.

"Cleo?" Andy asked gently.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should stop. Maybe sitting down and concentrating will help you."

Cleo stopped and faced her friends, standing side by side. At least they seemed untied again, even if it was just a truce while they worried about her.

"We should keep moving," she told them. "Sitting in one place makes me nervous, and that's not helping."

"But Cleo, when it happened before..." Charlie started slowly.

"I know. I remember." All too well. Cleo could only hope it wouldn't take an encounter with a demon this time. "Let's just keep going."

Andy and Charlie exchanged a concerned look, but didn't argue. They silently followed Cleo as she continued their journey down the passageways.