The Cracks in the Labyrinth

Chapter 20

Boxed in by the four condominium buildings of The Eden Towers, each thirteen stories high, Adam looked up at the scaled off walls. As dusk closed in fast, one by one, several of the windows lit up at the same time Christmas lights started blinking in a few of the decorated balconies. A dog's bark echoed from somewhere behind him, and a sudden breeze brought the smell of stagnant water to his nose. Cloying dampness hung in the air.

"I have the answer, Zhang," he said to himself. "I found out what's at the center of the labyrinth."

Adam laid down on the pale blue swimming pool trampoline and glared at the clothesline hanging outside the nearest balcony. Why bother washing their clothes if they won't need them anymore? Like a single frame of a horror movie cut in a drama film reel, the image of the deformed naked creature in Vera's bathtub flashed in his mind's eye.

"Dear God." His grip on the cheap mescal bottle he'd bought on the way over tightened as he fought off the violent urge to vomit. "How did we end up here?" He swallowed the bitter bile that rose in the back of his throat when he saw the little larva floating in the unlabeled flask-shaped container in his hand.

He was no longer in thrall to the horror of what had happened earlier in the East Tower mezzanine, but the concerned expressions of the kids who had been doing parkour and the security guard who'd scolded them were burnt in his brain. In fact, this moment was one of the few scant memories left to him from earlier.

As soon as he'd finished running down the endless stairs, Adam found a small group of curious people whispering among themselves around the elevator, trying to get a glimpse inside the uneven black triangular gap that had opened between the silvery doors after the crash.

Although he knew all too well what was in there, he still pushed them out of the way to confirm his fears. Under the pile of steel cable that had smashed through the elevator's roof, Vera's twisted body was barely visible in the claustrophobic mess of buckled metal. Her lacerated hand, dripping blood that looked as dark as petrol, was poking out between the bent edges of the cart's broken machinery.

Almost as if she was reaching out to me.

He couldn't tell what had snuffed her life exactly? Was it possible the impact of the fall had twisted the floor into a knife-like surface and impaled her? Perhaps the weight of the cable crushed her bones? Whatever it was, it killed her fast.

Except for those agonizing seconds of free-falling, I hope her suffering was small.

As more people arrived at the macabre scene, the murmurs multiplied. Questions such as, "Why would she use the elevator during an emergency?" or "How is it possible the safety mechanisms didn't work?" were on everyone's lips.

Not long after that, the watchman urged everyone to leave, informing them a fire had broken out on the upper floors.

The police and the firefighters were almost there, or so the man said before he asked Adam if he had been upstairs once he noticed him, dirty and covered in blood. Did I still have the pickaxe in my hands at that point? Wait. A pike? What am I saying? It didn't matter. Before anyone had a second chance to look at him, he'd vanished.

"I ran like the coward I am," he muttered, looking at the glittering light of the nearest window reflected on the dirty pool water.

Did I take a bus? A taxi? When did I buy this bottle of booze? How long have I been here with both of my legs dangling on either side of this trampoline?

Unable to recall the past hours, everything that took place after he left Parque Central was a blur.

Something important happened. A chill swept through his body. Think. Think!