One Killer Maze

Chapter 23

Y/N stood in a glossy, white elevator, armed with her machete. Jason the Toymaker stepped inside, pressing one of the five buttons on the wall before the elevator tinged! then shuttered as it descended. He pressed the fifth.

"You're ever-so-kind to help me on such short notice." The man spoke in a gentle tone, but Y/N knew that he could snap at any moment's notice. She wouldn't dare bring up the stench of burning flesh that was coming from the halls she had been trapped in before. All she knew...Jason was the assailant of that attack.

Realizing the killer waited for a response, she grunted in turn.

"Not much of a choice, huh?" She shrugged, turning her head slightly away. He, like Candypop, didn't really know the term 'personal space'. Either way, Jason grinned, clasping his hands together.

"You understand! That makes it easier for the two of us."

The lights above them flickered once. This elevator was unlike anything in the maze so far. It was more advanced and even more cleaned up. It was similar to the technology at BEN's forest, yet this was different. Perhaps Jason knew where it came from? His...area of expertise didn't seem to stray much from the material that the elevator was made out of.

Jason peered at Y/N with his piercing, yellow eyes. They weren't gold, not like Puppeteer's, but they weren't far from becoming the same. He smiled that devilish smile and his eyes squinted at her. His hands dropped to his sides.

"You seem deep in thought," he knew for a fact she didn't want to talk to him, but in his mind, that made it more fun to toy with her.

The girl nodded, her left arm brushing against the cold wall of the elevator. She had been subconsciously leaning away from him this entire time. Was he purposefully trying to make her feel this way?

"Well," his hands clapped together once more, "we're almost at our stop. Should I explain to you what your role is now?"

She met his eyes and nodded. His lips curled up in a toothy grin.

"There are some...rogue dolls I made during this entire week...some of them don't listen to me so I trapped them down here." He sighed, running a hand down the side of his porcelain face, "it's a shame... Truly, I would've disposed them all a while ago...but they just love a challenge."

"They?"

Jason quirked a brow at her, "hm?"

"You said they. Who are they?" She turned her whole body now. She could see him straightening up now. This man was tall; she stepped back a bit at his looming height.

The elevator shuttered once more, pinging, and the grey doors opened.

"It seemed we have arrived." A grin, one of relief and amusement replaced the look on his face. Jason, for once, had barely escaped being backed into a corner; metaphorically, of course.

The silicon doors that had opened revealed a dark room, one that smelled of dust and dampness. There was no source of light so Y/N had to squint to see anything inside. It was clear that this place was a maze of boxes and crates; but within the small gaps and shorter walls, she spotted a dark figure move.

A visible shiver ran up Y/N's spine and the hairs on her neck stood up. There was a rusted, chain gate that kept them inside the elevator, protecting them from anything on the inside, but there was a button on the elevator's panel that could easily remove it. She wondered if there was a button like that on the other side of the gate. If there wasn't, would they have to keep the elevator open and unprotected?

Y/N flashed a look to Jason who only gazed out at the room with a frown, "do they have a mind of their own? Or are they just brainless zombies?"

Jason's eyes glanced at her, but his head did not move, "they once had a brain. The removal was possibly the reason why they are now like this..."