The Girl

Chapter Twenty One

  We speed through repeated patterns of stone corridors with ivy strewn all over the walls. The hints of rock underneath the thick layers of ivy are worn, cracked, and faded. The walls are incredibly huge, probably fifty stories tall. Every so often, Minho scrawls something on his notepad and puts it back in his pocket.

"What do you keep writing down?" I ask, running by his side.

"Just patterns I notice, things to help me sketch out the maze when we get back and help me find my way in and out," He tells me. I'm about to respond when a flash of silver scuttles past through the thick ropes of ivy. I abruptly stop, causing me to temporarily lose my balance.

"Woah, what the hell was that?" I say, following the silver flashes from the sun against what seems to be a metal body. I run against the wall as it continually scurries across it. I get aggravated as it never slows its pace.

"That would be a beetle blade. I'm surprised you haven't seen one yet," Minho says in shock, jogging behind me. "That's how they watch us."

My feet are slow, unsure of whether or not I want to see this thing. Why would I want to see the spies the demons who sent us here use? But then again, why not?

My pace quickens again and I chase the little body until it slows down. I feel my body slow, suddenly taken over by exhaustion. The beetle blade hides behind a thick patch of dark ivy. I delicately nudge the plant away to get a better look.

The small ovular body is silvery and shiny. It sends glimmers of light across the maze when the sun beams shine across it. There's a bright blinking red light on what would be the face if it was actually an insect. But what really catches my eye is the engraving on the back.

Wicked.

"What's Wicked?" I ask Minho while continuing to examine the mechanical bug.

"We don't have many ideas, just the people who sent us here. Now are we going to spend all day chasing bugs?" He asks, annoyed. I sigh, unsatisfied by his answer. But I shrug and run up ahead of him.