The Girl

Chapter Fifty Nine

  An entire drawing of the maze sits underneath the weathered old mattress. Every turn, every corridor, every spot.

I carefully pick up the parchment, careful not to damage it as it looks old and brittle. I softly run my fingers across it and inspect it more closely, bringing it towards my face.

The map is sketched out in soft pencil, each line having been erased and redrawn more than once. I recognize some of it from when I was running with Minho, but a lot of it's unfamiliar to me. I mean, granted I'm not a runner, but I did have my time out in the maze. I see so much detail, but one thing seems to be missing.

A way out.

My heart sinks. This can't be it. I desperately claw at the aged mattress and papers, trying to find more and something that signals this isn't all a waste of time. But there's nothing.

A single tear falls down my left cheek as I look up from the paper. I bite my lip.

"Screw that, I need to get this back to them," I say to myself as I carefully fold the document and slide it into my backpack. It doesn't matter if the paper doesn't show a way out, there must be a reason it's down here. I mean, wouldn't that make sense if it's in a tiny and secluded room? I take a deep breath and stand up.

I'm getting the hell out of here and back.