by David Foster

Created on: December 21, 2009

John Weston woke up startled in a dark room. As he looked around at his surroundings, he realized he had to find a way out. A headache pounded his temple. He had no memory. John stood up and heard a shallow breathing as if coming from an intercom. John turned around and saw no one. He was not alone, though.

John took a breath and closed his eyes. He had to remember. Pictures sporadically appeared in his head. Blood, a woman crying, voices yelling, and a drawn smiley face on a white wall. John opened his eyes. The memories made no sense, but they gave John something to run with.

First, he had to find a way out of the dark room. John slowly walked to the nearest wall and put his hands on it. He followed the wall to the nearest switch he could find. He flipped the switch and the lights burned his eyes. John closed his eyes for a second.

When John reopened his eyes, he saw where he was and gasped. He was in a white room. The white room from his memory. John looked at the walls and spotted the smiley face. There were words scratched under the face. They said, “Peek-a-boo. I see you.” An arrow, also drawn with the face and words, pointed up, where a noise was made in the ceiling. John slowly lifted his head up and saw a trap door open. A rope was thrown down, one end still up in the ceiling. John grabbed the rope with both hands and started to climb up when another noise was made.

John looked up a second time and saw a small object falling towards him. Then more small objects came down. As they got closer, John realized what they were. Spiders!

The small eight legged creatures started to hit John's face. He kept his cool though, climbing up the rope. Every now and then he would swat a couple spiders and make his way up. Finally, John was through the trapdoor.

In front of him was a flashlight, which John turned on and looked around.

An air conditioning vent, He thought, of course. John saw a smiley face scratched into the vent's walls. Under it was a small note. “Welcome to my Maze. No one has escaped my Maze before. He who escapes lives. Start game now.”- Mazemaker.

John realized then the truth. He was a part of a madman's game! He crawled through the vent until he fell down a rotten ceiling panel. John looked around. A lost memory comes back to him. It was a replica of his house, or at least a replica of his living room and kitchen. Everything was in the exact same place as his own. He looked around. The kitchen appliances and lamps worked. That's when an idea entered John's head.

After making some changes to the Mazemaker’s replica, John ran out of the replica room. He was in a warehouse setting now. An explosion shook the whole building. John kept running though looking for a way out. Finally, he found a door with an exit sign over it. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Then the whole building exploded. John barely made it out. He turned around to the burning Maze. Though he never met the Mazemaker, John prayed the explosion had ended the tyrant's life before he became more dangerous.

Weeks later, John walked into his house. After the events with the Mazemaker, John had met with a psychiatrist and tried to regain his memories. They still came back in sporadic pictures. John locked his door and turned around. He dropped his keys. On his fridge door was a smiley face. The Mazemaker was alive. John was still in the game.

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