The Labyrinth Keys

I wake up in the pitch black. My head hurts as I feel cold stone under my hands. I rise up from the ground, not really understanding where I am or what is going on. The past day felt like some kind of dream or nightmare—I was half expecting to wake up in my bed. The reality, however, is not so kind. Finn betrayed us, but to my surprise, we aren't dead—at least not yet.

My hand reaches out and feels something fleshy near me. I remember Rin was with me; this must be her hand or leg. I pull my phone out of my jeans, and the light glows onto the walls and door.

I shine it toward the hand and see Rin passed out on her stomach. Her hair is a mess, she isn't moving, and her body looks pale. I panic a little and put my hand on her pulse point. She still has a pulse. I feel relief. I might not get along with her, but at one time we were very close.

I flip her onto her back and put her head on my lap. I begin shaking her a bit. "Rin. Rin!"

No response. I check her head for a concussion, but thankfully I find nothing of note on the back of her head. I grab some water from my satchel and drop cold water on her eyes. Her eyelids twitch a bit, and I call her name again. Finally, her eyes flutter open. She looks at my face and blinks a few times. Rin looks confused for a moment, then she seems to realize the situation she's in and jolts up.

Rin looks around like a madwoman. "What—where? What is going on?"

Rin squeezes her temple and curses a few times at Finn. "Can't believe that shithead betrayed us all for some fantasy bullshit."

I sigh, the same disappointment in my tone. "I should've talked to him more about it. I just... knew it was a sore spot. I never thought..."

Rin points out, "Never thought what? That he'd ditch us like yesterday's trash? Yeah, well, you always were naive, Jack. Now look at where that has us. Lost in some ruins under a desert and left to die. Just fucking great."

I snort. "Yeah, thanks for the confidence-boosting speech. Look, put off the fighting for now. That weird computer said that we were sacrifices. Well, why aren't we dead then?"

Rin laughs, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Clearly, it's easier to just lock us in here. I mean, we can't exactly walk through walls, in case you haven't noticed."

I ignore her and walk toward the door. Rin is right—the steel-reinforced door is as impenetrable from this side as it is from the other side. I knock a few times, but it's pointless. Even if Finn was on the other side, there's no way he knows we are still back here. I can imagine, judging by that intense light, he thinks we are already dead. The door shutting and him not seeing any corpses wouldn't make him think we survived to him it would look like we got vaporized. 

Our next course of action is to go forward. The room isn't just walls on all sides—it appears to be a corridor. I walk away from the wall. "Well, you can stay here and waste your energy yelling until you succumb to death, but I think I would like to check out my surroundings."

Rin glares at me, her crimson eyes narrowing into slits. "Oh, sure. Let's just stroll deeper into the death maze like it's a walk in the park. Brilliant idea, Captain Jack."

Finn used that name as a joke, but when she calls me "Captain," it stings more. The mockery in her voice, tinged with something almost hurtful, cuts deeper than I expect.

I shrug playing it off, I am already shining my phone's flashlight down the corridor. "Better than waiting for starvation or dehydration to take us. You coming or not?"

She mutters something under her breath, but I hear her footsteps behind me.

The corridor is narrow, the walls slick with condensation and covered in more of those glowing blue lines. They hum faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat, guiding our way forward. The air feels damp, cooler than I'd expect this far under a desert. Every sound echoes—our steps, our breathing, the occasional drip of water from somewhere unseen.