Layla Asperth

"Welcome to the second part of the test Hellvanians!" The principal proudly announced. Each and every one of us was silent, we weren't unable to talk and probably swallow the idea that so many Hellvanians were eliminated and probably died and that we were the ones left. I looked at our surroundings and noticed the other Hellvanians who qualified and were still alive. Some of them doesn't look good, some look like they need medical treatment, while the others look like they've been through the depths of hell and managed to survive but were dragged back inside of it.

"Nice to see you alive." A voice called out from behind me, I turn around and saw Layla Asperth. One of the best water caster on the campus. Layla and I accidentally met a couple of days ago when I stumbled in on the girl's bathroom. I was desperate at that time since the men's room was unfortunately in maintenance due to an unfortunate case of explosive diarrhea. I went inside to pee and she was in the mirror smoking cigarettes, it was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life but at least I gained a sorta friend. She and I may not be very close but we both respected each other as a fellow Hellvanian and supported each other in class.

"Layla!" I hugged her tightly, it was nice to see a Hellvanian that wasn't in on my inner circle of friends.

"How are you? You look like a had some pretty harsh experience in the maze." I questioned. Layla snorted in response, she playfully punched my left arm.

"I'm perfectly fine, and I just look like this because I wanted to go "Rambo" in that maze test." She replied.

After my brief but nice encounter with Layla, all of us Hellvanians that survived and qualified were tasked to wait in this huge facility outside the school, that we didn't even know it exists. We were reluctant and first, having no trust in these people after all they did to us, and after all what the revelation that had happened, but we decided to do what they asked us to do because we were scared that they might snap and kill us or something.

When we arrived at the "waiting" facility, we were surprised to see bunk beds and a cafeteria with food waiting for us.

"Hey, I thought we were just waiting, why are there beds and food in this place." A grumpy Hellvanian that I don't recognize complained to one of the guards.

"Looks like they're keeping us here for a while." Another one commented, she looked at the guard with daggers in her eyes. She looks at him as if she was ready to snap his neck whenever she sees an opportunity.

"Calm down Agatha." The principal said to the lady.

"We decided to put you all in here because we thought all of you needed rest and energy for the next test." The batman villain looking Pave intervened, the lady quickly backed away when she saw Pave behind the principal.

"Pave don't suddenly barge in on the kids. They're scared of you." Our Principal chuckled. Pave nodded at him and like an obedient dog and backed away.

"I'm sorry about that kids, please ease up, I can feel see you being tense haha." The Principal apologized, he wobbled to a nearby chair and sat on it.

"His personality changed again, he's like a totally different guy from before," James whispered to us. He lowered his body so that he'll be blocked by the other Hellvanians in front of him.

"You guys noticed it too?" Theo asked. James and I nodded in response and surprisingly so does Octavia and Jessie as well, while Colt is just standing beside Jessie looking confused.

"If all of noticed it, why didn't you speak up?" Theo questioned us. Octavia stepped in and answered his question.

"I wasn't sure yet that's why I didn't speak up." She said. Theo sighed at what Octavia said.

"In the future, if you see anything weird or suspicious, please speak up so that we can figure out what to do about it. Understood?" Theo declared, we all looked at him and nodded. That's my best friend! The leader Theo I know!

After our little talk, we noticed that the Principal and some of the guards are nowhere to be seen and the other Hellvanians were now roaming around the place. Most of them went directly to the cafeteria and grabbed a couple of snacks and something to drink while some imminently went to the rooms where there are bunk beds and probably sleep to refill their energy.

"Did we miss something?" Jessie questioned.

"Yeah, you did. While all of you were chatting, the principal and his goons left the scene." Colt said, bitterly.

"Did you at least saw where they went?" James questioned. Colt raised his left hand and pointed at the left hallway with two intimidating men guarding it.

"Goodluck getting past them, they look like they don't care killing kids like us," Colt stated.

"If we can't past them in that route, why not use a different route to enter?" Layla suddenly commented making me jump a little in surprise. They looked and her and gave her a confused look.

"I'm sorry do we know you?" Jessie suddenly hissed, but Layla didn't even react to Jessie's comment and attitude, she simply looked at her and smiled.

"Names Layla, Layla Asperth. Zion and I know each other." Layla introduced. My friends, including Colt, all turn their heads towards me and looked at me.

"We met accidentally a couple of days before this exam. You can trust her guys, she means well," I confirmed and they all eased up a little.

"What do you mean different route?" Theo questioned directly at Layla. She momentarily scans him and his body then smiles at him afterward.

"Direct to the point, confident, a little snarky, and has a well-built body. You must Theo. Nice to meet you." She smiles and raised her hand in front of Theo, he was hesitant for a second but he, later on, shook her hands.

"Can you answer his question now, Layla?" Jessie said. Layla looked at her and gave her a stern look, Jessie counter-attacked with a raised eyebrows. I can imagine lightning and thunderstorms in the background while the girls gave each other dirty looks.

"Look." Layla pointed at a direction and we all immediately looked at that direction.

"Are those vents?" I asked.

"Yep. Those vents directly enter that hallway, and we can use that to get past those guards." Layla explained.

"There's a vent in every room, but we need to use the vent in the second room of the right corner, it's slightly bigger and wider than the rest of the vents," Octavia said. We turn around and saw her touching the metal vents, a smart move by her.

"Nice one Octavia." James cheered.

"W-Wait, why are we going through vents again? I mean that's probably just an ordinary hallway and if it is then we can easily just knock these guys out, right?" Colt commented.

"If it's just an ordinary hallway then why are they guarding? And we can't just knock them out, there's a security camera right below them and another one across them. " I answered Colt's questions.

"Zion has a good point, this school has yet another secret hidden in that hallway and we need to know it." James declared.

"Cool cool, so moving on, who's gonna be brave enough to enter vents and into the restricted hallway?" Layla suddenly inquired. There was a silence after Layla spoke, each and every one of us is torn to volunteer or recommend someone to do the job. After a while, I stepped in and speak up.

"I can do it." I confidently and proudly said to my friends but little do they know, I was internally shivering and scared.

"You can't Zion, you can't protect yourself if there's trouble," Jessie remarked.

"Well, I have my ability. Plus I'm the skinniest and smallest person here, I can easily fit in those vents." I tried to explain but Jessie was still not agreeing to it.

"Wait, you have an ability?! How? When?" Both Layla and Colt said in unison. I chuckled at their surprised faces.

"It's a long story," I replied.

"Still we can't let you go solo, you may have a quirk but you just discovered it and it's still uncontrollable," Jessie said.

"Then, I'll join him then," Layla announced, but Jessie was still not agreeing.

"We don't even know you, how can we tell that you won't backstab us?" Jessie questioned.

"If me being here and helping you guys and also the fact that Zion already told you we know each other and he says you guys can trust me but you still don't trust me then I guess I can't help you guys, I can't contribute to this plan that I orchestrated by the way." Layla snapped. I looked at Jessie and she was actually silent and did not have anything to say.

"Okay I'm sorry, people are harder to trust these days, especially strangers. I'm just curious, why are you suddenly helping us?" Jessie questioned one last time. Theo perked up and stepped in on their conversation.

"She has a good point, why are you helping us, Layla?" He repeated and looked at Layla who was calmly looking at them.

"Because just like you guys, I don't trust these people, and just like you guys I want to live without fighting or killing anyone," Layla explained. She grabbed something out of her pocket and walked to the room Octavia suggested earlier.

"If there are no more questions, I think Zion and I are gonna head out now." She announced as she pulled a lollipop out of her right pocket. She tore out the wrapper and ate the lollipop like a badass, opened the door to the room, and entered it. I followed her afterward.