Chapter 20: The Maze Beckons

Alex stood still on the expanse of black stone, his heart hammering in his chest. The labyrinth stretched out before him, vast and endless, its golden-lit walls casting eerie reflections across the ground. The air here was dense, thick with an energy that buzzed in his ears.

He took a tentative step forward, the soles of his sneakers scraping against the smooth stone. The journal in his hand felt heavier than before, its cover pulsing faintly like a living thing. The laptop, still in his bag, beeped softly—a sound that somehow seemed to echo, even in this open void.

The silence pressed down on the world. Nothing moved, living or dead-not a whisper of a breeze, nothing at all: just Alex, maze, and space. Endlessly above, in that vast sheet of sky and its emptiness.

His hands vibrated as they opened the book. A further message sprawled across the open page in ragged, shouting letters:

"Don't trust paths. Labyrinth is alive"

"Great," Alex muttered, his voice breaking the stillness. He glanced around, half-expecting something—or someone—to emerge from the shadows. But nothing moved.

The journal buzzed again, this time more insistently. Another message appeared beneath the first:

"Follow the light. The Gatekeeper watches."

Alex frowned. "Gatekeeper?" he whispered, the word sending a shiver down his spine.

He hadn't had a chance to reflect on it before the earth under his feet shuddered. A low rumble spread across the distance, gathering strength with every passing second. The walls of the labyrinth moved, their light sputtering as if dying embers.

And then he saw it: a figure standing at the entrance to the labyrinth.

It was a tall figure, shadow-clad; its features were indistinct. Two luminous eyes had emerged from the darkness, fixed on Alex with an interest that ran his blood cold.

The Gatekeeper.

Alex stumbled backward, his breath catching in his throat. The figure didn't move, but its presence was crushing, as if it were pressing down upon him with some kind of unseen force.

"Who are you?" Alex shouted, his voice cracking.

The figure tilted its head slightly, the motion unnervingly slow. It raised a hand, long and skeletal, and pointed toward the labyrinth.

Alex shook his head. "No way. I'm not going in there without answers!"

The Gatekeeper did not answer. Instead, the labyrinth's walls shifted again, the pulsing golden light beating like a heartbeat. The ground beneath Alex shuddered violently enough to have thrown him off his feet if he hadn't managed to stay upright. A sharp, metallic screech ripped through the air, making Alex's head snap toward it in pain. He turned to see the entrance to the labyrinth closing, the walls slithering together like a giant pair of jaws.

"No, no, no!" Alex sprinted forward, his legs burning as he pushed himself toward the narrowing gap. He barely made it, diving through just as the walls slammed shut behind him with a deafening boom. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his heart pounding like a drum. When he looked up, the Gatekeeper was gone, and the entrance was sealed tight.

Alex pushed himself to his feet, wiping sweat from his brow. The labyrinth loomed around him now, its golden walls towering impossibly high. The air here was different—thicker, heavier.

The journal buzzed again. Alex opened it with shaking hands, the new message scrawled across the page:

"You've entered the first circle. The test begins."

"Test?" Alex whispered, his voice barely audible.

As if in answer, the walls of the labyrinth started glowing brighter, the light rippling like water. A faint, melodic hum filled the air, beautiful and haunting all at once.

Then he heard it-a soft whisper, barely there.

"Alex."

He froze, his blood turning to ice. The voice was familiar, achingly so.

"Mom?"

The whisper came again, this time closer.

"Alex. help me."

It was her voice. He'd know it anywhere. But it couldn't be her. It wasn't possible.

"Mom?" Alex called out, his voice breaking. "Where are you?"

The whispers grew louder, echoing off the walls. They seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Follow the light," the journal buzzed in his hand.

He looked at it, his head spinning. The whispers pulled on him, pulling at his heart. But the words in the journal were clear—he had to follow the light.

The hum grew louder, the golden light of the walls pulsing in time with it. Alex took a step forward, then another, his legs trembling beneath him.

The path before them twisted and turned, every turn revealing more of the labyrinth's endless expanse. The whispers didn't recede; they grew louder, more urgent.

"Help me, Alex."

Tears stung at his eyes. He clenched his fists and dug his nails into his palms. "This isn't real," he whispered, his voice shaking.

"It's just another trick."

But the voice of his mother was so full and resonant that it brought an ache to his chest and an unsteadiness to his resolve.

He reached into his bag for his laptop. The screen blazed up, showing him a map of the labyrinth, and a single glowing dot marked his position; a faint line traced an easily seen path through the maze.

The journal buzzed again, words in bold on the page:

"Trust the map. Do not stray."

Alex swallows hard, his grip on the laptop tightening as he looks to the path ahead, back at the screen.

With a shaky breath, he chose the map, his gloved hand following the beacon of the glowing line where it led deeper into the labyrinth.

Behind him, the whispers faded and were replaced by eerie, suffocating silence.