A-Maze-ing course of action . . .

Here you stand; they all lie dead in different parts of this shadow-laced massacre field. But do you even care? You simply don’t, do you? This is your fault, you did this. You know exactly how this was going to end, yet somehow, I don’t think you feel a hint of remorse for what you did.

  It was a trap. Your actions led to this place, this ending of their story. But not yours; yours is just beginning. As the last of your friends dies from having both her arms severed at the shoulder, you feel the need to insult her where she lies.

“You smell like a dead fish: like you’ve already met your maker, but you simply refuse to give in; that is your fault,” you said to Mary. She drew her last breath, and you insulted her as she lay dying.

“Watch out! Marcus yells as he sees the masked killer emerge from a side-track and attack Hanna. But it’s too late, he cut both her legs clean off. Marcus tried to help her, as there are only four of you left. But she is bleeding out too quickly; it’s no use, it only takes two minutes for her to lose consciousness.

“Oh my god! This is the centre of the maze. . . ,” Hanna said. We should have got out by now, but you made us go this way, Levi."

Before you walked in here, before you ended up in the centre of this corn maze, you were so sure of yourself to take a left when everyone said to stick to the right-hand side. But no, you had to stick to what you thought was the best course of action. Or did you?

   “Listen, everyone, we are in here now. We all made the decision to enter, now it’s just a matter of finding our way through, alright?” you said.

The sign gave a clear warning before you entered with your friends: “Enter at your own risk.” But no, you thought it would be fine anyway.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this right now, you guys. We are all drunk, none of us can think straight, and I am terrified that something is going to happen if we do go in there,” Sally said. She said it to you directly, and you ignored her. You do know that her last words were that she had a bad feeling about this from the start, that she hoped you would rot in hell – oh the irony! – for getting her killed; she was aware of her untimely end. She was only eighteen! You took from her a chance to grow into adulthood; to become successful, to have a beautiful family.

   Let’s just go back home, this place looks evil, truly evil,” Hanna said. The entrance to the maze was partly hidden from sight, no car passing by could ever see it. Not during the day, especially not in the dark. But you stepped up and made sure everyone joined in and stepped over that first threshold. Past the signs that clearly said there would be no return. Not for all of you, anyway.

   Why did you wander off like that? Your friends all said to stay with the car after it broke down. Someone would come by; help would be on the way. It was just a flat tire, right? An easy fix. But no, you said it would take too long for someone to come; the place was too isolated. That should have been a clue. Drunk as you were, you wandered off and came across a little road, that, seemingly, led to nowhere. But that didn’t stop you from telling your friends you had found your way to this mysterious party the old man told you about.

You told your friends to come with you and leave the car behind. So, they did. Hanna was afraid you all wouldn’t find your way back, and she was right. But did you care? Did anyone care? No.

“This is much better than staying by the car, in the dark. I’m sure there is someone out there somewhere. People live here, so we will find someone, don’t worry,” you said.

“I don’t know, this is not what you’re supposed to do in situations like these. Look, we all drank too much, none of us can think straight. Let’s just not go there, alright?” said Mary. You convinced her, you convinced all of them by saying the party would probably be close by.  

  You got behind the wheel, even though they told you not to drive because you were drunk. You had too much to drink, just like your friends, but drunk? Not that much. The plan was a bad one anyway. You could have stayed where you were, but no. You had made up your mind. Most of them didn’t even want to leave. Some of your friends were not too drunk to not make up their own damn mind about this, but you said you had it under control. This party would be legit, as you said. What party? And why would you trust a stranger like that?

You had to go and talk to him, didn’t you? Sarah said to never mind and just ignore him. He wasn’t doing any of you any harm. He wasn’t out to hurt the girls. You could have listened to your friends.

   Did the alcohol do the trick and make you more curious than you should have been? You were told about this great place to party, with beautiful young women. But that was not all he told you, was it?

  “But he keeps staring at you. Someone should go talk to him about it, he is being rude,” you said.

  “What do you want from those girls old man? Why do you keep staring at them?”

  “It’s not just them pretty youngsters I’m lookin’ at boy, it’s you just the same,” he replied.

   Remember when you said: “Drinks are on me! So, keep it up, my friends.” They all started drinking more and more, they were having fun. As you persuaded them to keep drinking. Or was it to make them forget they didn’t want to enter that shady-looking place in the first place. Even John said it looked suspicious, but you persuaded them. It was you who said the drinks were cheap, and the people were friendly.

  “There must be something else around the corner, lets just keep walking a bit,” said Mary. But no, it was you who demanded you all go to that specific bar in that sketchy side street, away from all the popular places. You hear of it once, from a local who thought it was the most amazing bar in the entire city with the best drinks for the lowest prices. This is what you used to convince your friends to venture into a dangerous place, and it would not be the last time that evening, would it?

   “Let’s just stay here for the evening, we can party by the pool. Just the six of us,” Marcus suggested.

Your friends had just arrived at your place, but you would rather go out for some drinks. Mary is on your side; she’s never seen the city. You convince them to go, even if you know the city can be a dangerous place at night.

“I’m willing to go, but we have to be back early because I don’t want a late-night,” Mary said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll just have a few drinks, and then we’ll go back home. It’s going to be fine,” you said. Yeah, right.

The day before.

“Listen up old man, you better do your part, or there will be eternal damnation waiting for you.”

    You needed him to do his part or your little plan would fail; it must have had something to do with free will.

“Oh, I’ll do my part, you just make sure you get them to go to the right place,” said the old man.

“If I don’t it will be my problem, not yours. You will have your place at my side once the ritual is complete and the doors of hell will finally be opened. This will be the final sacrifice,” said the devil in disguise . . .