The Orientation

“Sophie, get down here you’re gonna be late!”

Sophie comes running down the stairs dragging her backpack behind her. Thump, thump, thump.

“Mom, I don’t wanna go.  I hear the school’s haunted.”

“Who told you that nonsense?”

“Well, Becky said..”

“Goddamn it Becky! I thought I told you not to talk to her, she fills your head with stupid ideas… and her mom is such a Karen.” She says under her breath.

“Hmm..I thought Becky’s mom’s name was Jill.”

“Let’s go sweetheart there’ll be traffic, grab your bag.”

Sophie swings her bookbag over her shoulder and they rush out the door.

“Your first year at Beckford…Time really does fly.”

“Mom..”

“It’s okay honey, I was scared too. Living away from home can be strange, but you’ll learn to love it as I did, and your grandmother.. and her mother before her.”

“Mom..”

“I cannot believe your 7 years old already.  Time really does fly.”

“Mom..”

“What is it sweetheart, you’re interrupting mommy while she’s reminiscing.”

“..The school’s right there.”

They drive up to a large black wrought iron gate the words The Beckford School for Young Girls hanging above in gold.  Sophie’s mom presses a button on the intercom.

A staticky male voice creeps through.

“Greetings, welcome to the Beckford school. My name is Bram, how may I be of assistance?”

“Uh.. hello, my name is Charlotte Blake, I’d like to check in my daughter Sophia Blake for her first day.”

“Hmmm.. Blake, Blake, Blake.. Oh, here she is.  Mmm.. young madam Blake is tardy.  The Headmistress will be displeased.”

“Oh, I can pay extra.  As a bonus for our mistake.”

“How uncouth.  You may relieve the child from your vehicle, and she may walk through the gate alone.”

Charlotte turns back to Sophie.

“Okay, sweetheart! Mommy’s going to miss you.  Make sure to grab your bag and head to the school.  I’m sure there is someone inside to guide you to your dorm.”

Sophie exits the car, backpack on her shoulders, she stands there watching her mom drive away.

As she turns the large black gate opens, it’s old joints squeaking loudly as if it were a tin man with no oil.

Her small legs walk up the grey cobblestone path that leads to a massive gothic estate.

Evidently, this school has been around since the late 16^th century, but looks as if it hasn’t aged a day.

Standing in the courtyard by a fountain is a short gaunt bald man in an elegant black suit, with a stoic expression.

Sophie walks up and introduces herself.

“Hello sir, my name is Sophie Blake, and you are?”

She reaches her left hand out for a handshake.

“Ahh, the Blake girl.  You are late, we have been waiting.

Bram turns without shaking Sophie’s hand.

“Follow me.”

They walk towards the ominous estate.  Solid stone steeples reach up to the clouds, and loom over Sophie as she walks through a large wooden door that leads to the foyer.

Inside, dark wooden paneling line the walls and ceiling, worn wooden floors, and a small round table in the center of the room.  On it, a black ornate vase with a single vivid red rose.  Next to the table stands a tall stately woman, obviously displease, tapping her index finger on the table.  Frown lines engrained deeply into her face, her skin, as grey as the stone that built this manor.

A piercing gaze targets Sophie reaching deep into her soul sending a shiver down her spine.

A booming female voice fills the entrance chamber.

“Miss Blake, you are late.. we are never late.”

“I’m sorry, my mom..”

“Silence! We never blame anyone else for our own folly. You are late.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“My name is Rowena Swan, but you will refer to me as Headmistress.”

“Yes, Headmistress.”

“Here, take this rose, a gift from me to you.”

The Headmistress hands Sophie the single red rose, leaving the black urn empty on the table.

“Follow Bram to the auditorium.  We will be having our orientation.”

Bram takes Sophie through the east wing toward the auditorium.  Old paintings line the walls.

“None of these people are smiling in these pictures.”

“These people, young miss Blake, are the former headmistresses of the Beckford.  Their faces represent the resigned nature of any regal authority.”

“Hmm.. they just look sad.”

Bram scoffs.

“Continue this way.”

At the end of the long hallway rests a pair of worn hardwood doors.  Bram pushes them open to reveal a large room filled with children.  All girls, talking and laughing in their seats.  Waiting for the orientation to start.

Sophie gives a sigh of relief.  She was beginning to think that the estate was unoccupied except for a creepy man and a perpetually displeased woman.

Sophie looks around the room, and spots a girl waving.

“Hey Sophie! I saved you a seat next to me!” She yells across the room.

Sophie approaches, and notices Becky wearing her trademark smile and pigtails.

“Hey Becky! I’m glad you’re here. I was getting a little worried.”

“We were waiting for you young miss Late.. Cool flower! I want one.”

Sophie looks around, and notices she’s the only person with a rose.

“I thought everybo..”

The sound of high heels on wooden floorboards pierce through the commotion in the auditorium.  Sophie is immediately aware the Headmistress is on stage.

“Quiet down young ones.”

Talking continues..

“I will not ask again.”

Talking continues..

Sophie screams out.

“Enough!”

The children are silent, everyone staring at Sophie.

“Thank you, Sophie.  However, it seemed like they were quieting down already.. We must never yell.”

“Yes Headmistress.”

The Headmistress moves her gaze from Sophie, and addresses the rest of the students.

“Today marks the most important moment of your young lives.  The beginning of your Beckford journey.  This journey will be difficult, but for those who persevere, you will be unstoppable in your endeavors….”

The Headmistress smiles.

“101 students, our largest class yet. Not everyone is exceptional however, and many of you will be removed before your time.  Remember, failure is for the lowly classes, it will not be tolerated here.  I pride myself on creating the perfect women.”

Bram begins handing out documents to the children.

“Bram is currently passing you the syllabus.  You should peruse it before tomorrow.”

A thick pile of papers lands on Sophie’s lap.  She takes a packet and passes the rest to the next child.

“You should notice on the first page, our core values.  These will be etched into your minds before you leave the Beckford.”

Sophie looks down at the packet and reads:

Core Values

Never be late, always early.

Failure is not an option; persevere.

Be ruthlessly ambitious.

Be prepared to do little tasks others are not.

Treat others the way they deserve.

“Bram will show you to the dormitory, and assist you with room preparation, then we’ll have dinner.  Tomorrow, after the placement exam, we will begin classes… Also, those of you with roses, please come to my office on the fifth floor first.”

Sophie walks out of the auditorium with Becky, and heads back down the east wing towards the foyer.

“Oooo.. looks like you’re in trouble already. Miss Late!”

“I hope I don’t get lost.. this place is huge.”

“I here there are secret passages everywhere.”

“Who told you that nonsense?”

“Latrice. Her mom went here, and she told her that late one night she saw someone rummaging around in her room.. and her door was locked. How else would they have gotten in?”

“My mom said that’s nonsense.”

“Well, let me know if you meet any ghosts up there!.. Miss Late.”

Becky prances off to join the rest of the group.

Sophie looks at a large winding wooden staircase leading to the upper floors.  Dark wood, like everything else, but worn in the center from people walking, almost black.  Ornate wrought iron on the sides with a thick wooden railing.

Sophie walks up, and around to the second floor.  Then up to the third floor.  These floors are filled with classrooms, silent today.  By the fourth, her little legs are tired, and by the fifth she has begun to sweat.

At the top of the fifth floor staircase are two double doors.  She opens the doors to a massive library, a black wooden chair in the center of the room, and a raven sits perched on a pedestal nearby.

“Caw”

“Sophie, that must be you.  In here, to your left.”

Sophie moves through an open door to her left into an office. The Headmistress is sitting at a large gothic desk.  Another girl, sitting in a chair across from the Headmistress.  They are both staring at Sophie as she enters.

“We’ve been waiting Sophie.”

“Sorry Headmistress.”

“You are not late this time, have a seat.”

Sophie walks over to the second padded leather chair, and sits down.

“ Before we start, Sophie, this is Eris. Eris, this is Sophie.”

They look at eachother and nod.

“Both of you are not in trouble, no need to worry about that. Actually, quite the opposite. You will be my little helpers this year.”

Eris and Sophie listening intently.

“Every year I select two girls with whom I think will exceed expectations, and reach the top of their class.  These girls I give roses to, and present them with difficult tasks throughout the year. Tasks to assist the school, and uphold the sanctity of the Beckford promise.  To create the perfect women.”

The Headmistress continues.

“I’ve asked you here to learn if you’d be up to the challenge. If not, that’s fine, I’ll just need to take back my roses and select other girls.”

Sophie says without hesitation.

“I’m up for it!”

Eris, hoping not to be outdone.

“So am I!”

“Fantastic, girls!  We will begin tomorrow. Please, follow Bram to your room.  You will be sleeping separated from the other girls. So there are no distractions.”

Sophie turns to see Bram standing behind them, stoically as usual.

“That was fast, I thought he was helping the other girls.”

“I am efficient young miss Blake. You can both follow me.”

Eris and Sophie hop out of their chairs, thank the Headmistress, and head with Bram.

“Hey Bram..”

“Yes miss Blake.”

“Why do we have to sleep up here?”

“Miss Swan explained to you already.  You are the valedictorians of this class.  We cannot have you distracted by the other girls, so you’ll sleep here.”

At that moment, Bram pushes open a thick wooden door on the other side of the library revealing a large bedchamber.

The walls are deep scarlet with ornate golden moldings, wooden floors, same as all the rest, and a large red and white patterned afghan rug that lay under two twin beds.  The beds are parallel with a wooden nightstand between them, and a small lamp on top.

“Girls, you will spend the rest of the day unpacking, and making sure this room is tidy.  Dinner will be at 7.”

“Is this our first challenge?” Both girls ask excitedly.

Bram murmurs to himself.

“I ask them to clean, and they think that’s a challenge.. Remember dinner at 7 girls.”

They look back to respond, but he is already gone.

“Such a strange man.” Eris says puzzling.

“He looks like a zombie to me.”  Sophie mimicking the motions of the walking dead.

They both laugh, and begin to unpack their things.

Sophie takes the bed to the left, Eris, the one to the right.  On both sides of the room they each have their own chest of drawers, where they place their clothes ever so perfectly.

After a few hours of folding and organizing nick nacks, the girls notice the clock on the wall says 6:30.  They decide to leave their room to find the dining hall.

The Dinner

The girls walk out of their room, out of the Headmistress’ office, and start heading down the staircase.

“It should be downstairs, right?” Sophie asks.

“Yes, and we should hurry.  Must not be late.” Eris responds.

“We are the valedictorians after all!” Sophie giggles.

The girls hustle downstairs.  It is much easier going with gravity, than against it.  As they descend the final staircase, they notice a maid sweeping the foyer.

“Ma’am, we’re looking for the dining hall. Could you help us?”

Mumbling softly to herself. “Damn kids. They never clean their shoes before stepping inside. There’s mud everywhere!”

Sophie asks again, a little louder this time. “Ma’am, do you know where the dining hall is?”

“Oh hello, you must be that little Blake girl.”

“You know me?”

“We all know the valedictorians, sweetheart.”

Eris chimes in. “The dining hall? We don’t want to be late.”

“The dining hall is down the west wing, toward the end…..but that’s not where dinner will be tonight.”

Exacerbated, Eris responds “…So where will dinner be?”

“It will be in the garden.  The first intersecting hallways you come across in both the east and west wings will take you to the rear of the estate.  Head through the tall glass doors, and you’ll be in the garden.”

The two girls thank the maid, and run off.  They head down the west wing, after a few feet they see a hallway to their right, they turn down it and start running.  They don’t want to be late.

As if by magic, Bram appears in front of them.

“Girls you will not run inside!”

“Where did you come from?”

“I was nearby, and heard you two running. Stop.”

Sophie puzzled. “But.. How did you get here?”

Bram comes down to their level, and wags his long crooked finger. “You will not run.”

The girls nod, and start walking.  Sophie looks back, Bram is gone.

She tugs on Eris’ shirt. “He’s not there anymore.”

They continue to run down the hallway.

After what feels like forever, the hallway opens to a large sunroom, glass walls everywhere.

Like a green house, but with less plants and more couches.

They traverse through the large glass doors outside, and are greeted by a magnificent garden.

A gravel path leads straight to the center of the landscape, many intersecting paths from here to there.  The path, lined with shrubbery, stone statues, fountains, and springs.  Birds chirping, squirrels scurrying, and  butterflies fluttering about.  An area of freedom and beauty sits in stark contrast to the ridged structure within the manor.

However, Sophie can’t shake the feeling as if something is pulling her in deeper.  Like the light of an angler fish, plopped in a dark ocean, entrancing you to step closer, too blind to see the massive jaws set to devour.

“C’mon Sophie, let’s go!” Eris giggles, and runs down the path.

Sophie slowly follows through a stone archway, revealing a massive table.  Maids and butlers setting the silverware, lighting the candles on the candelabra,  and the Headmistress standing to the side regally giving orders.

“Sophie, Eris, thank you for being early.  This shows me that I chose correctly!”

The girls smile and curtsy.

“We would have never dreamt of being late.” The girls speak in unison.

“You two will sit as the heads of the table to show your status above the rest.  The other girls will have to greet you both before taking their seats”

The girls nod, and take their opposing seats at each end of the long table.

One by one, the other students enter the garden, kiss the cheeks of Sophie and Eris, and proceed to their seats.

The dinner goes by without a hitch.  The girls are smiling, laughing, and enjoying eachother’s company.  For dinner, each girl had their own bit of foie gras and toast as an appetizer.  A roasted squab and mixed vegetables as the main course, and a slice of vanilla pound cake as dessert.

After dinner was finished, the headmistress calls attention.

“Okay girls, I have an announcement to make.”

The girls quiet down immediately.

“As you are all aware, miss Sophie, and miss Eris will be your valedictorians.”

The rest of the girls start clapping and cheering in appreciation.

The Headmistress smiling. “Okay, okay girls. Quiet down.”

Everyone quiets down again, slight whispering can be heard.

“Being a valedictorian at the Beckford school is difficult.  There are certain challenges and responsibilities they will have that the rest of you will not.  However, certain challenges will be group based.”

Every girl starts looking around at eachother excitedly.

“Tonight, there will be a group challenge..  In the back of this garden is a maze, a fairly difficult one.  Your duty is to complete the maze.  Our valedictorians will have an additional task of making sure every person in their team completes the maze safely.”

At that moment the ground shifts separating the table in the middle.  The candelabra falling to the ground.

“I have just separated your class into equal groups of 50.  If you noticed, because you have a class of 101, that leaves one person who will not run the maze.”

The class starts looking around wondering who it could be.  They all notice one girl whom, when the table moved, stayed in the center.  This girl’s name is Eleonora, but everyone calls her El.  She is the smallest one, small for a 7 year old that is.

“El will sit there.”

The Headmistress points up at a seat towering above the maze, almost as tall at the manor itself, with a single latter to reach the top.

“Your goal, is to make it to the top without falling.  If you succeed, you will guide the two teams to the end.  But if you fall El, you will die.”

The girls get instantly silent.

“For the rest of you, if El reaches the top, she will direct you.  However, she could also lie to you.  Directing all of you to your demise, making herself the valedictorian by getting rid of the competition.  It is your choice whether or not you will trust her.  If she dies, you will have no guidance.”

The chairs lean forward, forcing all the girls to stand.

The Headmistress extends her arm, palm up, toward a gravel path that leads to the maze.

“After you El.”

The Maze

El, standing 3 feet tall herself, at the bottom of the latter, looking straight up the thin rickety structure.  The breeze wobbling the seat back and forth.

“Headmistress, do I have to?”

“No, there is nothing you must do.  However,  every choice has consequences, even if they are not immediately apparent.  If you choose to not climb the latter, you will be expelled, and your parents will be ashamed of you.  Additionally, your classmates will still have to run the maze, without any guidance.”

Sophie chimes in. “But she could lie to us.”

“Of course! El could lie to you.  Maliciously trying to destroy you.  She could also see something that isn’t there, or not see something that is, and misguide you unknowingly.  She could also not have the skills needed to complete mazes, and this is a very difficult one, unknowingly giving you incorrect information the entire time.”

“How do we know?” a girl yells from the back of the group.

“And that’s precisely the challenge!  How do you finish something when you cannot see the end and when you cannot see the path ahead?  How can you step confidently when danger is inevitable?  You could make no decisions and stay exactly where you are.  You could run away, and lose ground.  Or you could tread forward, regardless of the danger.  Often choices have to be made when reliable information is compromised.”

El grabs hold of a rung on the latter, and the next, lifting her foot onto the bottom rung, and so on.  She slowly climes up the latter, it creaks with every one of her movements.  Each rung is weathered, cracked and dry.  She gets a splinter on almost every grasp.

She begins to cry and shake, as she climbs higher, and higher, and higher.

The pedestal, which the chair sits, sways to and fro in the breeze.  As if it’s attempting to send El to her demise.

But she does continue.  Through the crying and shaking she grabs one rung after the next making her way on top of the pedestal.  She sits in the chair gripping the armrests tight.

The other girls cheer with excitement. El gives a reluctant smile down at them.

The Headmistress turns to the groups.

“Eris, Sophie, if you noticed there are two entrances to the maze.  You will lead each of your groups separately into the maze.”

She looks back up to El, and shouts.

“El, if you want to direct any of their groups, call out the name of the corresponding valedictorian, and give your suggestion! However, you must speak swiftly, this is a treacherous maze!”

She turns back to the groups, and smiles.

“Winning this challenge is not about speed or who gets to the end first, but merely that it has been completed with your team intact… Remember, anything is possible, I didn’t expect El to make it up that latter.”

Two butlers can be seen pushing an empty stretcher back into the manor.

“You may enter the maze, girls.”

The two teams reluctantly walk through their entrance into the maze.

Sophie looks ahead, and notices how difficult it is to see.  The sun is vanishing below the horizon, filling the sky with a deep indigo, and revealing the stars.  However, in the maze, they can’t see any of that.

There is a thick blanket of fog resting on the floor.  Tall stone walls with vines digging into crevices in the rocks.

Something they can make out immediately is a wall a few feet away blocking the direction forward.  Taped on the wall, a riddle.  It reads:

I rarely appear the same twice in a row.  Sometimes I’m fat, other times skinny, occasionally I’m nowhere to be found.  Who am I?

Sophie reads the riddle out loud a few times to the group.

Becky yells out. “A chameleon!”

Sophie thinks to herself. “No that can’t be right.”

The wall to the group’s left begins to move away revealing a long hall, and moss instantly grows over the wall where they found the riddle.

El sees something and shouts. “Sophie! There were multiple ways.  I’m not sure why that side opened.  Straight ahead looks better.”

Sophie thinks again. “So it must take any answer.”

“Listen up everyone! If there’s another riddle, raise your hand and I’ll come to you.  Then whisper it to me, so the walls don’t hear.  That way we make sure we’re right.”

The girls nod in agreement, and move down the passage that opened to the left.

As they walk, they hear El yell out. “Stop!!”

Both teams stop immediately.

“Sophie’s team, stop.  Eris, don’t go straight, turn right.”

Eris’ team keeps moving, Sophie looks up to El.

“Sophie, there’s a deep pit in front of you with a single plank in the center.  Line up single file in the middle of the room, and carefully walk forward.”

Sophie’s team does just that.

Sophie yells back. “Thanks El! We can’t see anything with all this fog.”

Sophie gets on her hands and knees, and reaches out in front of her till she feels the edge of the pit.  She drops a piece of gravel to test how deep it is…There is no sound.

“Okay everyone, we’ll line up here.”

Sophie points to the center of the room.

“Stay right behind the person in front of you.  Please don’t fall, it’s very deep.”

The girls line up, and slowly scale the thin bridge.  It moans as they walk across it.

“Sophie! When you get to the end of the hall turn right.  That hallway looks safe.  Don’t go left, there’s a roof over that one, and I won’t be able to help.”

As her team nears the end of the second hall, they turn right.  Strangely, the fog is less in this hallway.  There seems to be nothing on the floor or the walls, just a few holly bushes lining the area.  As they take a step into the hall the bushes start to growl.  They take another step.. the growling gets louder.  Then another.

At that moment a pack of wolves pounce out from behind the bushes.  Lips curled in terrifying sneers.

Without thinking the girls run backwards out of the right hallway.  The wolves follow slightly.

Sophie runs past the group to check the other hall with a roof.  The moment she enters, the walls shift locking her into the left hallway alone, and blocking the right hall with the wolves from the intersection where all the girls are.

Sophie bangs on the wall and yells. “Is everyone okay?!”

Becky yells back. “Yes! Charlotte scraped her knee, but we’re safe for now.”

Sophie turns to look into the center of the room, but the room is too dark to see anything.

“Caw”

Instantly, candles lining the room light, and fill the room with the sound of crackling fire.

Sophie sees nothing other than a raven sitting on its roost in the center of the room.  The same raven from the Headmistress’ office.

Sophie starts walking around the room testing candelabras, and stones for any secret buttons like they have in the movies.

The she hears a man’s voice.

“You cannot get out of here Sophie.”

She turns, to see the raven sitting there.

“Did you say something just now?.. What am I saying, birds can’t..”

“I’m the only other one here, Sophie.  Who else would it be?

Sophie jumps backwards, and falls on her butt.

“You did just say something!”

“There is only one way out of this room.  You must agree to my request.”

Sophie stares shocked.  As any person would if a bird was talking to them.

He continues.

“The past few decades, the quality of our candidates have declined significantly.  Because of this, the curriculum has changed.  Every person will be expelled, except for the individual who impresses the Headmistress with astonishing ambition.”

Sophie beginning to listen.

“My request is this, complete my task without hesitation or backtalk.  If you can do that, you will pass.”

Sophie thinks to herself.  She thinks about El climbing that latter to the top, even though she was scared she persevered.

“So if I do tasks without hesitation or backtalk, I will pass?”

“It is guaranteed.”

“Then I accept!”

The candles go out for a second, when they come back on the raven has disappeared.  Center left of the room a wall has opened, along with the wall behind Sophie, revealing the other girls.

A the girls cheer, Sophie smiles back at them.

“Everyone, follow me.”

The girls walk down the left path, and turn left again to the newly revealed path.  At the end, they see the Headmistress smiling.

The group runs down the hall as if they won.  When they exit, they see Eris’ group standing there as well.

“How did you get back already, Eris.”

“A few moments ago, the wall opened up, and I could see the exit.”

The Headmistress smiling at the two groups.

“Both groups succeeded! Fantastic girls.  Not one of you was hurt either, other than a scraped knee.”

She looks in Charlotte’s direction.

“El, great job helping the two groups, you are an honest person!  Time to come down though.”

El looks down from her seat high above the maze.

“This thing doesn’t lower!”

“No no, it does not.  You must climb your way down, like you climbed up.”

El looks straight down the latter as it sways back and forth.  It looks much higher from this angle.  She rotates her body around, and reaches one foot over the edge, searching for a rung.  She finds one, and brings the next foot over.  She moves her feet down a rung, and then another.  She grabs on with her hands, and starts making her way down.

Then she slips. El lets out a quick scream as she plummets, hitting the ground with a definitive thud.

Her eyes wide open, bloodshot, staring directly at Sophie.

The Headmistress is unmoved.

“Good, now we have an even class.  Eris, Sophie, stay with me.  The rest of you, go with Bram.  He’ll take you to your rooms.”

As the girls walk inside the manor, Sophie can see the same two butlers pushing the stretcher back outside.  This time with annoyed looks on their faces, like they wasted precious time pushing this thing around all day.

The Headmistress, looking at El resting in contorted silence on the gravel.

“The nature of life exists in a state of constant indifference.  Gravity did not care that she was a child.  It functioned the way it always does, and paid no mind to what was falling or whom.  Tomorrow morning, the sun will rise as it always does, birds will chirp, and dew will fill the grass.  The relentless indifference of time can feel unsettling.  This relentless nature exists everywhere in life.  In the consequences of choices that take decades to come to fruition, and other consequences that are more.. immediate.”

Sophie and Eris watching as the butlers lift El’s lifeless corpse onto the stretcher.  The wheels squeak as they move the stretch to a set of stairs, and then carry her down towards a door under the maze.

“Where are they taking her?” Sophie asked.

“Obviously to prepare her for her family.” Eris explained.

“Return to your room girls, tomorrow will be a busy day.  You’ll have placement exams.”

The Exam

Sophie awoke the next morning and looked out the window.  The sun had risen, just like the Headmistress said it would.

She couldn’t help but get angry, thought to herself.  “Life should care.  Time should pause for a little.”

Bram knocks on the door, and enters.

“Girls, time to get ready for the day.  I will return in 30 minutes to escort you to breakfast.”

Eris, face buried in a pillow, fake snoring.

“If the two young mistresses are not ready by the time I return they will not have breakfast for the rest of the week. Get up.”

Bram flips on the lights, and shuts the door.

Eris moaning in displeasure sits straight up in bed, her black hair a birds nest of floofy knots.

“Did you sleep well, Eris?”

She moans as she walks into the bathroom, and turns on the shower.

Sophie stares out the window a brief moment longer, and then heads to her bathroom to get ready.

After 30 minutes pass, the two girls are ready for the day, and Bram enters.

“Good, you’re ready.  I was not expecting such discipline.  Follow me.”

They head down the staircase, down the west wing, through the double doors at the end of the hall that lead to the dining area.

The dining hall is fairly standard.  Checkered tile floors, white and light blue, long tables in rows with benches to the right, and a kitchen to the left.

“After breakfast, you’ll move with the other children to the exam room.”

Sophie turns to thank Bram… He is gone.

They both get in line, and wait to grab breakfast.

Every child is given the same breakfast.  A soft-boiled egg delicately placed in an egg cup, some toast, and a small carton of chocolate milk.

Once at the table, Sophie looks at everyone eating, talking, and laughing.  It seems odd, almost as if they didn’t remember yesterday.. as if they didn’t remember El.  Sophie feels separated somehow, like a goldfish in a bowl trying to figure out why people keep tapping on the glass.

Bram returns to give an announcement.

“Children, please place your rubbish in the trashcans at the ends of your tables.  Afterward, line up in front of me single file.”

Sophie is the first one in line, she didn’t eat much.  A few minutes pass, and all of the girls line up behind Sophie.

“Follow me Children.”

They move back into the foyer, and upstairs to the second floor.

Once there, Bram separates the children into four groups of 25, and escorts each group to their classroom.

The girls sit at small wooden desks, worn with time.  Sophie wiggles her butt on an uncomfortable wooden chair hopping to make it more pleasant.

After all girls are seated a maid walks into the room.

“Hello children, this will be your placement exam.  I will begin by passing out the materials.”

She hands a group of 25 pencils and exams to the student sitting at the front of the class.  As the materials make their way to every child she continues to speak.

“This exam is necessary for us to place you in the right classes.  The exam will cover, reading, writing, science, and arithmetic.  You will have 3 hours to complete this test.  If you do not complete the test in the allotted time, you will be graded on what you have.  So make sure you do a little from each section.”

After everything has been passed out, the test begins.

As Sophie begins, she notices a slight headache coming on.

“Oh no, not now.  I should have ate more.”

“Caw”

Sophie looks out the window to see a conspiracy of ravens sitting in a tree looking at her.

“Focus Sophie, just focus on the test.  Don’t pay attention to them.”

“Caw”

Sophie looks up to see a raven sitting on the head of the girl in front of her.

“No, no, no. Just focus, just focus.”

“Sophie, are you okay sweetheart? You look pale.”  The maid looking at her.

“Yes, I’m okay.  I just have a headache.”

Sophie starts filling in answers one by one.

“A.. C.. D.. A.. “

“Caw caw”

She looks up to see a raven sitting on her desk, others on the heads of some classmates, and the largest one on the flag in the corner of the room.

“Sophie, don’t waste your time on this test.  You need focus on the task.  You need to find which girls don’t belong.”

Every word the raven speaks feels like talons burrowing into Sophie’s mind.

The ravens start flying chaotically around the room.  Taking turns divebombing at Sophie’s head.

“Are you okay Sophie? Wake up.”

“Wake up.”

Sophie opens her eyes, wet towel on her forehead, laying in the infirmary.  The Headmistress, holding her feet up, and a nurse is sitting right next to her holding her hand.

“Oh good, she’s awake!”  The Headmistress exclaims.

The nurse looking at Sophie.

“Hello, sweetheart.  You passed out in class.. gave us quite a scare.  Can you drink some of this orange juice?  We need to get your blood sugar up.”

Sophie sits up in bed, picks up the glass, and takes a few sips.

“How long was I out?”

“..A few hours at least.”

“What about my test?”

The Headmistress smiles.

“No need to worry about that.  We already know what you’re capable of, so it’s being handled.”

“Sophie we need to keep you here for the rest of the day to monitor your condition.  Seems to us like you had a pretty bad migraine.”

Sophie nods in agreement.

Both the nurse, and Headmistress leave to let Sophie rest.  But she cannot seem to settle her mind.  She keeps thinking about El on that stretcher, and the doorway under the maze where they took her.

“I’ve got to figure out where that leads.”

Deja vu

As nighttime falls, the day nurses say goodnight to Sophie, and leave the infirmary.  Another nightshift nurse is positioned at a desk in the next room.  Sophie will have to sneak past her if she wants to make it outside.

She waits a little while till things are silent, gets out of bed, and tiptoes toward the adjacent room.  She pokes her head in to see the nurse talking to someone.

Luckily for Sophie, one of the younger butlers has taken a fancy to this nurse, and is currently attempting to woo her…It is obviously not working.  But it’s a good enough distraction for Sophie to sneak past unnoticed.

As she exits the infirmary, Sophie notices she’s on the fourth floor.

“Damn.. these stairs are so squeaky.”

Sophie decides to lay on her belly, and climb down the stairs feet first as if she was going down a latter.

She makes it down to the third floor, then to the second, and as she rounds the corner to the last staircase she sees Bram standing in the foyer looking up at her.

“Hello young miss Blake.  It’s too late for you to be up.”

Sophie, discouraged.

“I need to get to the maze.  I wanted to see where El died, I’m having trouble dealing with it.”

Bram smiles, and for a brief moment he looks kind.

“Then go.  But if you are not back here in 15 minutes, I will tell the Headmistress.”

Sophie’s eyes widen, she runs down the stairs to say thank you. She heads towards the back of the manor, runs outside, and makes her way over to the maze.

The imprint of El’s body in the gravel below the latter, a few stones dyed copper.  Remnants of the event.

Sophie runs along the exterior wall of the maze toward the staircase, and looks at the door.

She runs down the stone steps, and grabs the doorknob

“This is it.” She thinks to herself.

She pushes the door open an walks through.  Everything fades to black.

When Sophie wakes up, she’s laying on the ground where the raven had first talked to her in the maze, looking up at the stars.

Confused, she sits up, and looks around.. there’s nobody.  She looks down, her clothes covered in blood, and in her hand a bloody steak knife.

She quickly drops the knife, and stands up.  Candlelight reflecting off the blood and polished blade.  As she looks around she sees bloody handprints, footprints, and streaks on the ground.

Sophie starts shaking as she comes to terms with what she has done.

“No, no.. “

Sophie runs to the doorway on the left.  At the end of the hall, she can see the Headmistress smiling at her.  Sophie runs toward her, past more puddles and streaks of blood.

“Congratulations, Sophie! You made it out of the maze.  El, great job helping, time to come down!”

Sophie looks up at El, her face is pale as a ghost, and she’s shaking.

“I’ll come down now Hea.. Headmistress.”

El looks straight down the latter as it sways back and forth.  It looks much higher from this angle.  She rotates her body around, and reaches one foot over the edge, searching for a rung.  She finds one, and brings the next foot over.  This is more difficult now, no thanks to the shaking.

She slips. El lets out a quick scream as she plummets, hitting the ground with a definitive thud.

Her eyes wide open, bloodshot, staring directly at Sophie.

The Headmistress smiles, and extends her arm.  Between her fingers, a bright red rose.

“You’ve brought order back to our precious school.  Your parents will be so proud.  May all your dreams be realized.”

Sophie reaches out to grab the rose.  The moment she touches it, everything fades to black once again…

“Ms. Blake, you’re on in five minutes.”

Sophie, sitting in front of a mirror, a stylist doing her makeup.  She looks at herself, much older, a woman of about 45.  On the dresser to the right, a black ornate vase, in it, a single vivid red rose.

“Is there anything else Ms. Blake?”

As Sophie is about to answer a woman walks into the room.

“You’re on.”

Sophie stands up, walks out of the door, and onto an outdoor stage.  In front of her millions of people chanting her name.

“Blake! Blake! Blake! Blake!”

Around the massive courtyard, military men with guns hold guard.  A helicopter hovers above.

She walks up to a lectern and places down some papers… everyone becomes silent as she prepares herself to speak.

“Life, at times, can be brutally indifferent to the suffering of others.  This is why compassion is a worthwhile trait for any leader.. and I believe I’ve showed how compassionate I am throughout this entire experience.”

The crowd cheers with agreement.

“This is why, for the betterment of our society, we must rid the ones who create that suffering.”

The crowd cheers once more.

A minigun on the helicopter reels up, rounds scream out the barrels, and rocket into the crowd with blistering speed.

People scream and run for their lives as bullets pound into the dirt around them.  They bang on the gates but they’re all barred shut, dead bodies multiplying… there’s no way out.

Sophie smiles, as the salvation she’s dreamt of is realized.