Stolen From My Eyes

Elise struggled to come to terms with what had happened as she staggered into the labyrinth. In her amazement at being somehow teleported to the maze, she had almost forgotten about the pain in her left arm. But now, as she let out a deep sigh, it stung again.

Looking down, she saw a small dagger embedded just below her shoulder. He had said Edmund was going to stab her. For a moment she thought maybe Gerard had done it, to convince her Edmund was dangerous. But then she remembered that he had grabbed her right arm and pulled her forward sideways. He didn’t have time or room to do it himself.

All the uncertainty she had felt back at the manor was gone. Edmund was dangerous. He had killed her mother, and he had tried to kill her; twice. The last memory had been the key to everything else; Elise knew who she was and had regained her life back.

She wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going, but she had to stop. The dagger was hindering her. Gritting her teeth, she wrapped her hand around the handle and pulled hard. A yelp escaped her as it slid free, and she dropped it to the ground like it had burned her. She was losing a lot of blood.

Tearing at the hem of her tee, she ripped a good sized strip off of it and wrapped it around the wound. It was immediately soaked with blood, but she didn’t have time to really worry about it. Gerard had told her to solve the labyrinth, and that was what she was going to do.

She had no concept of time; what time it had been when the episode on the landing had happened, what time it had been when she arrived at the maze entrance, or how much time had passed since then.

Elise simply moved determinedly through the hedges, trying to ignore the slightly dizzy feeling she had. As she continued on, it seemed that her arm had stopped bleeding mostly, though she had lost quite a bit of blood. Her arm was covered in it, as was that half of her shirt.

The sound of a twig snapping gained her attention. She came to a halt, looking around her warily. “Elise…” Called a very creepy voice. “Where are you, sweetheart? Come to daddy.”

How had he gotten here so fast? And how did he know that this was where she was? Elise tried to push down the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her. Up until now she had felt safe, sure that Gerard had taken care of her father. So why was he here? And why wasn’t Gerard?

She tried not to dwell too much on that last question. Gerard was still alive; he had to be. She felt sure she would know if he had…perished. There really wasn’t any reason why she was sure of that, but she was.

Again she heard Edmund call her name; she couldn’t come to think of him as her father any more. And she realized he sounded much closer this time. And so she picked up the pace, even though her arm was throbbing and the dizziness was getting worse. She couldn’t give up, not now. Holding firmly to the thought of Gerard’s face, she trudged on.

Edmund continued his half-crazy calls to Elise. Sometimes he sounded so close to her, and other times he sounded faint. Sometimes she had the feeling he was right on the other side of a hedge. She kept silent, trying to move at a fast pace while keeping the sound of her footsteps to a minimum.

It seemed like hours had passed, and maybe they had. Elise really had no idea where she was going; she just hoped she was lucky enough to stumble across the center of the maze at some point.

And luck was definitely with her, at least to a certain extent. A few twists and turns later, she could see there was a large opening up ahead of her. Excitement flooding through her, she broke into a jog, temporarily forgetting that Edmund was somewhere in the maze too.

When she reached it, she felt sure that this was the center of the maze. The clearing was circular, with an archway other than her own that entered from the maze as well. A beautiful statue of the goddess Aphrodite say atop a whimsical fountain. The sound of the water was almost musical. A relieved grin spread across Elise’s face as she tumbled forward, catching herself on a stone bench before she hit the ground. The jog had taken up quite a bit of her remaining energy.

As she sat on the bench to rest, she suddenly became aware that she was not alone. Looking up, she saw Gerard standing in the archway opposite from where she had come in. “Gerard,” She said his name with a sleepy smile on her face.

“There you are, sweetheart! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Edmund sneered, stepping into the clearing from her own entrance.

A cold chill swept through her body as she looked frantically at Gerard. “How did you get here?” He bit out, knuckles flexing at his sides.

“Oh, I think you probably know.” Edmund said somewhat cheerily. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Gerard moved forward quickly, his hands now balled into fists. “I don’t think so,” He hissed, his eyes glowing golden.

Hazily she watched as the two men rushed at each other. It was so strange; Gerard was so fast, like he should be. But Edmund was almost matching that speed, which he shouldn’t be. Elise yawned, her body moving slowly. She was tired, so tired. Maybe if she just laid down for a moment…

From somewhere nearby came a roar of triumph. She found herself not really caring who had one. Sleep was much more important. She needed her strength back, after all. Then she could deal with everything. Later, after she slept.

“Elise,” A far away voice was saying. "Oh lord, the blood..." Vaguely she could feel someone shaking her. But she ignored them. It was a little harder to ignore the fact that they had now picked her up, but she thought she had pulled it off well.

Who did he think he was? She didn’t want to go, only to sleep here. It was so peaceful, so very peaceful. When she woke up, she would give him a piece of her mind. He had no right, no right.

When she woke up…