Chapter 17
The Maze Deepens
Evan's nightmares intensify, blurring the lines between his past trauma and his present reality. He questions his own sanity as the psychological toll of his mission begins to weigh heavily.
The digital clock on my desk glowed 3:17 AM, a harsh red against the oppressive darkness of Room 317. Daniel’s steady breathing was a soft counterpoint to the frantic thrumming in my own chest, a sound that had become as familiar to me as the echo of my father’s voice in the maze. Sleep, a luxury I could rarely afford, had once again abandoned me. I lay on my side, facing the wall, the rough texture of the pillowcase a small, tangible anchor in the churning sea of my thoughts.
Behind my eyelids, the maze was already forming. The stone walls, slick with an unseen dampness, rose impossibly high, twisting and turning into a disorienting labyrinth. My footsteps, a solitary sound in the vast silence, seemed to reverberate not just through the stone but through my very bones. And then, the voice.
*“You think you’re special? You’re nothing. Just a mistake.”* My father’s voice, cold and sharp as broken glass, bounced off the unseen walls, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. *“You’ll never be enough. Never worthy. Just like her.”*
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