Han took a careful step back. "You're telling me no one saw that?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, dude," Chul replied. "Plus, I'm kinda busy right now."
Han could see the outline of a wicked smile on the side of Chul's face as he stared at Jen's feet.
He walked over and swatted Jen's foot from Chul's hands. "Fuck, now's not the time for this."
Chul scowled, looking up at Han. "What's your deal, dude? We're just taking a break."
"Nolan just went missi-" Before Han could finish his sentence, Nolan appeared from the other end of the corridor.
"Look who's back," Jen mocked, looking over her shoulder. "Your plan didn't work out, did it?" she said, slowly getting to her feet.
The lighting in the corridors cast a shadow over Nolan's face. "I found a passage," he replied, standing dead still at the very start of the corridor. "This way," he gestured, walking back down the corridor he had just come from.
"Finally," Chul whispered in relief, getting to his feet as well.
All the while, Han just stared at the start of the corridor with a suspicious expression.
"Well, I don't need to remind anyone, but we're on a timer," Chul said, patting Han on the shoulder. "So let's get moving, shall we?" he said.
"You okay?" Jen asked, noticing the expression on Han's face.
Han couldn't reply; he was frozen still in fear. He was completely certain he had just seen Nolan get kidnapped by a shadow. On top of that, there was no way Nolan could have walked an entire loop of the maze that quickly...
An unnerving sense that they were being watched came over him.
Every shadow in the room now seemed like a gateway, some perverse twisted window from which someone or something was watching them.
"Wait!" he shouted.
Chul turned around. "You were just complaining about us wasting time. Nolan found a way-"
"That's not Nolan," Han interrupted. "Think about it. How did he get back here so fast?"
Chul opened his mouth to say something before quickly closing it.
Jen, however, was not buying it. "I mean, maybe he used buccaneer," she said. "You'd be surprised how fast he can move using that."
"Then call him back here. Make him step into the light."
The group stood in silence for a moment, quiet tension building between every breath.
"What exactly is going on?" Jen asked, slightly irritated.
Han took a step away from the wall, as if something inside it would slither out and snatch him at any moment. "I'm saying I just watched Nolan get taken... kidnapped," he said.
"By what? We were all here," Jen said. "I didn't hear anything. Did you?" she asked, turning towards Chul.
Chul looked conflicted, shaking his head.
"Look. You're just tired," Jen said. "Using your trait can do that to you. For now, we should keep moving."
She took a step towards the corridor that Nolan had just disappeared into, before Han grabbed her arm.
"I'm telling you. Something's not right."
She pulled her arm away. "And I'm telling you to calm down."
Han could do nothing but watch as she disappeared down the corridor.
He hesitated, wondering if he should follow along, before deciding against it. He needed to watch the imposter and see what it wanted from them first.
And perhaps the best way of doing that was by offering a guinea pig for sacrifice.
Chul scratched his head, considering whether he should follow behind Jen, before reluctantly walking to stand beside Han. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.
Han nodded. "Sure as hell," he replied. "Still, whoever... or whatever that is, is likely our only shot out of this loop."
"I say we follow them, but from a distance."
And so, he and Chul followed last.
*
The group walked in silence for a while, Jen and Nolan at the front, while Han and Chul followed a few steps behind.
Han ran his fingers over the walls as they walked. 'The arrows are still here,' he thought. 'It's just leading us down the same hallways.'
With every step they took, his suspicions festered. He expected 'Nolan' to start acting weirdly at any moment; however, even after several more minutes, that did not come.
After a while, 'Nolan' and Jen started humming songs.
Jen said they were songs from their youth, when the two of them were still little kids at camp.
Chul seemed to grow less suspicious of Nolan after that, but Han wasn't buying it. To him, Jen had already been replaced as well.
They took a series of left turns, Nolan leading like he knew these corridors like the back of his hand. Han found it annoying that no one else seemed to find it suspicious.
But after Nolan started cracking jokes, Chul increased his pace so that he could laugh alongside them.
It was beginning to feel as if they were just taking a lovely stroll in some sort of amusement park instead of being trapped in these ancient-looking corridors.
As time passed, the corridors began to change. Their grey colour slowly turned to a light shade of yellow, and after walking a bit more, they became completely honey-gold, just like the room they had spawned in.
However, as Han walked at the back of the group, he could still feel the arrows he had etched into the walls. He was sure they were still trapped in the loop, even if the environment was changing.
Still, he could do nothing but follow along.
The imposter would reveal its true intentions sooner or later. That, he was sure of.
*
Eventually, the group reached a dead end.
"Well, this is different," Chul said.
They now stood in front of what looked like a door, made from yellow cobblestone. Ancient moss covered its edges, drenched in what looked like honey. They were inscriptions etched into its surface, akin to hieroglyphs. However, Han didn't dare to take his eyes off 'Nolan' to look at them properly.
'What's its plan? Is it going to kill us when we lower our guard? Or is it after something else?'
"What now?" Chul asked, turning back to look at Han.
However, Han remained silent, gripping his dagger tightly.
Chul considered him for a moment before sighing and looking to Nolan for an answer.
"Usually there's a hidden compartment somewhere," Nolan said. "Remember the hospital quest?" he asked, turning to look at Jen.
She nodded before feeling around the edges of the door.
The rest of the group got to work looking for the compartment as well.
It was 15 minutes of quiet searching before they gave up. Having found absolutely nothing.
Han was sitting a few steps back, eyes still studying Nolan.
"Hey, dude, no offence, but do you mind getting off your ass?" Chul said, irritation apparent in his voice. "We have less than an hour, remember."
Han couldn't debate that. While he wasted time keeping an eye on Nolan, the queen bee was getting closer and closer to being born.
Perhaps this was the impostor's play. To act as a distraction until it was too late.
So Han got off his feet, back against the wall as he slowly made his way towards the door.
"You two," he said, gesturing towards Jen and Nolan. "Back."
Jen rolled her eyes.
"What the fuck's wrong with him?" Nolan asked.
Jen whispered something into his ear. And he broke out in laughter. However, after seeing the expression on Han's face, he stopped.
"This is fucked up," he whispered, raising his hands in defeat as he retreated further back into the corridor.
"Watch them," Han whispered to Chul, before turning to look at the door.
"Look, dude. I don't think-"
Han raised his hand to silence Chul before he could finish that sentence. Eyes stared intently at the door.
"These inscriptions... You guys sure you can't read them?" he whispered.
"Read them? It's just a bunch of jibberish, dude. Look at it."
Han was looking at them.
His system screen had opened up by itself, emitting a golden glow that highlighted each hieroglyph as his eyes scanned through.
The inscription on the door read;