🎄🍪 Not every journey begins with an epic farewell; in our case, it was a brutal crash against the floor. We had no time to react when we were thrown from the warm climate of California into the icy depths of the labyrinth; it was an unpleasant, unwelcome change.
Still, in the darkness of the labyrinth, I remembered Mr. Garland's warnings. Now, we had to return directly to the center of the chaos, but that was the only way. The only way to escape the labyrinth was to return to it. We were all out of tune, no doubt, but we were determined to cross it in the shortest possible time.
To do that, we had to cross the Atlantic, and the only safe way (yes, safe) was to take the Monster Express from Cavalry Station. I would have liked to stay in California a few more days, but time was against us, and I spoke for everyone when I said we wanted to leave the labyrinth in the shortest possible time.
We walked down a corridor and lost our bearings. Perhaps we were already out of the United States, or perhaps we had only moved a few simple steps. You could never tell, especially with the maze. In the maze, distances didn't matter. The walls were as old as Ancient Rome, shifting in time.
There were many rumors about how the maze came to be, but they all agreed on one point: the maze was created to transport gifts to everyone, and something went seriously wrong. And according to Mr. Garland, everything is going from bad to worse.
Something was awakening in the maze, and he didn't think it was anything good.
"Where did Garland say Cavalry Station was?" Rex asked, moving through smooth stone passageways and strings of lights.
"I think that first left, then right…" Ivy muttered, "We need to follow some portraits, he says we'll find a room…"
"I don't see anything, just endless hallways," I said quietly. We didn't want to attract any negative attention, especially if it was in the maze. There were Christmas monsters everywhere. And if what Mr. Garland said was true, they were more dangerous than ever.
If we didn't find a way out now, we might never find one. If there was one thing that scared me more than monsters, it was the dark, and I had a feeling being trapped beneath it was going to be the least of our problems.
"I never thought it was possible to travel between continents this way," June whispered. "Crossing such long distances in just a few hours."
"I can see why no one has tried this method before," I muttered. "It's more likely to freeze to death or be dinner for some monster than to arrive safely at your destination."
"Do you think many people knew about this place?" Rex asked.
"Surely there were people before us who ended up here, either accidentally or intentionally. Maybe they're still down there, looking for a way out."
"Yes," Ivy said. "Once you're in, it's much harder to get out. I wonder how many people they tricked into throwing them in like that. How many people were forced to sign the same contract we did?"
"How many more people have visited Mr. Bram's refuge…" My question hung in the air, a grim reminder of the situation we were in.
"We may never know," June looked down. "But we have to try to do something. We can't let people like Bram continue to take advantage of innocent people."
At that moment, a soft noise echoed through the corridor, paralyzing everyone. In the maze, noises aren't usually a source of joy, but rather a warning that something is approaching. Nothing good.
"I'll bet you a bar of Swiss chocolate that there's a monster around the corner," I murmured to Rex.
"I won't accept those kinds of bets," he replied.
But it turned out not to be a monster, surprisingly. It was about time; every time we made a little progress, we came face to face with maniacal snowmen, ghost sleds, and robots. It seemed the losing streak was over, although I shouldn't say anything so soon.
While we heeded the mysterious noise, the wall went from the white stone to the distinctive red of bricks. As we went further and further, the corridor began to open up, and the noise, now known as the typical roar of a locomotive, started to cover the whole place. We've just found the station. The Cavalry Station.
It was a typical train station, aside from the fact that it wasn't normal at all. Bustling people going from one place to another, never-before-seen creatures walking as if they belonged there. Seeing this panorama, you'll expect a dark and smelly place, more typical of a dungeon than of a station platform. But the maze managed to surprise me once again.
The air was filled with a fresh scent, as if the station had been built in the middle of a large, hidden garden. The arched glass roof let in shafts of golden light that fell onto the polished stone floor, creating reflections that seemed to move with the murmur of the travelers. Between the platforms were flowerbeds filled with winter and summer flowers, carefully trimmed shrubs, and weird trees shading wrought-iron benches.
Instead of a Train Station, it seemed to me more like a big, enormous greenhouse. Oddly enough, it seemed kind of … cozy to me. I've never thought that I'd say that for a place in the maze. The distant sound of steam and the soft swish of wheels on the rails mingled with laughter and murmured conversations of the travelers in different languages.
I could even recognize a few: short phrases in German, a man in a suit greeting in French, and a young lady who was grunting in a language I assumed was Russian.
The man in the suit turned towards us. "Bonjour, bienvenue à Cavalry Station. Pour acheter un billet, veuillez vous rendre au guichet. Le Monster Express part dans 5 minutes. Dépêchez-vous!"
"What did he just say?" asked Rex.
"Hmmm," June murmured, "He said that we must go to the Ticket Office to buy a ticket, and that the train will take off in five minutes…"
"Let's hurry up then."
I was no longer surprised that June knew how to speak French. At this point, nothing surprises me anymore, so I focus on my surroundings. There were all kinds of travelers. Some carried old suitcases and wore period clothes; others dressed as if they'd just stepped out of a 21st-century shopping mall. As we made our way along the platform, we saw small stalls decorated with garlands offering hot drinks and Christmas sweets, filling the air with the scent of cinnamon and chocolate.
"This doesn't look like the kind of place a monster would eat you," June said, though her hesitant tone made it clear that she wasn't entirely convinced.
Rex whistled, scanning the walkways and benches shaded by small trees. "If the whole maze was like this, I'd be game to live here."
Ivy seemed to notice the travelers moving between the garland-decorated stalls. "Take a look at them, some of them, they're so out of date…" She discreetly pointed to a well-dressed man in a top hat who was animatedly arguing with a woman dressed as if they had just stepped out of a 17th-century market.
The scent of the cinnamon and hot chocolate became stronger and stronger, enveloping us. For a moment, the stress of the maze faded. It was the first time I felt okay since we started this unfortunate journey, and probably it wasn't going to last long. Believe it or not, they stayed in Mr. Garland's mansion, despite it being a necessary break, which was ruined by attacks from tax collectors, and none of us felt safe in the Californian house.
A street vendor smiled at us from behind a cart adorned with golden lights.
"Do you want to try something before we find the train?" June asked.
"I say we should stop for a moment," Rex suggested. "It's not every day you see a Christmas cart in the middle of a maze."
"Yeah, right... Because nothing says 'survival' like drinking hot chocolate in a dangerous dimension," I joked, but I couldn't help but follow them toward the Christmas Market.
The vendor was a stocky man with a flour-covered apron. He had a broad smile and a tilted red hat that gave him the air of a retired elf.
"Welcome, travelers. What will you have? I have hot chocolate, gingerbread cookies, apple pie, and… something I call 'surprise punch.'" He winked ominously.
"A surprise, like a taste or a surprise in the aftermath?" I asked suspiciously.
"Both," the man replied, still smiling. It was kind of creepy.
"Ivy, who was already flipping through the menu hanging on the side, looked up. "I'll have hot chocolate. And no surprises, thanks."
"Gingerbread for me," Rex added, already reaching into his pocket to pay. I didn't know what currency they accepted. Maybe American dollars, if we were still under American soil, or maybe euros. Thinking it better, it would make much more sense if the maze had its own currency; in that case, we would be in a lot of trouble.
The man leaned a little closer over the counter, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I'll tell you something… a few years ago, right around this holiday season, a baker at the station decided to try his hand at a special recipe. A giant gingerbread cookie, the size of a person."
"That sounds really bad," I interrupted, biting into his cake. "It's never a good idea to make giant desserts."
"It wasn't just the recipe," the vendor continued with this gloomy voice, ignoring him. "The baker added a touch of magic, 'to make it last longer, ' he said. But the spell went awry…"
Ivy frowned, interested. "What happened?"
The man lowered his voice even further. "The cookie came to life. It rose from the table, broke through the walls of the shop, and ran between the platforms. No one could stop it. Some say it still roams the station's oldest aisles... looking for the baker who created it."
Rex let out an incredulous laugh. "Are you telling me there's a monster made of dough and sugar running around here?"
"They say it has chocolate chips for eyes," the man added with a crooked smile. "And if it catches you, it doesn't eat you. It makes you a part of it."
June, holding the glass of punch, took a step back. "Uh-huh... well, that explains why it smells so much like cinnamon in these tunnels."
The salesman straightened, calmly wiping the counter. "Believe it or not, rumors always have a grain of truth. And in the labyrinth... that grain can be deadly."
A tense silence fell over the room for a moment, causing us to regain our senses and return to the dark atmosphere of the labyrinth. Sometimes, dark truths lurked behind the simplest things.
"Perfect," June smiled nervously, "just what I needed to relax. A free horror story.
"Is he saying this to get us to buy more cookies or to scare us?" I murmured. I wasn't convinced by my own words either. At that moment, the train whistle decided to resonate in the air.
"Well," the vendor murmured, "It seems that our business is ending here. But remember my words, you're not safe here."
The four of us walked away from the stand, each with a steaming glass in our hands. Suddenly, the station didn't seem so cheerful anymore, and if even half of the vendor's story was true... I didn't want to think about what might happen. I was walking at the back of the group, lost in my thoughts, when I noticed something on the ground. I bent down and picked up a brown crumb, still sticky. It looked familiar.
"This is a cookie," I concluded.
"But why…" Ivy muttered before realizing it.
I followed with my eyes the trail of scattered crumbs that wound toward one of the side tunnels, a dimly lit archway where lights flickered erratically.
"Guys…" I called, my tone was more serious than usual.
Rex turned first. "What happens now?"
I pointed at the ground. "I think our ginger friend left footprints."
Rex frowned, his expression going from bored to worried. "Great. As if we didn't have enough problems already, now we have to worry about a giant homicidal cookie."
Ivy's gaze remained fixed on the dark tunnel. "I don't know if it's worse that the story is true... or that the trail is still fresh."
None of us spoke. In the distance, a dark green train with gold trim waited silently, as if it had been stopped for centuries, its dark silhouette a stark contrast to the vibrant green of the forest beyond. Above, a hanging sign, gently swaying in an invisible breeze, announced an enigmatic destination: CAVALRY. Below, smaller letters seemed like a whisper of uncertainty: Next departure: who knows.
CAVALRY
Next Departure: Who knows
For a moment, getting on an unfamiliar train stopped seeming like a good idea, for a moment, walking down a platform full of strange decorations stopped seeming like a good idea, and for a moment, standing here stopped seeming like a good idea.
We stared at each other in silence. Suddenly, the hot chocolate didn't seem so comforting anymore.