ilbarker's POV

I rubbed my eyes and stretched. I felt much better, so I felt that I could go for a while!

I pulled out the piece of paper that I'd written Kit's and Cassia's rooms on.

Kit - 548

Cassia - 226

I was in room 452.

Cassia was closest to me at the moment, so I decided to get her first.

"36 HOURS LEFT, ilbarker...." Dark whispered. It echoed around the lobby, and I shivered.

36 hours to save Cassia, Kit, and find Anti....

Welp, better not waste time!

I gathered myself and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

As I entered the hallway, I began looking at the room numbers.

201, 202, 203.... And so on and so forth.

Once I reached 226, I paused.

The door looked much different from the plain wooden doors. It had an intricate purple pattern with a...what was it...unibuttercatacorn, I think.

Yup. Definitely Cassia's thing.

I pushed open the door and went in to what looked like a lo---

The door shut swiftly behind me and I collapsed as I breathed in the air.

It was different than the outside air.

I started coughing...but the coughing sound faded until I couldn't hear it anymore.

I could feel the pounding on my throat as I kept coughed, and I was pretty sure I hadn't lost my voice. Or stopped coughing.

I think I just lost my hearing.

After I had my cough attack, I got back up and tried to open the door.

And it didn't.

Instead of fretting over the door, I turned and started looking for Cassia.

What I was going to say was that when I opened the door, it looked like a long hallway with several corridors.

I looked down one of the corridors to see a couple more corridors.

A maze.

I sighed. So...was Cassia afraid of mazes or something? I can tell she's afraid of silence because of the deafening air (literally).

I walked down the long corridor and chose a random one.

I stuck my hand against the right wall and walked, dragging it as I walked.

And that was I did.

I walked. And walked. And paused for a breather. And walked some more.

I think what scared me the most as I walked along was the fact that I hadn't hit a dead end.

It just kept going and going.

And then another thought crossed my mind.

How would I find Cassia?

I can't call out to her because of the deafening air or pound on the wall because, again, no hearing.

It would be pure luck to find her now.

Cassia's POV

It's too silent.

It's WAY too silent.

I freaking hate it.

And I'm alone.

I've walked about for what felt like hours, hoping I'd run into ilbarker (if she was even here) or the exit or something!

Sometimes, I'd find myself trembling, so I'd sing some Hamilton songs in my head.

And, I guess, out loud, but it wasn't like anyone could hear anyway.

I continued dragging my hand along the right wall, as I always stuck to the right side of mazes. But...I had yet to hit a dead end, which was scary.

It just kept winding and nothing looked the same even if I more or less knew I went in a circle.

It's like the maze was moving around me.

Sometimes, I would stop and rest, but I just kept moving otherwise.

I was getting a bit thirsty, too....

I turned a corner whilst thinking and ran straight into something...sorta mushy but also kinda hard, like scaly feeling.

I fell back, wincing as my tailbone hit the ground.

I looked up and froze.

Oooooooh...you gotta be frigging kidding me....

Aaaaand back to ilbarker's POV

La da di da hum de dum....

Ugh, stop judging me! It's freaking quiet and boring! At least I can still hear my thoughts!

I sighed and stopped, leaning up against the right wall of the corridor I was in.

I've probably been in here for freaking HOURS! I NEED to find Cassia AND still get Kit AND find Anti!

UGH---

I froze.

Did...Did the wall just...tremble?

I turned and placed both hands on the wall.

It trembled, but it felt stronger more to the right direction of the wall.

I'd have to break my "right side always" rule, but trembling walls are not normal.

I went back the direction I came and paused at the separating paths.

I had come from the right path, but had actually found my first dead end to the left, which ended me where I was.

I looked down the left path to see that it wasn't a dead end anymore. It was another corridor with more paths!

I paused again, feeling the wall.

The trembling felt stronger here, too.

I walked down the corridor and was about to turn left towards the trembles when I got knocked over.

I said ow, but obviously no one heard it.

I rubbed my back and looked over to see...CASSIA?!

She looked just as surprised as I did, though she seemed severely winded. She started moving her mouth, but I didn't know if she was mouthing or speaking.

I pointed at me ear and shook my head.

The trembles got much, MUCH stronger.

She looked panicked as she pulled me up, running the way I had just come from.

As we ran, I would glance over at her.

She looked absolutely terrified. Well, I mean, it made sense, seeing as we were in her fear.

She turned a corner and pressed us both up against a wall. We were both breathing hard. Well, I was, and Cassia looked like she was, too.

I looked at here and mouthed, "What?"

She bit her lip and shook her head, putting her finger to her lip. She pointed in the general direction of the trembles and nodded her head as she pointed at her ear.

"It can still hear?"

Yes, I was mouthing it. The quotations is so you know our mouths are moving. Don't think we could suddenly hear each other.

She nodded.

The trembles grew stronger and she froze before shoving us both back against the wall again.

I turned my head to look at the corridor that the trembles resonated from.

Something tall poked its head around the corner. Then...something else poked its head around the corner but looking straight?

It looked...kinda scaly, like a snake.

The head staring at us narrowed its eyes.

The rest of its body followed, and I instantly knew what it was.

Oh no.

Cassia, WHY?!!!

IT WAS A FREAKING HYDRA.

YOU KNOW, THAT THING THAT HAS A BUNCH OF HEADS AND BREATHES FIRE AND GROWS MORE HEADS IF YOU CUT ONE OFF.

OK, IGNORE RANT, WE GOTTA FREAKING MOVE!!!!!

Both Cassia and I turned and bolted, the trembles following.

We turned a corner and a hot feeling came from behind.

Yeah, there's its fire....

There really wasn't much to describe after that.

We just ran and turned corners and kept trying to lose it.

After what felt like a bunch more hours, we entered a corridor that was EXTREMELY long.

And the exit was right at the end.

My legs were in severe pain from constant use, but I pushed Cassia ahead of me so she'd get out first.

The Hydra was right behind us. I could feel it. Literally.

We booked it as fast as we could towards the door.

When we were somewhat close to it, it swung outward a bit.

I think it sensed me near since I doubted that Cassia could get out by herself.

Wait, then how did I get out by myself?

Forget it, now's not the time for that.

Cassia was a quite a bit in front of me.

I could feel immense heat behind me.

Oh no.

I must've been a few feet from the door when it hit me.

Literally. Like, it being the fire from the Hydra's mouth.

It hurt...well, pretty freaking bad. Immense pain. Horrid pain. Insert very big word that describes a lot of pain here.

I probably screamed, but I still couldn't hear.

I tumbled out of the room and Cassia slammed the door shut.

I could hear that faintly, but I did the first thing you're supposed to do when you're on fire.

THEY SEE ME ROLLIN'. TO PUT OUT. THE STUPID PAINFUL FIRE ON MY BACK.

I didn't need to stop or drop cuz I was already on the ground, so I just rolled until the fire was out.

"...rker! ilbarker! Can you...hear me?!" I heard Cassia say frantically through heavy breaths.

I was laying on my stomach, panting.

"Y-Y-Yeah.... Owwww.... H-How bad is i-it?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Hopefully...it...looks worse than...it is...." She panted.

I tried to push up, but the pain in my back flared, making me cry out and fall back on my face.

"ilbarker, don't move! Umm...." She paused.

I took deep breaths. "D-Drag me t-to the ele-elevator and g-go to the l-lobby...."

"But...isn't it kinda dangerous to use the elevator?!" She said quietly.

"It's th-that or d-drag me d-down the st-stairs.... Pl-Please no stairs...."

She sighed and grabbed my hands, pulling me as gently as she could towards the elevator.

We got down without incident.

She gently pulled me across the lobby and, with quite a bit of pain, laid me on my stomach on one of the couches.

"What now?" Cassia asked as she sat against the front of the couch.

I sighed, wincing at the sting on my back. "On the...reception d-desk, there's a paper. It h-has our room numbers on it. I can't quite remember K-Kit's room, but it's written down."

"How did you find out where we were?"

"Flip phone k-keypad. Room numbers to first th-three letters of our Wattpad n-names."

"24 HOURS LEFT, ilbarker. BETTER GO FAST." Dark said teasily.

I growled. "Sh-Shut up, Dark."

"C-Cassia, you'll have t-to go get K-Kit. But...just rest f-for a bit. Maybe a c-couple hours. You'll n-need it, trust me." I laughed lightly, grimacing.

She smiled. "Alright...but I'm gonna treat you first so you don't get infected from the burns." She got up and headed towards the bathroom.

I sighed and closed my eyes...again.

Please let Kit be alright and not...absorbed by her fears....