Vibe Zone

other times, you heard footsteps. those were always louder and clearer than the voices, and closer, too. you never felt like you were being watched when you heard them, even as the sound grew nearer, coming up behind you. you'd turn around and find nothing. you'd enter the room they had stopped in and find nothing. you follow them, when they lead away from you, but they never take you anywhere worth your time. no where here is worth your time, except for maybe the occasional crate containing food or water, never enough to satiate you, but enough to keep you going, and sometimes to stock up.

after however many hours or even days of being alone and searching for an exit or a person or something, anything that might be meaningful or useful, you follow those clear and distinct footsteps and stumble across the last thing you could’ve ever expected. another person. another person who’s just as freaked out and scared and lonely and confused as you are who clings to you like you’re their last hope. the connection is immediate and the loneliness ebbs away as you wander the halls together in search of the exit that has to exist.

but, as comforting as they are, as grateful as you are for their existence, it’s hard to ignore just how sharp the panic is every time you lose sight of your companion, or how much heavier the weight of your loneliness feels when you can’t see them or hear them or feel them right there next to you. the worst part about how attached you've become to them, how desperate you are to keep them in your sights, is that it's somehow almost impossible to stay attached at the hip in this place. you try to stay by their side, but sound it weird, and you can't always hear their footsteps next to you. space is weird, and even though you could've sworn you two were close enough to hold hands one moment, the next you look over to where they should be and find nothing but dark, empty hallways. thankfully, they're almost always around one of the corners you had passed, but sometimes it feels like they've wandered off further than should be possible, forcing you to run, to call for them, to beg to whatever deity you believe in and the ones you don't that they'll hear your voice, realize they've been separated, and return to you.

you've only known them for a short while, but you've already grown to need them more than you've needed anything else in your life. you've grown used to having so few resources that you could do without what little food and drink you've had down here if you needed to. as it is, you've already started giving your companion the lion's share whenever you find what little food and water has been scattered throughout the endless maze ahead of you. what started as splitting evenly turned into you giving them the greater share whenever things couldn't be split equally, then a little extra on top because they look like they need it more than you. the last thing you want is for their strength to fail them. but then you're studying them for signs of hunger or thirst and dipping into your own scarce resources so they don't have to use their own. you justify it because you know they'd do the same if you were getting hungry or thirsty or weak. they have their own stockpile in their pockets, just like you. you know you've given them extra food every time you find something, and surely they must need you as much as you need them.

if it comes down to it, you need them more than survival, because dying in their company is better than dying alone in such a cold, empty place. your only regret for that, though it thankfully hasn't happened yet, is that you'd be condemning them to the same loneliness you'll be gladly escaping.

but somewhere along the way, things start to seem... off. they seem to be wandering off more and more, and it takes you longer and longer to notice. you've taken to holding their hand whenever you're together and moving in an attempt to keep this from happening, but that only seems to make it worse. the weight of their hand seems to linger far longer than they do, and sometimes, you're sure it's just the maze playing tricks on you, but sometimes, their hand doesn't feel right. like there are too many bones in their fingers, or the surface of their glove feels less like latex or vinyl against your own and is strangely wet instead. sometimes the weight disappears entirely, only for you to look over and see their familiar form still standing there next to you and what little of their face you can make out looking exactly as it should, and you look down to find your gloved hands still clasped together.

you try to ignore it, remind yourself that it's just this place playing tricks on you. it probably doesn't like that you've found a companion, and maybe it has enough will to force you two apart. that must be it. that's the only explanation that makes sense, that feels plausible. and yet...

at some point they had started to lose enthusiasm for the idea of escape. not like they had lost hope of ever getting out. they weren't cheered up by your reminders that you managed to end up here, which meant there had to be a way out, you just had to keep searching. they had even stopped reassuring you of the same in those moments where your own hope dwindled. instead, they talked about how there were worse places to be, about how, at the very least, you weren't alone anymore. the longer you were together, it must've been days, or even weeks, though it was impossible to properly tell time in this place, the more resistant they became.

they started dismissing your hope for freedom, for a life outside of the maze. they weren't hostile, they didn't insult you or belittle you, but they weren't hiding their belief that the two of you were stuck here forever. not anymore. the weirdest part was that, despite still being together, despite still having your companion at your side, despite not being alone anymore, save for those terrifying moments where they seemingly vanished into thin air only to appear several turns away, the less you felt that loneliness subside.

it was a different type of isolation than what you had felt in the maze before stumbling across your companion. before, you had felt like everyone in the world had vanished. before finding your friend, the maze had taunted you with the sounds of life. it lured you through its endless halls with voices that never grew closer, footsteps that belonged to nothing leading you to and fro. you felt alone because there was no one and nothing for you to be comforted by, not even an inanimate object for you to personify, keep with you and form a bond with.

but this was the kind of isolation that you had felt before. where you're alone in a crowded room, surrounded by people you could connect with, people you tried to connect with, but something had always separated you from one of them. even if they spoke to you, interacted with you, brought you into the fold, even if you pretended to be like them, acted like them, tried to convince yourself you were the same as them and this was where you belonged, you never fit. and that feeling, of being alone despite the people around you, was somehow even worse than the absence of people all together.

even though they made you feel even lonelier than you had felt before you found them, you still couldn't bear to be away from them. you didn't want to be alone, you couldn't allow yourself to be alone, you needed them. you needed them. you needed them.

you tripped over yourself to keep them in your sights as you wandered the halls. you insisted on sleeping as little as possible whenever you both agreed to rest. instead, you would watch them closely as they slept, watching them instead of keeping watch of your surroundings. you were confident there was nothing in this maze that would hurt you. at least, you hadn't found anything that would just yet. sometimes you refused to take your own rest after your companion awoke. fear gripped your chest tightly at the thought of closing your eyes, even for a short nap, only to open them and find them gone. you couldn't handle it, so you made your excuses. you weren't tired, you were getting restless after staying in one place for so long, you thought you heard something in the distance. they never pressed you on it, never pushed you to sleep when you weren't willing, and they humored you whenever you insisted on sleeping as close to them as possible when you knew you couldn't stay awake any longer. they let you cling to their hand or arm as you finally allowed yourself to fall into a fitful, restless sleep filled with nightmares you could never remember but always left you feeling so horribly alone.

you watched them like your life depended on it, and that was when the cracks started to show.

the more you watch them, the more it starts to click somewhere in your brain that there's something they're hiding from you.

there's something about their posture and what little of their face you can see that's relaxed, like they find comfort in the same halls that unnerve you and remind you how isolated you two are. you're certain it wasn't there when you first met. you remember how tense they were when you first ran across them, not expecting to find an actual person tied to the footsteps you were following. they were just as scared as you, just as trapped and lonely. their fear and desperation had perfectly matched your own.

but now, as you both sit cross legged across from each other, sipping on water and nibbling at the energy bars you've found in another random pile of crates with no purpose other than to keep you alive, you notice something. your companion is relaxed. not like they're simply resting in an uncomfortable environment, or that they've found a rare moment of comfort they're trying to savor. they look at peace, like they're sitting in their living room at home with a good book and cup of hot tea. they're comfortable, and something about the scene, about their comfort, strikes you.

in this moment, you know the truth. your companion, the one you've relied on for so long, who has kept you alive and sane, isn't like you. they didn't find themself stuck in this place the way you did. they're from here, they have always been of this maze. they led you to them when you were close to losing yourself to your loneliness, when you were so desperate for connection with something, anything. they never wanted to escape, and they were never going to help you leave the maze, either.

you don't know what their end goal is. if they intend to drive you mad with your attachment to them, or if they're waiting for you to succumb to something, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, fear, the list could go on. you don't know if they're feeding off of you now, or if they will when you finally keel over and die, or even if this is just for their own amusement. for all you know, they truly are just as lonely as you and want to savor the company until you finally become yet another victim of this place.