SERAPHINA'S POV
At the sound of the buzz, I run right into the maze, picking an entrance the same as everyone else.
I'm immediately greeted by high walls that I couldn't possibly climb onto to see the end of the maze - the walls standing at almost 20 feet high.
I run though the path, coming into a two-way path and choosing the left.
Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing but I imagine after trying every possible path, I would happen across the exit.
But in the meantime, I have another objective.
The sight of a chest sitting against the wall draws my attention and I immediately run for it, pulling it open.
Apart from the fundamental rule of the game stating one only wins when they successfully leave, there were other ways to boost your points while in the maze and it was in the form of tokens that gave points.
Chests were hidden within the maze with trinkets, raging from bronze, silver and gold - gold having the highest points, three, and bronze having just one.
I've already flunked at the first game and the best way to boost my points is to find enough golden tokens to make me qualify for the final games.
Luckily enough, the moment I pull it open, I'm greeted by a small golden figurine, which means I have 3 points.
"Yes!" I do a little solo celebration before tucking it into my pocket.
All that's left is to hopefully find just one more gold, and my points would be enough for this round.
My little victory is short-lived the second I hear footsteps drawing closer at a heightened pace until another of the contestant comes into view - a female wolf with short jet-black hair.
She pauses the second our eyes meet, immediately looking between me and the now empty chest box in front of me with a very suspicious glance.
On instinct, I hold onto the figurine in my pocket, not liking the look she's giving me one bit. Her eyes widen with an ominous look behind them.
There's no rule stating you could only get points by finding one yourself, meaning stealing a golden token could still give you three point- a fucking loop hole in this damn game.
"What you got there, human?" she asks, suddenly approaching me with slow calculated steps.
"Nothing that concerns you, of course." I respond, backing away from her as well.
Behind me is a wall, so I pause and she does as well.
There's a lengthy stare down that follows as well before her eyes finally move to the pocket where it is and in that second, I make a run for it.
With my tiny human legs, I dash along a path, huffing with every fiber of strength I can muster. In only seconds, I can hear her chasing after me earnestly.
None of this is fair. I wonder why such a rule even exists in the first place. How am I expected to out run a fucking werewolf in a game of tag?
In only seconds, she catches up to me, pulling me back by the hair roughly.
"Where do you think you're going? You have something of mine."
"Fat chance, dog breath."
"What?!"
I slam the back of my head against her nose, and in her moment of distraction, she lets go quickly, letting me drop down onto my two feet again.
"You bitch, you're going to regret this." She screams hysterically before I realize I've possibly fucked up.
She lunges at me, pushing me back against a wall that slams way too hard into my back.
The amount of armor tied to mu body acts as a shock absorbent and reduces the amount of pain I'm supposed to feel in this moment, and the cat fight begins.
Her claws are released from her nail, reaching forward to scratch onto the side of my face but I struggle against her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of stealing my points so easily.
A blow to the head, however, sends my head into a spinning spiral.
Everything within my range of vision turns as my muscles go momentarily weak. Even with it, I hear her wicked snicker, enjoying torturing me.
"You shouldn't have bothered wasting your time here. You're just giving us more chances to get rid of the human filth in our prestigious school."
Yeah, I figured that out a while ago.
Her hostility is clearly different from the ones that I've seen in school. Similar in some ways, but there's a very distinctive blood thirst in the way her eyes stare me down.
Even now, she has the chance to take her precious token but she decides to toy with me instead.
I struggle against her hold again, regaining partial control of my already aching body.
"I didn't think anyone would be jobless enough to target me in the middle of a tournament. Seems kind of tasteless, don't you think?" I force a sly smile just to mess with her.
Her wide grin is wiped off her face, instantly replaced with a glare.
She doesn't bother holding back now and her head slams into mine. It's the same blow I had given, only with twice the force.
My eyes black out for a second but my vision blurs. She lets go of me and I immediately plummet to the hard earth. My ears begin to ring as the very distinctive metal taste in my mouth forms.
This bitch really wants to kill me.
I know I realized it earlier, but its only now with her blows that it begins dawning on me that this is different from all the bullying I've encountered.
"I hope you realize by now that this isn't a game. The moment I get rid of you and take your token, even if I don't win the games, I'd be praised for getting rid of the human stain in our school"
"You sure about that? I reckon your lives would be a whole lot duller without your human punching bag."
"Again with the jokes. We'll see how funny you'll think this is when I'm done with you." She seethes.
Her whole-body trembles with a rage I can't seem to understand. I don't think I've ever done something to her to warrant such hatred from her, yet her eyes scream hysterically at me
"What about you? Human or not, I'm still a student here. My death won't be let go of so easily." I try to talk her out of her unreasonable plan.
Even if no one would care, I'm here by the wish of the Alpha king himself, that much authority could land her years in jail for taking a life.
"I'll figure that part out later. Maybe this could be a chance for Artemis and I to get closer once you're gone too. Finally, he'll notice me and realize I'm more worthy to be by his side than that bitch, Kamila."
At the mention of his name, the hate in her eyes light up very briefly like a love-sick teenager crushing on a TV star.
Hold on a damn minute.
"Wait, this is about Artemis?"
"Who else would it be about?"
You got to be kidding me.
That fucking prick just has to always find a way to mess with me, doesn't he?
Even when he's not even trying to, one of his brainwashed followers can't seem to leave me the hell alone.
I sigh now.
"If there was ever a chance I would have let you kill me, it's gone now." I say, standing to me feet again.
My legs wobble and I already feel dizzy from all the blood loss, but I stand my ground.
"You're pretty cocky for a human. I understand why he hates you so much." She says, releasing her claws again.
"Ditto."
She moves forward quickly, wanting to slash me again but I dodge the other way quickly and placing my foot in front of her, so she trips over it.
The moment her body tips over, I pull out the rock I picked on the floor a while ago, smashing it against her forehead and she falls backward.
I don't lose this opportunity, running down a path, hoping that I can lose her in the maze before she finds me - but I'm not fast enough again due to the weakness in my legs.
"Come back here." she screeches manically, her voice echoing from wherever she is.
I move faster despite the coldness forming at my extremities, making more than a few turns to purposefully fall off track.
Just when I think I'm finally free from her, finally safe, the earth beneath me gives way and I fall.
My entire body plunges beneath the earth, crashing into a deep hole in the floor- a trap set as one of the many obstacles in the maze, something Olivia had warned me about.
I was too busy trying to save myself to realize it and now, it's too late.
I look up at the only source of light above me and then, the high walls of the ditch I've fallen into. I don't even bother to move around or stand up because my entire body aches painfully and my head throbs.
I can barely even hear my own hard breathing and feel my consciousness just faintly present in my body.
Fuck, how am I going to get out of this one now?
I hear footsteps approaching before a head peeks from above.
The same bitch that had gotten me into his mess smiles with a wide grin that stretches across her face as she looks at me from above with blood dripping from the side of her face from my attack.
"Looks like you went ahead and fell into a trap on your own, didn't you?" She mocks me.
I want to tell her to shut up but I can't find the strength to speak, all my own strength leaving my body in the form of blood.
What will she do now, I wonder? Now that I'm too helpless to run? Maybe jump in here and tear me to piece, or find a boulder she can roll over me.
"I'll leave you hear to rot on your own." She finally speaks. "No one will find you in here anyway."
With that she leaves, retreating until I can't hear her footsteps again and I'm left alone in silence.