Thomas Vermillion's Story

What's the last thing you remember?
Was it car screeching? Was it fire? Gun shot?
It's fine if you don't remember right away.
So tell me... Were you the bully? Or the bullied?
Any regrets? yeah... most people regret allot...
Listen... everyone deserves a second chance right?
Well here's yours.

Pain. The pain was like being bitten all over his body by the nightmarish, demonic creatures from South America, or Africa. He had heard of a creature that caused bites as painful as a gunshot wound. Except, here, Thomas was being shot by actual guns. No matter how he had imagined it, it actually did not seem as painful as he had thought. He didn't know why. The last thing he remembered was standing up. He did not even remember his head hitting the floor. The situation he was in now was terrifying to him. He was alone in a strange place. He awoke in a comfortable room. He seemed alive. Maybe someone brought him back to life. Or, the equally likely reason that he never died in the first place. The room was lavish with knowledge, and little else. A simple desk in the plainly-coloured room adorned the ground. The wall had a large book case covering it. It was filled with books. Thomas got up. The pain was there, but he withstood it. He still felt shaky on his feet, and stumbled against the table, before lifting himself up. He looked down. His entire body had scars all over it. He looked at them, at the approximate radius from which each scar seemed to radiate from. He determined they were probably caused by bullets. Touching one, he recoiled his hand. He remembered the sharp pain on each point. They did not hurt now, though. They did not hurt then, either. Why would such a memory be painful, if it was of a non-painful situation? Thomas turned to the window. It was night, and a beautiful one at that. Calming. He focused his abstract mind into the task at hand . . . there was none. However, there was a rose garden maze outside. It was pretty, but he read too much of Alice in Wonderland to trust it fully. It extended for a while, and he was in a lavish place. He decided not to think the Red Queen of Roses kidnapped him, despite it being a technical possibility, for all he knew. Thomas noticed his clothes on the window as well. They hung. Oh yes, he was nearly naked. He forgot entirely. Maybe the cold breeze made him too numb to notice his clothes missing. Oh. He remembered seeing his scars earlier, when he got up. Woops. Thomas quickly pulled on his clothes, and threw his scarf behind him.

Thomas checked the books. They were whole, unadulterated books. Not a cheap model of any kind. Or a good illusion, mockery, or fakery. Whatever it was, he could read here for a long time. He always wanted to get started on The Two Towers. He might be able to finish it by day's end by speed-reading, and maybe the next book, too. Thomas focused back on reality. His head was not right. He could not remember anything while knocked out. He always thought he had an eidetic memory, and with good reason. He could recall almost anything, whether he wished to forget or not. He could remember nothing since being shot, so he was out since then. That...didn't help him in any way. Not without more facts. He exited the room, slowly due to the pain he felt around his body. In a few short moments, he adapted, and walked just fine. His body appeared to be in no shape of dishevelment or decay, or disease. He just had a slight pain everywhere, and it was beginning to wear off anyhow. Outside was a hallway. Thomas ignored the details and strode down it. There were many doors in the hallway, like his own. Maybe others were here? He didn't want to enter. Thomas wouldn't want to intrude on someone who was not well in the head at the time of their death. That is, if people like him were indeed what inhabited the rooms. Instead, he went down the stairs at the end of the hall. The home was lavish, more so than his room. There was a staircase at the end of the hall. leading downwards into the unknown. Thomas approached before a searing pain ran through his entire body. He couldn't stand it, so he leaned on the wall for a good while. Maybe just an hour. He couldn't tell. When he came to, he continued his journey. After a while of exploring, he came to the Living room. It was comfy-looking. The sun came streaming through the widows. Thomas seemed to have woken up before dawn, and Thomas couldn't stand it any longer. Pain. Pain attacked him in waves. Why did a genius like him have to die in such an unsophisticated manner. Guns were unsophisticated. No matter how many beautiful computers were behind the gun, it was still simply a mass of metal displacing pieces of a person's body. It was disgusting. Thomas sat down on the ground, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He was sure the pain was purely mental. With concentration, mental boundaries could be overcome. He was not known for his concentration. Shortly after sitting down, Thomas spaced out and the pain vanished on it's own. He opened his eyes, and felt slightly better. He generally hated the sunlight, preferring the darkness of the night, where his senses would not overload. Also, he was a creepy internet addict with heavy bags under his eyes, so naturally, the sun harmed him worse than it did vampires. But this sunlight illuminating the lavish room seemed a little better.

"What's the last thing you remember?
Was it car screeching? Was it fire? Gun shot?
It's fine if you don't remember right away.
So tell me... Were you the bully? Or the bullied?
Any regrets? yeah... most people regret allot...
Listen... everyone deserves a second chance right?
Well here's yours."

"What? What are you talking about mom?" Jesse slowly opened her eyes to a pitch black room. She finally realized the voice she had just heard wasn't her mothers. She quickly sat up and tried to get out of bed on the right side as always. Her legs quickly hit a wall. Confused she felt the right side of her bed with her hand, yep, that was definitely a wall. She tried the left side and managed to stand up. She tried to adjust her eyes to the dark and managed to see a small white rectangle on the opposite side of the room from her. Deciding it was a light switch she slowly walked over to it. She got to the switch and turned on the lights. She quickly closed her eyes and when she felt the lights would no longer burn she opened them shocked.

To her right there was a wall not like her room, of course the wall was the first thing she would notice, how odd of her. She looked toward her left seeing a window with purple curtains a dark brown dresser and a mirror. She walked over to the mirror and saw she was wearing the ugliest pajamas she owned. "Ewww, why would I wear these when I killed myself?" Noticing what she said she slightly jumped remembering that night. She took her laptop and recorded a suicide video. She wasn't going to write a note, to much work. Besides she would want her last words to be on her favorite thing ever. She remembered exactly what she said on her video. "I'm sorry everyone, I have been a terrible person. Maybe this will help some of you out. Me no longer attending school might make some of your lives better. I know this is what I need to do." Jesse looked towards the dresser and opened it up. She took off her pajamas throwing them on the floor. She put on her underwear and bra and then picked out an outfit that consisted of black skinny jeans, a long sleeve neon green shirt to hide her wrist scars, a tight black bracelet so her sleeve wouldn't accidentally be pushed up to reveal her scars, and black hat with cute cat ears, and knee-high black combat boots.

She looked out the window to see a bunch of ugly rose bushes lined in a maze. "What the f*ck is this place?" She walked towards the door and opened it seeing her room was the last one at the end of a hallway full of other rooms. Feeling adventurous she walked threw the hallway and reached the top of some stairs that looked endless. She couldn't even see the bottom of them. She slowly but surely started her walk down them. At the bottom a small girl was laying on the floor. She looked very confused. Jesse walked past her and into a room with some guy sitting on a couch with an ugly yellow scarf. She saw a girl trying to hide by the doorway apparently not wanting to go inside. Jesse walked passed her to and sat on the other side of the couch the yellow scarf guy was sitting on. She looked towards him. "So, do you know where the f*ck we are?"

Jesse looks over to the boy who had walked in covered in blood. "Well, i'm Jesse. You also should try on o new shirt. I don't think red suits you." She turned around to face the wall not wanting anymore people around her. She already hated everyone.

Miho wakes kicking and flailing in the dark, gasping for every breath she can muster, the fear of death consuming her as she struggles to dislodge the hands of the man who is trying to choke her. Finally she ceases struggling, she ceases fighting against... Nothing! Her eyes open wide, her mouth hangs open, she's not choking, not being assaulted. "Where am I?" she wonders staring into the darkness,

What's the last thing you remember?
"It was...it was someone... someone... I think... Oh, I don't remember for sure." She mutters to herself staring blankly, her hands around her neck.

Car tires screeching on the pavement?
"No. I don't re...mem...ber that..." her thoughts drifting, confused, trying to remember what had just happened. Before she can continue the voice continues.

Fire? Gunshot?
"No." she mutters in a voice barely audible even to her. "I was... OMG!" she screeches, "I was being choked."

It's fine if you don't remember. But you will.
"What?" she asks nervously, realizing for the first time that she can hear a voice. But, she doesn't think anyone else is in the room. The voice feels more like it's in her head. "Am I going crazy?" she wonders.

Before she can continue her thoughts the voice returns. Tell me, were you bullied? Maybe you were the bully."
"Bullied or bully? I... I guess I was bullied." she nods now certain of that. "You see, I was..." she starts to explain when the voice interrupts.

Regrets? Oh yeah, everyone regrets it.
Miho sits still, her hand massaging her throat while balancing her body with the other, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. I regret I was always the weak girl instead of being stronger." she whispers.

Listen here. Apparently everyone deserves a second chance. Yeah, even you.
"Who are you?" she blurts out looking around the room. "Where are you?" She calls taking stock of the darkness, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from, if it's safe to get off the the bed she's sitting on.

Then the lights come on. Miho covers her eyes as her pupils contract trying to protect themselves from the painful light that is washing into them. When they finally adjust, she takes stock of the room she's in and more importantly, trying to find the person attached to that voice. Miho has never seen a room this grand before. The room is huge, with a large oak dresser, a beautiful mirror, lovely works of art that she has only ever seen in books. The bed she is sitting on appears to be very old, it's large canopy overhead with beautiful curtains hanging down, drawn open by gold spun ropes that give her a view of the dazzling room. The sheets are soft and sheer, the pillows fluffy and seemingly brand new and a white stuffed bear laying on the pillows, reclining against the headboard as if this is his room. She picks up the bear and stares at him, she squeezes the bear trying to find a microphone or something where the voice could have come from, but finds nothing. "You're cute." she says bouncing the bear. "Do you know where that voice came from?" she smiles at it. "Didn't think so. Oh, God! I'm talking to a stuffed animal. I knew I was going crazy." she laughs. "I'll call youuuuu... Gom-sa." she says laughing again. "You are cute." she says hugging her.

At the other end of the room, across from the bed is a large picture window. Miho slowly slides off the bed and, hugging the bear to her chest, walks over to the grand looking window. "Wahhhhh!" she gasps as she gazes at the large garden outside. The trees, the bushes, the lawn, everything is so beautiful and so well cared for. When she looks left and right she realizes just how big this house and estate must be. "Amazing!" she gasps, "This must belong to someone very rich." she decides, showing the outside to the bear as if it could really see, "It's beautiful. Don't you agree Gomsa?"
Miho looks down at her body and stares. noticing that she's wearing her full school uniform. She stands puzzling; she remembers...she thinks she remembers taking off the tie and her skirt, that she was unbuttoning shirt, "Maybe it was a dream?" she wonders aloud. "Or maybe who ever owns this house saved me?"

Miho returns toward the bed and sets Gomsa down on the bed against the pillows, "You should probably stay here. I'm gonna go check and see what's in the house." As Miho gets to the door she chuckles briefly, "I am crazy!" she shakes her head, "Talking to a stuffed animal.

Miho opens the door and slowly slides into the hall. She looks both ways and sees no one, "Hello!" she calls out softly. "Hello." Receiving no reply, she walks her way toward the stairs, her socks softly padding on the floor beneath. "This place is so huge." she whispers. When she reaches the stairs she stops and gazes in awe at the beautiful craftsmanship of the center area of the estate. The fine etching, the beautifully painted walls, the gorgeous paintings that hang on them, everything seems so carefully designed she could stand and gawk at the foyer all day. "If only I had a camera or a sketch pad." she muses.

Miho reluctantly returns to the issue at hand, finding the owner. "Hello?" she calls out a little more loudly than before. She waits briefly for an answer, receiving none, she heads downstairs. She slows briefly a time or two to marvel at the artwork on the walls and to stare at the fine sculptures and woodwork this place has. When she reaches the bottom she thinks she hears something, voices maybe. She stops and listens again, it's voices, "Oh, thank God!" she exhales. Normally the thought of meeting new people would intimidate her, but she is now sure she nearly died the other night, that someone was choking her. So, whoever lives here must have saved her and dressed her back in her uniform and laid her on the bed. "He or she must be a good person." she concludes.

As she gets closer top the room, she slows, there are several voices coming from inside the room and they don't sound friendly;
"Who are you people?"
"Well, i'm Jesse. You also should try on o new shirt. I don't think red suits you."

Miho stops, nervously debating whether to continue, "If they're having a family fight, I don't want to intrude. They might yell at me." she worries. "But, I'm already this far. They have to know I'm here. I mean, someone brought me here. It'll be okay." she tells herself, trying to get the courage to continue. Taking a deep-breath she continues walking, as she reaches the corner of the entrance she checks herself; She fixes the white shirt of her sailor top, pulls the wrinkles and adjusts the pleats of her navy blue skirt, pulls up her navy socks just above her knees and straightens her red tie. "Perfect." she mutters, "Or as perfect as I'm gonna get."

"Here we go." she sighs. Miho steps into the room, bows, then rises and waves with both hands, "Hi. I'm Miho Haragawi. I want to thank whoever saved me." She stops abruptly, looking around the room at the group assembled; not only do they not look like a happy family, they don't look like a family at all. A chill runs up her spine, "This was a mistake." she says to herself, her smile still planted on her face.

Thomas was unable to respond. Outside stimuli seemed to have no effect. All noises meshed into one noise, every single part becoming of equal volume to other parts. Or so his mind made it. He couldn't concentrate. There was too much noise. He eventually opened them to find a girl sitting across from him. He simply stared, and remained silent. The room was now filled with people. Thomas didn't particularly dislike people, but had a general aversion to them. He would much rather do other things, unless the other person was interesting enough. So far, no one was that interesting to Simon. He tried to see the light in someone's eyes before, and it was lost to him. He doubted he had any either.
"So, do you know where the f*ck we are?"
The girl across from him began to address someone else after a short while of Thomas sitting there without response. A loud, tall person covered in blood. Judging by the appearance of blood on his shirt and Thomas' own scarring, he assumed that this person may have simply looked like this in death. He didn't know if people were taken here in the form they were in at the time of their death, but healed. Thomas did not have any blood on him, despite being shot a lot. Whatever the case, he decided to reserve judgement. It was not needed. More information was needed, and the differences might be trivial all along. In the instant he thought this, the same girl had moved to face the wall. Woops. There went another chance to socialize. Welp, maybe there would be many more. It seems even more people were here, including a lop-sided girl in the hallway. Of the noise that bothered Thomas, half of it might have had to do with her, if she fell. Well, whatever the case, someone was tending to her. Hopefully she would be fine. Thomas stopped and watched, motionless except for his eyes and head. He watched everyone. The people who entered all appeared to be around his age, and some seemed to be a problematic bunch. Of course, he knew nothing about any of them, so they all seemed suspicious. He heard, from earlier, somewhere, people yelling sentences and questions after pauses. He counted the pauses and tried to remember the few sentences he could understand. It seemed that it was possible they were yelling responses to the same things Thomas had heard before, given where the noise seemed to come from. Maybe they were here under similar circumstances. Unfortunately, he was too spaced out to at the time to remember. He might as well have been dead at the time. Or almost dead. It didn't matter. Then he heard a girl's voice. He couldn't make out everything, or anything at all. She seemed to be in the living areas, like what he himself woke up in. He sat, deciding to be a bystander. He kept his thoughts to himself. Besides, they would probably figure it out, eventually. Until then, he observed without moving anything but his head and eyes. . .The deafening crowd was disgusting. He wanted to leave, but decided against it. Learning was dangerous, after all. It required being in situations one does not necessarily want to be in.

After about ten more minutes of being bored Cas decided that she might as well find out who everyone was. This is gonna suck... she thought with a groan. She stood up and looked around the room at everyone before rolling her eyes. Might as well say [i]something[/]... someone was bound to reply.

"Well...." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at everyone in turn again. Such a variety of people. "I'm Cas and I don't know what the hell we are doing here...but I sure as hell remembering dying. So ... anyone else or am I the crazy one in this starburst packet bunch?" She crossed her arms over her front and waited.

It was then that she noticed someone wrapped in a sheet and standing in the doorway looking terrified. She felt her heart twist just a little and waved smiled a little bit at the person, hoping that maybe they wouldn't be so scared. She stopped her thoughts in surprise. Since when did she care about people at all? She went back to examining the other people in the room.

All the activity bothered Thomas. They have had to wait for whoever was in charge of this place to simply finish his business. If he was purposely leaving the people here to their own devices...Thomas began to search the room. If he could destroy all the cameras, maybe a crew would come in to to repairs. Maybe then, he could get answers. Thomas broke his stillness to get up, and begin looking around the room for any of the technology he knew of that could be used as recording equipment. There was none, despite him poking around. There was the alternative mission, which could have been to venture out into the hedge maze. Getting lost was easy, but they could leave a trail of string, like those that entered the Minotaur's lair. Whatever the case, he wanted to go out for a walk anyway. The flowers were, at least, a distraction. He was about to leave the room before he decided against it. Those people who left didn't seem cooperative, and he didn't like rallying, or organizing people. He was not a good leader. . .A simple message wouldn't hurt. He called out into the entryways to the room, to ensure his message got through.

"I'm going to go outside for a walk and to see if there is anything that can be done to leave. You can come if you want. If you have anything that can be used to prevent people getting lost in that maze, please let me know."

Thomas turned around to the living room and repeated his message, but in a quieter volume.

Thomas ran up to his room. Why follow a thread, when you have a map? This was like any other maze game, just one you walk in. He really should stop associating things with stories and be creative sometimes. He rushed past everyone on the steps, and quickly searched the room. It was trivially easy to find where the paper and clipboard was. He took a pencil as well. From there, he quickly began to make his way to the roof. It took a short bit of exploring to find the right staircases. Once there, he realized he was several stories up. He saw the hedge maze quite clearly now. He quickly used the pencil to trace as much of the maze as he could. He had to "eyeball" it a lot. but, it did not matter. Unless the maze was designed against this method, he should be fine. The only problem was that he did not know how far the maze went, still. It still reached the end of his vision, and beyond. Shoot. Well, at least they had a start. He would continue to map it as he went. He walked back down leisurely, past everyone, and outside, looking at the maze. The hedges were pretty tall. He noticed a girl outside as well. Thomas decided to wait for whoever else wanted to go before moving on.

Thomas looked around. A bunch of people arrived. A boy with long hair and a girl with red hair, along with a girl in a blanket accompanied by another girl,and two other girls, one of which looked "sharp" to Thomas. He still refused to judge. Instead, he turned his attention to the maze, and drew his pencil to the paper. He had memorized the pattern on the page, and had enough hand-eye coordination to watch where he was going while drawing. This should be fine. He looked forward, and began to walk, marking the way on the paper, before turning around. It was better to make friends than to make enemies. At least, this was justification enough to make friends. Thomas raised his hand, and addressed everyone who had come out, or rather, who wished to listen.

"I have a map we can use to not get lost and be forced to eat roses to live. It would be best if we traveled in a group, since that would make tracing much the path we take easier, to say the least."

Thomas got prepared to join the group if it formed, and follow, marking the way.

"So, Jesse. Do you uh... live here or are you visiting like me?" "Uhh, well I think everyone is just visiting here, no one reslly knows where we are Miho." Jesse kept waking until she saw the dude with the yellow scarf again saying something about a map he has. "That is a good idea, I thought it would also be smart if every so often we picked some roses off the bushes and placed them on the ground to mark where we have been." Jesse told the group her thoughts and then sat on the ground waiting for everyone else to start moving.

Even outside the house, wasn't it being too well kept for no one but a bunch of kids to be around? A house of the size should have gardeners and cleaners, so where the hell were they? "I tend to love games, but I never really am good at them." Last time he tried to even do a maze on a piece of paper he ended up needing four retries. Either way, he followed the hesitant Bo into the maze, only to start listening to those behind them. The one that was talking had a map, which could ensure their safe exit. And when the girl spoke again, he looked at both paths. ' Hey hey, we are going to get lost aren't we?'

"Then let me follow up with an additional question. We can either go back there to a group that I didn't even get a good look at so we have a map. Or we go on 'wildly' to the left." Both of them would have problems with a group from his view point. Bo, being afraid of tall people would probably be stuttering even more than now. And he himself would probably feel a bit more self conscious around a larger group. She seemed carefree, not caring exactly who he was, but who knew if there was a judgemental soul in the middle of a group. "I am fine either way.." He spoke somewhat calmly. He didn't want to get lost, but then again he also didn't mind getting lost as he had already died before. What conflicting emotions he held on such an issue..

"Uhh, well I think everyone is just visiting here, no one really knows where we are Miho." Jesse replies to Miho's question. Miho feels a little stupid for having asked the question now. She doesn't know anyone here and she's afraid she's bothering Jess, but she's too polite to say so.
Miho turns her attention to a man in a yellow scarf, "I have a map we can use to not get lost and be forced to eat roses to live. It would be best if we traveled in a group, since that would make tracing much the path we take easier, to say the least."
Miho nods at his suggestion. It sounds like a good idea and it could work. She'd have done like in a story she read, have people walk to a corner and then the next person walk to the next corner and so on, so they could still see each other. But, he might be good at drawing maps or at art. "Besides," she reasons, "He's the first person to come up with an idea, so we should do what he wants."
"That is a good idea, I thought it would also be smart if every so often we picked some roses off the bushes and placed them on the ground to mark where we have been." Miho nods at Jess' suggestion.
Miho crouches down, "Good idea." she whispers smiling to Jess. Miho stands again waiting for the man in the yellow scarf to decide what is next.

Bo blinked. "I-I guess it would be b-better t-to travel with the group... i-if your uncomfortable... w-we can follow behind them?" She smiled and grabbed Vane and tugged him back into the group but behind the others. The others were already suggesting ways not to get lost and the young man with the scarf had already seemed to know what he was doing. It amazed Bo how quickly some people adapted to these situations. Where as some people cowered and others even just wondered...

Oh no. Thomas saw the look in everyone's eyes. They were all poised for action, almost like...he was. Nope. No. No. Nononononono. Noooooooooooooooo. This was bad. This brought back the traumatic memories of follow-the-leader where barely any of those kindergartners were left standing because he led them to places that were fun, but in his own opinion. Such brave men, sacrificed just so that he could get his scarf down from a tree At least now they know how to play balance-puzzle games. Or that one time he tried to re-enact one of many Dragonforce songs having to do with mass battles, by choreographing a group to do it. Just as an interpretive dance of sorts, and it ended up with several bruises, to say the least. He hated being the leader. It wasn't only something that was a hassle for him, but he hated having to lead and take responsibility. Oh gosh. Here we go. Thomas spun on one foot, the rest of his body motionless, until he faced the maze again, and then Thomas proceeded to take one comically-tentative step after the last. Here he went. He was about to turn the corner, unaware of whether the others were following or not before turning around, and smiling sheepishly.

"Um...Can someone else lead. I am really not a good leader. I know that it's a hedge maze, where it doesn't matter where we explore first, but I still would rather not lead. I know I probably am not the only 16 year old here, and I am being completely irrational, but still. Heh heh...Actually, never mind. Let's just go as a group. i have no idea what I was even talking about."

Nervousness overtook him. He knew how irrational this was. It didn't matter who led. But he would still rather not go first...He turned around and continued to go. Now was not the time for theatrics, or trauma. it didn't matter who went first. So he began walking. Besides, as far as he could tell, he wasn't really leading so much as mapping a route. He raised the pencil and began to map the route while walking forward. That made things easier on him. Foot by foot, he was eliminating his ignorance.

Vane smiled lightly as he followed closely behind the small girl. Her words came as selfless, while his thoughts were consisting of mostly selfish thoughts. Of course he could not help but feel like he was using her to get what he wanted. "I'm sorry Bo," he whispered, "if it comes to be too much, just tell me, alright?" If she was this way, how exactly did the others act? The members outside consisted of three girls, a blanket, and one other male. If the blanket meant anything, then there was another shy member buried within.

Looking at the members over, he couldn't help but fight the thoughts within his head. Being part of a group now, after he tried to commit suicide, was just to much... They did not get a second chance, they did not get a chance to come together again with others.. Something must have been testing the choice he made before death with this sort of group. Even more so, everyone seemed to be in a limited age range with the lack of full grown adults. Turning his eyes to Bo, he finally began to wonder just how old she was. Fourteen, maybe fifteen? Then again, the main thing in his head was her size. A girl that even adopted brothers were easy around, she must have just had that little sister trait in her.

And another nervous member seemed to appear, just when the center piece of attention was about to take the lead. A small chuckle escaped him, as apparently a few more people stuck in this place were having a few eternal conflicts themselves. 'Really, we are all doomed aren't we?' His pace quickened, not sure if Bo would remain by his side. That boy held the map, and any sense of nervousness may just effect the outcome of this maze. Though, he seemed to be getting it together even before Vane's arrival at his side. After a moment of watching the pencil, he took notice of something. "It seems you forgot to mention you already went in before." Vane was of course, talking about the trace of the maze before hand. Breaking the initial 'ice' he looked back towards the trail. "The name is Vane Starros, nice to meet you Mr Cartographer.

"Hm? Ah. It's you. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Vane. And, I did not go in before, I drew this by hand from the top of the manor, or mansion, or whatever it is. Heh...thanks for noticing. You seem like the type of person to get along well with people. Welp, anywho, good to meet you. I think we should get going. The longer we stay here, the sooner someone is going to get hungry on the trip. Let's get going."

Thomas smiled nervously. He still didn't like people. He was glad this one seemed kind enough. At least, initially. A helping hand, at last! Thomas turned to the path.

Bo followed Vane and peeked over at the map the boy was constructing. At the mention of food Bo smiled. "I-If... Someone gets hungry... I-I would go back and make a-a big basket of food... I-I'm small but f-fast." She smiled trying to be helpful and waited for the man to walk into the maze and lead the way. Bo kept a smile on her face but could not help but feel nervous and scared around the others. She hugged her arms and hid behind Vane a little-bit. It was hard for Bo to make friends but so far she felt she was able to trust Vane... Maybe they weren't best friends just yet... But yeah... Yeah she could trust him...

Vane, quietly following behind the boy holding the map. It seemed he did not share the same social standards, as no name was shared in return. It mattered not, as his thoughts followed the normal path. He was not worthy of becoming closer to others, therefore the boy was still just. The only one that seemed to not realize his lack of worth, was the small girl, Bo. "I guess the only question now is what comes after the maze... After all, I don't remember seeing my cell phone back in the room." Mostly, he simply talked as he tried to think it over. No one could easily say that they were near civilization, much less an isolated island. A light smile broke for merely a moment before his thoughts could reach him. He was glad that there were others trapped with him, as it meant he would not be alone. What a nasty little thing greed was.

"So Bo, do you know how to cook?" Reverting back to the topic of food, he was attempting to distract himself. "As odd as it is, I think my favorite is chicken cordon bleu.. I used to always have.." He paused, deciding that it was probably best not to go into too much detail. "At any rate, I like it."

Vane took a moment to look at Bo, her speech patterns were slowly becoming more and more normal around him. He could not pin whether it was her control of her fear growing, or simply the fact that she was getting used to him. "Ohh, french dishes.. Huh?" Vane continued, falling rather silent. He was getting too acquainted, though he liked the thought of having a friend, it was the problem of if he deserved on or not. But then again, to deprive someone deserving of a friend may as well create the same agony.

His eyes soon would pass over the extra followers behind them. Of course questions would come to his mind, much like the one of how they ended up here as well. If they looked down upon life much like himself, or simply continued to live it like Bo. The girl he did could not confirm exactly must have been the one carrying the blanket. As for her physical appearance, he was not the one with a standing to judge anymore. Together with the one beside her, they must have been continuing life after all. Vane smiled lightly before looking back to the member with the map. It seemed that those around him were people that did not deserve to lose their life, if that is how this place worked. It was these type of people that he used to hurt by simply living on.

"Hey Bo..." He spoke quietly, not even checking to see if she would respond. "I think you will get along with the others. Especially if you know how to cook delicious meals." If only he contained something notable that was worthwhile for other people. A skill that could be used for charity rather than the money he no longer holds. He proclaimed himself as talented, and yet he could not think of anything that could be used to benefit others. "So keep trying hard alright?" Giving a short smile, he looked down towards the red haired girl.

Vane laughed lightly, "So it was because of my hair huh? I should have guessed.." For a reason he could not understand, it seemed whatever he said actually did make the mood change back to normal. At this point in time, he really couldn't hold anything against anyone that chose to hold some level of mistrust, after all they were all complete strangers. It was wise to protect yourself while steadily reaching outwards to see who one can trust. Watching the one with the map, he remained in pace. But the small grumbles in his stomach suggested that this trip would not end as everyone had hoped.

Time Skip

Laying silently on the bed he woke upon this morning, Vane draped an arm over his eyes without any deep thoughts passing through his head. His room door had been left wide open, as he did not really care to cut himself off into privacy at the moment. All of the walking they did in the maze wore him out a good amount, and his craving for food only grew with the steps. Eventually, the group fell to their needs and had to turn back. The maze was seriously too large and complicated. With it becoming more complex the further they went it, it was no surprise that they could not clear it on day one.

"I wonder if there is actually a kitchen here... I am starving.." Vane spoke to himself, not really bothering to even budge in accordance with his words. Back then a few hands would have already checked with him, if he didn't feel like leaving the bed, they would simply bring the food to him. It was a spoiled, but sweet life after all.