Page 53 of A Mastery of Monsters

I wake to water being splashed in my face.

Margot stands over me. Clearly making use of the spare key that Henry insisted be given to her to help mind me. “Shower.”

Whether it’s because I’m confused, drowsy, used to listening to her, or all three, I drag myself out of bed and across the hall to the shower room.

Margot orders a cold shower to help wake me up, but I take a hot one, because absolutely not.

I brush my teeth and get dressed in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt.

Margot presents me with a green smoothie, which looks like it would taste terrible but is delicious, along with a plate of chicken in some sort of sauce with rice. I devour both.

It’s only when we’re in her car that I realize it’s nighttime again. I slept through a full day of classes and dinner.

“Those are for you,” she says, motioning to the Gatorade bottles on the floor of the passenger seat. “Since you’re so good at chugging drinks you shouldn’t have any problems getting two down. Now.”

I roll my eyes but obey.

I think of Jules, leaning against his desk with his arms crossed, asking me if I was happy living my life like this.

Jules, his voice in that note, telling me not to look for him.

Jules, in the forest wrapped in Riley’s chain, staring at me like I’d caught him the in the worst moment and all he wanted was for me to turn away.

Dancing and drinking were great solutions when I needed to forget.

But I can’t just forget anymore.

Every memory is sharp-edged, leaving tiny cuts on my skin that burn as if they were larger wounds.

Corey’s words echo in my head. She did everything she could to save a brother she didn’t even have a good relationship with.

I’m involved in this shit in the first place for Jules, and when I’m supposed to be working harder to make it through this competition, I got drunk, and now I’m hungover for the first test.

Turns out, it’s easy to fuck up, and harder to stop doing it.

There’s no escaping this. The plan had been that when I found Jules, I could back out. But now, finding him means the opposite. I’m in this, fully. I need some sort of foothold in this society, and this competition is my only way to get it.

At McIntosh Castle, we pick up Corey and Virgil, who say nothing as Margot drives to the ferry dock and we travel to Wolfe Island.

When we pull around the corner, I see the sign for a local farm and immediately know. Margot said the first test would involve navigation. “Corn maze,” I say.

Margot presses her lips into a line. “I don’t suppose you know anything about dealing with mazes?”

I don’t dignify it with a response.

“Put your right hand on the right wall and follow it,” Corey says without looking at me. “I read that once. But that’s to get out. If you have to make it to the center, you’ll need to visualize a mental map.”

The Gatorade is helping with the dry, crusty feeling in my mouth, but my head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. I couldn’t possibly sleep more, but I desperately want to lie down.

Margot glances at me. “You need to get your shit together. The tests aren’t like the trainings. You can get seriously injured. You’re lucky the first one has the least risk.”

“Didn’t know you cared.”

“You have a brother out there. An aunt. A dad. A mom. Don’t you think they would care if you didn’t make it out of this? It’s a privilege to have that much.”

Again, I say nothing.

We arrive at the parking lot and walk through to the maze. It’s too large to see the full scope of it from anywhere on the ground. I know that sometimes they’ll cut the corn into a specific shape or leave it as a giant square, and there’s no way for me to tell from the tall green stalks.

The other candidates are limbering up for the competition, while a crowd of spectators sit in stands in front of mounted projector screens.

I forgot about that. The trainings were mostly unattended, but any student is allowed to watch the tests.

There’s a more exclusive area at the top featuring armchairs with cupholders, including a small private box where the three Doctorate candidates sit along with Henry and a few others.

I should warm up with my fellow candidates, but instead I’m looking for a bathroom, partially because I needed to pee after drinking all the Gatorade, and partially because I think I might throw up a bunch of the sports drink.

I find the portable bathroom quickly. It’s one of those fancy ones set up like a real public bathroom instead of a porta-potty, with sinks and separate stalls. When I get in, I do both pee and throw up. Through the second part is a lot less violent than last night and is more spit than anything.

Fuck. I shouldn’t have gone out. It’s the first time I’ve ever had that thought. Before, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Now… I force myself to take a deep breath and flush.

When I come out of the stall, there’s a Black woman at the sink, reapplying lipstick. She turns to me with a smile. Natalie. The Pro-Lib leader. “Feeling better, I hope?” she asks.

“Yeah.” I rinse my mouth out at the sink. A mint tin appears in my peripheral vision.

“Want one?”

“Thanks…” I take the mint and pop it in my mouth. I doubt the woman would try to poison me. What would be the point?

“That boy you’re paired with,” she says. “Hawthorne, right? Is he who you’re fighting for?”

“I’m fighting for the title. Everyone is.”

“Of course.” Natalie tilts her head to the side.

“But you’re also battling for someone. There’s a person on your mind.

I can always spot that sort of candidate.

You fight harder. And you lose harder too.

It crushes you.” She snaps her mint tin closed.

“I had someone to fight for once. And he was taken away. I hope you won’t suffer the same fate.

” She walks to the door of the portable without waiting for me to respond. “Break a leg!”

“You say that for performances.”

She smiles. “I know.”

I stay standing there for a few more moments. What is this woman’s angle? I can’t tell if she was saying cryptic shit to mess with me, threatening me, or just honestly wishing me luck.

When I come out of the bathroom, I barely have time to stretch before a sharp whistle blows and the candidates are being called to where the professors stand.

“Good luck.” Virgil’s voice is so low that I almost miss it. And when I turn around, he’s already heading into the stands with Corey and Margot.

I gather with the others and look at the second portable not marked with a bathroom symbol.

I assume that’s where this panel of Masters is watching on video screens or something.

They aren’t in the stands. I assume if they were, there would be some special way to tell them apart, like the Doctorate’s box.

According to Corey, a lot of them come to campus ahead of time. Could someone have been here early enough in the year to have sent Jules and Sammie those invitations?

Perez speaks into a microphone. “Welcome to the first test of this year’s Bachelor candidacy.

As you can see, it is a maze. Candidates will navigate to the center, where you’ll take the bag with your name on it and a corresponding symbol.

You must go through the maze and collect tokens.

There are ten stations. You cannot gather tokens until you have your bag, and you can only take one token from each station.

The player who exits the maze the fastest with the highest number of tokens matching the symbol on their bag will place first and be given a score of ten.

Ranking to follow will be based on token amount and then on time, with second place getting five points, third place four points, and so on until it hits zero.

Anyone ranking below will pass but receive no points.

“Candidates who break any of the stated rules will be disqualified. Candidates who fail to collect at least five tokens or do not exit the maze in an hour will be disqualified. No physical contact with other candidates is allowed. This will also result in disqualification. As will false starts. Go on the long whistle only. You will hear horns marking the halfway point, five minutes left, and one minute left.”

This doesn’t sound that bad. There’s ten stations, and you only have to get five tokens.

I just need to find five as fast as possible and get out.

Though there are the votes from the panel to consider.

Maybe going for all ten would gain me enough favor for one to consider giving me a point at the end.

But then again, they may already be planning to vote based on faction loyalty, even though they’re not supposed to.

“Lastly,” Perez says, “you may exit anywhere in the maze. However, if you can find your way back to your starting point and solve a puzzle, you’ll get a bonus token. Therefore, eleven is actually the maximum number of tokens you can collect.”

That would be a waste of time. The maze will be hard enough on its own, but with Corey’s trick, I can exit wherever I want.

The bonus could edge me into first place, since the tokens are worth more than finishing faster.

But it might take too long to find my way back, and there’s no guarantee that I can solve the puzzle.

I should go for five tokens, assess where my exit is, and see what extra tokens I can manage nearby. Then at the five-minute mark, leave.

I’m led to an edge of the maze with half the candidates while the other half are taken to the opposite side. There are separate entrances for all of us. Unfortunately, mine is right next to Caden, who I ignore.

There are two short whistles; my toe twitches, but I don’t move. And then the long whistle.