Submitted by sugar-soad t3_ybfpc5 in nosleep

This happened last year and I am still suffering the consequences of what happened. People in my hometown are always giving me odd looks and refuse to speak to me. Even my own parents have been treating me differently.

My friends and I were the sort of teenagers who would do stupid stuff and not care if we got in trouble afterwards. We used to steal alcohol from my father's fridge and then sit outside drinking away. My father never commented on the missing alcohol so I assumed he never noticed or just didn't care.

We were all sitting there drinking away when someone casually mentioned the old maze that had been abandoned by its owners years ago. I could see a weird gleam in my boyfriend's eyes as he stood up and dared us all to complete the maze. Everyone quickly agreed as it sounded like something fun to do on a Sunday night. We agreed to leave our phones as some of our parents had put tracking apps on them to keep an eye on us.

We walked the short distance to the maze while laughing and joking away. We stood outside the maze and the moonlight made the entrance look like a giant maw waiting to consume us. My brain was screaming at me to turn and run away but the alcohol in my system was telling me to go inside. Unfortunately for me and my friends the alcohol won the argument.

We walked inside while taking swigs of our drinks. I gazed back at the entrance as we turned the first corner and had a premonition that most of us wouldn't leave here alive.

We started making twists and turns and I quickly began disoriented as we kept reaching dead ends. The atmosphere in the group had changed as we were all getting a little annoyed at how badly we were doing. The only light available was from the moon as none of us had thought to bring any torches with us. We tried to force our way between the walls of the maze but it was impossible due to how close together the branches were.

I gazed back at the way we had just come and let out a scream as two yellow eyes were peering at me from around the corner. I could see very little else about whatever was standing there, but the eyes seemed to be burning into my skull.

My scream alerted the others and we began to clump together out of fear. My boyfriend took a long swig of his drink and then began marching towards the eyes with a cocky swagger in his step. He had just reached the corner when the moon went behind some clouds and we were left in utter darkness. I thought about reaching for the lighter I had in my pocket but knew the moon should be back within a few seconds.

Someone else's hand latched onto mine and I squeezed their hand in comfort. The moon reappeared and I breathed a sigh of relief as my boyfriend began making his way back to us with the same drunken swagger.

I rushed forward and gave him a hug and began chastising him for doing something so stupid. I felt a cold liquid against my flesh and was instantly annoyed as I assumed that he had gotten sick on himself. I quickly disengaged from him and felt my blood run cold as I got a proper look at him.

His eye sockets now lay empty and I could see scarring on the sides as if someone had reached in and then ripped out his eyes. His throat was slashed to pieces and blood was flowing down his clothes. He opened his mouth to say something and a spray of blood splashed across my face. His body then collapsed to the ground and lay deathly still.

We all stood there frozen in shock for a couple of seconds as we tried to comprehend what we had just witnessed. We heard two popping noises coming from behind us, and I was convinced they were the sounds of whatever was in here with us, eating my boyfriend's eyes.

One of the girls let out a shriek and everyone just started running in the opposite direction. We bumped into each other numerous times in our desperate attempt to escape. One of the girls was knocked to the ground and was trampled as we ran past her. I heard the unmistakable sound of a bone snapping as one of the guys unintentionally smashed their foot down on her leg.

I moved along a short distance and realised I couldn't leave her behind like that. I carefully made my way back while peering around each corner to make sure I wouldn't bump into something sinister.

I spotted her lying unmoving in a pile of shadows and began calling her name but she didn't answer. I could see her body moving and crept towards her while looking out for whatever killed my boyfriend. She was letting out an occasional whimper so I knew she was alive.

I was less than a meter away from her, when what I had assumed were shadows began to solidify. The eyes seemed to taunt me as it reached across and tore into her face. It picked up what it had torn off and then threw it in the air and then caught it into its mouth.

I began to back away and it matched me step for step. The only part of its body that I could properly see were its eyes as the rest of the body was still clouded in shadows.

I almost screamed as I backed up into the wall of the maze and quickly peered to both sides. The left side led to a dead end while the right led down a long passageway.

I sprinted down the right passageway as fast as I could. I reached the end and turned left and ran into the rest of my friends who were standing there. I ended up flat on the ground on top of one of them as neither of us had time to move out of the way.

I didn't have time to apologise when I was hauled to my feet and dragged backwards. I swung my elbow and felt ecstatic as it connected with someone. I then managed to get out of their grasp and swung them over my shoulder.

I was pleased with myself until I saw my friend Mark stagger to his feet with blood pouring from the nose that I had just broken. His face looked confused for a few seconds as shadows surrounded his head. I will always remember the sickening crunch as his skull was crushed beyond recognition.

The shadows then began lashing out in all directions and I was soon surrounded by dismembered body parts. The eyes reappeared in front of me and it felt like they were willing me to run away. It picked up one of the arms and then began to swing it from side as if it was waving at me.

I didn't even think twice about it and began running as fast as I could. I almost jumped for joy when I saw a sign ahead pointing towards the left saying exit. I rushed around the corner at full sprint and ran into the wall of the maze. I spun around to discover that the exit was in the opposite direction.

The eyes now stood between me and freedom. The shadows around it began to thicken and I could see that it was smiling at me. I waited to see what it would do but it seemed content to wait for me to make the first move.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my lighter. Its smile got even bigger as it saw me flick the lighter on. I placed the lighter against the wall of the maze and watched the flame quickly begin to spread.

Within moments the entire wall was aflame and I could see its eyes darting from side to side as it tried to decide what to do. The hairs on my arms were beginning to burn as the heat was suffocating. I tried to take some deep breaths but ended up inhaling smoke and started having a choking fit.

I knew I only had one chance to escape and ran straight ahead. I caught it by surprise as it lashed out at me and managed to tear off the skin off my arm. I reached the exit and stumbled outside before collapsing unconscious on the ground.

I was discovered lying like this when the fire trucks arrived. I tried to explain what had happened but no one believed me. Everyone thinks that I killed my friends and then burned the maze down to cover my tracks.

Every night I see a pair of yellow eyes looking in my window and know that it hasn't forgotten about me.

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Comments

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WimbleWimble t1_ith9dok wrote

Are you sure this was a death maze filled with unholy creatures?

Maybe in your drunken state you all wandered into Comcast HQ?

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artistgirl0283 t1_itgguli wrote

Sorry about your friends. Really sucks that your parents don't believe you.

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FacelessArtifact t1_itofqis wrote

One of my greatest fears as a kid was having something horrible happen and no one believing me. I don’t know how you can cope. Would hiring a forensic expert to find traces of the creatures or proof your friends died in a non-human manner?

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Deb6691 t1_itjnfwt wrote

I'm sorry you lost your friends but next time you see it's eyes in the windows, pick up a lighter and flick it and screaming want some more asshole?" Just a thought!

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