Chapter 30 Trial Of Valor
I stepped closer to the entrance, and that was when I saw the words carved into the stone arch: Locate your door.
A faint chill ran through me. I took a tentative step into the corridor when Vincent’s hand closed around my shoulder.
“You’re not going in there, right?” he asked, eyes wide with alarm.
I gently lifted his hand off me. “I just need to check the doors out.”
“I’ll go with you,” he insisted immediately.
“No,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I’ll go, look around, and come back to tell you all what’s on the doors.”
“You can’t go alone,” he countered, jaw tensing.
Jamie rubbed his temples dramatically, his movements exaggerated and almost theatrical. “Oh, big boy, can you let her breathe? Jesus. Let her die for us if that’s what she wants,” he muttered, folding his arms and leaning back as though bored by the conversation.
“Vincent—” I tried again.
But he simply walked past me, his shoulder brushing mine, and stepped into the corridor first.
“You’re not going alone,” he said over his shoulder.
Behind us, Cordelia arched a brow. “Are they lovers or what?”
Jamie groaned and rolled his eyes, dragging a hand through his hair. “Ugh. Sometimes she makes me want to throw up,” he said under his breath.
I followed Vincent inside. Melanie, seeing nothing catastrophic happen, came after me. Marcus trailed behind her, murmuring something like, “I can’t stay back here alone.” Cordelia sighed heavily and followed as well. Jamie let out an exaggerated huff and came last.
We stopped at the first door. Stone was carved across the top in bold lettering.
Vincent turned to the group. “Who had Stone as a clue?”
“Me!” Marcus said, raising his hand like he was in a classroom.
Vincent looked the door up and down. “Then this one’s yours.” He gestured toward it.
Marcus stepped closer, examining the heading. “The door has no handle.”
That was when we all noticed it.
“So… how are you supposed to get in?” Melanie asked.
My eyes drifted to the next door down the hall. It looked similar. “I’m guessing all the doors are the same design,” I said. Then my gaze went back to the heading above Marcus’s door. I reached up instinctively to check something, but I couldn’t reach.
“Hold on,” Vincent said.
Before I could react, he crouched, gripped my legs, and lifted me onto his shoulders. My breath caught. My heart leapt sharply, part fear, part shock. I felt the height immediately, dizzying and foreign, as though I had been lifted far above the ground in one sudden motion.
“Alright, go on,” he said, steadying me.
I almost forgot what I needed to do.
“What were you about to do?” he asked from below.
I flinched slightly, heat rising to my face. “Oh, sorry. I’m… sorry.”
I reached up and touched the heading. It wasn’t glued. Only the two edges were screwed into the frame. I lifted it slightly, and behind it was a narrow vertical slot.
“Hey, Marcus,” I called.
His head snapped up. “Y-yeah?”
“Hand me your paper.”
He passed it up with trembling fingers. I slid his clue into the slot. The moment it fully entered, something inside the door clicked and whirred. Then, smoothly, the door opened inward.
Vincent lowered me gently back to the ground.
“Wow,” he said with a small smirk. “You’re a genius, Lexie.”
I smiled back, though I kept it small. “Here,” I said to Marcus. “You can go in.”
Marcus moved forward, pausing at the threshold. The interior was pitch-black. He took a deep breath, far too deep. Then he stepped inside.
The door slammed shut behind him.
We all flinched.
“Marcus!” I called, pounding on the door. “Hey! Are you okay?”
No answer. Not even breathing.
“Come on,” Melanie said softly. “We need to keep looking for our doors, Lexie. He’ll be fine… I guess.”
“Yeah,” I said reluctantly. “Right. We should keep going.”
But I could feel the fear around Jamie tightening like a net even though he doesn’t show it.
The next door read Sand, Cordelia’s clue.
Vincent was tall enough to reach it on his own. He lifted the plaque, inserted the paper into the slot, and the door slid open. Cordelia crossed her arms and stared at the dark entrance.
“Why are we even entering these doors?” she asked, irritation lacing her voice.
“It might be our way out,” I replied, standing behind her with my arms crossed.
She exhaled loudly. “You better be right.” She stepped inside. The door shut immediately.
Next was Flies, Jamie’s door. He hesitated longer than expected, swallowed hard, then finally entered. The door closed sharply.
Then Melanie’s door, Mirror, opened after she inserted her paper. She disappeared behind it.
Finally, only Vincent and I remained.
Vincent stood before his unopened door, hands loose at his sides.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” I asked.
He turned to me, holding my gaze for a long moment. “I want to make sure you’re in first.”
I sighed softly. “I’ll be fine, Vincent.”
He stepped closer, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I want to be sure about that.”
I took a small step back, a nervous laugh escaping before I could stop it. “Why are you being protective all of a sudden?”
He shrugged lightly. “I like you. You’re smart.” Then he stepped even closer, eyes locked on mine. “And smart people like you deserve to be safe.”
The tension between us sparked like a flint striking stone. For a moment, the corridor felt too warm, too still, too quiet.
“I want to make sure you’re in your door before I go into mine,” he said, voice calm but firm.
“How about…” I swallowed, “we go in together?”
“What? How?” He arched his brow.
“Wait here.”
I walked toward my door, the one labeled Door, ironically enough. I took my paper out and looked back at him.
He still watched me, confusion shading his expression. I lifted my clue to show him. He raised his as well. He could easily reach his heading; I couldn’t reach mine.
He laughed under his breath before he started walking toward me. Standing beside me, he took my paper from my hand and slid it into the slot. My door opened immediately.
My face flushed with a mix of shyness and embarrassment. “Thanks,” I murmured. “…Again.”
He smiled, soft, but steady, then rested a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful in there.”
He moved back to his own door, inserted his clue, and stepped inside before I did. The door closed behind him.
And I finally stepped into mine.