The Queen Wicked Deeds

"Why did we come here?" 

Beth was acting suspiciously. Usually, she will be laughing and talking and teasing him. Now she was focused and looking around as if she were hunting for something.​​

"Kiss…" she turned around, and she kissed him on the cheek.

Henry lowered his back for her to take what she dėsɨrėd. It was the perfect disguise to mislead the people spying on them. That way, they will believe that they were on an ordinary date. Only passing around for a couple of hours, eating some snacks, kissing, shopping, and waiting for the time of the movie.

"You will see, my love, I have a surprise for you," she smiled at him, making him blush.

'She told me, my love,' his face was of a tomato prince. "I will wait, then, my dear."

He answered back, making her blush too and turn her face to the other side.

The ones watching over them had to wait and vomit.

[This is horrible.]

[I am leaving, I can't take it anymore.]

[This is too much for single hearts.]

[They look so cute, but I am leaving… sigh…]

One by one, the other competitors quit, and they went back to look for the treasure.

"Come, let's go," Beth took Henry's hand again and guided him through a hidden door. They had passed several times in front of it, and it seemed a service room, nothing important. However, Beth knew it was different. The last time she came to that mall with Gandalf, she noticed that door wasn't there, it was just a wall, but Gandalf kept looking at it as if it had something. He even smelled it and shook his tail.

"Where is this?"

"The treasure secret place."

Henry raised his brows and sent a signal through his clock, his people were behind him.

"Don't be afraid, my lady," Beth smiled, "I will protect you."

Henry could only shake his head.

The little hallway through the door took them to some spiral stairs to an upper floor. It was poorly illuminated but surprisingly clean. Not a single dust could be seen, and the walls were painted gray with no adornments.

Beth intended to go up, but Henry stopped her. "I should go in the front… in fact, I should be the one to go up, and you stay here, it could be dangerous."

"I am not afraid."

"I am," Henry sighed, "I don't want anything bad happening to you, okay?"

"You don't have to worry about that," she smiled, "I will be careful."

"No," Henry shook his head, "I can't allow for anything happening to you."

Then a couple of black-masked men came through the door and took Beth with them. Henry nodded at them, and another group of black-masked men followed him.

Beth didn't say anything, she just stood by the side with a frown on her head. She understood that it could be dangerous, but she believed that the old man Master Mills won't ever put at risk Henry's life. Therefore, Henry didn't tell her the whole truth from the start. She felt a bit betrayed.

Henry, on the other hand, had already gone up to the last step in the stairs. He went into a small room that had no door, no windows, only a white light illuminating a table and a box. His people threw some artifacts to the floor, they were tiny sphere robots that circulated the area for traps.

Nothing happened.

"It is clear, Young Master," one of the men said, and waited for Henry to give an order.

Henry looked carefully at the spheres and the place, but didn't come closer. Then he said, "Henry Mills."

The room stood the same for ten seconds, when it suddenly changed. It was a magical illusion created for each participant. Those judges won't make it any easier.

"I will go, don't get inside," he ordered his men.

"But…"

"It is fine," Henry looked at the Captain of his team, Mateo, "I am the only one that can enter. Don't follow"

The illusion before them was a road on a crowded street, though, it seemed that the people inside were walking without any sense. The big buildings looked the same as the ones in the real world.

Henry walked forward and looked at the people, they all have vacant eyes. They were crossing the streets in an orderly fashion. The sky was clear, as if it was an ordinary working day. The tall buildings' windows shined with the reflection of the sun. Nothing looked dangerous. 'What should I do?'

He passed around with the people and decided to follow some of them to see a pattern. However, after some minutes, the people disappeared into the buildings and never come back, he tried to enter, but the doors were closed to him.

"What is this?"

"A labyrinth," a voice in the back said, "Sigh… my love, you should have let me inside."

"Beth!" Henry walked over to her, but she was not alone, Mateo had followed her with an apologetic face saying that he didn't have a choice. "What are you doing here?!"

He was furious, but Beth only shrugged. "If you are not going to tell me your secrets, I won't follow your instructions. I found this place first, so I have the right to navigate it."

"You…" Henry's head was starting to hurt, but he couldn't say anything.

"Then… these people are walking around, and we can't go inside any building," Beth looked at the strange crowd that was carefully avoiding them while walking. She moved to one side and the people surrounded her without touching her. "It is a labyrinth."

"Why are you saying that?"

"It is enclosed. If we move through the north street, we come back through the south street, and if we go through the west street, we came back from the east… the people walking don't follow a specific pattern, but at the same time, they do."

Henry nodded, he was able to deduce that before. However, he hadn't seen the pattern of the people walking.

"There are more to this…" Beth smirked. "Look, the buildings… there are three tall buildings with at least twenty floors, but there are only three coffee shops on one street. However, the people entering and coming out from those shops are the same amount every minute."

She was right, but there was a difference, the office buildings were not that easy to enter as the coffee shops, they required a specific card and the people entering waited more time to get inside, however, the number of doors was more than the lonely one from the coffee shop.

The other buildings were different, only one or two people entered from time to time.

"What should we do?" Mateo was dizzy, so many people walking around in circles was making him have a small headache. "There is a lot of people to count, how did you do that?"

Beth smiled and patted Mateo's head. "Don't worry too much, it will all be fine."

"…" For the first time in his life, a younger girl that he used to treat as his little sister was taking him as a child.

"The answer must be in one of…"

"Those doors," a voice in the back answered.

The three of them turned around and, from the crowd, a blonde and a black-haired young man with refined features appeared.

"John?"

"My dear Beth," John smiled and came running to her, "you are the most beautiful genius."

However, the only answer he got was a kick in his legs and a punch, making him fall. Then the beautiful red-haired girl jumped at him and started hitting him. "You awful scum of the earth, you followed me!"

She kicked him and pinched his ribs and arms. The poor blonde was now screaming and crying for his life.

"I did… hahahaha…" now he was suffering from tickling… "I admitting it… haahahaha… stop it… Billy! help me…"

However, the black-haired refined guy that had come with him didn't move but watched carefully to the front.

"So you have decided to come out," Henry smirked. That man was one of the participants, however, he didn't seem to make a move to find the treasure. He was passively living his life with his partner.

Billy smiled, "I didn't have a choice, John wanted it."

"…" the two of them watched how the poor John was laughing and suffering from the little hands of the red-haired. Then they frowned.

Henry moved forward and carried Beth from the floor. "Wait! I have to kill that bastard! He hacked my phone!"

Billy, on the other hand, helped John stand up and patted his back. He was still red from the intense laugh. "I did it, but it was for your own good. You always get lost!"

"False! You shameless liar…"

"…" John raised a brow, "Fifty-five times I had to go to your rescue because you forgot your way back!"

"It is not that I forgot, it is that I didn't care to remember in the first place!"

"..."