Hey there! Thank you for choosing my booth over the many other, better ones on campus. This is a maze in complete darkness.

To ensure your survival and the best possible experience throughout your journey, I’ve listed some notes below on how to overcome each obstacle. Please take the paper with you and enter the maze.

1. Light sources are allowed and encouraged.

Despite the setup, you’re not supposed to feel your way to the exit. You can either use your phone’s flashlight or one of the flashlights provided at the entrance.

The batteries only last a few hours, but by then, the festival will be over. Nothing to worry about.

The deeper you go, the less you can hear the noises from outside. If that’s your method of finding your way out, tough luck.

2. Going solo is recommended.

You can go in with other people, but I’d advise ignoring them while navigating the maze. Do not wait for them or look for them. You’re on your own. You will not find your friends once you lose them, and they will never find you either.

If you hear any voices other than your own, refer to #4.

3. Always keep your path illuminated.

As you run into dead ends, you may notice some walls that absorb your light entirely, unlike the usual walls made of hard paper. Do not approach them.

You can also look for a line of white powder on the floor. This is my way of telling you that it’s a dead end and not just another path.

If you see a normal dead-end wall with an unfinished square of white powder, run. I never leave the powder unfinished, and they cannot cross the line themselves. A student must've ruined it.

Do not stop at the dead end. Look for a new path and keep running as quickly as you can. It's coming, and you won't be able to hear it.

4. Do not follow the voices.

Occasionally, you may hear someone shouting something along the lines of “Over here!” or “Help me!” Do not go there. If the voice seems to be coming from just around the corner, assume it’s a dead end and immediately go the other way.

There’s no one else here. Your friends might not even be in the same maze anymore.

5. Look for the exit, not the light.

To keep the maze completely dark, I put a door at both the entrance and the exit, but you won’t be able to see either of them, even if you use a light source.

Instead, you must look for a quiet, black dead end with no trace of white powder. That is the exit, and the only dead end you can approach safely. If you attempted to return to the entrance before reading this far, you may also notice that it fits this description perfectly.

The truth is, there was never a separate exit. It was already difficult enough trying to keep them inside with just one entry point. I never made another. And by now, you’ve probably already forgotten where it is.

…And that’s my maze for the festival! Unfortunately, it’s just me trying to spice up my poorly put-together maze with a little piece of writing of my own. If you're still outside, please don't be discouraged and enjoy my absolutely normal maze.

—

EPISODES

EPISODE 1 - Welcome To Goldenrod

EPISODE 2 - The Letter

EPISODE 3 - The Final Ruleset

EPISODE 3.5 - The Rain

EPISODE 4 - Withering Minds

EPISODE 5 (Current One) - On The Edge

—

TW - This episode of GRHS touches on topics such as Suicide Ideation. Reading this episode is absolutely optional, and you can always take a break if needed. Ok, bye Reddit.

—

GOLDENROD HILLS SUBDIVISION

Episode 5 - On The Edge

—

DAY 5

Noah throws the piece of paper into the bin and places his hands flat on the table, looking down at the sketchbook as he breathes shakily before slamming the sketchbook shut and throwing it in his bag

” Hahhhhh… hahahahah, fuck… “

He takes a few deep breathes, before grabbing his head as he winces in pain, his eyes growing hazy and unfocused as his vision blurred slightly. He forced himself to stand up properly and stumbles a bit as he tries to make his way to the bathroom, his hand instinctively going up to cover his mouth as he retches slightly.

” Ugh- Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck… no… “

He murmured before opening the door with more force than he intended, his legs almost completely giving out right then and there but he forced himself to push through it.

He tried to steady himself on the wall every time he almost fell, when he finally got to the toilet, his legs give out and he just starts vomiting right then and there.

After almost 15 minutes of being crouched over the toilet, he stood up slowly and cleaned up, still panting softly as his hands shakily moved around. He was still trying to take it slow since he didn’t wanna make whatever he was feeling worse. He felt absolutely weak and battered, and for the first time; he was in no mood to start drawing right now.

After successfully cleaning the mess up, he slowly stumbled over to his bed and laid down. His temperature was normal, so it clearly wasn’t a fever. And it would be too sudden for one as well. Especially since he had never gone outsi-

…

Wait.

No.

Nononononono, this can’t be right-

Noah suddenly stands up and walks over to his drawer, he opens every single one frantically, rummaging through his things before finally finding it;

The letter.

He stares at it for a moment before shaking his head and grabbing it almost immediately, his eyes skim through the contents of the letters before he finally finds it. The root of the nausea. The fatigue, The Rain itself was what caused this.

“ …Holy shit. I… i didn’t even- how would that even- i… “

He trailed off, looking back at the letter. Well, there’s no use in fighting it. It clearly got him anyway, even if there’s no logical explanation as to why. He checks the letter again before trying to steady himself.

“ …It’s too early to fall asleep anyway. “

He opens the drawer again, puts the letter in and walks away from the bedroom with his phone in hand. He looks over at it for a moment, then he opens it and goes to his contacts.

He scrolls absentmindedly through his contacts, before eventually reaching the end. He blinks before closing his phone and putting it away.

The distant sound of the rain pouring from the outside was no longer soothing to him; now that he was hyperaware of it, it was practically driving him crazy. At the same time, he had nowhere to go to avoid it since he couldn’t just leave.

He sighs softly before walking back into his room and grabbing his headphones before putting it on and turning up the music, he goes downstairs and looks around before deciding to just sit down on the sofa and listening

Finally, some peace, for once. It did help quite a bit. Just a bit…

He leans his head against the cushion, closing his eyes for one, small, peaceful moment before opening them again.

“ …I’ll just hope for the best and… pray it doesn’t get any worse, I suppose. “

He mumbled to himself and looked up at the window. The house was cold, primarily from the air from The Rain outside. He groans and covers his head with a cushion.

“ Why am I suddenly so tired…? “

He mumbled into the pillow as he held it close, covering his face and trying to focus on the music. After about an hour or two of listening to music, the nausea faded away and his eyelids grew heavier.

His gripped loosened on the pillow as he started to doze off, his head lolling forwards towards the pillow a little. The music from his headphones did stop after about an hour or two of him being asleep.

He thought that would be the end of it.

It wasn’t

It really, really wasn’t.

—

As the days went by, the nausea only grew more frequent. And the sounds of the rain falling heavily outside drove him absolutely insane, at this point, he couldn’t eat or sleep properly because of the sudden fatigue that would hit him.

The poor thing hadn’t even realized he had been so close to avoiding it, if it weren’t for the fact he got home just a teensy bit too late… this all could’ve been avoided.

But he doesn’t know that, does he?

—

Day 13

After vomiting once more for… however long he had been, the nausea was frequent now, after all. What would be the point in counting? He eventually just slumped down against the bathroom floor with his head in his hands.

He took one shaky breath before gagging and coughing. His mind was going crazy and he had been constantly hyperaware of the rain outside, it was overwhelming. He didn’t know what he was doing anymore.

“ What’s the point, anyway? If I’m just going to live this miserably, I should just go outside and- “

He pauses, before looking back up at the window, he sighs heavily before standing up and cleaning up as always. He didn’t look like himself… his hair was messier than ever from the many times he ran his hand through it, he was noticeably more tired and his movements were much more slower and clumsier than usual. He sighs, then suddenly groans and snaps.

“ …Fuck it. What other choice do I have? “

He walks out of the bathroom, his heart pounding in his chest as he leaves his room and goes down the stairs, every step feeling heavy. He stopped for a moment, contemplating on if he really wants to do this, before scoffing and continuing his way.

After making his way to the kitchen, he looks around for something, anything he can use. Before grabbing the kitchen knife and aiming it as his throat. He clenches his jaw tight and takes another deep shaky breathe

His eyes were… tired, even bordering—no, they were practically lifeless at this point. The Noah everyone seemed to know was gone. Almost as if under the influence of… something.

“ …I can’t do this anymore. “

The rain was suddenly simply noise, he was left alone with himself and his thoughts. He glanced back at the window and then at the knife, bringing it closer to his throat.

And then—

His phone rings.

His eyes widened in surprise before he drops the knife

” W-what-?! W-what am I- “

He looks at the knife absolutely baffled, before looking back at the phone and grabbing it frantically.

“ Fuck- “

He opens his phone and answers the call, putting his phone to his ear. His expression went from surprise to worried, before finally; determination.

“ Right- I-I’ll be there tomorrow for the trial. …A-alright then. Bye, mum. “

He ends the call and looks down at the floor, before picking the knife off the floor and placing it somewhere hidden. He gets himself together, looking back at the rain, in which; seems to have gotten lighter. Slightly, but the difference was there.

“ …Perfect. “

He practically speed-walks out of the room and starts preparing. He’ll be there for presumably a long while, after all. After finally finishing preparing, he goes upstairs and looks at himself in the mirror before fixing himself up.

“ …I have a feeling this’ll be quite a long one. “