Code of Disjointed Letters: ( Doomsday Will Arise From the Past by JT Alblood Page A

in their own world, Feryla said what was on all our minds. “With all the time we have been spending together,” she said, “I’ve begun to get used to you all.”
    “ Stockholm syndrome,” I muttered, and my words were followed by some soft laughter.
    “My self-respect and my relationships with some of you oblige me to tell you something, though,” she continued. “I knew how to get out of the labyrinth the day it was declared. It might be because I am a scientist or because I have read a lot or because of the things I have learned and retained. But whatever the reason, I know the answer—I mean, the solution. However, since it is still a competition, I don’t want to lose my advantage by telling you how. Maybe I have told you all of this now to relieve my conscience.”
    Fatin frowned at her confession. “I already told you of my ability to win the challenge,” he said, “and I did not do so because of any respect or love for any of you.” Fatin played with his nails without looking at us as he went on. “Even before I came here, I knew this question would be asked. Please don’t take it as arrogance, but I also knew that Feryal would know the answer. Anyway, can I make a humble suggestion? Don’t upset each other; draw lots among yourselves and solve the problem that way.”
    Ender jumped in. “How can we know for sure what you know?” he asked. “You can’t tell us.”
    “Clever boy!” Fatin grinned. “If I tell, then you learn, and that’s unacceptable. If you still want me to tell you after the competition, I can do that.”
    “Well,” Ender responded, “considering my current position and the details I’ve noticed, I can tell you that I’m close to the exit as well.”
    The conversation increased my anxiety and I sank deep into my own thoughts. I had thought about it over and over again, but up until then, I had been unable to work it out. It seemed like there was no solution or escape. There had to be something I was missing. Was I asking the wrong questions? I suddenly feared being eliminated.
     
    * * *
    The first phase of the competition came and went, and I managed to make it through. Waiting outside the elimination room, I knocked on the door and went in to say goodbye to Gizem.
    “I’m sorry; you know I like you. If I had the chance to choose, it would not be you who got eliminated, believe me,” I said.
    “I’m sorry, too. I did not expect to be eliminated so soon. I’m surprised. I thought I was doing pretty well, but they only focus on the results without understanding the method.”
    I tried to reassure her with all the clichés: life goes on, don’t be sad , etc. She zipped her bags angrily and tried to pick them up. I stepped in to help, and, as I was trying to grab the handles of the bags to carry them for her, my hand suddenly touched the elderly woman’s skin. There was that indescribable electrical shock again! The woman took the bags from my hand, put them on the floor, and stared at me.
    “Young man, you have something mysterious about you, but I’m unable to solve it, despite all my life experience and knowledge. When I looked into your fortune that night, I did see something, but I decided to not tell you. No one loves the one who gives them bad news, and doing so has never been to my advantage in my market.” She smiled at that and touched my shoulder.
    “Young man, you need to change your perspective and look back at what you have seen. You can win this competition by eliminating everyone; I have no doubt about that, but if you do not win this competition, and if you lose the chance given to you in another competition…,” her voice briefly trailed off before she continued. “When I took your hand, I caught a vision that I haven’t had for a long time. It was so clear that it is still before my eyes. I can still smell the blood and taste the metal in the air. I saw a setting sun, its last rays obscured by the dense smoke of a battlefield. The