Subject Zero: Mirrors (Book 2)

Chapter 2: All Eyes on You

Thursday, May 16, 1985
5:35p.m.
Forest Hills Park

Third Person's POV
Anne was climbing on the monkey bars, but her palms were hurting since her hands kept slipping off the bars, causing her to fall. She was still climbing them anyway.

Norman was just looking up at the sky as he'd lay upside down on the slide, trying to find shapes in clouds.

Jesper and Klaus were sitting on the swings. Klaus was not actually swinging, he was just rocking back and forth while looking at the ground. Jesper was the only one swinging.

And Zero was climbing on the dome climber, just trying to make her way to the top of it.

   "When does summer break start, again?" asked Norman.

"On the 29th," Jesper responded.

Anne groaned. "I want school to be over."

"We all do."

     "I hope I get Naomi's favorite teacher when she started high school, Ms. Prescott. Do you take her class, Klaus?" asked Norman.

Klaus just sat in silence and shook his head. "Heard she's nice, though."

Jesper nodded his head as a way of saying, "cool".

Norman looked over at Zero, who had successfully climbed up to the top of the dome climber. "Hey, Zero? What was your word of the day?" he asked, genuinely showing interest in something he thought the others, except Jesper, wouldn't really care about.

"'Flicker'," replied Zero, stammering, "to shine un... unsteadily...?"

   "Ooh! Cool. Mind if I give you a word?"

Zero shook her head, as a way of telling him she didn't mind.

     "Wanderlust," said Norman as he sat up from just laying upside down on the slide, getting a head rush when he rose his head, "a strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world; roam and be free." He smiled, proud of himself since he had recently heard that word.

Zero rose her brows a bit when she heard what the word meant — wanderlust. She thought it was very beautiful word with a beautiful meaning.

Klaus looked over at them, still being quiet, then furrowed his brows a bit and looked back at the ground. Then he hears a stick break behind him, so he flinches, and turns around, seeing a small branch fall from a tree in the forest behind the park. He felt very unsettled.

When Jesper saw him flinch, he looked at Klaus and asks, "Is something wrong?" He looked at the forest as well, not seeing anything, then he looks back at his friend.

Klaus turned to look at him. "...I think I am going to head home."

   "Oh... Are you okay?"

Anne, Norman, and Zero looked at the two of them.

   "Yeah, I'm just tired..." Klaus said in a monotone voice as he got off the swing.

Norman stood up, getting off the slide. "I will go with you! Naomi wants me to help explore the treehouse we found, anyway. You guys coming?"

Anne shook her head, and so did Zero, as a way of saying "no". Jesper looks at the two of them and shakes his head, too.

"Oh, okay. Stay safe. See you guys later," said Norman as Klaus walked up to him.

The two of them started walking away, and Klaus waved goodbye to them. Zero and Anne waved back.

As those two were walking away, Jesper looked behind him and at the forest, looking in the direction Klaus was looking moments ago. He did not see anything, but felt the same uneasy feeling Klaus felt.

6:05p.m.
Melancholy Woods

Naomi and Norman were walking through past the many trees. They did not have flashlights, since the sun was not going to set for another few hours. But they both had wristwatches so they could keep track of when dinner would usually be ready.

They weren't saying anything, but Norman kept waving his arms whenever a bug went near him so the small insects would get away.

Then, they found a treehouse.

But Naomi froze when she began to smell something foul, which made her gag. "Oh, my God. What the hell is that?" She pinched her nose, breathing through her mouth.

Norman pinched his nose before he could even smell anything, after he saw Naomi pinch her nose.

The two of them looked around, then Norman found a small pile of dead squirrels. "Uhh... Naomi?" He felt as if he was going to be sick, so he backed away.

His older sister looked at him, then at the
squirrels. "Oh, shit- okay, let's just go-"

They both flinched when they saw something fall out of the treehouse. Norman quickly held onto Naomi's arm, as if to make him feel safer.

Slowly, Naomi walked over to what fell out of the treehouse, followed by her younger brother.

"...Is that...?" Norman asked as he looked at the object, feeling very disturbed.

They were looking at what appeared to be a rusty, handheld mirror. Naomi was about to pick it up, but then they both heard someone clap their hands, which startled them.

"Yeah, no, bye." Naomi began running away, and was instantly followed by a frightened Norman.

Cabin, Bluebell Forest

Zero was in her room. The door was locked, and her curtains were closed. She was just sitting on her bed, with her walkie talkie (that Norman bought for her) next to her as she tied a piece of cloth around her head, covering her eyes. The high frequency was tuning on the radio of the walkie.

Her nose slowly began bleeding as she was trying to search for someone. When she couldn't, she sighed and pulled the blindfold off of her head.

Zero looked over at the small mirror on her dresser, that was facing her.

She saw herself in the mirror, but had the same unsettling feeling Klaus had felt at the park. She stood up and walked over to the mirror, just staring at her reflection.

"Zero! Days of our Lives is on!" she heard Jesper yell for her, since it was her favorite show to watch.

Zero looked at the door, then back at the mirror.

"No more." Zero flipped the mirror facedown. She walked over to the door, unlocked it, and stepped out of the room.

{ End of Chapter 2 }

"Please don't be mad if I don't smile back."