Subject Zero: Mirrors (Book 2)

Chapter 2: All Eyes on You

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

Anne's been climbing on the monkey bars for a few minutes, but her palms begin to hurt and burn due to repeatedly slipping her hands off of the bars. She's still climbing them anyway, because she just wants to make it to the other side of the monkey bars once without falling... She can be stubborn when it's unnecessary. Norman's looking up at the sky as he lays upside down on the slide, trying to spot shapes in clouds. Jesper and Klaus are sitting on the swings. Klaus isn't actually swinging, he's just rocking back and forth while looking at the ground. Jesper's the only one swinging. And Zero's 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 groans. "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 sits in silence and shakes his head in reply. "Heard she's nice, though."

Jesper nods his head as a way of saying "cool."

Norman looks over at Zero, who's 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's pretty sure the others, except Jesper, don't really care about.

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

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

Zero shakes her head. She's always been interested in learning, so of course she'd love to learn a new word.

     "Wanderlust," said Norman as he sits up from laying upside down on the slide, getting a head rush when he raises his head. "It's a strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world, or to roam and be free." He smiles, proud of himself since he had recently learned that word himself.

She raises her brows a bit when she heard what the word means — wanderlust. In her mind, it's a very beautiful word with a beautiful meaning.

Klaus looks over at them, still being quiet, then furrows his brows a bit and looks back at the ground. Then he hears a stick break behind him and he flinches, turning around, seeing a small branch fall from a tree in the forest behind the park. Unease immediately instilled in him.

When Jesper sees him flinch, he looks at him with concern and asks, "Is something wrong?" He looks back at the forest as well, not seeing anything particularly abnormal.

Klaus turns to look at him. "...I think I'm gonna head home."

    "Oh... Are you okay?"

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

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

Norman stands 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 shakes her head and so does Zero. Jesper looks at the two of them and shakes his head, too. He does want to go, honestly, but he won't unless Zero also wants to.

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

The two of them start walking away and Klaus waves goodbye to them. The girls wave back.

As those two walk away, Jesper looks behind him and at the forest again, looking in the direction Klaus was looking moments ago. There's nothing there at all. Even so, that same unease begins to set in.

6:05p.m.
Melancholy Woods

Naomi and Norman walk through the forest. They don't have flashlights, since the sun's not going to set for another few hours. But they both have wristwatches, so they can keep track of when dinner is usually ready at home.

They aren't saying anything, but he keeps waving his arms whenever a bug goes near him, so the small insects get away. If he hates anything about summer or spring at all, it's all the damn insects.

Then, they finally find the treehouse. It sits among the branches of one of the largest trees in the forest. Even the treehouse itself is about the size of a bedroom, being 8'x10'. Vines have long overgrown on the sides of the exterior walls.

But Naomi freezes when she begins to smell something foul, which causes her to gag. "Oh, God. What the hell is that?" She pinches her nose, breathing through her mouth.

Norman pinches his nose before he can even smell anything after he sees her do so. He's not taking any chances. The two of them glance around, then he spots a small pile of dead squirrels. The sight is disturbing and putrid. "Uhh... Naomi?" Nausea begins to overwhelm him and he takes a few steps back.

His older sister looks at him with concern, then at the squirrels. "Oh, shit! Okay, let's just go."

Then, something falls out of the treehouse. They both flinch and he quickly grabs ahold of Naomi's arm, as if to help him feel safer.

Slowly, Naomi approaches the item that fell out of the treehouse, followed by her younger brother.

"...Is that...?" Norman muttered as he looks at the object, narrowing his eyes.

They're looking at what appears to be a rusty, handheld mirror. Just as she's about to pick it up, they're both startled when they hear the sound of a hand clap.

"Yeah, no, bye." Naomi begins running away, instantly being followed by her brother.

Cabin, Bluebell Forest

Zero's in the bedroom she now shares with Jesper. His bed and belongings are on the left side of the room, while her bed is on the right side. Unfortunately, her side is lacking decor, but the things she does have are very colorfully designed, mostly red. Her favorite color is red, after all.

The door's locked and the curtains are closed. She's sitting on her bed, with her walkie talkie (that Norman bought for her) placed next to her as she keeps her eyes shut. High frequency tunes on the radio of the walkie.

Her nose slowly begins bleeding. She's... searching for someone? Trying to, anyway. She's unsuccessful. She's been unsuccessful for months. She sighs in annoyance and opens her eyes.

She looks over at the small mirror on her dresser. The mirror is facing her. She sees herself in the reflection. The eyes that look back at themselves have been so tired for so long. She stands up and walks over to the mirror, staring at her reflection.

"Zero! Days of our Lives is on!" she heard Jesper yell for her. It's her favorite show to watch.

Zero looks at the door in acknowledgment, then turns her gaze back to the mirror.

"No more." She reaches to the mirror and turns it facedown. She walks over to the door, unlocking it, and steps out of the room.

{ End of Chapter 2 }

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