Static Reflections: Book 1 of The Mortal Guard Series

Chapter 33 - Pierce: Shattered Mirror

Chapter 33 - Pierce: "Shattered Mirror"

Spritz, spritz, spritz. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Pierce hummed to themself as they sprayed the mirror, again and again, swiping their cloth over it in little circles. They wanted to make sure it was spotless, enjoying the praise from their manager whenever he saw they had done an excellent job. At Clive's A-MAZE-ING Mirrors, the cleanliness of the building was the most critical part, Pierce felt, of the guests' experience the next day. Who wanted to go through a mirror maze with smudges all over what they are trying to look through? That would ruin the effect!

That was Pierce's job and Pierce's job only. To make sure this place was spotless all by themselves during the night while they slept during the day. Sure, it would have been nice to have a helping hand or two, but this was the perfect time to be alone with their thoughts. And what would they do any other time, anyway? It's not like they had any real friends and, while close with their family, they lived in Portland.

They looked at their amber eyes in the reflection in the mirror. Looking back at them was an animal whose mask consisted of dark rings around the eyes, an almost entirely dark muzzle, and gray fur on the top of the head. There were sharp white triangle-shaped ears on either side and a small black nose.

The white from their mask extended down to their neck, but the red shirt of the company obstructed the rest. A black belt squeezed around their waist, looping through the blue jeans they had to wear. Next, were their colorful tennis shoes. Initially, they were pure white, but Pierce thought that was too boring. Then, they drew on their shoes with markers, making random shapes, and designs. Finally, there was their long and thin striped tail that hung behind them, their favorite feature aside from their eyes.

Pierce smiled at themselves in the mirror, thinking they were a pretty handsome animal. If only they had true friends who appreciated them like this.

The lemur continued to clean the mirror, finishing up the one they had been working on and stepping to the next, where they resprayed the yellow liquid, about to repeat the cycle. As they brought their cloth to the surface, the lights shut off unexpectedly. Pierce looked around, blinking. What the?

A moment later, the loud music they played during guests' journeys through the maze blared to life along with the color-changing lights on the floor, making Pierce nearly jump out of their pelt. Immediately, panic rose in their chest as they knew that the only way the music would have come on was if someone had turned it on themselves. But they were the only animal in the building, right?

As if to answer their question, the door to the mirror maze slid open quickly. Pierce could make out the silhouette of an otter in a suit there. The door slid close behind the figure, and they almost disappeared with how dark their fur was. But they were definitely there.

"Hello!" Pierce called. "W-we're closed, you know!"

The otter just began moving forward, disappearing out of view from the mirror they were looking in and appearing in the one to the right of them. The shape continued to move quickly, traveling from reflection to reflection as Pierce realized they were getting closer. And they were holding something, but what was it?

There was no time to waste figuring it out, as Pierce felt the fear get more intense, their throat dry. The lemur dropped the cloth but kept the spray bottle as they swiftly pulled their dark blue phone out of their pocket. Gotta call the cops! Pierce began running through the maze, turning left, right, left, left. They dialed 911 as they held the phone up to their ear.

The otter was on their trail, though, getting faster and faster, closer and closer. There was the soft thumping of his shoes on the floor, but the music was far too loud to hear much of anything else. As Pierce fled, the colors on the floor constantly changed through the spectrum of the rainbow, adding a layer of chaos they hadn't expected.