Dance Moms - Lorelei (2) Finding Clara

Chapter 6 : Mirror

"You shouldn't have come! You almost got yourself killed!"

Chloe felt pain all over her body. She has learned long ago not to make any sudden movements, but to test little by little.

She first opened her eyes, she was lying face down on wet grass, the surrounding was covered by debris. She regained her vision and saw a car caught sideway in a colorful rack, it was a climbing frame, she was at a children's park.

She moved her left arm, the muscles were sore but bones intact, she tried the other arm but felt nothing, like it didn't exist. She shifted her body a little to test her back, it hurts like taken heavy punches. She tugged in her knees one by one, her right leg was caught by something.

"Your recklessness has once again proven your stupidity!" the voice said again.

Shut up! Who is this?? Chloe thought.

She carefully pushed with her left arm and knee, rolled over and found her right arm underneath, it has grown numb after trapping under her own weight.

She laid on her back and took a deep breath, the air was so clear she was staring up the blue sky.

The storm is over! She sighed in relief, then she noticed the mountains of clouds all around her, like she was staring up from the bottom of a well. No!

She was at the eye of the storm.

She tried to get up but found her right leg caught by twisted wire fence, tangled around her ankle like a net.

"It must have cushioned your fall, or you would be dead!" the voice said.

She freed herself from the wire fence, slowly climbed to her feet. Then she saw the person speaking to her.

The young girl has long blonde hair resting over her shoulders, she wore a familiar fashion of denim jacket and skinny jeans, something stole out of Chloe's wardrobe. Chloe knew this because she met her before.

"I killed you!"

"You can't kill me. I am part of you!" her reflection grinning hideously.

It was a figure of her failure, her dark side, the ugliness buried deep down her heart. Once a fearsome hallucination in result of the drug Purgatory, was now standing in front of her.

"You're not real! I'm hallucinating!" Chloe rubbed her head, thinking she must have a concussion.

"What does it matter? You called me out and I'm here."

"I never call you out!"

"Help! Please! SOMEBODY Help!" the reflection mocked her scream. "You were crying like a baby!"

"I don't have time for this right now!"

Chloe removed the backpack to find the tracker, without it she would be blind as a bat, but to her horror she saw a big torn hole on it.

"NO!"

She opened it wide and checked the contents, the GPS track, the radio, everything was gone except the flare and insulin pen, which were secured under the elastic banner.

She flipped over the torn backpack, searching every pocket, over and over, as if things would reappear again. Nothing. She then reached into her pants and took out her phone, the rectangular frame was cracked in half, folding at an odd angle.

"No! No! NO!!!" she hand began to shake.

"What're you going to do now, Wonder Girl?" her reflection giggled.

Chloe ignored her subconscious, looking around trying to find a landmark, but every direction looked the same, with flatland of broken branches and floods.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember the big map at their briefing - the river, the zones, but they only covered the general areas. She needed landmarks and roads, and she needed to move now.

I was heading north. Chloe began assessing. The storm was expanding, and I'm now at the center, chances are I still need to head north.

"You could be way passed it!" the reflection said. "You need to get to a shelter before another storm slam right on your head!"

"Then I'll reach the north shelter. I'll refill and come back again!" Chloe told her other self.

She looked up the sky once more, than checked her watch, her last resource of electronic, the pink and white Bady G-shock said 6:54pm.

"It's going to be dark soon." the reflection warned.

"Good!"

Chloe studied the sky, searching for that fading tone of dusk, and then turned to her left.

"North." she began walking.

Without landmarks and roads it was hard to keep a straight line. Chloe tracked objects to keep her path aligned, head for the next car in front, head for the lamp post in front, head to the telephone pole in front.

She walked for hours, the giant storm eye was swallowed behind her, and the wind was picking up again, drumming occasionally with thunder and lightning. The clouds above her began to stir, like mixing ingredients for another explosive strike.

"There's another tornado coming! You're not going to live through this one!"

"I have to!"

Without warning, the world suddenly turned pitch dark, Chloe could only see flash images under the lightning. She made out a pile of rocks, like a corner of a fallen building. She quickly ran to it, digging a hole between the fallen bricks, jamming herself into the ditch.

The wind turned violent, blowing rocks and trees across the air like they were weightless. The ground shook, she looked up and saw the wall she was leaning against began to fall. The heavy brick wall slammed on top of her, but was holding shape by its reinforced steel, sparing her life under its tight space.

But she was not saved, something slammed hard from the other side of the wall, hammering it over and over, pushing into the cramped space. The wall began to crack, raining over her with broken bricks, burying the space around the little room she has.

Chloe curled into a ball, protecting her head with her hands, pulling up her knees to shield her body. The hammering continued, harder and harder, pressing the brick wall against her, crushing so tight she could hardly breathe.

"STOP!!" she cried like a helpless little girl. "GOD! PLEASE JUST STOOOPP!!!"