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the flea and the acrobat
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SUE STOOD BEHIND HER NIECE IN THE MIRROR, brushing the shoulders of her black dress out with a sigh. On the other side of the room, Lucas stood in front of his father as he helped him tie his tie, making sure it was even and correctly tied.
Scarlett braided Erica's hair into a bun as the little girl sat in front of the mirror, unamused at the fact it was taking this long to braid her hair.
Scarlett knew the funeral would be hard to get through. But not because of the pain of losing a loved one, but instead, knowing that Will wasn't even dead, but no one else knew. Staring at herself in the mirror, standing in her black dress, felt weird to her. Will wasn't dead, but he definitely shouldn't be in danger either. He was only a boy. A scared little boy who was hiding. He was alone, cold and losing hope. It made her feel worse about attending his funeral.
Suddenly, her room was empty. Short, quiet clicks were heard. The sounds seemed to be traveling around the corners of her room, bouncing off the walls. "Lucas?" She called out, hoping someone would hear her. She squeezed her eyes shut as the clicking and growls gradually became louder.
"Scarlett?" A soft voice pulled her out of the darkness. A voice which she recognized, it belonged to Will. She felt the pit in her stomach growing larger as she heard the voice behind her.
"Will?" She opened her eyes, staring into the mirror she was still facing. Will stood behind her, drained of color and wide eyes. His veins were apparent and bright blue, red rimmed his eyes. He looked like a living corpse. Horrified by his appearance, she took a step back into her vanity.
"Why are you scared? It's just me." Will advanced towards her, speaking in a creepily eerie tone. Scarlett felt uncomfortable in the presence of Will. Putting two and two together, she soon realized that this was not Will. This was something else.
Knocking over the items on her vanity, she tried to take another step back, shooting her finger out. "Stop! Don't come any closer." She stuttered. Her attempt of being commanding came out weak.
"Scarlett? Open your eyes." Will started, taking another step towards her.
"What?" She shook her head, more confused now.
Will's voice gradually faded away, her aunt's voice filling the void again. "Scarlett? Open your eyes, please. I can't put mascara on with your eyes closed." Sue tapped her niece's cheek with a soft laugh.
Scarlett opened her eyes, looking back and forth as her scattered mind slowly pieced itself back together. "Oh, um. Yeah, yeah. Mascara." She was hallucinating, her mind was messing with her. She forced a smile up at her aunt as she let her apply the mascara onto her eyelashes.
