HauntingAdie {1}

C29

The Manipulator

“I think if I don’t go sit the fuck down, I’m going to collapse. You’ll have to peel me
out of this mud.”
I point towards a bench. “Go ahead and relax. I’m going to go through the
House of Mirrors real quick.”
“Fine by me, it’ll take you forever to get out of that thing, and it’ll be time to
go.”
The House of Mirrors has always been one of my favorite places. It’s an
elaborate maze of mirrors, and very difficult to find your way out of. It’s one of
the biggest buildings at the fair, and they fill every inch of it with mirrors.
The fair will close in about a half-hour. It’s pushing it, but it should be just
enough time to get through it if I concentrate.
The house is painted all black—no array of colors, flashing of lights, or smoke.
I’ve always thought it was trippier like this. Sometimes it feels like being in a
silent room, left with nothing but your thoughts as your own image haunts you.
It takes all of five minutes before I’m thoroughly lost. I keep my hands held out
before me, preventing me from running face first into one of the mirrors.
I did that a couple of years ago and my nose was bruised for a week.
A few minutes pass by with nothing but the company of my own reflection.
My heart rate is pumping erratically, my breathing uneven with excitement.
Despite the pounding in my chest, this is where I feel most… normal.
Off in the distance, I hear a faint shuffling of feet. Not very many people come
in here, especially this late, but there’s plenty of people who like to take on the
challenge.
Continuing on my wayward path, I concentrate on where I’m going, soon
forgetting about anything else going on around me. The trick is to focus on the
floor and not your reflection.
Just as I almost face plant a mirror, I hear a dark chuckle. My head snaps up,
the tone of the laugh sounding evil. A spark of adrenaline ignites, pumping the
chemical into my heart and kicking up the speed further.

Did an employee dressed as a monster sneak in here to mess with me? I
wouldn’t hold it past them. They’re known to follow people around and terrorize
them.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turn to find my bearings. If there is a
creepy monster in here with me, I’d rather they not get close enough that I have to
look at a thousand of their reflections.
Finding my way past the mirror that almost gave me a nose job, I start ahead
again.
“Little mouse.” The whisper seems to travel from every direction.
My limbs lock, not sure if my imagination is playing tricks on me or if Zade is
actually here.
Unfreezing, I force myself to keep moving, hoping I’m just imagining things.
“Where are you, little mouse?”
I gasp, the deep voice closer. Another sinister chuckle echoes, and Jesus Christ,
this man is capable of evil. No one sane sounds like that.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take three deep, calming breaths, trying to ease my
racing heart.
He’s fucking with me. Trying to scare me. And it’s fucking working when I’m
trapped in a maze of mirrors, and he’s laughing like a goddamn lunatic.
He can’t just let me have my night, can he? For once, I didn’t think about him
and my conflicting feelings. And though Zade doesn’t quite scare me as much—
except for maybe right now—the feelings he brings out of me certainly do.
Maybe if I keep quiet, he won’t find me.
Restarting my path, I quicken my pace until I’m speed walking through the
labyrinth of mirrors.
I’ve no idea how far I am, but I don’t even think I’ve made it halfway through.
It’s right then that I see the first image of Zade reflected back at me. Dressed in
all black, with his scarred face hidden deep in his hood. I gasp, whipping around
just to find more of his reflection.
He’s not behind me, but he’s somewhere close.
“Stop it,” I bite out, fear constricting my chest.
He doesn’t answer, and of course, the fucker doesn’t listen. I’m caught in a
whirlwind, my body continuously moving in circles, desperate to pin exactly
where he is.
“You all alone, baby girl?”
I swallow. “Obviously,” I whisper, still searching for where he is. It feels like I
shouldn’t have said that.
“No one here to save you?”
A shot of anxiety hits me in the chest.
“Why the hell would I need to be saved, Zade? You going to hurt me?”