Take Note : It's All Different

12. Wicked Smile

"Open your eyes." Cheek had returned to his voice and a wicked smile spread across his face. Confident and wild. Confident and wild Tanner had returned. He said it just as he had when we were here. It was so surreal. But my eyes stayed open. I wanted to see how he did this. How did he do it?

I admired Tanner's courage as I waited for a response from one of the six men. The six men's eyes were in fact closed. Like me I didn't know when they closed. All I knew was that they were all closed now. All six pairs. I watched as each and every one of them opened there eyes and as they did our surroundings changed. The eyes all came together and the body became one. But our surrounding were now familiar. Almost all too familiar.

Mirrors. All I could see was mirrors. We were surrounded by mirrors, just as we had been when he told me to open my eyes. It was rendezvous. This could be the gift the man was talking about. The manipulation of reality and mirrors perhaps? I looked around me and saw my reflection, after my reflection after my reflection. It was endless. Continuously bouncing from wall to wall, mirror to mirror. There was too many of me. There was too much to see and nothing I should be able to focus on. But I could. I could focus on something. And aside from the mirrors there was only one of those men. He had come together to form one. He had manipulated his appearance somehow. But the mirrors brought his forms together.

The six pairs of eyes had joined together to form one pair. Now he had one pair of arms. One nose. Two legs. The rags were worse as the man was together. Six times as many shreds. Six times as many holes. Six times more revealing.

The man himself was four foot tall and rather stocky. He held a blade in his right hand but it was blunt. It could not cut us although it could do more. I had a feeling he did not intend to use it as a blade. His face was smooth looking but his lips were covered with a beard. His beard was dark brown and thick. I looked at his clothes. They were all too big for him. Nothing seemed to fit relatively well. His raged clothes dragged around him. His pants dragged along the ground when he took one step back it was then he truly realised we were no longer in the shop.

He had not let himself realise where he was. He was astounded but he did not show it. If it were not for his eyes he could fool anyone that he was brave. His posture and his stance showed he was ready for whatever may come his way. But his eyes told somewhat another story.

I let myself deepen into my thoughts as the man searched te room. He looked at every mirror searching for something. I let myself slip into thoughts about mirrors and Master Madison.

Open your eyes.

Mirrors.

What was with Tanner and mirrors?

Was he more comfortable surrounded by mirrors?

What was it Tanner had said about mirrors? They allowed him to see every curve, every weapon and every hidden weapon. Mirrors were what aided Tanner to see what I saw. That's what the man had said. People could use mirrors to view what I saw with my eyes. People had learnt to use mirrors to their advantage.

Tanner was one of them I was sure.

How had he made all these mirrors appear? A whole room? It was overwhelming but magnificent. It was hard to describe the changing of surroundings. It wasn't like someone had dropped a room of mirrors around us. It was smooth. It was so much like I had blinked and that had appeared. Although I was sure I had kept my eyes open the whole time. My eyes had been open and staring at those of the little mans. I'd hoped my eyes had stayed open. It was a split second change.

Perhaps I missed it. Maybe I had blinked.

I looked at all mirrors. Some were perfect and precise with the image they reflected while others blurred or distorted. They were all shiny. there was no dust. The air was pure. The mirrors were pure.