Cliffhanger Castle

House of Mirrors

As Austen ran alongside Rhea, he couldn't help but feel guilty. He had finally found his sister, even Cigarro, but Tiffany was still back there. You are going back, he reminded himself. Although in a place like this, who knew what would be left of Tiffany when he got to her.

First, he had to catch Cigarro.

"Come on Cigarro! Here boy!" Austen couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride. His little sister had gone through and she was doing okay. Holding it together better than he was, anyway.

Cigarro ran into a room and Austen and Rhea slipped in after him. At first, Austen thought he had completely lost his mind. It looked like they were back in the ballroom, which was impossible. But once his eyes adjusted to the dim room, he realised the only similarity between the two rooms were the mirrors. This one was full of them.

This part of the house was MADE of mirrors. Every inch of every wall had a reflective surface. Even the floor and ceiling. It was incredible. He heard Rhea gasp as she bumped into him as though each had forgotten about the other.

"This is freaky" Rhea started, eyes wide, "I would go crazy in a place like this." Austen was just as creeped out, but knew they couldn't waste any more time there. "Lets just find Cigarro and get some help for Tiffany."

"Hold on, what is that??"

Austen hadn't noticed until Rhea mentioned it. It looked like a big black blanket sitting on the floor. Weird. Austen went to pick it up but as he did, he heard a loud thunk! which knocked him backwards. He had just tried to reach into a mirror. Smooth.

He turned around, expecting to catch his sister giggling at his Three Stooges type performance. But rather than laugh, giggle, or smirk, his sister's eyes went wide, her skin turned the color of paper, and her bottom lip trembled uncontrollably.

His sister looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Austen turned slowly to see what his sister was looking at. As much as he wanted to close his eyes tight and imagine himself anywhere else in the world he forced himself to turn around. He had to see what horror was in store for him now. He was moving in slow motion. It took every fiber of his being to turn around, eyes open. He had a feeling if he let them close he would never be able to open them again.

"Huh?" Austen was confused. It wasn't a monster. No Zombies. No dead people. It was just him and Rhea. Their reflections. Only they weren't. The Austen and Rhea in the reflection were sneering. What was going on?

"Let's go!" Rhea shocked him out of his trance.

"Hold on a second, okay?" Austen slowly lifted his hand in front of his reflection. Hands pressed against the mirror, his reflection was once again just that. A reflection. "Maybe it was the lighting playing tricks on our eyes"

Rhea looked incredulously at her brother.

Suddenly, without warning, Austen's reflection punched through the mirror and grabbed his wrist.

Rheas's scream was so piercing, Austen thought the rest of the mirrors would crack. Whilst Rhea and Austen screamed, their reflections laughed. Not a normal laugh. An insane laugh.

Austen struggled to free himself, with Rhea grabbing his arm to help him. Tears started to well up in Austen's eyes, the grip on his wrist so tight he could feel his bones rubbing together. He pushed his foot against the window to get more leverage then, with a sudden pop! he got free. He scrambled to his feet and, with one hand gripping Rhea's elbow, they started running.

Through his peripheral vision he saw their reflections chasing them, cackling like maniacs. They continued running, the evil horrid sound spurring them on.

Finally, they saw a doorway, the light pouring through as beautiful to Austen as any piece of art. Ten more steps. Eight. Three. He could almost smell freedom, he felt it.

A cold, strong hand gripped his left foot. As he felt himself being dragged backwards he tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips. He didn't want to die like this. Rhea had a hold of his hand, trying desperately to pull him free. He wanted to tell her it was alright. He would be alright.

As the reflections dragged him back into the mirror, he remembered his promise to come back for Tiffany and it gave him strength.

He had to save her. He pulled his leg with all his might, straining so hard he thought his foot was going to fall off. Oh god, it was. He was tearing off his own foot!

Hold on....it was his shoe. He pulled again and, as his shoe slipped off and he and Rhea tumbled through the doorway, he thanked his Mom for buying him shoes a size too big. He hugged Rhea and both of them sobbed as they realised they had gotten out. Barely.

As they embraced, Austen heard someone panting right next to them. Rhea must have heard it too, because she tensed up. Slowly, at the same time, they looked over to where the sound was coming from. In unison, they relaxed when they saw the source.

"Cigarro!" Austen smiled at the bliss on Rhea's face. He was just happy that somehow, through all this, Rhea could feel joy.

Cigarro started growling.

"What's going on? It's not like him to growl like that."

"Be fair Austen, he's been through a lot."

"So have I, but you don't hear me growling."

Cigarro attacked.

It happened so quickly Austen struggled to comprehend what was going on.

Their beloved pet had his jaw locked on his little sister's ankle. He may not have been a big dog, but he still broke the skin. Rhea's howling broke the daze he was in, and Austen quickly reached for the vicious canine. Before he could grab a hold of him though, he heard barking behind him.

Was he seeing double? Cigarro ran at.... Cigarro? He stood, open-mouthed, watching two identical dogs fight. But they weren't identical. Something was different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it....

"His spot! Cigarro's spot is on his left side. That crazy dog's spot is on the right!" Rhea had nailed it.

"The mirrors. This dog must be a reflection!"

As Rhea stood, proud of herself for figuring it out, the fake Cigarro let out a squeal and ran back into the room of mirrors, leaving the real Cigarro standing victorious, with a patch of white fur in his teeth.

Austen felt a hand on his shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin.

"I've been looking everywhere for you guys!" Austen felt the blood drain back into his face as relief poured through his body. The familiar voice of Tiffany was music to his ears. He turned around, and before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed Tiff and held her close, thanking the stars that she was still alive. Once he realised what he was doing he let go quickly and looked at his shoes.

"Awkward..."

Thanks Rhea, he thought, feeling his face turn red with embarrassment, his cheeks hot as fire.

"It's okay" Tiffany told him, obviously trying not to giggle. "Let's just try to find a way out of here.

As they walked away, Tiffany scratched the scar on her cheek she got trying to backflip off the diving board. It happened when she was seven so the scar was very faint, but still there.

Shouldn't it be on her right cheek?