Twisted Reflections

Eddie was sitting in his middle school's cafeteria, programming a website on the computer the school gave him for assignments. It was a Chromebook, but he had installed Linux on it, since it could do so much more than Chrome OS. He was coding a forum website for a video game he liked called Void of Souls. It was pretty obscure– so obscure that he couldn't find any online communities for it– so he had decided to make one himself.

"Hey, want to go to the carnival with us?" Eddie heard Connor say behind him. "It just came to town a few days ago."

Eddie turned around in his seat to look at Connor. His two friends, Joshua and Samantha, flanked him on either side. He blushed at the sight of Samantha, his crush he'd had for a couple of years now, smiling and waving at him. These were the most popular kids in school. Just the day before, they saw him working on programming his website, and Joshua had said "Look at this loser. He's probably making a chatbot to talk to because he has no friends!"

There was no way they were asking him to hang out with them. It was almost too good to be true. He did a double take to make sure Connor wasn't talking to anyone else. "Me?"

"Yeah, you," Connor replied. "It's gonna be a lot of fun. Wanna come?"

Eddie's eyes narrowed at him. "Is this some kind of trick?" he asked.

"No, of course not," Samantha said sweetly. "We never see you with anyone, so we figured you'd like to hang out with us."

Eddie's face felt hot all of a sudden, and a huge grin spread across his face. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, then realized he looked desperate. "I mean, sure," he said in a calmer manner.

"Great," Connor smiled. "Meet us there at 5:00 tomorrow evening."

Eddie could hardly contain himself as his mom drove him to the carnival. This was his chance to make friends with the popular kids, and maybe even become popular himself!

"So why did these kids invite you here?" his mom asked. "Aren't they the ones that make fun of you a lot?"

"They said they thought I looked lonely and felt sorry for me," he smiled.

"I wouldn't trust them if I were you," she frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to go to Chester's house? I'm sure he'd love to see you. You don't see each other as much anymore, since he switched schools."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," he said, waving his hand dismissively.

When they arrived at the carnival, Eddie's mom said "I'll pick you up in a couple hours." Eddie said goodbye to her, got out of the car, and met up with the popular kids.

"Hey Eddie," Samantha said, batting her eyelashes at him.

Eddie's face turned red. "Hi…" he mumbled, looking away from her.

"Ready to go in?" Joshua asked. Either he hadn't noticed Eddie was getting flustered or he didn't care.

Eddie managed to clear his head, and looked back at the group. "Yeah, I'm ready."

As they walked through the entrance, the smell of popcorn hit him like a breath of life. He marveled at the sight of the carnival. The rides were old, with the paint chipping off in several places, but still seemed to be in good enough condition to be safe. There were many games as well– a rubber duck pond, one where you tried to throw small balls in cups, one where you had to pop balloons with darts, and so much more. He wanted to try everything.

Connor was right when he said going to the carnival would be a lot of fun. They went on rides and played games, and Eddie even won a stuffed animal.

"Look, a house of mirrors!" Joshua exclaimed as the sun was setting.

"Let's go in," Connor said. Samantha nodded in excited agreement.

"I don't know…" Eddie protested nervously. "I should probably go to the entrance and wait for my mom. It's almost time for her to pick me up. Besides, I don't like houses of mirrors. The reflections freak me out." He didn't want to tell them the real reason he didn't want to go in: the last time he went into one, he got separated from his parents, and had spent hours wandering the maze alone.

"Aw, come on!" Connor threw his hands up. "Don't tell me you're chicken?"

Samantha softly grabbed Eddie's hand. "Please?" she asked with charm in her voice.

Eddie hesitated. Samantha was giving him butterflies in his stomach. He just couldn't say no to her.

"...Fine."

There was a collective cheer from Connor, Joshua, and Samantha. Not letting go of his hand, Samantha guided Eddie toward the line for the house of mirrors.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, it was finally time for them to go in.

"Hey, can you guys go in first?" Eddie suggested. "I feel like I'll be less scared if you do."

"I think you should go first," Samantha replied. "The best way to overcome your fears is to face them head-on."

"I don't know if I can do it," he said.

"You can do it," she encouraged. "I believe in you."

He had to be brave. He couldn't look bad in front of his crush. He mustered up his courage and stepped inside.

Eddie's hazel eyes widened as he entered the house of mirrors. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was his and his friends' warped reflections.

"Wow, this is trippy," Connor said.

"Yeah, how are we gonna find our way out?" Eddie walked up to one of the mirrors and looked at himself. The mirror made him look like he was much taller than he actually was. He shuddered at the sight.

"I don't know," Samantha replied. "I'm sure we'll figure it out with you, though."

Eddie felt his heart rate increase. Maybe this was his shot with Samantha!

As they started to explore the house of mirrors, Eddie noticed that his new friends seemed just as lost and confused as he was. He was starting to think they'd never get out of there.

Then he noticed something: he couldn't see their reflections in the mirrors anymore. When did they get separated?

"Connor? Joshua? Samantha?" he called out. "Where are you?" No one answered. He was completely alone.

Tears started to quickly stream down his face. He knew having a chance to be friends with the popular kids was too good to be true. He should have trusted his gut.

After he finished crying a few minutes later, he regained his composure. He started to roam around the house of mirrors by himself. Hopefully he could escape by the time his mom picked him up.

As he wandered aimlessly, he looked at his deformed reflections. He didn't want to, but there was nothing else to look at. Some looked extremely tall and skinny. Others went to the opposite extreme, looking very short and fat. Still others had giant heads.

After a while, Eddie noticed that something was off about his reflections. They were misshapen, obviously, but there was something else that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

He waved his hand at a mirror, forcing himself to take a closer look. There was definitely something wrong. His reflections' movements were slightly delayed. Whenever he moved, it was like the reflections were different people, trying to copy his movements as best and as quickly as they could. It was almost as if they were alive.

No, he was just imagining things, he decided. Being in the house of mirrors was simply making him paranoid.

He tried to ignore his thoughts and continued forward, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He looked at one of the mirrors and asked himself "Why are you so nervous?"

The reflections' mouth movements didn't match his.

He took a step back. What was going on? He looked around at the mirrors surrounding him. They still moved a little bit slower than he did. He wasn't paranoid after all.

All of a sudden, the reflections stood completely still, arms to their sides and eyes fixed on him. He moved around a bit, but they remained motionless.

His eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. The distorted reflections moved closer and closer to the mirrors. They put their arms out in front of them, pushed their hands onto the mirrors, and with a ripple, came out into his world. They looked shiny, reflecting light off their bodies.

"What do you want from me?" he implored. The reflections said nothing. They just inched closer and closer to him. He wanted so badly to scream and run away, but fear froze him to one spot. One of them grabbed his wrist. Its glossy hand felt slimy and repulsive. Snapping out of his stupor, he pulled away and saw that shimmering gray sludge covered his wrist.

He pushed past the one that had grabbed his wrist, not caring about getting more sludge on himself. He ran away from them as fast as he could. He heard wet footsteps behind him, like someone stepping in a shallow puddle. He didn't even have to look to know they were chasing him. Not that he wanted to.

He noticed that the slimy feeling of the sludge on his wrist and hands was starting to spread. He looked down at himself and saw that it was growing. What would happen if it took over his whole body? He didn't want to find out, so he started running faster. He had to find the exit so he could get help.

After a few minutes of running around, by some miracle, he didn't run into any dead ends. He couldn't run much longer, and the sludge had spread to his upper arms, so he had to find the exit quickly.

Just as he felt like he couldn't go on anymore, he saw the exit. There was hope after all! He sprinted towards it with all that remained of his energy. Just as he was about to reach it, he tripped and fell. He cried out in pain, holding his skinned knee and getting sludge all over it.

The reflections quickly approached him. One of them reached out and forcefully grabbed his arm. He struggled against it, but this time, it didn't let go. The sludge quickly spread around his body. He tried to scream, but he couldn't. It was inside his mouth and throat. In just a few seconds, it had completely taken over his body. He was now a reflection.