Duskvale Hunts: The Mirror Room

It's been three years since the once beautiful city of Ebonleigh fell to a black fog. Chaos and disorder ran across the city as creatures and the fog itself destroyed every life it touched. Screams come from every corner of the city as people who can’t fight try to run away. Soldiers are doing their best to keep the beasts back but it’s clearly a losing battle.

On a day like any other over these last years a young woman sleeping in bed gets woken up by a cold sensation of a breeze in her room. Getting out of bed she stretches and yawns. Going through her drawls in her petticoat until she finds her uniform. She puts on a long dark red dress that is tight around the waist. Pulling the white apron over her head she straightens it out before wrapping her black leather belt around her waist. Pulling her light brown hair back and putting her little white cap on to hold her hair in place.

At her front door she grabs her blue cloak and pulls the hood up. Opening the door slightly she peaks through the crack to the outside. Seeing nothing threatening out there she steps out into the cold air outside. Closing the door behind her as she takes the wooden steps down and walking cautiously down the street. She is nervous and keeps looking behind her and down every alleyway she passes. She hears a beast howl and ducks behind a wrecked cart. Waiting for the source of the sound for sometime before she feels nothing is nearby.

Hours later she finds herself just outside the grounds of the asylum. She slips through the small gate next to the large one and locks it behind her. Moving through the courtyard along the broken path. Some of the grass has turned black and swiggles as it grabs at her flats. Reaching up to the front door she unlocks it and pushes it in.

Going right to the front desk at the other end of the lobby. Signing in as she always does despite being the only one here. Walking down the hallway she reaches the room where they store the medicines. Grabbing a list of patients who need their medications for the day and a tray next to it. Grabbing a number of little cups she sets on the tray and reaches for various bottles of pills. Carefully placing the correct pills in each cup until she has completed her list.

Walking the halls lined with doors to the patient’s rooms. She knocks on each one and some have moans and groans while others are quiet. She opens a little metal hatch that lays horizontally to act as a small table. When she drops off each cup she calls out their names. In the rooms with still living patients the cup quickly vanishes then flies back out into the hallway through the little slot in the door. When a patient doesn’t come for their meds she writes it down and crosses their name out.

Around mid day she enters the kitchen and grabs items of food together. She puts the ingrediants into a big metal pot full of water. As the food cooks she writes in her diary she keeps with her. When the water starts to boil over the top of the pot she pulls up a rolling cart full of bowls. She fills each one and walks them down the halls with a spoon in each. Serving them to every one of the patients that took their medications.

As the night comes and darkness falls the nurse goes by each room with their dinner and tells them good night. Making sure each door is tightly locked throughout the building. Closing the shutters on each window she can see that the fog is thicker outside. Sighing she realizes it might not be safe to get home tonight. A number of nights she has had to find a free bed to sleep on in the asylum when the fog is rolling past.

Late that night a loud banging on the main door wakes her up. She sits up startled and shaking. Getting her hat hair pulled back and her little hat back on she grabs a small candle and lights it. She peaks her head around the doorway to the room she is sleeping in. The knock comes again with loud thuds that vibrate through her mind. It doesn’t sound like the pounding of a wild beast, but rather a human knock. Rushing to the door she stands on the inside not worried about who could be out there.

A deep voice she recognizes from city announcements, “Anyone in there. I need to get in.”

She presses herself against the door before saying, “My lord is that really you?”

He takes no time to respond, “Yes. I need to be let in now. This fog is getting thick and closer.”

She unlocks and opens the door without hesitation and he rushes in. Dressed in noble clothing and a long shoulder cloak. Light metal plates cover the important parts of his body to protect vital points. She has never stood this close to him before and finds him more ruggedly handsome than ever before. The man before her is none other than Lord Alaric Duskvale. He’s been leader of the city for over twenty years and nothing could have prepared even him for this black fog invasion.

“Thank you madam for your haste”, he says to her.

“What are you doing here my lord?” she asks.

“The city has nearly fallen. These monsters are resistant to many of our attacks. I am here to make sure my son is safe. Then I will move along to try and end this once and for all,” he responds.

“Elias is here my lord. He is safe in the depths of the asylum,” she insists.

“The depths? I thought that was only for the most hardened and deranged?” he inquires.

“It is and as the black fog first showed he started to get very aggressive. Almost as if the fog was affecting his mental state,” she informs.

“Is that so? I have a theory about that. I need to see him right away,” he commands.

“Of course my lord. Let me get a couple fresh candles and we can head down,” she says.

Following her to the storage room as she collects candles and matches to put in her apron pockets. Ready, she looks to his powerful frame and nods to signify she’s ready to go. He turns to exit the room and they walk side by side. Down the long hallway. The sounds of beasts screaming and howling outside the walls.

“How come you are still here? Is it safe here?” he asks the nurse.

“It's not been invaded yet if that's what you mean by safe my lord. Though the reason I keep coming back here is that I can just leave the patients alone to die. They may be mad but they are still human,” she explains.

“That's very noble of you. When this is over you and I will have work to do. I want to finally get this place reformed. Madness isn’t forever and can be reversed I believe,” he says.

“I truly hope that is true my lord,” she says.

As the two keep walking, Lord Duskvale stops in front of nice looking double doors. He turns to face them and the nurse stops next to him. She watches him to try and figure out what he is thinking.

“My lord, is something wrong?” she asks.

“What’s in here?” he asks.

“Thats the theater. Sometimes the patients would act out their disorders. It was a kinda new form of therapy. We never got to have a public showing,” she explained.

“That’s an interesting thought for healing,” he says, “Something feels off though. I can’t put my finger on it,” he says.

Before the nurse can respond and thud comes from the door and makes her jump with fright. Each thud violently shakes the door and Lord Duskvale readies his sword and pistol. The nurse steps away and around the corner they came from.

The door busts open as bits of wood fly out. Lord Duskvale shields his eyes from the chunks of wood. When the dust settles the nurse sees a large man step out of the theater’s doorway. Her eyes widened at the impossible sight before her eyes. The large man that steps out is an exact copy of Lord Duskvale. Exactly except for that fact that black fog radiates off of him and his eyes beam red.

The two men class their blades together. Smashing into each other and leaping away. She watches as the two men match each other move for move. Their power is equal as every strike hits harder than the last. She’s never seen a man with such raw power before that can stand up to the creatures invading their city with such ease.

Lord Duskvale looks back to her as he locks blades with his beastly mimic, “Run! Hide somewhere.”

She steps back, scared of the battle she is watching. The red eyes of the monster burns into her mind. She runs into the wall behind her and almost drops her candle.

Running back the way she came she tries to find an already unlocked door. Door after door won't open as she starts to panic. The patients in each room start to whoop and holler with excitement at the commotion outside of their rooms. The noise starts to get to her and she drops her candle to cover her ears. Getting to the next hallway she finds the first door to be unlocked and she goes in. Locking the door behind her and stepping back.

She finds herself in a room filled with mirrors all along the walls. A small desk is in the corner of the room with a candle holder on the top. She walks up to the desk and sits in the chair behind it. Waiting for Lord Duskvale to return to her, but she is unsure if he can actually win against the monster he is fighting.

Her hands are shaking still and her heart is pounding at a rapid pace. She takes one of the candles from her apron and puts it in the candle holder and lights it up. As her eyes get heavy as she waits for him to come for her. To keep her mind occupied she pulls out her diary and starts to write in it. When she finishes writing the nurse leaves the diary open and the candle burns.

The room is barely lit but she notices something around the bottom of the door. Her eyes get wide and she backs against the wall. The black fog has found its way inside and she is now trapped within. It starts to pour in slowly at first but speeds up as it fills more of the room. The nurse falls to her knees and starts to sob into her hands. She can feel the black fog brushing against her dress. She can’t understand what she did to deserve this kind of fate.

Coming to grips with the reality of what is happening. She stands back up as the floor is now covered in the fog. She sits in the chair at the desk and stares at the door with tears still streaming down her face. She tries to stifle her sniffling nose so she can face death with a brave face.

As the fog rises in the room just below her face. She sticks her nose up in defiance. She can feel something changing inside of her as the room is finally full of the black fog. When it clears away the nurse is slumped over the desk. The candle flame dies out with only a third of the candle stick left. The smoke from the candle rises in a long white stream.

The sounds outside the room die out in time. The silence rests throughout the asylum. In the mirrored room the nurse is slumped over the desk. Her lifeless body staring at itself in the mirror across from her. The reflection is twisted and corrupted by the fog. Her face is rotted in appearance with flesh missing in places. The reflection blinks as it sits up in the mirror. From behind the nurse’s body the reflection there stands up. It is just as twisted and corrupted. The other mirrors that have her reflection look and react the same way. Trapped within the mirrors the reflections wander from side to side.

A couple years pass and the twisted reflections stay stationed together in the mirror behind the nurse. A young woman in a long green coat and a green wide brimmed hat comes into the room. The first visitor since they came to life. They watch and keep still waiting to see what she does and what they can do to her.