Mirrors in the Mojave

Barstow at 3:15 p.m. was basically the surface of the sun. It was the kind of heat that made the asphalt feel squishy and the air taste like burnt rubber. You never really got used to it. No matter how long you lived there, you always complained. Today was no different as the five kids trudged down the sidewalk like a pack of exhausted animals making their way home from Barstow Middle School.

Brittany led the way, stomping ahead with the confidence of someone who would fight a cactus if it looked at her wrong. Her long brown ponytail was swishing side to side and her neck and forehead were glistening with sweat.

Her brother, Scott, dragged behind her. His backpack was half unzipped and his shirt was sticking to his back. He swept his sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes and said, "Britt, slow down. You walk like you're trying to outrun your own bad decisions."

She didn't even turn around. "Maybe if you had longer legs, Sasquatch, you could keep up."

Scott rolled his eyes. "I'm literally taller than you. You're like three feet tall."

"And I'm still faster than you. Tragic."

"Because you look and move like a caffeinated field mouse."

Brittany spun around mid stride. "Say that again and I will summon every desert creature and tumbleweed within a fifty mile radius to form a dusty army and drag you away into the Mojave."

Brandon snorted. "You two need therapy."

Viola nudged him. "You need therapy."

"No," Brandon said, "I embrace my issues."

Michelle sighed dramatically, tucking a dyed strand of hair behind her ear. "Why am I friends with any of you?"

"Stockholm syndrome," Brandon said.

Brittany pointed at Scott. "And he's the worst one."

Scott shrugged. "I'm the only thing standing between you and getting arrested on a weekly basis."

"Please," Brittany said. "If anyone's getting arrested, it's you. You look like you steal catalytic converters for fun."

Scott threw his hands up. "I help one neighbor fix his car one time..."

"And suddenly you're a mechanic for the criminal underworld." Brandon added.

Everyone laughed.

"You guys are impossible." Viola said. She was using the hair tie she kept on her wrist to pull up her enormous mass of curly brown hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah," Brittany said, smirking at Scott, "But we're fun about it."

Scott groaned. "You're three feet tall and delusional."

Michelle was walking behind the group, trying to discreetly check her braces in her phone camera. She angled the screen and frowned.

"Michelle," Brandon said, "If you stare at your teeth any harder, you're gonna need glasses too."

"Shut up." she muttered, punching him in the arm. "I'm just checking."

"Checking what?" Brittany called back. "That they're still attached to your face?"

Michelle growled. "I find myself needing to ask this again... WHY am I friends with any of you?"

Viola smiled. "Because you love us... in a mildly concerning way."

The five of them split off at the corner, sprinting towards their houses like they were in some unspoken race. Backpacks hit bedroom floors with dramatic thuds, zippers flew open, and homework was aggressively ignored. Scott dumped his bag and immediately tore through his drawers for clean shorts. Brittany changed faster than possible and grabbed her allowance jar, shoving a handful of crumpled up bills into her pocket. Michelle carefully tucked her money into a tiny zip pouch. Brandon yelled something at his aunt about needing his "carnival drip" while swapping shirts twice and Viola paused long enough to tell her mom where she and Brandon were going before bolting out the front door again. Within minutes, they were all back outside and buzzing with the excitement of the carnival that had popped up in one of Barstow's dusty lots.

The carnival sat in the lot behind the abandoned gas station with the broken sign that only read G S ST TION. The Ferris wheel creaked in the wind, its lights flickering like they were powered by dying fireflies.

"Looks haunted," Brandon said.

"Looks awesome," Brittany corrected.

"Looks like tetanus," Scott added.

Michelle didn't say anything. Her stomach was busy doing gymnastics. Her eyes were frozen on something in the distance.

The group looked in the direction she was staring. Standing near the ring toss, laughing with Chris and Isaac, two boys who looked like they'd been grown in a lab for maximum smugness, was TJ. Michelle's heart did a stupid little backflip.

Brandon made a gagging sound. "Oh great. The prince of Gnarstow."

"Shut up." Michelle whispered.

TJ noticed them too. His eyed flickered over in their direction, landing on Scott first.

"Well, well," he said. "Didn't know they let broke kids in here."

Scott clenched his jaw. "Har har."

Brittany stepped forward like she'd been waiting for this moment her whole life. "Say another thing about my brother and you'll be a broke kid."

TJ smirked. "Relax, Buttercup."

"Call me Buttercup again and I'll show you where I can shove that ring toss pole."

Brandon chuckled and whispered to Viola, "Ten bucks says she actually does it."

Viola shook her head, "I'm not betting against Brittany."

Michelle swallowed hard. "Hi, TJ."

He glanced at her... barely. "Hey."

Her stomach plummeted like a broken elevator.

"Come on." Scott said, walking away and heading into the heart of the carnival.

They reached the Hall of Mirrors almost by accident. It sat at the far edge of the carnival, half-hidden behind a row of food trucks that smelled like old cooking oil and suspicious meats. The sign looked ancient. It was sun bleached and cracked like it had been baking in the desert sun for decades.

"Nope," Viola said immediately. "Absolutely not. That place feels like a bad idea wearing a worse idea as a hat."

Brittany grinned. "Yeah. So... we're going in."

Scott rolled his eyes, "of course we are."

Brandon clapped his hands once and rubbed them together. "Welp... if I die, delete my search history."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Yeah, wouldn't want anyone to see your memes and videos of raccoons stealing things."

"Exactly." He shrugged.

The air inside felt cool in comparison to the southern California heat, but it wasn't refreshing. It felt like the cold of a basement that had been abandoned for years. The mirrors didn't distort their reflection in a funny carnival way either. Their reflections looked stretched too thin like Slenderman. Their eyes looked gaunt and hollow.

"Eww." Brandon said, tilting his head from side to side. "I look ugly as fuck."

"I don't know what you mean," said Viola. "That's exactly how you look."

"Seriously? We're related, Stupid."

"Cousins." She smiled. "Not siblings. Clearly, my mom got the cute genes." She batted her eyelashes.

Michelle stared at her reflection. Something felt off. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was almost like watching herself in slow motion. It didn't blink in time with her, but rather like a laggy video.

"Guys," she whispered. "Something's wrong with the mirrors."

Scott stepped closer to one. "It's probably just..." he hesitated. He narrowed his eyes and looked straight at Viola's reflection in the mirror. Mirror Viola tilted her head... but real Viola didn't. "Viola." He swallowed hard. "Back up."

The reflection smiled but Viola did not. The glass rippled.

"Viola!" Brandon shouted.

But it was too late. The mirror surged forward and a dark shifting mass of blackness wrapped itself around her and yanked her inside.

Her scream echoed through the hall and then silence.

Everyone was too stunned to move. The space where Viola had been standing moments before was just... empty. The mirror she'd just been pulled into looked completely normal.

Brandon's voice cracked. "Vi? This isn't funny. You can't... you can't just..." He pounded on the mirror. "Viola!"

Scott pulled him by the shoulder. "We need to move. Now."

Brittany's eyes looked like they were going to explode from her head but her voice was steady. "Yeah." She nodded. "Before whatever that was comes back."

Michelle was in shock, "It took her. It just... took her..."

Brandon snapped, "No shit, Sherlock! We all saw!"

"Brandon." Scott held up his hand. "Calm down."

"What?! Am I not supposed to freak out? My cousin just got snatched by... by a... a fucking dementor or some shit!"

The lights flickered and everyone froze.

"Okay," Brittany said, her voice tight. "Freak out later. We run now."

The Hall of Mirrors wasn't a hall anymore. It was a maze that was twisting and shifting and rearranging itself like it was alive.

"Left!" Scott shouted.

"No! Go right!" Brandon yelled.

"I'm not listening to you!" Brittany snapped. "You get lost in Walmart!"

"That store is huge!"

Michelle stumbled, catching herself on a mirror. Her reflection didn't catch itself. She yanked her hand back. "Nope. No. Nuh uh. I am never touching anything shiny ever again!" She backed up quickly and bumped into TJ who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. He threw his arms up and stepped back.

"What the hell is happening?!"

Scott glared. "Oh, NOW you want to hang out with us?"

"Man! Shut up! Something grabbed Chris and Isaac!"

Michelle grabbed his arm. "Stick with us."

He didn't argue.

"What was that thi...?"

Before he could finish his sentence, a mirror wall slid between the group like a closing elevator door.

"Michelle!" Brittany shouted.

"Help us!" Michelle yelled back.

Brandon slammed his fists against the glass. "no, no, no! Come on!"

The mirror didn't budge. On the other side, Michelle and TJ stood alone in the narrow corridor of mirrors.

TJ's breathing was ragged. "We're gonna die in here.:

Michelle grabbed his shoulders. "Hey. Look at me."

His blue eyes flicked up at her.

"You're not dying." she said. "Not today. Not here. Not in Barstow. That would be embarrassing."

He let out a shaky laugh. "You're... weird."

She glared at him. "You're a jerk."

"Yeah..." he said softly, "I know."

They stared at each other for a moment and then the lights flickered.

"We need to move." Michelle whispered.

On the other side of the wall, Brittany was pacing like a caged tiger.

"We have to get to them." She said. "We can't just leave them."

Scott leaned against a mirror, breathing hard. "We're not leaving anyone. But we can't run blind."

Brandon swallowed. "Guys... look."

Their reflections were busy doing everything other than what they should be. Scott's was blinking off key. Brittany's was smiling. Brandon's had it's head tilted like it was studying him.

"Okay," he whispered. "I hate this. I hate this so much."

Brittany grabbed his hand. "Stay close."

Scott stepped forward. "We find Michelle and TJ and then we find a way out."

"And Viola?" Brandon asked quietly.

Scott hesitated.

"We're getting her too." She nodded. "All of us or none of us."

The boys nodded.

"Yeah." Scott agreed. "All of us."

Michelle and TJ reached a circular room lined with more mirrors. The air felt humid here.

TJ ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." He shook his head.

Michelle blinked. "For what?"

"For being... me." He said. "For being a jerk. For acting like I'm better than everyone. I'm not."

"TJ..."

"You're brave." He said. "And smart. And funny. And... girls with braces aren't gross."

Michelle half smiled and rolled her eyes. Her stomach did a little flip. "You're such an idiot."

He smiled. Then his face started to close in on hers and their lips touched. It was warm and trembling and perfect in the middle of this nightmare. For a moment, it felt like that's all this night was... a nightmare. The world shrank to just them. Two thirteen year old kids clinging to their first kiss. It felt new and good. They pulled back. Michelle bit her lip and looked up at TJ through her long lashes.

"Michelle... I..." he whispered. His smile faltered. The mirror behind him rippled.

Michelle frowned. "What?"

He stared past her, the color draining from his face. He clutched his chest. They both looked down at his hand. A bloom of bright red blood had appeared.

"Michelle," he whispered. "Run."

His chest exploded, covering Michelle and the mirrors around them with a shower of crimson. Michelle screamed and fell backwards. She tried to stand up, her hands slipping on the mess.

"TJ!" she cried.

A force yanked him backwards so fast she barely saw him move. One second he was there; warm, breathing, and alive. The next, he was gone, leaving nothing to prove he ever existed but the warmth on her lips and the gore on the mirrors. Michelle slipped through the puddle towards the mirror. She pounded the glass leaving smears of blood in her wake. Her hand hit cold glass again and again. Her reflection stared back at her with wide eyes and trembling hands. She fell to the floor with her head in her hands, tears pouring from her eyes. She looked up at the mirror. Her reflection was not crying with her. It was just watching her.

"Give him back!" She yelled. Don't do this! Don't take him!"

Her reflection smiled. It bent down and picked up something from the puddle. Michelle watched in horror. It lifted the object towards its mouth and bit into the thing like an apple. It smiled as blood dripped from rows of razor sharp teeth. Michelle glanced at the object and screamed a sound that felt like lightening tearing through her vocal chords when she realized what the thing was eating. It was TJ's heart. She scrambled to her feet and tried to run, her feet slipping here and there but gaining traction as the sticky blood on her shoes dried. Her breath hitched and her chest tightened. She spun around, searching for an exit.

"Scott!" She shouted. "Brittany! Brandon!" Her voice echoed around her. "Guys!"

Nothing but silence.

Her reflection kept its dark eyes on her.

"Don't come near me." she said.

Mirror Michelle just smiled.

"I don't want to die in here." She cried. "Please."

She kept running. The hallways twisted around her, narrowing, stretching, closing in. Every mirror she passed showed a different version of herself. One crying. One screaming. One smiling. One was standing perfectly still. None of them were really her.

"Stop it!" Her voice cracked.

She turned another corner and slammed into a dead end.

"No."

Her reflection stepped forward. Michelle backed up until her shoulders hit another mirror behind her. She was trapped.

"Please." She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. "I just want to go home!"

The glass behind her rippled like water and with one final scream, Michelle was gone.

Somewhere deeper in the maze, Brittany froze.

"Did you hear that?" She said.

Scott nodded, his jaw tight.

"She sounds... bad." Brandon swallowed hard.

"Don't stop. We have to move." Brittany said.

"Then we move now." said Scott.

But Brandon didn't move. His eyes were glassy and unfocused. "That's two." He shook his head. Viola and Michelle are just... gone."

Scott stepped forward. "Brandon, look at me."

He didn't. He was staring at the mirror beside him, at his reflection that wasn't staring back. It was laughing.

"Brandon," Scott snapped his fingers. "Stay with us."

Brandon cracked. He began to laugh like an insane person. "Stay with you? Dude... half of our friends just got swallowed up by a funhouse. I don't think staying with anyone in here is gonna help."

"Hey!" Brittany slapped his cheek gently. "Don't do that. Don't check out on us."

Brandon's voice cracked. "I'm not checking out. I'm just... I'm scared. Okay? I'm scared out of my fucking mind."

Scott put a hand on his shoulder. "So am I. But we are gonna get out of here. Together."

"Okay." Brandon laughed, a small, broken sound. "Okay... yeah. Together." His hands were shaking.

The hallways twisted again and the mirrors slid like tectonic plates.

"Shit!" Brittany hissed. "This place is messing with us."

"It's trying to separate us." Scott said.

"Great." Brandon muttered, "A haunted maze with abandonment issues."

They turned a corner and the lights began to flicker again. The reflections in the mirror were solid. No flickering lights. The reflections of them smiled and tilted their heads laughing maliciously.

"I'm done." Brandon laughed. "I'm tapping out."

"You're not tapping out." Brittany grabbed his hand. "You're staying with us."

"There!" Scott yelled, "I see the exit sign!"

Brandon squinted. "Is it an exit? Or is a trap?"

"Only one way to find out." Brittany said.

"Why is that your solution to everything?" Brandon asked.

"Because it works."

She grabbed him and the three ran as fast as they could towards the exit. The hallway seemed to stretch for miles. The farther they ran, the farther the sign moved.

"What the hell?!" Brandon shouted.

Brittany pulled him. "Just keep running!"

The mirrors on both sides were rippling.

"Don't look at them!" Screamed Scott, "Just keep running!"

"Stop!" Brandon yelled. "Did you hear that?"

"What do you hear?" Brittany asked, frowning."

"It's Viola!"

Brittany's face fell, "Brandon..."

"I'm serious!" He insisted. "She needs help!"

Scott stepped in front of him. "No. That's not Viola."

"You don't know that!" Brandon said, shoving him hard against the glass.

Scott shoved him back. "Yes, I do!"

Brandon swung at him. "Fuck you! Let me go! You don't know shit"

"I know that she wouldn't tell you to walk down a creepy hallway alone, dumbass!"

Brandon stopped swinging. "But what if...?"

"It's not her." Brittany said.

He looked torn and terrified. "Okay... okay."

Brittany held her hand out and he nodded and took it. She pulled him along again towards the exit. Behind them, the hallways still echoed with the voice that was almost Viola. The hallway narrowed until they were walking through single file. Scott was in the front, Brittany in the middle, and Brandon behind them; his hand still clenched in Brittany's so tight it almost hurt. The mirrors pressed close like the maze was trying to swallow them whole.

"Almost there." Scott said as they pushed towards the exit.

"Thank God." Brittany exhaled.

Their footsteps echoed through the mirrored corridor. Their breath was ragged and their hearts were hammering in their chests.

SHH-KLAKK

A mirror panel shot sideways like a guillotine made of glass and light. Brittany stumbled a bit at the sound. She whipped around, expecting Brandon to crash into her back. But he wasn't there. She looked down at his hand that was still clenched tightly in hers, frozen in that last terrified grip. She screamed and began shaking her hand. Scott reached over and pulled it off, pulling Brittany into a tight hug.

"Shh..." He rubbed the back of her head, squeezing her tightly. "Let's go. Now."

"But..."

"Britt, we can't save him."

She stared at him with wide, devastated eyes. She nodded once. Then they ran.

The exit was closer than ever. A sliver of desert night laid beyond the warped carnival lights. The mirrors on either side rippled violently. Shadows and reflections of their fallen friends pressed against the glass.

Scott shoved Brittany ahead of him. "Go!"

"What about you?!"

"I'm right behind you!"

A tendril of darkness surged from a mirror, reaching for Brittany.

Scott lunged, grabbing her arm and yanking her forward. A gash opened up in his side where the darkness hit him.

"Scott!" she screamed.

"I'm fine! Keep going!"

They burst through the exit, stumbling into the hot Barstow night. They collapsed hard onto the cracked pavement. The funhouse lights flickered one last time behind them. A group of women screamed when they saw the siblings crash out on to ground shaking. They were covered in dust, fear, and the remnants of a nightmare. People rushed towards them.

"Are you okay?!"

"What happened?!"

Neither one of them answered. They just stared ahead... catatonic. Hollow. Broken.

Epilogue-

Two Weeks Later

Barstow still looked the same. That was the worst part. The sun still baked the cracked sidewalks. the wind still kicked dust across the empty lots. The Joshua trees still stood like twisted silhouettes against the horizon. Everything looked just as normal as it always had.

But nothing felt normal for Brittany or Scott. They sat together on the curb outside of Barstow Middle School, backpacks at their feet, waiting for their dad to pick them up. School had let out twenty minutes ago, but neither of them had moved. Kids stared at them and whispered behind their hands as they walked by.

"That's them."

"The ones from the carnival."

"Did you hear what happened?"

My mom says they're traumatized."

"My grandpa said they killed them."

"Do you think they'll do it again?"

"Shut up, dude."

Brittany stared at her feet, picking at the frayed edge of her shoelace. She hadn't spoken much since that night. Not even to Scott. He sat beside her with his elbows on his knees staring straight ahead. He looked older now, not bigger... just older. Like something inside of him had cracked and never fully healed. Maybe it did.

A warm desert wind blew across the parking lot, carrying the smell of dust and asphalt. Brittany shivered.

Scott noticed. "Cold?"

"No." she said.

A long silence stretched between them. Brittany leaned her head against his shoulder, something she hadn't done since she was little. He didn't pull away. He just stared at the horizon, where the desert met the sky in a shimmering line of heat.