Death's Corridor
Smoke and Mirrors
Kimberly lay next to that door for longer than she could remember.
Hoping that maybe, just maybe that the doors would open up and she would
be allowed to see Lauren again. But the door never opened, and there was
no day or night to judge how much time had past; only the flickering
candles that never seemed to burn out. At one point she was sure she saw
some of the wax dibble down the side of the candle stand but she was not
sure if it was real, a trick of the light, or her own mind playing
pranks on her.
She scanned the darkness around her, however there was nothing to see;
even the line of people had disappeared. When she turned back the door,
it too had disappeared. Now she felt truly alone. She considered crying,
but she felt dried up from crying over the loss of Lauren. So instead
she stood and started trying to think of where she would go from there.
She couldn't just lay in the darkness now, could she?
Then she noticed that there was something different about her
surroundings. A thin layer of fog was drifting around her ankles.
Curious, she started to walk towards the fog's source and before long
she came across a long wall with a single opening. The fog poured
heavily out of the opening almost to her knees like a strange river. She
peered through the opening in the wall, down a wide hall and noticed
that the walls were covered with hundreds of oddly shaped mirrors and
the fog appeared to be pouring forth from the mirrors themselves like
strange, slowly moving, waterfalls. She stepped into the hall and gazed
into one of the mirrors to see a reflection of herself as a six-year-old
girl. A dark bruise covered the side of the child's face as she sat in
her nightgown playing with a set of cards. Kim turned to her reflection
in another mirror to be greeted by a much older version of herself, this
time running a comb through her hair. Yet another mirror showed a
version almost the same age, however this time sleeping soundly in bed.
Not a single mirror mimicked her age or movements. They all seemed to go
about their own tasks unaware that she was watching them.
Before long Kimberly found herself at an intersection. More mirrors
stretched off into the distance in all directions. She turned around and
realized that she was now lost within this odd hall of mirrors with no
sight of the entrance, even though she was almost certain that she had
only taken a few steps into the strange hall. She tried to remember how
she entered the maze and began to backtrack, except when she came across
yet another junction she was not sure if she had made a left or a right.
Her mind began to race as she tried to remember which way to go. She
took a quick guess and turned to the right only to come across another
turn. With each crossroad Kimberly felt herself become more panicked.
She started second guessing her decisions, taking four steps forwards
then turning back, only to see a different hall than she remembered.
After a while she found herself running. She took two lefts and another
right nevertheless didn't recognize anything. With all these odd mirrors
one would think it would be easy to remember if you had been somewhere,
however none of it seemed familiar and not one mirror looked like
another. She spun around trying to get her bearings, but the more she
tried the more lost she felt. No matter how hard she tried it was like
the exit didn't exist any longer.
She stopped running so she could catch her breath and staggered until
she was leaning against one of the walls and felt tears begin to stream
down her cheeks, "I'm sorry Lauren, I can't...." She sobbed, "I just
can't..." Her back leaned against one of the mirrors.
"LIAR!!" A voice called out.
She glanced up at one of the mirrors and noticed that the reflection in
the mirror behind her looked exactly like her and it was waving.
Kimberly spun around in shock, "AHHHH!!" She shouted, "YOU!" She pointed
at the mirror, "You stay away from me!"
The reflection crossed her arms "Is that any way to greet yourself?" She
said angrily.
"Why would I want to talk to a murderer like you?" Kimberly almost spat
at the mirror.
"KILLER?!?." The reflection countered, "I had no choice. Don't tell me
you still think he would have changed. I sometimes wonder why I ever
bothered saving you from him all the time." The reflection yelled.
"That's beside the point," Kim glared at the mirror, "He was only like
that when he drank and he promised things would be different. Why
couldn't we have just run away earlier or something? I wish you didn't
have to be so violent all the time. Remember the boy from school?"
The reflection laughed, "He deserved it."
"No one deserves having their fingers broken." Kimberly began to turn
away, "I don't want to deal with you right now."
"Listen, I'm sorry." The reflection said calmly, " I really don't mean
to be, but every time he came near us like that I just... I just...
Everything went black and I can't remember what happened. When I saw
Momma lying there... I panicked I guess..."
"Momma..." Kim stopped in her tracks but didn't make a move to turn
around.
"Enough reminiscing about the past." The reflection said leaned closer
to the glass, "What are you doing wandering around a place like this?
Weren't you looking for your friend?"
"Jenn...” Kimberly murmured as she took a step backwards until she was
leaning against the wall next to the mirror.
"Ahhh, yes that was her name wasn't it?" The reflection smiled, "So what
is wrong?"
"I can't get my mind off of Lauren's kiss." Kim whispered.
"Ahhhh," The reflection smiled, "And so you keep finding yourself
walking in circles. Have you considered thinking about what it would be
like to kiss Jenn then?" The reflection's grin began to broaden.
Kimberly spun around to face her reflection again, "NO WAY!!" She was
shocked that her own reflection would even suggest such a thing. "I
can't... I mean Jenn would never... She's... She's..."
"Cute, pretty, innocent, smart and all of the above. I see the way we
look at her." The reflection leaned against the frame of the mirror,
"She is such an innocent beauty. I still remember the feeling of her
carrying us to the nurse's office. So strong for such a small frame,
don't you think?"
"STOP IT!!" Kimberly yelled while covering her ears.
"Oh come on." The reflection moved closer to Kim, "You do realize that
she had to undress us in order to bandage those wounds right?" She said
still smiling.
"But she would never," Kimberly blushed while clenching her gown tight
to her body, "It's not like that at all. We're just... friends"
"Ah yes, friends... just like you and Lauren."
Kimberly felt her blush deepen, "That... that was different..." her
voice trailed off.
The reflection leaned on the frame, "Because she looks like a boy, am I
right?"
Kimberly stared at the ground, "No..."
The reflection slammed her hand on the glass, "Oh come off it. You know
you love her and you knew she was a girl. You can't keep using the same
old excuses. How do you explain Jenn then?"
Kimberly felt herself smile a bit then forced the smile away before she
looked back up at her reflection, "Will you stop that?!" She demanded.
"Fine, what about Kris? She's a cutie too and Natalie is turning into
quite a hottie."
Kimberly closed her eyes and yelled, "FINE! I like her, all right? I
found Jenn cute the first moment I saw her. That way she looked at me.
Her smile, her voice, everything! Now will you leave me alone now?" Her
voice echoed through the halls.
When Kimberly opened her eyes she was no longer faced with her own
reflection. Now a simple wooden door stood before her with a small
plaque, hanging from a string, which read "JENNIFER'S ROOM" in large
bold lettering. Kimberly stared at the door trying to figure out if it
was another trick of her mind. "Jenn..." She thought to herself as she
reached out and touched the door. The wood felt cold to the touch and
Kimberly found herself pulling back. She was not sure if she was really
ready to see what was behind this door. She glanced around at the rows
of mirrors to find all of her reflections were now watching her, waiting
to see what decision she would take. Would she move forward and confront
whatever may lay behind that door before her or would she run and allow
herself to become forever lost in this maze of mirrors that only
reflected the past. Kimberly turned back to the door and decided that
whatever was behind that door would be a lot better than the madness of
the hall in which she currently stood.
She reached out, grabbed the doorknob, turned it until she heard a
click, and then pulled it open. A cold burst of air hit her in the face,
blowing her hair around, causing her to slam her eyes shut, then as
quickly as it appeared, the wind disappeared. Kim stood still for a
moment unsure of what to think; when she opened her eyes she noticed
that her nightgown had been replaced with her school uniform. She
blinked a few time at the outfit, then peered into the room. On the
other side of the door was a long thin, dark, hall with many doors on
either side. Many doors or many mirrors? What kind of choose is this she
wondered to herself.
The moment Kimberly stepped into the hall the door slammed shut behind
her and locked. Kimberly went to open the door but found there was no
knob on this side. She hit the door with her fist in frustration.
Realizing that she had no other choice she started to walk down the
hall, examining the doors as she passed them. Each door was of a
different size, shape and colour. The only thing similar about them was
that they were all boarded shut. Kimberly approached one of the doors
and noticed that whoever nailed them shut must have been hurried because
most of the nails were lopsided or bent. She wondered why someone would
be so desperate to nail the doors shut. Whatever the reason it was must
have been important, or maybe the person wasn't trying to keep people
from getting in, but was trying to keep something from getting out.
Kimberly quickly stepped back from the door, suddenly afraid. She
quickly turned to run down the hall when she saw a junction at the end
of the hall and someone step out from around the corner.
"Ummm... excuse me?" Kimberly called out as she run towards the person.
As she got closer she realized that it was a young lady with long black
hair tied up in a bun. The lady turned and smiled at Kimberly. Kim was
about to speak again when the lady placed a finger to her lips then
turned to open one of the few unbarred doors. Kimberly watched as the
door opened a crack then exploded in a burst of flames. The entire hall
filled with fire and Kimberly felt herself being knocked off her feet to
the ground by the blast. She quickly got to her feet and patted at her
body only to notice that the flames were gone and the hall was empty.
Suddenly a bunch of boards and nails flew from down one of the halls and
sealed the door the women just passed through shut.
Kimberly stood still for a moment. She was sure she just saw the woman
burst into flames, but there was no fire, not even a scorch mark upon
the floor. Then there were those strange pieces of wood. Almost to
reassure her a pile of wood flew past her and yet another door was
nailed shut. Kimberly scratched her head in bewilderment.
She glanced up and down the halls trying to figure out which way to turn
when she noticed a shadow move at the end of the hall. Silently the girl
crept down the hall and peered around the corner. She could only see a
bright light at the end of the hall like a streetlight shining through a
window. She was about to walk down the hall when something slid into the
light. It was an elderly person in an old wooden wheelchair. Kimberly
could not see the person clearly because it was backlit but for some
reason fear began to enter her heart and she felt herself begin to back
up until she was pressed against a pair of double doors with wired mesh
glass windows, doors that appeared to not be locked or boarded shut. She
turned and peered through the windows to see a winding stairwell that
ran up and down. Taking one last glance over her shoulder at the elderly
person she moved backwards through the doors into the stairwell. The
sound of the door closing echoed against the cold concrete walls of the
stair well and Kimberly felt herself cringe against the sound.
Another woman in an old-fashioned brown schoolteacher's dress sat on the
stairs with a child on either side of her. All three of them had no
faces and where there should be eyes and mouths was just skin stretched
over featureless skulls. All of them were looking up at Kim as she stood
near the double doors, staring at her with faceless expressions however
Kim could feel them watching at her. The woman had what appeared to be a
large children's book in her lap. She turned back to the book and a
voice began to echo through the halls, "The children all ran in fear
just like children do," The faceless woman read. The children leaned
over her arms to get a closer look at the pictures in the book, "But
children should not fear, they should not run, because if they do he
will come." The voice continued to echo off the walls.
Kimberly took a tentative step forward so she could get a closer look at
the book. There were pictures on the pages but no words as far as she
could see. Then she noticed the images start to move, "Yes, he will come
looking for you if you run," As the voice spoke a drawing of two
children ran across the page followed closely by a large man dressed in
a white cloak. Kimberly's eyes widened as the man kept pace with the
children without actually quickening his pace. It was almost as if no
matter how fast the children ran he would always gain some ground.
"Children who run must have done something wrong." The voice continued.
The children in the book stopped at the edge of a cliff and one of them
started to yell however Kimberly could not hear the words. She felt
herself being drawn towards the book. The man in the book stopped for a
moment then turned. She could feel him looking at her out of the pages
of the book and the man started walking towards the front of the book.
Getting closer and closer until he almost filled the entire page.
Suddenly Kimberly grabbed the book from the woman's hands and slammed it
shut then threw it to the ground. Kim didn't notice before but she was
holding her breath and it was now coming out in short quivering pants,
her face was covered in sweat. She tried hard to swallow and her mouth
was parched. She could not keep her eyes off the book, the cover of
which showed two
young children huddled around a fire in the middle of a forest, Lauren
and herself. The cover read simply "Things Kids Should Never Do."
Kimberly kicked the book through the stair's railing and listened to it
clatter as it fell down the spiral of stairs. She glanced up from where
the book fell to see the faceless children and their storyteller
watching her. The air started to fill with the sounds of children's
cries, a shrill sound that pierced her ears.
Kimberly covered her ears in a vain attempt to save her ears from the
sound. The faceless children began to rise and move towards her. The
closer they got the louder the cries became. Finally Kimberly could not
handle the sound anymore and fled down the stairs.
A voice called out after her, "Children all run. Children always fear
what they should not do. Children always do what they fear." Tears
filled Kimberly's eyes as she tried to block the voice from her mind.
Down the stairs she ran, deeper and deeper in to the darkness, anything
to get away from that noise and that voice. After some time she finally
reached the bottom and as her foot left the final step the room filled
with a bright flash of light followed by a tremendous crack of thunder.
The light only lasted for an instant nevertheless in that moment Kim
could see a young girl standing with her back to her. Her dark blue
school uniform was ragged, stained and wet. Her hair draped limply over
her shoulders. It appeared as if the girl had been standing in the rain
for a long while and there was something about the girl that had the
look of death to her. Just as Kim's mind began to process what she was
seeing the room was plunged into darkness.
Within moments a single naked bulb turned on and Kimberly took her hands
away from her ears and glanced back up the stairs. No one seemed to be
following her, so she started to take a study around her new
surroundings. The girl she saw in the flash was gone and Kim now found
herself standing in the middle of a large room with white walls and
tiled floors stained with scum and grout in much need of cleaning, the
stairs she had recently disappeared leaving only opening at the far end
of the room. All along the walls were many showerheads and rusty chains
dangled from them as they awaited pulling. Kimberly felt unease fill her
heart that the sight of the shower room and she carefully began to creep
her way out of the room when the shower head off to her side abruptly
turned on, spraying crimson droplets to the ground. One after another
the showers turned themselves one and Kim quickly ran from the room,
slipping slightly upon the slick ground. As she existed the shower room
she found herself in another dank and dimly lit room, this one lined
with a set of washroom stalls along one wall and the other wall housed a
set of old white porcelain sinks with small rectangular mirrors above
each, in pretty much the same state as the shower room. Steam from the
showers had fogged the mirrors over, but Kim could still see the cracks
in some of their surfaces. Abruptly the showers turned off and she felt
slightly relieved for she was becoming very hot and sticky in her
uniform. Her throat still parched she carefully found her way to the
sinks and turned on the tap. The water seemed clean enough, even if the
sink was stained yellow, so she leaned over and placed her mouth under
the faucet to get a drink. The cool water felt good going down her
throat and she drank heavily, then splashed a bit of water on her face,
and lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror. There behind her
stood a pale girl with long white hair clinging damply to her forehead
and cheeks. Panicked Kim spun around to discover that the girl was
indeed real and her not only was her hair damp but her clothes as well.
The strange girl was a bit taller then Kim and her hair was curly at the
tips. Kim wiped the water from her mouth and tried to force herself to
smile.
The girl stepped forward, forcing Kimberly between two sinks, her skin
almost sheet white against the light of the naked bulb overhead, "So you
finally returned." She said with a smile.
*****
To be Continued...
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