The Mirrored Staircase - Episode 6

Novella Thursdays

His heart was beating harder and faster than at any other point in his life, but the scientist in him kept him in the doorway, taking in the scene that appeared to defy the laws of nature and the truths of physics as the countless pieces of glass began to retract over the bathroom tiles, up the counter, and back to its origin, where it miraculously reconstructed. Joseph was still there, peering out from the other side, fragments of glass not being the only thing being absorbed by his world. Beth, whose new face looked like that of the grotesque illustrations found in some of the anatomy books from back at FSU, was now being sucked in as well. Trying to form words with a mouth that no longer had lips was proving quite difficult, but she struggled nonetheless to plead to Lucas for help, her old face still in one of her outstretched hands, hanging from its grip like a wet rag.

Lucas’ first thought was to offer her the hand she so desperately needed. The one she had held when toying with him, when giving him a glimpse into the world of intimacy. But then his gaze caught what lay directly ahead.

The explosive power of Joseph’s assault had knocked back into place the door of the medicine cabinet, and in its mirror now stood a girl no more than sixteen years of age, her bare beauty veiled by nothing more than a long thin nightgown.

So thin in fact Lucas swore he could see the pinkness of her rose-petal nipples pressed against the fabric. Her face was one of pure innocence, which hadn’t aged a bit in the over half century of being imprisoned in a world of mirrors.

And her eyes, just as iridescent as the others, but with a sparkle far more brilliant, as if they held the reflection of a truly pristine soul.

A sadness enveloped the beauty that was Elise, no words needing to be uttered for Lucas to know that it was she whom his soul had been waiting for. She, whose sorrow he now felt he had been brought here to bring an end to.

By this time Beth was no more, Lucas stepping forward towards Elise, but the action caused the main mirror to his left to crack a little. He knew one more step would mean Joseph’s blade would come crashing through again, this time intended for him, but he also knew that he couldn’t just leave Elise.

There had to be a solution, for every question had an answer, and so the frontal lobe in his brain responsible for problem-solving began to fire up. But then someone grabbed him, shaking him from his search for solution.