Minotaur Mirror

“Stop it right now. If you don’t come clean with me, I’m leaving.”

“No, honestly, look.” Roderick placed his hand on the mirror and it hit against it.

“Ouch.” He started bleeding. “Please believe me, Elaine. I swear. I was inside the mirror. There was a hideaway within the labyrinth and a scroll. I was about to reach for it when I heard the sound of approaching hoofs. That’s when I screamed and came running out. Don’t you see, it’s an extension to the last part of the labyrinth!”

Elaine stormed out the cellar, saying, “The next time I hear you scream or call out, I’ll know it’s all a prank.”

It was approaching 5.00. am, early morning. Roderick sat in the cellar, facing the minotaur mirror. “I have to get back inside. I want to find out what’s written on that scroll. But what about the minotaur?” He wondered how he could get back in and finally decided to re-trace his movements. He got hold of the same cloth and began to polish it. The same delicate swipes across the glass. Then, within moments, he lost his balance and fell completely inside. Roderick was on the other side of the mirror. The same empty labyrinth. Just to make sure he didn’t get lost, he had some loose change in his pockets which he kept dropping as he made turns around the labyrinth. Suddenly, he saw it.

“The scroll!” He made a desperate run for it and once in his possession, he ran back to the mirror and right through it, into the safety of the cellar. Very carefully, he unrolled it to decipher it. En scripted on it was a code in the form of pictures.

“The first two are drawings of….this mirror. No, it can’t be possible. The next one is of this cellar. The…cellar wall. Yes of course. Mirror Mirror on my cellar wall!” Suddenly, there was a loud roar and a thud.

Roderick was overcome by fear and ran to the cellar door to escape but some supernatural force blew it shut tightly and the latch fell shut from the outside, locking him inside. He began to sweat and started tugging at the doors and cried out to his wife, Elaine.

“Help me, Elaine. Please help. I think the Minotaur’s coming to get me. Please!!!”

Upstairs, Roderick’s screams could be heard, but Elaine ignored him and curled up in bed, placing the pillow over her head to cut out the sound.

The next morning, Elaine rose out from bed and found the bed empty.

“Roderick, are you still down there with that silly mirror of yours?” No reply. For a while, Elaine carried on as normal, but as she came down the stairs for breakfast, there was a foul smell all over the house. She thought it must be a leaking pipe at first.

“Roderick. There’s a disgusting smell coming. I think you should call the plumber.” Again no reply.

“Right, that’s it!” She headed for the cellar and found it was locked. The stink was so much that she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and was about to open the doors when they suddenly burst open themselves. Elaine entered the cellar and looked around. Suddenly, she saw the scroll lying on the table. She saw the same pictures that Roderick had. Only this time, their meanings had been written down on a note book that rested beside it. Elaine read it out.

“Mirror mirror on my cellar wall” And below the writing were two prints. One was a human hand and the other was a very large hoof. Elaine was now starting to get scared. And then she turned to the mirror. “I don’t know why I’m doing this, but here goes.” She stood up and placed her hands on the glass. Suddenly, she lost her balance and fell inside it to the other end.

This time, the glass on the mirror grew hard and left Elaine helpless. Her heart was beating faster as she heard someone approaching. In desperation, she ran through the labyrinth only to land straight into the Minotaur’s arms! He lifted her up and carried her off deeper into the labyrinth where he would entomb her, just as he had done with Roderick, moments ago…

The End.