Elle pressed herself against the ground. She tried to crawl through the underbrush without too much noise. Not wanting to draw the attention of her pursuers, who looked less and less human every time she saw them. As she drew closer to what she though was the road, the distorted noise of a carnival grew louder. She must've gotten turned around. Elle considered turning back, but one glance behind her put an end to that idea.
Smokey black tendrils inched out of the ground, forming skeletal fingers as they moved closer. Elle scrambled forward despite her misgivings. She came unsteadily to her feet, leaning against a photo booth. The faces were distorted. The backgrounds were blurred but Elle got the distinct feeling something was standing there. Was it the same figure that seemed to hover at a distance while still breathing down her neck? She felt like a child running for the safety of her covers after turning off the light. Except her bed was impossibly far away. Elle ran blindly. She passed empty roller coasters thundered along their tracks. Unseen riders shrieked in terror and delight. The unmistakable presence of a crowd pressing in around her made it harder to move. Her eyes showed her a deserted park, signs of defunct games hung lopsided above their stalls. But she could hear the crash as bottles were knocked to the ground; thuds as axes slammed against a target.
Elle spun around, the bottoms of her sneakers squeaking. Stalls and rides stretched on as far as she could see. She'd lost track of how long she'd been running. her joints aches as an unneeded reminder that she wasn't as young as she used to be. Just as she considered giving in and slouching down on a broken down bench covered in cobwebs, she saw it. A murky black figure that was vaguely human shaped. It shuddered in the breeze like a tattered flag. At the same time it held an eerie stillness. Though it had no features Elle could see there there was no doubt in her mind, its attention was fully on her. Between one blink and the next, it picked up one leg and stepped forward. Another moment passed. Elle began to think she'd imagined it. And then it moved again. Each movement achingly slow. Elle turned, trying to cut through the stalls. Each one collapsed as she got close. A crash behind her sent Elle off balance.
Her foot slipped in a muddy puddle. She barely had time to turn her head as huge wave of dirty water splashed her. She had the inane thought that her blouse was ruined and she should've gone with black, as usual. She was snapped back to the present when she heard nails scraping against stone. The tendrils now approached in force. This time winding against the thick legs of a canine made of the same nearly translucent shadows. It lunged, jaws snapping closed and tearing Elle's jeans. Elle could think of nothing but getting away. When she tried to turn off the path the creatures were there growling and spittle flying. Elle knew only to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Her breath came out in panicked rasps. Blood rushed in her ears and more adrenaline than she'd ever felt made her dizzy. She could hear every footstep of whatever chased her. The noise echoed, drowning out the sounds of laughter around them. It seemed unending. Elle ran until she realized she was in pitch darkness. only when her pounding heart stopped slamming against her chest, did Elle truly take in her surroundings. Behind her was the blinking lights of an exit sign. She saw as it she were looking through a fog but she could find the energy to be shocked. She stumbled towards it exhausted. First, the light would grow brighter as if she were drawing nearer. She could feel tears pricking her eyes. Hope swelled in her chest. Inevitably the light would start to blur until it became a pinprick in the distance.
This time was different. A contorted figure unfolded like a nightmarish jack-in-the-box. The ground shuddered with each step. Elle fell and scrambled backwards, trying and failing to stand on legs that now felt like jello. When she could finally get her legs beneath her, Elle launched herself forward. She ran until she almost crashed face first into a mirror. Except her reflection was off. Instead of being frizzy and unkempt from her desperate bid to escape, but fell in luscious waves that framed a heart-shaped face. She hadn't worn makeup today, or most days, but her reflection showed full lips wearing dark red lipstick. Not to mention a mountain of blush, eyeshadow to match and fake lashes. It looked alien. Or maybe her mind was refusing to accept this last blow against her perception of reality. Elle didn't bother looking back. She could feel multiple prying eyes boring into her back. Trying to force some logic onto her situation, she knew that she just had to get to the end of the hall of mirrors.
Elle went as quickly as she dared. A low, dangerous chuckle followed her. The sound grew louder each time she caught a glimpse of herself. Each mirror showed a different outfit, a different year, stretching back to the day she'd met Mitch.
"Is this blackmail? What do you want?"
There was no answer. The laughter grew louder. Each footstep was so near it felt as if each one landed on top of her. It took an incredible amount of will to check that she was, in fact, still in piece. Growling finally made Elle face her attackers. Her throat constricted. She couldn't even scream as one of the canines leaped at her. At the last second she threw herself backward. Nails that were much sharper than their appearance let on slashed her across her abdomen. She felt blood, her blood, flowing freely. At the same moment she felt herself crash through the mirror behind her; felt the stinging pain from tiny slivers of glass that buried themselves in her skin.
Elle let out a groan as she hit the hard ground. She laid there for a long while waiting for the pain to subside. Until she realized there was no pain. She bolted upright, frantically looking around. The carnival was gone. Night time loomed. The sounds of traffic grew louder. On shaky legs, and expecting to be disappointed, she moved as quickly as she could towards the noise. Her luck had finally turned around. Elle found herself in the same ill-fated parking lot. It was as deserted as it was before. She cursed herself for not listening to her gut. After one more glance around to make sure she was alone, Elle made her way to her jeep which had been flipped onto its side. She reached in through the passenger window and grabbed her cellphone. Her only thoughts were focused on calling a tow truck and getting home to her husband.
Groggy, Elle flushed the toilet and searched for the sink with eyes half closed. With robotic movements she turned on the faucet to wash her hands. A familiar chuckle came from behind her. It was so low she could've convinced herself that she hadn't heard it. Instead her eyes opened wide and her head snapped up. In the mirror that jet black figure bent down, its crooked back twisting even further to whisper in her ear.
"We all lie, but I gave you so many chances."
All of the near accidents on her way to a date, the moments she'd swore someone had just been standing there. Her breath came out faster and faster until her chest began to ache. Elle felt lightheaded but just as she felt herself sinking, she mentally shook herself.
"I must've been having a nightmare."
It had been hours since her carnival encounter and she'd finally put in the category of work related stress. She wasn't going to loose it at home. What would Adam do? Probably kick her out of their house and quietly start the divorce process. If he bothered to do anything at all. Elle angrily turned off the faucet and stomped back to the bedroom. She made her way cautiously to the bed, afraid of tripping over something in the dark. She slipped back into bed. Snuggling up to Adam, Elle was ready to fall back into a contented sleep when he laid a protective arm over her. Elle was drifting off until Adam's grip suddenly tightened.
"You can't logic me away."
The voice was Adam's but became deeper, huskier with each word. Elle struggled uselessly against Adam's hold.
"What the hell are you?" she screeched.
She landed a solid blow to Adam's jaw, but his grip didn't loosen. instead Elle could feel his form shifting. She felt an unnatural cold as something flowed over her. She gave one last attempt before she felt them both drop. Her mind scrambled to find meaning. She saw the rooms of their house flashing by. Each quickly fell into disrepair before blowing away like dust. When they finally stopped moving Elle found herself in a grey and black hallway that stretched in both directions. The shadows pooled in a spot next to her. All too familiar wispy fingers stretched out followed by a figure that she had to accept as Adam. Had he always been this way? He wouldn't turn into this monster because of one affair? Would he?
Adam reached for her. The curling black smoke that poured from his arm made it look as if he were reaching through a curtain. Elle screamed. She pushed herself to her feet. She couldn't die like this. So she ran, and would continue to do so until he decided the game was over.