PARADOX

Chapter Six • Game Over

Where'd she go?

The girl had run down the hallway, but the woman was nowhere to be found. She slowed down, trying to catch her breath for a moment. However, that moment was the only one she allowed herself before she took off running again. She found yet another mannequin room and, after a slight pause, ran to a boarded-up doorway in the far corner. The boards, weak with age, gave way easily.

Within the hidden room, there lay a mirror. A small one, intact and resting on a small cushion of sorts. The room itself was dimly lit and full of dust. One thing was clear: no one had been here for a long time. This young girl changed that. She cautiously stepped towards the dresser where the mirror and its resting place had remained all this time. She hesitated before climbing up to retrieve the mirror, expecting it to be some sort of trap. When a few moments had passed and the girl remained unharmed, she climbed her way to the top of the platform. She picked up the mirror and climbed down, but faced the mirror itself away from her. She did not want to look.

She took the mirror and traversed back into the primary room, where a skylight cast a single circle of light onto the ground. Not wanting to be caught off guard by the masked woman, she ran into the circle. Just as she was about to leave, the woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The child whirled around in a panic, holding the mirror in front of her like a shield.

The woman screeched.

Oh, it was a dreadful sound. Ear-splitting and raw, the sound filled the room as the woman tried to fight it off. She didn't last long, cowering as though in pain before vanishing again. The knockback of the sudden disappearance left the child on the ground, struggling to get up for when the woman inevitably returned.

A figure much like the lady herself would appear and move for a moment, unaffected by the mirror, then disappear again. It was a distraction, but the woman revealed herself once again. The girl felt it, the presence of that woman; she knew it was her this time. Again, she aimed the mirror at the woman, resisting the overwhelming urge to cover her ears as the woman screamed.

This went on for a number of times: the woman would approach, then retreat after a few moments of fighting. Decoys would take turns appearing and vanishing as the lady recovered enough to return to the child herself. However, after a while, something changed. The woman approached the girl once again, but she looked...weak. Tired. The reflection was the final blow for her, and she sank to the ground.

What if this was all for nothing?

You've lost everything.

All this pain, for what? A chance?

Thoughts of doubt taunted the woman in her final moments, prompting some sick form of laughter from her. Bitter and hopeless, the sound echoed through the room. She'd given up.

Soon, the sound was joined by another: growling. This sound came from the child, and it was all too familiar for the both of them. The hunger had the girl in its grasp again, and they seemed to realize at the same time what was going to come of the woman lying in front of her. Two final, hoarse words could be heard from the woman.

"Find him."

The words only stopped the young girl for a moment. Once that moment ended, the child lunged towards her victim, grabbing her in the same fashion as she had the little creature only a while before. The girl ate once again, tearing away pieces of the woman with no regard to what she was doing. As she devoured the body, a new sensation surfaced. She felt complete, like she'd finally attained what she had been looking for. However, nothing lasts forever, and the girl was halted in her tracks by a sudden onslaught of memory.

The recollection of the woman's past few days overwhelmed the child, little bits and pieces appearing and vanishing before she could put them together. Friendly greetings and exchanges that the girl had never heard during her time in this place. The only voices she'd heard had been angry, but these sounded open and welcoming. Smiles from the hideous guests, laughter from the chefs. The bloody scene she'd left the blind creature in, followed by him in a hospital bed.  The doctor -- one who should have been dead -- talking in a dim hallway. Even the pain from the fight prior was felt; a searing pain that brought indescribable emotion to the girl. A pang of heavy guilt, then a sense of urgency.

Without a second glance, the girl ran from the room.

I need to find Mono. I need to get to the tower before I forget again! I can't let it happen again, I need to end it--

As she ran to the main floor, her thoughts blurred together. In her desperation, she didn't notice the chaos that followed her throughout the dining area. She tried to find the door, but to no avail: it was sealed shut. She pressed on, running through floor after floor until she found a staircase. At the top, there seemed to be nothing but light. She rushed up the flight of stairs, the door only seeming farther away when it was supposed to be getting closer. Still the child continued, holding onto the idea that she needed to get outside.

When she reached the top, her heart sank.

She could indeed see the shore -- but it was too far. She would never make it, and she knew that. Aside from the distant city, the only thing she could see for miles was the ocean. Soft waves, the squawking of a few seagulls, and the rumbling from the machine she'd emerged from.

Standing out here, basking in the sunlight, Six had forgotten why she had come here. She'd run so frantically, trying so desperately to leave -- but why? After all, that tyrant woman was dead. Why make a trap out of this place, if she were going to be stuck here?

Instead, why not take advantage of it?