SNHGTNRC Side Story: Midnight In The Mirror Chamber

Midnight In The Mirror Chamber

Kat's careful footsteps echoed faintly through the empty stone corridors of the castle.
Letting out a shivering breath, she walked a little slower. Her eyes flicked from here to there, darting around through the shadows for any sign of movement.

The flickering candle stub, in the chipped mug she held gingerly by the handle, wasn't really doing much to pierce the darkness...
But it was better than nothing.
Only slightly, though.

This-- wasn't a good idea...
Like, she KNEW that.
She'd always sworn she'd never be caught DEAD doing something like this.
Doing stuff like this was always where the problems arose...
In books and movies, that is.
Don't open the sarcophagus, don't read the book bound in human skin...

Don't sneak into the castle alone in the middle of the night to go and bother the magical talking mirror.

....But what other choice did she have?

She needed... Something.
ANYTHING.
A hint, a clue... Literally anything that could help her, or even point her in the right direction.
Hell, even the DIRECTION of a direction.

...She was also trying not to think about it, but...
...God, this was so Harry Potter.
Like, literally. This was the most Harry Potter-ass thing she'd ever done...
And she'd been to the Wizarding World in Universal Studios twice.

Sneaking around in a stone castle late at night, walls lined by sleeping portraits...

Shaking her head a little, Kat shooed the thought away.
Stop it, she scolded herself. Concentrate. You're almost to the Chamber.

Pausing at the intersection between corridors, she peered out cautiously.

There they were-- the huge double doors to the Mirror Chamber, looming out at her in the darkness.
She couldn't help but feel a slight shiver of dread down her spine at the sight of them.

Glancing from side to side, she darted diagonally across the stone floor with the lightest steps she could muster.
Coming to a stop in front of the doors, she paused, waiting for another nervous shiver to pass.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself as best she could.

Then, she reached out, placing her fingertips on the ancient wood of the door.

And she pushed.

Despite her best efforts, she still jumped when it swung inwards.
She'd half-expected it-- or maybe half-hoped it?-- to be locked or barred or something....
Of course she wouldn't be that lucky, though.

And, a small part of her mind that wasn't thrumming with anxiety wondered, did these doors open backwards AND forwards? Like the doors to the kitchen in a restaurant?
When she was running from Grim the first night, they'd definitely opened outwards, since she literally ran straight into them...

Gritting her teeth, she straightened her back, whole body buzzing with nerves as she stepped into the darkened Mirror Chamber.

The door swung shut behind her, and she grimaced at the long, painful creak of the hinges.
Ugh-- dammit, doesn't anybody OIL these things?! Or do they keep 'em creaky to add to the drama?! Is it part of the aesthetic????

Kat waited for a second, certain that at any moment she would hear approaching footsteps and the shout of a raised voice.

Instead, all she heard was the thudding of her heart in her ears. 

She relaxed a little... But not by much.

Because now, she had to actually approach the mirror again.