Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 24

Sarah looked at her reflection in one of the mirrors. She turned her head from side to side and reached up and touched the top of the mirror. "Are we still shrunk down?"

"I believe so," said Dr. Octavius. "I don't recall feeling any sort of growth spurt."

"It's just that these mirrors seem proportional to our height. If they were normal sized mirrors shouldn't they be towering over us?"

"So not only did somebody build a mirror maze beneath the street, which is strange enough on its own, they also decided to build it in miniature." Dr. Octavius studied the top of the closest mirror, which barely reached above his head.

"For that matter, that chihuahua that stole Max's flask was shorter than us. Did he shrink down, too?"

Dr. Octavius thought for a moment. "These doors must create some sort of spatial anomalies. Such as hallways and rooms where there weren't hallways and rooms before. Perhaps the created space adjusts itself proportionally to the size you find yourself at. This is a most interesting design. I would love to sit down and have a chat with whoever built these things."

"Come on you slowpokes," they heard Max call from somewhere up ahead. "He's getting away."

"Maybe we should spread out," Sarah said. "We might have a better chance of catching him."

"Or we may have great difficulty finding each other again," Dr. Octavius said.

"Never mind," Max said. "I see the little bugger. Actually I see about thirty of him, but he's got to be close by."

Sarah looked ahead and saw multiple images of Max running around. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I can't even tell which image is the real you."

"That's simple," Max said. "I'm the one waving at you right now."

"They're all waving at me, you idiot," Sarah said. "They're reflections."

"Oh yeah," Max said and stopped waving. "Well never mind that. These mirror mazes aren't that difficult. If you see yourself you simply don't go there because it's obviously a mirror and thus easily avoided." He immediately walked face first into a solid mirror. "Ouch. Okay, well maybe these things are a little trickier to navigate than I first anticipated."

Sarah proceeded forward slowly with her hands spread out in front of her while Dr. Octavius held onto her shirt.

"This little bugger's fast," Max said. "We're never going to catch him if you lollygag like that."

"Yeah, I also don't want to break my nose on a mirror," Sarah said.

"I see him again," Max said. "He's slowing down."

He saw many hundreds of chihuahuas turn as one and face him. Simultaneously they put their hands up by their ears and stuck their tongues out at him. Then they each reached down and pulled on some sort of lever. Abruptly what appeared to be thousands of yellow blurs swung down from the ceiling.

One of them smacked Max in the face. "Ow, that stung. What the hell was that thing?"

"He's clearly released some sort of trap," Dr. Octavius said as something buzzed by his ear.

Sarah looked around her. Everywhere she glanced as far as she could see were thousands of yellow blurs swinging back and forth faster than the eye could follow. She reached up and managed to catch one. It stung as it hit her hand but she was able to get a good look at it. "Uh, you're not going to believe this, but it's a rubber chicken tied to a rope," she said. "I can't tell how many there are or which ones are real and which ones are reflections. But at least they're not deadly."

"No, but they hurt like hell when they hit you at high speeds," Max said as another one caught him in the back of the head. "Ow! Did they steal these things out of your lab, too? I seem to recall you having a few of these in your trunk."

"Rubber chickens do have a wide variety of uses," Dr. Octavius said. "Although I must admit being utilized as a security device isn't one of the ones I had thought of." Another one swung past and knocked off Dr. Octavius's glasses. He dropped on all fours to retrieve them just as one went swooshing by right over him. "Get down and crawl!" he shouted. "The ropes they're attached to aren't long enough to reach to the floor!"

Sarah got hit in the cheek before she managed to get out of harm's way. Up ahead Max was getting pelted left and right by rubber chickens.

"Get down!" Dr. Octavius shouted again. "I have an idea!" He pulled out his pocket laser and pointed it at a nearby mirror.

Max finally got the message and threw himself to the ground just as Dr. Octavius fired the laser. The red beam bounced around, reflecting back and forth off of countless mirrors. As rubber chickens swung across the laser beams they burst into flames. Soon the air was filled with the acrid scent of burnt rubber.

"Wow, that's repulsive," Max coughed.

"Nonetheless, it seems we have defeated the insidious rubber chicken trap," Dr. Octavius said as he stood back up and dusted himself off.

"I hope your laser burned that chihuahua in the butt, too, Doc," Max said as he climbed back to his feet.

"No such luck," Sarah said as she pointed ahead. "I can still see his reflection over there and he's all in one piece."

The chihuahua's numerous reflections whirled around and faced them again. They all smiled and stuck out their tongues again as they swung a mirror to the side revealing a dark passageway behind it. It disappeared into the passage and closed the mirror behind it, but not before pressing a small button on the back side of the mirror.

Thousands and thousands of giant multi-colored balloons dropped from the ceiling and began piling up. Soon Sarah couldn't see Max or Dr. Octavius as balloons continued to pour down on top of them. She was surrounded on all sides by brightly colored balloons and was going to get buried soon. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever been killed by being smothered by balloons.