Chapter 3 - The Glass Reflection
The morning sun beat down mercilessly on the patio outside, casting long, sharp lines of light across the manicured lawn. But the glass of the sliding door was dark, acting as a mirror that refused to obey the laws of physics. In the reflection, Arthur stood frozen, his hand outstretched toward the handle. Behind him, however, Elena and Lily were not there.
Instead, two tall, featureless silhouettes stood on either side of Arthur in the glass, their elongated arms resting heavily on his shoulders.
Arthur gasped, whipping his head around to look behind him. The kitchen was empty of anything except the island, the stainless steel appliances, and the terrified glare of the morning light. Elena and Lily were still standing by the counter, frozen in mid-motion, staring at him with pale, horrified faces.
“Arthur, your face,” Elena whispered, her voice shaking violently as she pointed a trembling finger at him. “What is happening to your eyes?”
Arthur reached up, his fingers brushing against his own cheeks. His skin felt freezing cold, like ice pulled straight from a deep freezer. He stumbled backward, his hip catching the sharp edge of the marble island, but he felt no pain.
“Get out,” Arthur choked out, his voice sounding hollow, as if it were echoing from inside an empty barrel. “Both of you, run to the car.”
“We can’t leave you,” Elena cried, stepping forward, forgetting her fear for a brief, agonizing second to reach for her husband. But as she moved, the overhead light fixture snapped its chain with a sharp crack, plummeting straight down toward the center of the kitchen.
Arthur lunged forward, tackling Elena and Lily to the tiled floor just as the heavy glass and metal fixture shattered into a thousand glittering shards inches from where they had stood. Dust filled the air, smelling faintly of ozone and old, wet earth.
Lily shrieked, the sound piercing and sharp, her stuffed pink rabbit tumbling from her grip and landing face-down in the broken glass.
“My bunny!” Lily wailed, reaching out for the toy.
“Leave it, Lily!” Arthur shouted, pulling her into his chest as he shielded her body with his own. He looked up through the swirling dust toward the security monitor on the wall.
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The screen had changed. The black-and-white hallway feed was gone, replaced by a live, color shot of the very kitchen they were sitting in. But on the screen, there were four people in the room, not three.
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