***

Mirrors. Tao was staring into an abyss filled with mirrors.

Still slowly recovering from the madness he had experienced in the other room with Luhan and Lay, he stood frozen as he stared at the new room. There was nothing more that he wanted than to go back to the office to get Luhan and Lay, just so he wouldn’t be alone, just so that his brothers wouldn’t have to be stuck in there with whatever spirit was haunting that chamber.

He was still hesitating, wondering if he should run back, or go forward. Gripping his moist hair, Tao tried to breathe in and out a few times, hoping that it would calm him down somewhat, but when he took a step forward, he stepped back again. He couldn’t do this. He can’t do this on his own. By letting him get through the door first, Luhan and Lay had put their trust on him, that he knew, but maybe that trust was misplaced.

He was useless in creepy places like these.

“Argh! Come on, Tao! Snap out of it! Lu-ge and Lay-ge are depending on you to find Jae-noona, and that’s what you want to do, too, isn’t it?” he shouted at himself, hearing his voice bounce off the mirrors in the next room in front of him. Jae had obviously rubbed off on him somewhat, since he was arguing with himself.

The moment he thought of his noona, Tao suddenly caught a glimpse of something in one of the mirrors. He peered at it and frowned. It couldn’t be, could it?

“Noona?”

A soft laughter rung through the air as the image of the woman he saw disappeared.

“Noona! Wait!” Tao ran into the chamber, not even noticing that the twin doors fell shut behind him and he found himself in a world of mirrors. The floor was shining black, creating a replica of himself in the reflection. All the walls were covered in shining mirrors, all of them showing a clone of himself.

“Noona?” he called out carefully, aware of how quiet it was in the chamber. His footsteps echoed as he tentatively moved forward, holding out his arms just in case he’d suddenly bump into one of the mirrors.

“Noona, are you here? Are you okay?” he tried again, too late in lowering his voice when the thought occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, the person he saw before might not have been his noona.

Tao swallowed as he took one step at a time, noticing that the room he was in, was actually a labyrinth of some sort, as he felt himself turning corners and moving further away from where he entered before. He hated attractions like these at carnivals as well. How did he end up here?

Groaning under his breath, Tao looked from side to side, trying very hard not to startle each time he caught a glimpse of his own reflection. It didn’t help that the mirrors confused him, making it even more difficult for him to navigate.

After walking for a while, Tao suddenly had a bone chilling thought. He had just seen something that looked like Jae-noona in this room. It may not have been her, but he knew he saw something. What if that something was still here with him? What if that something was watching him right now through all the mirrored walls?

Jumping and whimpering at his own fear-evoking thoughts, Tao felt himself become more paranoid, looking around more frequently and making sure that the reflections he saw moving were his own.

“I-if there’s someone here…d-don’t come near me, okay? I-I’m j-just trying to find my way out, I don’t mean to mess with you!” Tao muttered quietly, though the warning probably fell onto deaf ears.

“Ah! What was that?” Tao jolted at hearing a distinct scratching sound from behind him. When he turned, all of his reflections around him turned simultaneously. He tried to look behind him, but just saw a dozen versions of himself looking back, bewildered. He clutched his chest while panting, helplessly looking up at the ceiling, wondering if there was a way for him to get to higher ground.

He knew for sure that he was stuck in a maze, and the only way to get out of mazes was to get on higher ground to be able to see where the exit was. Thanks to the black glass above him, it looked as though the chamber was huge, but Tao could tell that the ceiling was high, so perhaps, there was a chance of him getting out of here somewhere in the coming year.

His heart sank at the thought alone, and he continued his trek, trying to figure out which way to go next when the same scratching sound was heard behind him.

“Hey! S-stop that! It’s not funny!” he spoke, the clones in the mirror mimicking him perfectly. He stood still, quiet, waiting for something more to happen.
Tao moved slowly as he tried to continue his way, but this time, whatever was with him became bolder. Three loud knocks nearly gave Tao a heart attack and he stopped in his tracks, vigilantly looking around.

“Who’s there?!” he shouted as bravely as he could, reminding himself over and over that despite being absolutely frightened by these things, he was still a wolf as well. He would make sure to put up a fight.

His question provoked an answer, as three more knocks sounded. Tao looked at the mirrors around him, trying to determine where the knocking came from. He watched himself watch himself in the countless mirrors, the knocking become more pronounced, become louder, until the mirrors shook.

Shuddering, Tao tried to find the source of the terrifying sound until he noticed something strange about one of his own reflections. When he moved, the reflection mimicked him, but the way it stared back at him was unnerving.

Even when he turned his head, the eyes followed him. His expression had turned into one of terror, Tao knew because he could feel the fear bubbling up from his chest, and fanning out all over his body and his face, as well. But this one reflection, out of all the rest, was smirking at him.

Spooked, Tao carefully approached the reflection, confused at how this was possible. He waved his hand, the Other Tao following his movements without effort, the smirk on his face widening. The more Tao moved, the more Other Tao started visibly changing, Tao witnessing the frightening  metamorphosis with his very eyes.

The grin on Other Tao’s face widened further and further until it seemed to have split his face in two. His eyes grew bigger as well, as if the mirror image was distorting, but then he watched in pure horror when the Other Tao’s hair started shedding until nothing was left, the lanky Other Tao becoming even taller and far too thin. Long arms grew out into black claws, his tan skin, of which he was usually proud of, paled until it was as white as a sheet. Tao finally forced his feet to step back when this distorted reflection grew larger than he was, stepping closer towards him.

The mirrors around him shook, over a dozen Other Tao’s wincing and ducking like the original one. The monster in the mirror reached out towards Tao now, black claws resurfacing from the shining glass, cracking the mirror, one thin line after another.

Tao shook his head fiercely, backing up further and further until he found himself helplessly trapped with his back against a wall of mirrors. The grinning mirror monster cackled horridly before the mirror broke to give him entrance to the outside world. The behemoth shrieked as it made the other mirrors rumble and jerked its ugly head towards Tao. Big, shimmering, evil eyes glared at him and suddenly ran after him.

Tao screamed and started running himself, hitting mirrors along the way, desperately looking for a way out. The mirror monster dove into one mirror to ran next to him, jumping from one mirror to the other, confusing Tao, putting the fear of the devil in him, until it jumped into a mirror right in front of the youth and jumped back out, shattering the mirror and blocking his way.

Scared, exhausted and unarmed, Tao stood frozen, mouth agape as he faced the creature.

>>> DON’T LOOK IN THE MIRROR! RUN, TAOZI, RUN! <<<
>>> HOW DARE THAT MONSTER DEFILE THE FACE OF PANDA PERFECTION?! KICK ITS SKINNY ! <<<