Partners

Chapter 29 : Mirror Delusion

A brown hair girl pushed past the crowd and ran.

Her sight was blurry.  Everything in front of her looked like an oil painting.  Her hearing was disturbed.  She heard the music of the carousel in a creepy minor key.  She was running and panting hard at the same time.  But she had to run.  She couldn't stop.  She saw something like a red-white candy striped tent and she rushed inside.

When her eyes adjusted the darkness, her jawed dropped, her knees gave in, and then she screamed to her death.

*******

Chase' cellphone rang when she was on the bus.

"Hello?"

"Happy birthday!" Fetcher's voice came out through the phone, "You're now officially twenty-nine!"

"Yeah, I know.  I passed the first grade math." she got off the bus at her stop.

Clarence' car was by the roadside.  And the car owner was in the car, beckoning her to go over there.

"I think I got a case." she spoke into the phone, "Later."

After she hung off the phone, she crossed the road and got into the SUV.

"Happy twenty-nine birthday!" Clarence turned on the ignition.

"Thanks." Chase took out a chicken sandwich from her briefcase, tearing apart the wrapping, "How do you know?"

"Everybody knows." Clarence stated, tapping his finger on the steering wheel, "Hmm...I know this should be a secret, but I think I need to warn you beforehand."

Chase bit down the sandwich, "What?  Somebody's gonna murder me in my sleep tonight?"

He did a left turn, "Yeah, something like that, but not in your sleep.  We're throwing you a birthday party!"

Chase groaned, "Ah, Jesus, St. Mary, St. John, St. Peter, St. Louis, St.--"

"Okay!" Clarence interrupted her, "Stop pretending you're religious."

"There's nothing worth celebrating about aging!" she stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her mouth.

*******

Chase hopped off the car with excitement once they arrived at their destination.

"Funfair!" she started to squeal like a little kid, "Best birthday present this year!"  She walked to Clarence, unexpectedly giving him a hug.

Clarence didn't take the advantage of this mistake.  He gently pushed her away, "It's a murder scene, not your present from me."

Chase shrugged, "Then guess I'll have to thank the killer." looking around idly.

She had gone to Las Vegas annual funfair with her father every year since she had been five.  She had loved it.  The carousel, the darting, the fruit stand, the candy bar, the everything all looked so nostalgic to her. 

She followed Clarence.  And then she saw it.

The attraction she had been mesmerized by as always, the creepiest one, more blood-rushing than the rollar-coaster ride.

Standing in front of her was a tent with red-white stripes.  It was the House of Mirrors.

A girl's body was laying on the ground beside the tent.  She looked young, probably a high school student.  Her brown eyes were wide open in shock as if she saw something truly terrifying.

"Did she die here?" Jane asked.  She had come back from her trip to Spain with her husband Roger Watson.  Her skin was tanned.

An officer shook his head, "No, ma'am.  She was found in the House of Mirrors."