Figments of Fear (A Dark Fantasy Horror): The Edge of Reflection 2

by Carver Pike

  “I’d like that,” Lisa lied. “Let’s kill her quickly then.”

  Cutter looked at her and tried to gauge how full of shit she was. He decided that she was very much full of shit.

  “Don’t fuck with me,” Cutter warned. “You don’t like me any more than I want to make you my loving wife.”

  “That’s not true,” Lisa said, and smiled. “You’re growing on me. I wanted to say the same thing to that old bitch back there. Gabe wouldn’t have had the balls to say that.”

  She looked down at her feet with a sad expression on her face.

  “He didn’t even have the balls to stop me from crossing through the mirror. He told me to do it. He said that he wanted Ivy for himself.”

  Cutter studied Lisa’s face. He was hesitant to buy into her whole story, but he had to admit that if she was acting, she was a hell of an actress. He turned away from her, but she grabbed his hand and shoved herself against him, backing him into the wall.

  “You look just like him,” Lisa said.

  Cutter squinted his eyes, still trying to read her.

  “I wanted him so badly for so many years. But I always hated how weak he was. But you…you’re a real man…and you look just like him,” Lisa flirted.

  Cutter was shocked when she shoved her tongue down his throat and reached down into his pants. She found his cock and stroked it, gripping him as he grew harder in her hand.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

  Cutter laughed and pulled her away.

  “I don’t know if you’re up to something,” he said.

  “I’m not,” she swore.

  Cutter attacked her, spinning her around and slamming her against the wall. He held her by the hair and kissed her passionately.

  “You want to give me your innocence?” he asked.

  She sighed and nodded her head.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  “Then let’s kill this bitch and go rip each other apart.”

  He walked away, leaving Lisa following behind him.

  “I can’t wait,” she said as she hurried to catch up.

  ***

  In the Vulkner Theater, Gabe, Ivy, and Haylay walked down the well-lit hallway, searching for Alleycat’s dressing room. It was surprisingly pleasant compared to the craziness of downstairs.

  “Which room?” Haylay asked.

  “She’s the star tonight,” Gabe said as he checked one of the doors on the left. It was unlocked, but turned out to be some sort of supply closet. “She’ll have the most glamorous room.”

  From somewhere further down the hall, Alleycat’s voice came thundering through the air.

  “Manny, I need more powder!”

  “Or the one with the screaming diva,” Haylay joked.

  Gabe stopped at one of the doors and stood silent for a second.

  “This one. Her voice came from in here,” he said.

  He tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He knocked lightly.

  “Manny?” Alleycat called out from behind the door.

  “No, it’s me, Cutter. Open up!” Gabe ordered the way that Cutter surely would.

  Two seconds later the door was yanked open and Alleycat threw her arms around him.

  “Oh baby,” she whispered as she kissed him.

  Her eyes drifted past Gabe and over to where Ivy was standing.

  “What is she doing here?” Alleycat hissed as she backed away from Gabe and gave him a stern look that said she was pissed and about to smack him.

  “Miss me?” Ivy teased.

  “You two know each other?” Gabe asked.

  Alleycat pushed away from him.

  “Is this your idea of a sick joke?”

  “We worked the cathouse in Darkar together. Until you, Cutter, hurt me and moved onto her,” Ivy explained.

  “You mean moved on to something better,” Alleycat said.

  She grabbed Gabe’s arm and pulled him into the room, throwing one last sly remark in Ivy’s direction.

  “You never could please a man.”

  Ivy swung her gun and hit Alleycat in the back of the head, knocking her out. Gabe and Haylay carried her to a spot on the floor and carefully laid her down. Ivy locked the door and walked over to Alleycat. She laughed.

  “Was that necessary?” Gabe asked.

  “Most images aren’t fond of people from the other side. If she found out you weren’t Cutter, she would have flipped out and alerted everyone in the building, and let’s face it, you aren’t Cutter.

  You can’t even act like him on his weakest day,” Ivy said matter-of-factly.

  Gabe ignored her nasty remark and looked around the room. There was a large closet, nearly the length of the room, with floor to ceiling mirrored doors.

  “Perfect place for your reunion,” Haylay said.

  ***

  Cutter led Lisa down the hallway, not really keeping a tight leash on her the way he had earlier. She was convinced that he believed her and that she could use his trust to her advantage.

  “Where are we gonna do it?” Lisa asked him.

  “We?” Cutter said as he spun around to look at her.

  “Yeah, can’t I help? No one hates that bitch as much as I do. I wouldn’t have gotten stuck on your side of the mirror if it weren’t for her,” Lisa replied.

  “Did I tell you I like you better than Ivy?” Cutter asked.

  In a sick and twisted kind of way, Lisa actually felt a little bit attracted to him. It was easy to forget his nasty deeds and pretend that it was Gabe she was talking to. That was the key to making this work. If she wanted him to believe her, she needed to really be all over him.

  She was afraid of the line she might have to cross though and already felt her mind slipping a little. She had to admit, Cutter was a sweet-talking and somewhat sexy kind of guy when he wanted to be. She touched his arm and gave it a little squeeze.

  “Do you now?” she teased, giving him a little kiss on the lips.

  Cutter smiled.

  “We’re gonna wait until she’s backstage, ready to perform, and right before the curtain opens, I’m gonna cut her good.

  Lisa laughed as if relishing the thought, but then remembered what Gabe’s plan was. He’d said before that he thought Cutter would attack Allie in the dressing room. If Cutter killed her backstage, there’s no way Gabe would be able to face him in the mirror. Gabe would be wasting his time waiting in the dressing room.

  “That sounds like fun, but you know what I think would be even better? If you got her in her dressing room, while she’s so proud of herself. She’ll be sitting there admiring her pretty little face in the mirror, imagining how great the night will be,” Lisa suggested.

  She forced a wicked little smile as she pretended to cut someone’s throat with her thumb.

  “Then you slit the bitch’s throat wide open,” she added.

  “But there’s a crowd if I do it on stage. Hundreds of screaming spectators. It would be wild,” he argued.

  “And hundreds of witnesses. It’ll be harder to get away after. This place isn’t like where you’re from. The cops will be all over you.”

  “All I need is a mirror, baby,” he said with a cocky grin.

  “Is there one backstage?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Cutter admitted.

  “There’ll be one in the dressing room,” she assured him.

  Chapter 16 – The Mirror Has Two Places

  Even with her hands and feet tied up and a gag in her mouth, there was no denying Alleycat’s beauty. Gabe had a hard time keeping his eyes off her. She wore a tight purple dress with a see-thru middle that showed off the curves of both perfectly round breasts.

  She was awake and making a lot of noise. Every time Gabe glanced in her direction, she would whine and do her best to make him feel horrible simply with the brokenhearted expression she wore on her face and the sadness in her eyes. It was clear that she had no idea why she was tie
d up or what they planned to do with her.

  Gabe tried to focus his attention on the mirror, which hadn’t changed a bit. It still showed his worn out and exhausted reflection.

  It showed Haylay standing next to him with an automatic rifle, big boobs, and a bright red wig. His short skirt showed off his large calf muscles. It really was a funny sight, like something out of a B movie. Gabe imagined the title of the movie being something like Big Busty Transvestites with Guns. Of course, the movie would only come on at 3 a.m., flanked by shitty infomercials.

  Gabe knocked lightly on the mirror, not sure what to expect. He didn’t know what it would look like when he saw Cutter. He wasn’t even one hundred percent positive that this plan would work. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer in his head. This had to work. There was no other option.

  Gabe could tell that Alleycat’s constant thrashing around on the floor was growing on Ivy’s nerves. She didn’t like the tramp as it was and the fact that she was even annoying with a gag in her mouth only intensified the feeling.

  “Why don’t you shut the hell up?” Ivy said as she softly kicked Alleycat.

  Alleycat wiggled around and yelled something through her covered mouth.

  “He’s not even Cutter, you dumb whore,” Ivy announced.

  “Hey, do you think that’s wise?” Gabe asked.

  “Alleycat, meet Gabe. Gabe, Alleycat,” Ivy finished.

  Alleycat squinted her eyes angrily. Gabe had no doubt that she would kill Ivy if she got the chance. Ivy sat down on a chair and covered her face with her hands.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Gabe asked.

  “I’m just all mixed up,” Ivy said. “I can’t get my thoughts straight and this noisy tramp is making things worse.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t get your thoughts straight? What’s going on?”

  “I’m just not sure that this is a good idea.”

  “What do you mean? You don’t think it’s going to work?”

  Ivy shook her head and fought back tears.

  “No, that’s not it at all. I don’t know. It’s just, if you cross over then he comes back. Not a fair trade for me. I don’t even know why I’m helping you,” she muttered.

  Gabe dropped to one knee and lifted her chin with his hand.

  “I know why. ‘Cause image or no image, you’ve got a good heart,” he said.

  She forced a smile and rolled her eyes.

  “Lisa’s a lucky girl,” she said.

  ***

  Allie sat at her vanity, checking herself in the mirror for the thousandth time. This was her night. She’d always known that Detroit didn’t hold the answers. All it did for her was keep her tied down to a dead end job with a dead end boyfriend whose idea of a good time was renting movies from Blockbuster and vegging out on the couch.

  She couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time with the loser. The one good thing that came from it all was meeting Charlie, her boss, the man who’d made all this possible. He’d promised her big things.

  The first time she’d agreed to go out with him was the night that he’d asked about her dreams and aspirations. She sang for him that night. It wasn’t her best performance because at the time she didn’t know that his brother owned an opera house. What a coincidence. She’d only dated him because she thought she’d get a raise at work.

  “Now look at me,” she thought aloud.

  Her relationship with Charlie was only temporary. She didn’t find him attractive at all. Gabe had been attractive, but that was about it. Charlie was only a means to an end. Sex was a small price to pay for a moment like the one she was about to experience. The house was hers. It said so on the marquee sign. This was her night.

  “You finally did it, girl, and you are hot. Gonna knock their socks off tonight,” she said aloud.

  Nerves were starting to build when she heard a soft knock at the door. She rolled her eyes because she knew it was Charlie. He’d want to rush in and kiss her, to tell her once again how he’d made this all possible and that everything was going to be great.

  He’d want to remind her that as long as she stuck with him, big things were going to happen for her. Then he’d whisper sweet nothings in her ear and in his usual imaginary stud fashion, he’d try to feel her up in hopes that he’d get some later on that night, which he would because like he always said, he made it all possible.

  The knock at the door came again.

  “Hold your horses,” she said under her breath.

  Out loud she was much sweeter.

  “Charlie, is that you, hun?” she called out.

  Allie was rising from her seat when the door suddenly burst inward. She was startled and confused. What were Gabe and Lisa doing in her dressing room?

  Then it dawned on her. Gabe had rushed to New York as soon as he realized what was going on. He was going to try to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life. He was going to tell her how much he loved her and completely embarrass himself by dropping to one knee and proposing. That’s how it always happened in the movies.

  “Gabe? Lisa? What are you doing here?” she asked, baffled.

  They looked at each other and laughed.

  “You stupid bitch,” Gabe said.

  Only it turned out to be someone else.

  “This isn’t Gabe,” Lisa explained. “This is Cutter. Kind of an evil twin.”

  “And I came a long way for this,” Cutter added.

  “What are you talking about? Who . . .”

  Just then, Charlie ran into the room.

  “Allie, what’s going on in…?”

  Cutter spun around and threw a knife at Charlie, hitting him in the forehead with a sickening thud. The blade hit dead center, sending him crashing to the floor, dead instantly.

  Allie screamed and panicked, backing into the corner of the room. Lisa stood still, momentarily shocked. Cutter pulled his knife out of Charlie’s head and wiped the bloody blade on Charlie’s shirt.

  “One down,” he said, and smiled at Allie. “One to go.”

  ***

  In Alleycat’s dressing room, Gabe was growing inpatient. He was desperate for this plan to work and didn’t understand what was taking so long. Alleycat was due to go on stage any moment. He began to doubt his instincts and was worried that maybe Cutter had chosen a different setting for Allie’s death.

  “They should’ve been here by now. This doesn’t make sense,” Gabe announced as he paced back and forth in front of the mirror.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder, slowing him down. He stopped pacing and turned to see Haylay biting his bottom lip as if afraid to mention something.

  “What is it?” Gabe asked.

  “What if you’re wrong, baby?” Haylay said. “Maybe this isn’t the mirror he’s gonna show up at. Maybe he ain’t gonna show up at all.”

  “This is it,” Gabe argued. “I know it.”

  “And if it’s not? What then?”

  Gabe didn’t want to think about his plan not succeeding. It had to work. If he didn’t find Cutter, he’d be trapped in this mirror world forever. Ivy’s sweet voice put an end to his torment.

  “They’re here. Look,” Ivy said, mesmerized by what she was seeing in front of her.

  Gabe turned his attention back to the mirror and saw the scene unfolding right in front of him. It was like watching a gigantic movie screen with himself in the starring role. He stared at Cutter for a moment, temporarily stunned by the similarities between them. They were nearly identical, only Cutter was the epitome of raw and unyielding evil. Haylay stood next to Gabe, his jaw dropped open.

  On the other side of the mirror, Cutter and Lisa walked towards Allie, who looked terrified. Charlie lay dead on the floor.

  “Lisa?” Gabe said aloud.

  The mirror began to ripple like a calm lake when a pebble is dropped in. The small swirls began at the center and slowly worked their way out until the entire mirror appeared to be in liquid form. Gabe touched a finger to it. It sunk
in a bit, creating ripples of its own.

  “Amazing,” he said.

  ***

  In Allie’s dressing room, Cutter whipped his head around towards the mirror. It rippled, and for a moment, looked like someone’s finger was sticking out of it.