The Mirror Maze Keeps One
The boardwalk had been condemned since before any of us were born, but the dare never died: six kids, one flashlight, the Hall of Mirrors at the dead end of the pier. Salt wind rattled the boarded ticket booth as we squeezed inside. The air went still and warm, like breath. Then our six reflections stepped in beside us, perfectly in time. "Okay," Maya whispered. "Now what?"
"We split up," Jay said. "Cover more ground, find the exit faster." Nobody loved it, but he was already walking. We broke into pairs, the flashlight beam slicing between glass walls. Within seconds I couldn't hear the others anymore, just my own footsteps and my reflection matching them.
I heard Maya scream off to my left and ran toward the sound, smacking into mirror after mirror. Every reflection of me looked terrified, except one near the corner. That one looked calm. That one was already waiting for me.
The calm reflection stepped fully out of the glass and stood in front of me, blocking the way to Maya. It looked exactly like me, down to the scar on my chin. "She's mine now," it said in my voice. "But you can take her place." Maya's scream cut off behind it.
I said no and shoved the thing wearing my face as hard as I could. It stumbled into a mirror and shattered into a thousand falling pieces, and Maya was suddenly free behind it, gasping. We grabbed each other and ran for the salt wind, not stopping until the broken pier boards were under our feet and the maze was behind us.