49. Santiago #3
Ari didn’t answer as he continued walking ahead until we passed through a black curtain.
The moment we stepped beyond it, a huge hall filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of mirrors was revealed to us.
The floor was lit with purple neon lights, which reflected back in the mirrors to create a mind-blowing illusion of outer space.
“Fuck,” I said, eyes going wide at the sight. It was so damn pretty, and what made it even better was getting to see hundreds of Aris looking at me from every angle.
“Still not fond of mirror mazes?” he asked.
“Fuck no.” I took out my phone to capture it. “This is sick.” But right as I began recording, a loud sound came from behind me. My heart skipped a beat, and I glanced to check it out.
“The fuck was that?” I frowned, eyes narrowing on the entrance. I thought someone would walk in, but after a few moments had passed and it didn’t happen, I looked back at where Ari stood. Only—he was gone.
“Ari?” I shoved my phone back into my jeans as I began walking. There was no answer, and I dropped my head down with a sigh.
The fucker’s playing hide-and-seek now?
Accepting his silent challenge, I wasted no time and began searching for him.
At first, it was fun, as the rush of the hunt pumped me up until I walked headfirst into a mirror, nearly breaking my fucking nose.
But getting over the pain, I quickly went back to searching, the only issue being that I got lost almost immediately.
I soon realized that walking between dozens of mirrors, all facing one another, makes you lose your sense of reality. “Fuck.” I bumped into—yet—another mirror after mistaking it for a path. Rubbing my forehead, I turned around, but all I saw was my own reflection.
“Come on, Ari, it’s not funny anymore,” I called, my irritation growing because I’d been walking in circles for almost ten minutes now. Not getting any answer back, I started moving, walking with my hands outstretched so I wouldn’t bump into more walls.
But the more I walked, the more lost I felt, and with every second of not finding him, I began to stress until it felt like somebody was pressing down on my chest with their whole weight.
Thinking I was about to lose it, I finally saw him. Standing across the room, there he was, staring back at me. I smiled, shaking my head before dashing toward him.
“You had me fooled—fuck,” I growled after I bumped into the mirror and realized what I saw was his reflection. But at least it meant he was close by, right?
I turned around, my eyes jumping between all of the mirrors until I caught him flashing in one of them, and so I ran toward it, my heart hammering fast behind my rib cage. But just when it felt like I caught up, I lost him again.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Rivas, struggling to find me?” he chuckled, his voice dancing around me like the last lifeline that connected me to reality.
Searching like a blind man, I used his voice for guidance, following its waves while using my hands to navigate. Like in a fight, my adrenaline was high, pumping me with the need to find, hold, and touch him.
“Where are you?” I called, my voice scraping my dry throat, as depression threatened to sink me.
“I’m right here.”
I turned around to see him behind me, and I reached forward, dying for the warmth of his skin, when I was met with the cold surface of the mirror.
“Fuck.”
“Language—”
“Fuck off, Ari.” I swallowed hard, tears clogging my throat. “Where are you?”
All wired up, I looked around, my eyes jumping from one mirror to the next, his reflection smiling at me through them all.
Holding my breath, I walked toward him, but whenever he was at arm’s length, his reflection was replaced with mine.
My mouth was bitter at the constant failure, and I realized that chasing him through a maze of mirrors was a twisted example of our entire relationship, with him constantly being out of reach.
And whenever I got close, it turned out to be an illusion, just another distraction from reality.
Sweating, I looked to my right and left until I caught his reflection, again.
At this point, I wasn’t even sure if it was my mind showing me things or not, but I ran toward him, stretching my hand until I could actually touch.
My fingers grasped his shirt a second before I pulled him into me and wrapped my arms around him, feeling the warmth of his body as I hugged him tight, my face buried in the crook of his neck.
“Are you real?”
I pulled back just a bit so I could stare him in the eyes, my heart rapidly beating in my chest with the fear he’d suddenly vanish.
A gentle smile spread on his lips as he held his hand against my cheek.
“Of course I am.”
In that moment, I was drained of all thoughts, and like a man who’d just been pulled out of a stormy sea, I hugged him. More like clutched him as tight as I could, my chest still tight with anxiety and my body shaking with fear. Fear of what, for God’s sake, as this was only a game, right?
“I don’t like mirror mazes after all,” I whispered, voice hoarse.
“So let’s not walk into one again.”