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The light flashed on.
I went invisible.
My reflection remained in the mirror, open palms pressed against the inside of the glass, staring
out.
“I’m waiting for you, Max,” he said. “In a few minutes, you’ll join me in here.”
“No!” I shouted. “I’m leaving. I’m going downstairs.”
“No, you’re not,” my reflection said, shaking his head. “Erin and Zack won’t let you escape. But
don’t be so frightened, Max. It’s all quite painless. Really.” He smiled. It was my smile. But it was
cold. Cruel.
“I don’t get this,” April was protesting back by the door. “Will someone tell me what’s going
on?”
“You’ll see, April,” Erin told her soothingly.
What am I going to do? I wondered, frozen in panic.
What can I do?
“Just a few more minutes,” my reflection said calmly, already celebrating his victory. His
freedom.
“April, get help!” I cried.
She spun around at the sound of my voice. “Huh?”
“Get help! Go downstairs. Get help! Hurry!” I screamed.
“But—I don’t understand—” April hesitated.
Erin and Zack moved to block her path.
But the door suddenly swung open.
I saw Lefty stop at the doorway. He peered in. Saw my reflection.
He must have thought the reflection was me.
“Think fast!” he shouted, and he tossed a softball.
The ball smashed into the mirror.
I saw the startled look on Lefty’s face. And then I heard the crash and saw the mirror crack and
shatter.
My reflection didn’t have time to react. He broke into shards of glass and fell to the floor.
“Nooooo!” Erin and Zack shrieked.
I popped back into view just as Erin’s and Zack’s reflections floated up off the floor. They were
sucked into the broken mirror—screaming all the way—sucked into it as if a powerful vacuum
cleaner were pulling them in.
The two reflections flew screaming into the mirror and appeared to crack into hundreds of
pieces.
“Whoa!” Lefty cried, gripping the door with all his strength, pressing his body against the
doorframe, struggling to keep himself from being sucked into the room.