Chapter 23 – The House

"Are you close to anyone important," the mage said while walking through the forest.

"No, I'm completely and utterly alone." Silk said dramatically.

The forest had become a darker shade of purple which would send chills through the best of people. Whispers could be heard resonating through the trees if you listened hard enough but in the middle of a conversation it was near impossible to notice them so they talked.

"I was asking about your political relationships."

"I have none. I am neutral, always have been and always will be."

"How can you be neutral?" The old mage blurted out.

"By not choosing a side because of politics but because of circumstance," he explained.

"You are still choosing a side in the end," the old mage interjected.

"True, but only because of the actions another side has taken. I don't care what they say but only what they do. Where I come from there is a saying, actions speak louder than words."

They suddenly broke out into a clearing, there was a large rickety mansion at the other side of the clearing. There were a group of people at the door talking but if you looked closer you would notice subtle hints which indicated nervousness.

"I will be on my way then," the old mage curtsied and disappeared in an instant before Silk could do anything.

"By myself then," he muttered under his breath disappointed.

As Silk moved closer he noticed that the people that stood there were all dressed distinctly and differently. There was a man in a green suit with a bowler hat muttering at the corner of the group to himself and looking at his watch every two seconds. The moustache hung pitifully off his face.

A woman stood in a lab coat next to the man confidently showing papers to the others. She was very loud and Silk heard her far before anyone else. The other woman was dressed in black from head to toe like she had just come from a funeral. The last man in the group was small and was wearing a suit of armour which was a stark contrast to the modern style of the others. Blonde hair ran down from his head to his shoulders.

The conversation stopped as Silk drew closer. "Are you from the institute of magic?" the black clad woman asked from behind the veil.

Silk paused, "where else." He said while igniting a flame by clicking his fingers.

"We have two hours before I have to leave for my next appointment," the green suited man muttered in an annoyed fashion.

"Cool," Silk tried to show understanding for this man. "So, who are you people?"

"I'm a scientist but you wouldn't care about that would you," the woman in the lab coat said.

"Don't mind her," the knight pompously darted in. "People like her don't know what people like us do to protect this land. My name is Charles." He put out his hand to shake Silk's. Silk shook it vigorously as the knight's energy had rubbed off on him.

"I'm the right hand," the veiled woman stated.

"Yes, because I know what that means," Silk said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"She's an assassin," The green man hissed. "I'm Adam, negotiator."

"Sarah," the woman in the lab coat begrudgingly announced.

"Good to meet you," he said with his biggest smile. "I'm Silk."

"We can get started now," Adam said taking out his keys. "I hope none of you are having second thoughts."

The door creaked open revealing a splendid interior, there wasn't even a speck of dust lying on any polished wooden surface. The air temperature was pretty normal which isn't what you would expect.

"We should split up and explore to cover more distance. We could meet here in fifteen minutes." The knight said with an air of authority.

"Fine with me," Silk said and pranced up the stairs. "It'll be like in the movies," he called back while swinging around a banister.

"What did he mean, like the movies," Adam wondered scratching his head.

Silk burst into one of the rooms to reveal the drawing room, mirrors lined the walls. A strange whistling resounded in the room which Silk quickly latched onto.

The wall with the window was the obvious point of inquiry so he dashed over. He stroked the side of the wall looking for imperfections, there weren't. A cold chill ran down his spine, he swivelled round, nothing was there.

He turned his attention back to the mirror clad wall. The whistling seemed to be coming from lower down so he crouched. As he got lower the whistling got more defined and he could make out a cheerful melody.

Silk jumped down to get his head level with the floor, he could now hear clear solemn undertones in the music.

"Goodnight," a cheerful girly voice rang in his ear. A black flash seemed to run along the mirror. Silk jumped up to see a black figure hanging just behind him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," the black figure stated flatly. It was the veiled woman.

"It can't be, ghosts don't exist, right?" Silk asked for confirmation from the right hand.

"We assassins certainly don't believe in them."

"Nice to know." He leaned against a table pondering what just happened. His hands shook.

He looked directly at one of the multiple mirrors, something was wrong with the image. Silk reached and checked his mouth, there was no grin attached to his face. He looked at his now even shakier hand. Looking back the mirror was showing a perfect image.

Sensing something dangerous in the room he sprinted to get out the room.

The right hand was no longer with him, he sprinted down the steps trying to shout warnings that something felt very wrong but nothing came out his mouth.

The steps suddenly collapsed underneath him.

He lurched up from where he was lying quickly, he rubbed away all the wooden sawdust.

The room he was in was a maze of mirrors. He jumped up guarded. All his reflections wore off-putting smiles.

Without thinking Silk started running through the maze of mirrored corridors. He felt a light brushing, he turned his head to see a hand coming out the mirror. He started running faster. Suddenly there was a tugging on his coat, he slipped it off and kept running.

He kept running from the reflections which were becoming more realistic.

A Reflection stood in front of him and unhinged its mouth like a snake. A screeching suddenly came out the reflections mouth making him stagger and hold himself up against the mirrors. His left hand started convulsing, the rest of his body started to follow suit.

The glass made a cracking sound, it suddenly gave way under his weight. He bashed his head against the ground floor. Looking up he saw multiple reflections gazing down at him with malicious grins.

Dizzily, he dragged himself to his feet and scrambled through the reflections like they weren't there. He dragged his now bloody and cut feet through the shards of glass. He made his way through the corridors desperately searching for an exit.

Silk stopped when a small shadow caught his eye. He turned with difficulty to spot a weird shadow rise from his legs, it mimicked him perfectly. It touched his eyes, the shadow disappeared but as soon as that happened a burning sensation suddenly hit his eyes.

"Ow, ow," Silk babbled. The burning started rising to a whole new stage of pain. "Get it out, get it out!" Silk started shrieking. He had never felt so much pain in his life, which is saying something for him.

The pain was so bad that Silk had resorted to scratching at his eyes furiously to hopefully relieve the pain. Blood started forming around his eyes. He reaches to the ground to pick up a piece of glass.

He fumbles the first piece leaving a deep cut in his hand. Reaching back down he picks up a new piece of glass and extended it away from his body.

Tears were rolling down his face from the intense feeling of pain he felt.

"Come on," he roared trying to encourage himself.

He felt a new feeling of pain making him cry out and go onto his knees. The pain was making him cry uncontrollably. Silk extends his shaky hands out and prepares them. One swift plunging motion an eyeball rolls outside of its socket on the ground floor.

"Aaah!" Silk screamed. One more plunging motion later Silk was lying on the floor with a piece of glass protruding from his neck.

A pool of blood formed around him and shadow rose from the pool of blood picking up the eyeball and putting it on the place that looked like a face, it now had an eye. The Shadow looked up and a parting appeared in the shadow revealing a smile.