“This way.” He walked off.
“Where are we headed?”
“You’ll see.”
He wound his way through the crowd and eventually stopped in front of a large entrance with “Fun House” written in paint above it. I’d never actually been in a carnival fun house before, and I’d always assumed they were basically like haunted houses but with more mirrors.
“Can’t leave without going through here,” he said.
“It’s not scary, right?”
He gave me a look. “Have you ever been in one of these before?”
“No. Just haunted houses.”
“You’re in for a treat then. Come on.” He tossed the bear down on the ground and reached out his hand. I hesitated and then took it, following his lead.
As we went into the dark entrance, the only reason I kept walking forward at all was the thought that Nathan was somewhere behind us, watching carefully, keeping me safe.
The first thing we came to was a slide. Joshua let go of my hand and hopped on, disappearing from view. Tentatively, I got on behind him and began to slip down.
It dropped a lot farther than I would have guessed. As soon as I was ready to start yelling for help, I came out into a pit full of plastic balls.
Joshua laughed at my very ungraceful landing. I was pretty sure he saw my panties, too, considering my dress blew up around my hips. Embarrassed, I adjusted myself and stood up.
“Warn a girl next time,” I muttered.
“Why? And miss the show?”
I blushed. “Pretend you didn’t see that.”
“Nope.”
“Anyway, what’s next? Snakes?”
“Come on.”
I followed him down a narrow hall full of silly paintings and bright colors. I had no clue where we were, but I figured we were pretty far beneath the pier. There were big spinning wheels in the next room and barrels along the ground. Joshua went first, running across the barrels and barely making it across.
I did not fare so well. I fell on the second barrel onto a soft, padded floor. He laughed as I trudged across.
If he was trying to get into my pants, humiliating me was not the way to go.
“Great job,” he said, grinning. “You almost made it.”
“This is the least fun I’ve ever had.”
“Oh come on, lighten up. Last bit up ahead.”
I nodded, thankful that it was a short trip. We entered the next room and I paused. It was full of mirrors, each one distorting and odd.
“Come on,” he said, and walked ahead.
“Wait up,” I called out.
He turned a corner. When I followed, he was gone. My own image was reflected everywhere, distorted and strange in some places, normal in others.
“Joshua?” I called out. “Joshua!”
There was no answer as I walked through the room. My heart was hammering as I moved slowly, taking the twists and the turns. The only thing I saw was my own reflection, spread out in the half dark. I felt lost and disoriented, and I had no clue where I was or where Joshua had gone.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” a voice said suddenly.
The voice was loud, too loud. I covered my ears as it echoed in the mirrored space.
“What? Joshua?”
“You made a mistake, and you will pay for it.”
Terrified, I began to backtrack. I stumbled into a few mirrors, desperately trying to get out. I already planned on climbing back up the slide, maybe screaming for Nathan. He had to be nearby, had to be ready to come get me.
I was so angry I could barely think. Joshua knew. Joshua knew what I was doing, and he had brought me into a trap. My own grotesque, distorted body and face came back at me, reflected over and over as I moved, my head spinning, terror gripping my chest.
There were too many twists and turns, each one full of my own image. It looked as if I were laughing at myself, mocking my own fear and rage.
I turned a corner. There was another image reflected in front of me: a large man wearing a black ski mask. His clothes were dark and rumpled, a T-shirt and jeans.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the man’s reflection reached out and grabbed me.
The next thing I knew, there was darkness.
18
NATHAN
It was hard watching that asshole flirt with her.
At first, when the whole thing started, I thought it was going to be no problem. Besides, Claire wasn’t exactly the best at flirting, which was actually something that I loved about her. But as soon she tried to turn it on with that scumbag, it instantly made me jealous. My blood boiled, and all I wanted to do was break his jaw into a thousand pieces.
Which was stupid, because I knew she was only flirting on my orders. It was all part of the operation, all part of my plan. Still, it made my rage come up to the surface.