Simon exhales loudly, in an effort to collect his wits. He stares up at where he assumes a ceiling would be. This is just too damn much. This place, losing Piper, that damn laughing head. They should have taken a plane. Then, they wouldn’t be dealing with this mess. Next time, if there is a next time, they’re taking the damn plane.

Simon returns his head to a level position and glares at the mirrors surrounding him. The ringmaster’s shrill laughter vibrates his eardrums so violently that he fears they will burst. He reaches up to one ear, expecting to feel a warm trickle of blood. Nothing. Well, that's good.

Contemplating his next move, Simon glances from one mirror to the other. He takes a step toward a mirror to his right. The reflected image of the ringmaster, in this particular mirror, stops laughing and winks. The lips pucker and she blows him a sarcastic kiss. The laughter again, this time in earnest. Simon studies each reflected image. Stepping in front of the neighboring mirror, Simon leans closer and scrutinizes the face within.

“Are you looking for something, Simon?” the head in the mirror mocks. “Perhaps, you believe your wife is in here? With me? I’m afraid she is not. She is with my dear friend, Percy! They are having a really good time!”

More laughter. Simon is unbothered. He moves from mirror to mirror, searching for clues. His silence, and unconcerned attitude, strikes a nerve with the ringmaster. All of the mirrored images halt their laughter at the same instant, studying Simon.

“What are you doing, Simon? What are you looking for?”

Simons says nothing. He ignores the giant floating head in the mirror and continues to scrutinize the reflected images. Purple light appears at the seam of each mirror and the ground begins to tremble under his feet. Simon steels himself, refusing to be dissuaded from his task.

“What are you doing, Simon?” the ringmaster’s many heads inquire in an angry voice. “What do you think you will find?”

“Anything which will allow me to kill your crazy ass!” Simon barks. “You like that answer, you old witch?”

The reflected head nearest Simon narrows it eyes, a smirk turning up one corner of its painted lips. The voice which issues from the mirror is raspy and full of menace.

“Old? I am not old. I am ancient. I was around long before your kind crawled from the muck. I will be around long after your kind is dust. You are nothing to me. You cannot kill me!”

“Then, why the hell do you care what I’m looking for? What does it matter what I’m doing? Just continue laughing your crazy ass head off…And let me do what I do. Don’t worry about me.”

The ringmaster’s face contorts and her snakelike eyes flash from bright yellow to eerie purple. The light seeping from each mirror intensifies until it nearly blinds Simon. He uses an elbow to block the light from his eyes.

“Impudent human! Always so stubborn and arrogant! Always have to have the last word! You will not find what you are looking for. I will not allow it!”

Around Simon, the mirrors shatter one by one. Shards of glass fly through the air. Several large pieces bounce against Simon’s face, neck and arms—drawing thin rivulets of blood. Simon chooses to protect his face and neck, shielding them with his arms as much as possible. The mirror in which the ringmaster initially appeared, remains intact. She glowers at Simon from across the short distance.

“You will not find her. And you will never leave this place.”

With an angry growl, the ringmaster’s head disappears from the mirror. The mirror explodes, sending glass and metal into the air. Simon barely misses being impaled by a large shard. Darkness envelopes him again and Simon shakes his head in frustration.

“Oh man!”

============================================================================

Piper is seated on the ground, knees drawn up to her chest, eyes and ears searching for signs she is not alone. A sound like a small explosion splits the silence, and Piper tilts her head to hear better.

“An explosion? What could…? Simon!”

Piper climbs to her feet and races, unthinking, toward where she believes she heard the explosion.

“Oh no! Simon! Answer me! It’s Piper. Simon!”

Piper blindly stumbles through the darkness. A snapping sound nearby draws her attention. Before Piper can react, a large net enfolds her body and she is drawn upward, kicking and screaming. The net eventually settles, but Piper continues to scream and kick. Judging from how fast the net was moving, and how long it took to stop, Piper assumes she is dangling from quite a height. She isn’t wrong.

“Simon, I’m up here! Can you hear me? I’m up here!”

Nothing. And then, shrill laughter—joined also by the odd hiccupping laughter of the clown.

“Simon…I’m up here!” the ringmaster mocks in the pitch black darkness, her raspy voice full of bitterness. “I’m up here! Ha ha ha!”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I’m up here!” the devilish clown chimes in. “How pathetic…How she whines and cries.”

Piper’s body trembles with fear as the perilousness of her predicament begins to set in. Whoever, or whatever, these people are—they are definitely insane. And they have no intention of letting her or Simon leave here alive.

“She is not my Alice, Master! But I think she will do. Can I kill the other? Can I keep her, Master? I will treat her nicely. She can be my new Alice.”

“You will do as I say, Percy! Find the other. Bring him to me. It is time for the final test. Only the test can decide their fates. You know the way things are to be done.”

“Yes, Master. I will find the other. I will bring him to you.”

Although it is dark all around, Piper knows when the evil clown leaves. The clown’s oversized shoes scuff the ground, and his baggy clothes rustle noisily. He is going to find Simon. A test to decide their fates? What kind of test?

======================================

Simon strolls cautiously through the darkened space, clueless as to where he will end up. Nearly every neuron in his brain is firing on overdrive. He needs to find Piper. No two ways about it.

Slapping his forehead with the palm of one hand, Simon shakes his head, feeling like the world's biggest dummy. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cellphone. In all of the confusion and madness, he had forgotten all about it.

Simon's mouth droops when he glances at the phone display. A red battery icon blinks in the top right corner and the phone chirps loudly. Dead battery? Of course. Just like the sudden loss of reception when they entered the vicinity of this damn tent. How dare he expect anything to actually go according to plan.

"Damn! With that little charge...I can't even use the damn flashlight."

Simon scoffs and shoves the useless phone back into his pocket. Staccato laughter, to his back, freezes Simon in place. He slowly turns to face whatever new evil has made its presence known. Feeling around in his pockets, Simon wraps a hand around the small pocketknife in his left pocket. He squints into the darkness at the small dot of light slowly approaching his position.

The laughter grows louder, accompanied by a faint scuffling noise and the rustle of material. Simon lays eyes on the purple clown shuffling towards him and grimaces. One of the purple clown's eyes has been gauged out, thin lines of red and purple fluid running down his right cheek. The injury appears very recent. Could Piper have done that? And if so, where is she now? Has this bastard killed her?

"Who the hell are you?" Simon roars, righteous anger coursing through his veins.

The clown stares at Simon with its one good eye and angles its head awkwardly to the side.

"Who am I? I am death. Yours!"

Simon chuckles sarcastically and pulls out his pocketknife. He grips it tightly in a balled fist and takes on a fighting stance.

"You don't look like you're in any shape to be making threats, my dude. Come on over here and let me show you something."

The ghoulish clown's purple mouth peels upward into a devilish smile, revealing what seems like dozens of sharp teeth.

"Okay. If you insist!"

Moving unexpectedly fast, Percy seems to be everywhere at once, his body splitting into several duplicates of himself. Simon is caught off guard. One of Percy's many duplicates, standing directly behind Simon, wraps both arms around Simon's neck. Simon grunts as the clown tightens its arm, in an attempt to strangle him.

Stabbing Percy's clone with a backhanded swing, Simon is grateful to hear the surprised gasp which escapes the clown's purple lips. Not giving the clown a chance to rebound from the injury, Simon uses all of his strength to hurl the clown up and over his shoulders. Regretfully, he loses his knife in the process.

Percy's duplicate lands with a loud thud a few feet away. Another duplicate moves in to take his place, sharp teeth bared in fury. Simon's heart drops, but he brandishes his fists in resolve.

"Come on punk! Get some. Come on!"

Percy Two roars and charges Simon like a crazed mountain goat, head down and full ramming speed. Simon braces his body and his feet, drawing on all of his years playing football as a youth. Percy Two slams into Simon full force, but Simon is ready when he arrives. Repelling Percy Two's charge, Simon wraps one arm around the clown's middle. The other fist, he rams into Percy Two's ribcage over and over. When Simon grows bored with this, he slams his right knee into Percy Two's groin.

The purple clown groans and tries to bite Simon with his serrated teeth. Simon punishes him with three more swift knees to the groin. Percy Two grows limp and Simon unceremoniously shoves him away, kicking the pseudo killer clown under the chin for good measure. Simon turns to the remaining four Percy duplicates and smirks.

"That the best you can do? My grandma used to fight better than that."

As Simon watches, disbelief distorting his features, Percy One begins to transform. The Percy duplicates rejoin the main mass of Percy's body, forming the enormous barking heads of a large Cerberus. So that was what he and Piper had heard earlier? This abomination.

The middle head of the Cerberus is still missing an eye. However, the other two heads glower down at Simon with dual red pits of hate. The heads on either side bark loudly and snap their teeth. The Percy head rears back and releases the same subhuman staccato laugh Simon heard before the emergence of the hellish clown.

A large tail resembling that of a scorpion swings slowly behind the abominable creature, the tip gleaming in the dim light.

"Puny human. That was just a warmup. I am your death. I can take many forms. Can your grandma do this?"

Simon is so distracted by what he is witnessing that his reactions are slowed. The Cerberus creature swipes out with its oversized left paw. The tremendous force of the blow knocks Simon off of his feet. He crumbles to the floor stunned.

Four angry slashes run down Simon's right shoulder and arm, from where the monster's claws made contact, shredding the sleeve of his shirt. Simon moves into a kneeling position, struggling to catch his breath after having the wind knocked from him.

The Cerberus stalks to where Simon kneels and towers over him, hot breath and drool raining down on the injured man. Percy again laughs his hiccuping staccato laugh.

"Good news is...The master wants you alive. The test. You must take the test. When you fail...Only then, can I kill you. And my Alice. I can have my Alice again. That will be very nice. I will enjoy killing you."

Slamming a large paw down on Simon, the Cerberus creature drops him to the hard floor. The paw remains on Simon's chest until he finally loses consciousness.