Footfalls pounded on the hardwood floor, uneven and hard. A teenager with chin-length light blond hair ran around a corner in the maze of a house, his violet eyes huge with terror. He stumbled a bit on the next turn and ran up a steep flight of stairs, his knees shaking from the effort. When he reached the top he looked around wildly, then took a left and ran down a slanted hallway.

Behind him a shadow followed in hot pursuit, threatening to overtake him.

The teenager choked out a sob in terror and ran faster, his chest heaving. He turned a corner and ran down a long hallway lined with mirrors, multiple images of his own scared reflection running alongside him, all wearing an identical expression of terror.

The hall came to a sudden, abrupt end, and the teenager screeched to a halt, crying out in dismay. He looked around wildly, trying to find an exit. In his brother's favorite movies, there was always an exit when the hero was trapped in a situation like this.

But this wasn't a movie. This was real.

Scared and trapped, the teenager fell to his knees, shaking violently.

The shadow loomed up behind him, blotting out the dim light that came from the mirrors.

"You said you would play with me sir." A child's voice spoke up behind him, sending chills down his back. He shook his head, his eyes filling with tears.

"You promised."

The teen let out a soft, gasping sob, hugging his arms around himself. Tears collected on the lenses of his glasses, obscuring his vision.

"Please..." He choked out, hugging himself tighter. "I-I can't... Please... Just let me... go..."

"Play with me first!" The child's voice cracked slightly, momentarily becoming deeper.

"Please sir... If you don't... Then he'll get angry..." It pleaded.

The teenager cried quietly, shaking his head over and over. No... No... No... "I can't..."

The voice's pleads fell silent for a long time.

"Very well..." The shadow loomed closer, and the teenager felt a freezing pocket of air close around him, sucking the warmth out of his limbs, turning his breath into mist and freezing the tears on his glasses and face. More, fresh tears streamed down his cheeks, burning his skin. An icy prickle of terror crawled up his spine, and he heard a terrible, ragged breathing behind him, each breath sounding like a death rattle. Icy fingers tipped with long gnarled talon-like fingernails gripped his upper arms, piercing through the red fabric of his hoodie and freezing his skin on contact.

"A-alright." He finally sobbed, unable to bear it anymore. His entire body was shaking violently, from terror and the cold. "I... I'll play with you..."

Silence stretched on for a long time.

A creepy, high pitched giggle sounded behind him, and the cold and the fingers retreated away from him. "Will you really?"

The teenager nodded, his tears dripping onto the worn hardwood floor beneath him.

"Horray!" The teen felt a small, icy hand grab his and pull him roughly to his feet with unnatural strength, the sudden movement knocking his glasses off. The 'child' dragged him down the mirror hall, deeper into the house. Behind them, the dark shadow followed, watching closely.

Left behind in the mirror room, lay the teenager's glasses, still speckled with his tears.