Locked in the Mirror

The Ravens

We are standing outside an abandoned black building. It's at least six meters tall with a large metal door. There are no windows, and if there were any, they've likely been sealed off a long time ago, probably to hide something. Vines and other wild plants surround the building.

Atlas stands next to me with his hood up. In his hands, he holds the two gallon jugs that I still can't figure out the contents of. Every time I asked him about them, he either told me to be quiet or didn't answer.

Generally, tension prevailed between us during the journey. The reason? After he disappeared from my window, I attempted to follow his path. I exited through the window as well. However, I hadn't calculated the height of our house, so I got stuck. He had to climb back up to rescue me, gripping me tightly around the waist.

The embarrassment and anger I felt were beyond description, and to my unfortunate luck, he noticed it as a sly smile appeared on his face.

But otherwise, we didn't say a thing.

"Are you done admiring?" he irritably asks me.

His voice startles me.

"I wasn't... admiring. I was just thinking..." I reply.

"Alright then. Are you done thinking?" he retorts.

I exhale in frustration.

"You seem very impatient. If you didn't want to come to get me, why didn't you find an excuse to avoid it?" I say.

He looks at me oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't pretend to be clueless," I say as my anger intensifies.

"Every pair is responsible for the safe arrival of the other. You got me yesterday, today was my turn. Also, I don't think Vaya will trust you again after what happened," he says thoughtfully.

I stare at him in shock.

"What happened?" I ask leaving the ''pair'' situation out of our discussion.

He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Now who's pretending?" he asks with a confident tone.

I laugh sarcastically.

"Don't try to be smart, you're not good at it," I tell him, my voice oozing with disdain.

Atlas doesn't respond. Instead, he starts walking quickly toward the door. Within two minutes, I'm standing next to him.

"Hold this," he says, handing me one of the gallons. I take it reluctantly.

He raises his hand and knocks on the door four times. Two rapid knocks followed by two slow ones.

Immediately, a loud sound echoes, and then I hear mechanisms turning.

With a forceful thud, the door opens just enough for us to enter.

I hand back the gallon, and Atlas disappears behind the door.

I don't want to go in. Something tells me my decision to come here was a very bad one.

I take a final breath and follow him.

The door slams shut behind us, and we plunge into absolute darkness.

My nerves are on edge, and I immediately reach out, feeling around me. My hands touch a cold surface that I soon realize is a wall.

I turn to the left and begin to move forward, my hands always outstretched.