00:00Have you ever been to a carnival funhouse? You know, the kind with those wavy distorted mirrors
00:05that make you look tall and skinny, then short and squat. It's all laughs and silly pictures,
00:09right? That's what I thought too. I always loved them as a kid. The last one I went to,
00:14well let's just say it cured me of that love forever. It was late, one of those dusky summer
00:18evenings where the carnival lights seem extra bright against the darkening sky. The air was
00:23thick with the smell of popcorn and diesel from the generators. I saw the sign, the grand labyrinth
00:28of reflections, flickering with old, tired bulbs. It looked cheap, but I was bored, so I paid the
00:33five bucks and stepped inside. The entrance was a narrow hallway lined with those classic funhouse
00:38mirrors. I saw a hundred versions of myself, a giant with a pinhead, a man whose legs were
00:42impossibly short, another whose torso twisted like a corkscrew. I chuckled, took a few silly photos on
00:48my phone, and pushed deeper into the maze. The music from the carousel outside started to fade,
00:53replaced by a low, humming sound that seemed to vibrate through the floor. The corridors grew
00:57tighter. The mirrors were no longer distorted, they were just dot dot dot normal, perfectly flat,
01:02reflecting the dim colored light strung along the ceiling. It became a true maze. Every turn
01:07looked the same. Me, and a dozen reflections of me, staring back from every angle. It was
01:12disorienting. Left turn, dead end. Right turn, another hallway of mirrors. I started to feel a
01:18little claustrophobic. The air was still and warm. It felt like the walls were closing in,
01:22even though I knew it was just an illusion. I kept telling myself, just keep one hand on the wall,
01:27you'll find your way out. But every wall was a cold, smooth sheet of glass. I was getting turned
01:32around, seeing my own increasingly anxious face staring back at me from the front, the side,
01:37the back. It was unnerving. I tried to call out, but the sound was flat, swallowed by the endless
01:42glass. My own reflection was my only company, and honestly, I was getting sick of looking at him.
01:47After what felt like an eternity, I stumbled into a larger, circular room. This had to be the center.
01:53Mirrors surrounded me on all sides, creating an infinite, dizzying panorama of myself.
01:58I stopped to catch my breath, leaning forward with my hands on my knees. I was tired, frustrated,
02:03and a little spooked. I just wanted out. I straightened up and looked at my reflection
02:07directly in front of me, and that's when it happened. I stood up straight, but he didn't.
02:12My reflection stayed bent over for a split second longer before slowly, deliberately,
02:16straightening his back. I froze. My heart hammered against my ribs. It had to be a trick of the
02:21light, a warp in the glass. I blinked hard, trying to reset my vision. I raised my right hand,
02:26slowly. For a terrifying moment, my reflection did nothing. He just stared at me. Then,
02:31he mirrored the action, but it was sluggish, delayed, like a bad video call connection.
02:36A cold dread, sharp and icy, crept up my spine. I lowered my hand. He lowered his. I took a shaky
02:42step back. He stayed perfectly still. We stared at each other across the three feet of empty space.
02:47My own face, but not my own. The eyes were the same. The hair. The worried expression.
02:52But there was something else in his gaze. A flicker of intelligence. Malice. I couldn't tell.
02:57My breath hitched in my throat. Then, it smiled. It wasn't my smile. It was a slow, wide, unnatural
03:03grin that didn't reach the eyes. A predator's smile. My face was frozen in terror, but his was alight
03:08with a horrifying, silent glee. The hum in the room seemed to get louder, and then he started
03:13walking. He didn't step back, or to the side. He took a step forward. Toward me, his foot passed
03:18through the surface of the mirror as if it were water. The glass rippling around his leg. He was
03:22coming out. That thing wearing my face was stepping out of the mirror and into the room with me.
03:27I finally found my voice and screamed, a raw, ragged sound that was swallowed by the labyrinth.
03:31I turned to run, but everywhere I looked, in every single mirror surrounding me.
03:35A thousand identical figures were smiling that same terrible smile, and they were all stepping
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