• On one particular night, the House of Count De Bourgeois was unusually quiet; most of the staff had been called to assist the party being held in the Grand Hall so the rest of the large castle had been surrendered to the cold and darkness of a late autumn night. Apart from the Entrance foyer, the Grand Hall and the stairs separating the two, the only places that held even the smallest vestiges of life in the majestic house were the kitchen and servants quarters. That is, except for a small second-floor hallway, through which a decidedly pale, dark-haired young noblewoman in a crimson ball-gown was striding, frenetically opening every door she came to. The girl was hopelessly lost, and to add insult to injury, she was lost in her grandfather’s castle, of all places.

    Maria knew that she could find the way easily with the help of one of the many servants, but had not deigned to ask the few she had passed – her sense of decorum dictated that she find the way back to the grand hall herself. Besides, she could scarcely imagine the gossip that would occur if she needed a scullery maid to escort her in her own grandfather’s house!

    If such a thing happened, her aunt would surely forbid her from attending any more of his parties. The thought saddened her; Grandpapa was her sole living relative on her father’s side, and as he did not travel often, these parties were the only occasions they could meet.

    Ugh, enough of this! Maria told herself. The grand hall cannot be far away, surely!

    She shook herself out of her reverie and started down yet another corridor, searching for the door that led to the hall.

    After discovering two bedrooms, a study, a sitting room and four closets, Maria found herself at a narrow, drab-looking door at the very end of an equally narrow and drab-looking corridor. The door was covered in dust, and looked like it hadn’t been opened in a number of years; perhaps it was a servant’s passage to another part of the castle? It was worth a shot – but she just knew that if the door led to yet another infernal bedroom, she would have no choice but to give up on decorum and scream in annoyance. Nevertheless, the young lady steeled herself, and turned the latch on the door. It was unlocked, and as it opened it emitted an unearthly metallic shriek. Maria winced at the sound, and stepped into the room beyond.

    It was not a bedroom; rather it was a small drawing room, or at least it had once been one, for it was devoid of all furnishings except for an old moth-eaten chaise lounge and even older ornate dining table against one wall, and a large curtain in the middle of another. The chaise lounge and the table she recognised – the lounge was stained beyond repair during a particularly spirited party a few years ago, and the table had been in the parlour until it was so old it was wont to falling apart at the slightest nudge – but the curtain looked almost… new.

    Well that’s odd, Maria thought, walking over to the drapery. This should be covered in dust, yet it looks like it was only put here yesterday.

    Reaching out in front of her, she touched the fabric – she was right, it was silk; expensive, too – and frowned. There was something behind the curtain; she could hear it rustling against the silk when she moved her hand. Maybe she had indeed stumbled upon a hidden servant’s passage? If she had, she hoped once again that it would lead her to somewhere she recognised in Grandpapa’s enormous castle.

    She pulled the folds of emerald silk back, then - most unfittingly for a person of her station - gaped in surprise and dropped the curtain.

    Impossible, she thought, her mouth subconsciously miming the words.

    Instead of a secret servant passageway, the silk had concealed a beautiful ceiling-high mirror, rimmed in ornate gold with filigree flames and dragons. However, this was not what had shocked her. For rather than reflecting the visage of her and the drawing room, the mirror showed an impossibly spacious ballroom bedecked in blood-red cloth and gold brocade; a room easily twice as large as the hall she was looking for.

    On impulse, Maria whirled around so that she was facing away from the mirror. No, the room she was standing in was still there. She felt reassured by this knowledge, then slightly foolish.

    You’re just imagining things, she told herself. It was just a trick of the light, nothing more.

    She took a deep breath, turned back to the mirror, and gingerly pushed the curtain out of the way once again.

    The ballroom was still there, but now there was someone in the room; a young, flaxen-haired noblewoman, dressed in what would once upon a time have been a beautiful rose-gold gown, but was now soiled and hanging off her body in tatters. The girl was peering behind one of the many wall hangings as if looking for something, and she had definitely not been there earlier.

    “Definitely impossible.” Maria said, this time aloud.

    “Actually, it’s just improbable.”

    Maria jumped; the voice was strange, as if echoing from some far-off location. Most people would have instantly gone to the hall to check for pranksters, but as Maria had been bred to be a good young high-class woman - all beauty and politeness, rather than brains and common sense – she did not. Instead, she did another quick about-face, this time to make sure she hadn’t missed anyone who was hiding in the room.

    “W-who is it? Where are you?” she called. Then, realising that with her stuttering questions she sounded like a timid little maidservant, added with an air of absolute superiority,

    “I am the Lady Maria Sofia de Bourgeois, only child of the late Lord Philippe de Bourgeois, sole heiress to the Count Gregory de Bourgeois of this House, and I insist that you show yourself to me immediately!”

    “A very impressive little announcement,” was the sardonic reply. “Though I am afraid I cannot show myself to you directly, for I am trapped in the mirror that stands behind you. As for my name, you may call me Cerise.”

    Stunned, Maria turned once again to the dragon mirror. The blonde girl stared intently back at her.

    “Greetings,” said Cerise, inclining her head slightly.

    Now that Maria could view her properly, she saw that Cerise’s gown would have been once worth a fortune, and that the blonde girl was also wearing a beautiful gold chain of stylised flames and dragons, inlaid with five huge dark red rubies. It had to have been crafted by the same artisan as the mirror, for they were of near identical design.

    “G-greetings to you too, Lady Cerise.” She curtseyed as well; Maria was not one to flout decorum under any circumstance. However, her respectful response did seem to fluster Cerise, who waved a hand dismissively.

    “Just Cerise, please. Lady Maria, I hate to be so abrupt, but I have to get out of this mirror, the flame gate. There are these… things… they’re terrifying… neither human, nor beast, nor bird, and their forms are ever-changing.” She trembled at some unknown memory. “These monsters, they will hunt anything that moves or makes a noise. Right now, that means me.”

    “But, why don’t you just leave by yourself; after all, you were able to enter the mirr-, um, flame gate, - that's what you called it, correct? - by yourself, you should be able to get out by the same means, wouldn’t you?”

    The girl sighed. “I would, if it were that easy. Any person can enter the dragon mirror; yet once I enter, I can only exit with aid from outside. Hence, I very much need your help – as it is, I am lucky not to have been eaten by the monsters already.”

    Maria did not look convinced; what was in it for her?. Cerise thought for a moment, then offered the Dragon necklace as a trade for her help. “I noticed you have been bewitched by it, as have many others over the years.” she explained, with a wry smile, “and besides, we aristocrats never do anything for free, don’t we?”

    Maria was startled. It was if the girl in the rose-gold gown had read her mind; ever since she first glimpsed the exquisite object, she had been scarcely able to think of anything besides it.

    “Ah, yes, in that case, I would be happy to help you!” The noblewoman smiled, not believing her luck. “So, how do I help you get out of the mirror?”

    “It’s quite simple, really; all you have to do is lay your hand flat against the glass, then slowly push until you feel air. I shall do the rest.”

    Maria did as she was bade, though the sensation of her hand moving through the mirror was more disgusting than she had ever imagined. Only greed stopped her from flinching away from the vile substance, and she closed her eyes against the unnatural sight of her hand extending into a mirror.. Then, just as she thought she might become ill from the foulness of it all, her fingers felt cool, clean air.

    “Right, that’s it!” called an overjoyed Cerise, “Now, I’ll grab hold of your hand, and you pull me back out, alright?”

    “Eugh, anything as long as I can get my hand out of this awful stuff!” Maria grimaced, forcing herself not to think about Cerise having to pass her whole body through the mirror-matter. In a surprisingly short space of time – considering how long it took Maria to push her hand through the stuff – the pretty blonde was standing on the other side of the flame gate, positively giddy with joy at being freed.

    “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” she exclaimed, “Here, the dragon necklace is yours now.”

    Cerise fiddled with the clasp of the dragon necklace, then paused, before trying again.

    After the third attempt, she sighed in frustration and turned to Maria.

    “Um, sorry, but could you please undo the necklace for me?” she asked, a tinge of embarrassment tainting her voice. “The clasp has a complicated design, and I find it near impossible to remove by touch alone.”

    Maria acquiesced, and soon Cerise was holding the ends of the golden chain, ready to place it around the dark-haired girl’s neck, as promised.

    “It suits you, Lady Maria” she said, deftly manoeuvring the intricate clasp parts into place, “I am glad to be finally rid of the accursed thing.”

    “Pardon?” Maria turned to face the blonde girl, bewildered by her strange comment. “Did I mishear you, or did you just call this necklace ‘cursed’?”

    Cerise had an odd glint in her eyes as she spoke; an almost… hungry look. “No, you didn’t mishear; it is cursed.”

    Maria’s eyes widened, and she took a step back – away from Cerise, and towards the flame gate. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the aristocrat found herself being shoved roughly into the disgusting mirror-matter.

    The vile stuff flooded into her mouth and she gagged, unable to breathe and thus unknowingly wasting the short amount of time she could have used to break Cerise’s grip and escape.

    To her, an age of coagulated torture seemed to pass until she felt clean air. The girl collapsed against the cool stone floor, coughing and retching to clear her throat of the awful muck and to drag air into her starving lungs.

    Standing back, Cerise looked on her handiwork with glee. She couldn’t believe that the stupid little countess or whatever she was been so gullible!

    Her airways cleared, Maria hammered her hands against the mirror in anger, then stopped, confused. On this side of the gate, the viscous mirror-matter was different; it had transformed into a solid sheet of a substance that looked like glass, yet was much, much stronger.

    “What have you done to me!?” she cried, pulling at the necklace to no avail. “…What is this thing? Let me out!”

    Cerise just smirked. She no longer looked like the poor little damsel she had been in that strange ballroom; now she had a sly air about her, somewhat reminiscent of the tavern wenches Maria had sometimes glimpsed in town.

    “Sweetie, thanks so much for your help.” At Maria’s incredulous look, she cackled, but elaborated. ”No, really, I mean it – honestly; neither I nor my brothers can get out of that prison by ourselves.”

    “B-brothers?”

    “Oh honey, you didn’t actually think I was human, did you?” Maria felt faint. Not human? But that meant that-

    “You’re one of them!?” she shrieked. “You tricked me!”

    Cerise winked. “Oh! Oh! Please help me! The monsters are going to eat me!” she mocked in a high voice, “All an act, and you dearie, you fell for it completely. See, my brothers and I are all bound by these pieces of jewellery.” She toyed with the dragon-ruby necklace, “By themselves, they’re practically useless – they do not even hinder our shape-shifting, for starters – but they do two things that are annoying; the wearer can’t take them off, and they also prevent the wearer from leaving without outside interference. But now, because of you, I’m free!” With that, the girl-monster spasmed, and in place of the blonde maiden in the rose-gold gown, there now stood a familiar dark-haired girl dressed in a crimson gown; a perfect copy of Maria, right down to the tiny freckles that dusted her nose .

    “So, how do I look?” Cerise-Maria twirled for effect, skirts billowing around her. Maria just gaped.

    “I’m guessing that from your expression, my form is convincing? Also, don’t take it too hard, sweetie.” she rapped her knuckles against the mirror in farewell. “Your family won’t realise you’ve gone, not for a while at least.”

    Cerise-Maria pranced away, clearly exalted by her newfound freedom, and Maria staggered back; this had to be some sort of nightmare, she told herself. She must be dreaming, she just had to – this was too much, far too much. Then, pausing in the doorway, Cerise called out as an afterthought, “Oh, Sebastian, I know she’s only small, but don’t fight over her too much - I’ll be bringing you and the others more food soon, okay?”

    A savage growl answered her, and suddenly all those ominous far-off noises seemed a lot less far away to Maria.

    “Let me out!” terrified, she called to her disappearing doppelganger. “Cerise! Please!”

    Over her shouting, Maria could still hear the beastly growls coming ever closer.

    Hysteria gripped her; screamed, and hammered on the mirror.

    “Grandpapa! Aunt Imelda!” she cried, calling out wildly to whoever might be close enough to hear; the thought of running had never entered her panicked mind.

    “Somebody, Anybody! Help me!”

    Maria heard more growls and froze, the belated realization that shouting would just lead them straight to her hitting with full force.

    They were in the room with her.

    There was nothing she could do.

    She was going to die.

    But she did not try to run – she refused to meet her end fleeing like a low, common coward. Instead, like the aristocrat she was – proud and aloof to the last – Lady Maria Sofia De Bourgeois turned to face the monsters.

    She had time to register a vague impression of six large and gruesome forms, before a seventh slammed into her and everything went black.