[Someone said that if you stare straight into the mirror on 3:33am, your reflection will look different from usual and it will pull you into the other side of the mirror.]

"This is so stupid!" grumbled Vanessa.

"Technically, nobody invited you..." murmured An lazily.

Vanessa gasped. "Like I would leave you alone with MY boyfriend!"

"G- guys..." Zephyr hesitated. He regretted being in between the hard-headed Vanessa and sharp-tongued An. Seriously, these two were giving him a headache!

"It's not even like I invited this dimwit to join me!" An retorted harshly, making a point that he disliked both of them here.

Zephyr's mouth hanged wide open when hearing An's calling names to him. "Dimw-?! I'm not a dimwit!"

"Don't you dare call my boyfriend a dimwit!" shouted Vanessa in disagreement. "He's the smartest guy I've ever known in my life!"

Vanessa hugged Zephyr's arms tightly to her chest. Zephyr coughed in shock at the soft and bouncy sensation that was touching his elbow.

"Well, my condolences to that. Now, shut your pie hole, you idgits!" An took a brief glance at his wristwatch. "A few seconds left until 3:33," he proclaimed.

The three of them went silent as they nervously stood in front of a large mirror in the gym room.

Tick!

Tock!

Tick!

It's 3:33am.

Zephyr stared deeply into the eyes of his own reflection. Strangely, he felt almost like he was hypnotised, and he couldn't take away his sight from his reflection. Suddenly, his own face in the mirror morphed into an eerie smile before his eyes turned heavy. Chills ran through his whole existence as his eyelids slowly closing. The last thing he remembered was two loud thud sounds following by the pain of his body crashing on the floor.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the unconscious Vanessa on his left. Meanwhile, on his right, An was inspecting his surroundings while keeping his straight face, as the dead face always did. Although, Zephyr could clearly see the excitement flashed within the omega's amber eyes.

Zephyr gently shook Vanessa awake, and at the same time, he was in alert just in case something weirds or dangerous happened.

An nearly broke into a small smile when he realized that the space they were in at this moment was a tad bit different from a few moments ago. Everything around them right now was inverted! It was as if they were in the mirror! That means...

"We did it," he whispered. "We've seriously done it!" He turned to the nearest window and looked outside. Unfortunately, he could see nothing except for complete darkness.

Vanessa groaned, and twisted and stretched her sore body. Her sky blue eyes met Zephyr's pale face. "Babe? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Everything," mumbled Zephyr nervously with a very small and shaky voice. He had noticed that there was something wrong in this place. Furthermore, the ambiance here was really dark and chilling, unlike before. This is not their home!

An didn't really care about the trembling Zephyr, or the confused Vanessa. He explored every single inch of the room there were in. He stared into the mirror, but he saw no reflection of him, neither the other two. That made him shivered and excited.

Suddenly, a screeching sound came out of nowhere, along with an inaudible sound of a man's voice.

[Ehem! Testing, one, two, three~] said the voice, now loud and clear.

Zephyr's forehead furrowed in confusion. He knew that voice! That voice almost sounded like-

"Jason?" called An, also confused.

"What?" asked the more confused Vanessa. Poor girl, still didn't understand what was happening.

[Nonono!]

The voice laughed, denying their assumption.

[I am the host for tonight's game! The name's Host, you can call me Host.]

The voice was so clear and energetic, it made them feel like they were in a game show. Vanessa squinted her eyes and only now realized that there were no reflection of the in the mirror in front of them. She gasped in utter shock.

"Babe," she called, grabbing Zephyr's shirt too tightly.

Zephyr nodded his head as confirmation before hugging his girlfriend close in his strong arms.

An rested his hands on his slim waist and looked around. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the source of the voice. His attention turned to the couple that were still sitting on the floor.

"What game? Battle Royale?" An asked.

[What?! No! It's too violent! Is that the first thing in your head when I said 'game'? Think again. The less violent game.]

"Hunger Games? Saw? 'Btoom!'?"

[No! Aren't those basically the same killing-each-other-game?! Why're you keep thinking of that kind of game?!]

An pinched his chin as if he was thinking about something. He raised up his face and said,

"My childhood ambition was to be an assassin."

[WHAT KIND OF CHILDHOOD YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH?! You need help, kid? You want me to make an appointment with a therapist for you? Geh! No! This is not the time! Back to the game-]

"Battle Royale 2?" An asked again.

[No! Did you just say '2'?! You did, didn't you?! Don't just randomly say movie titles!]

"Umm... One of them is actually an anime..." Vanessa intruded while timidly raising her hand.

An turned his head towards her. "Oh, so you know that anime?"

"Hmph!" Vanessa flipped her hair proudly. "Of course I know!"

[That's not the point here, guys! Sheesh! You're making me crazy! Damn it! You, there!]

Zephyr twitched. "Uh... Me?"

[Yeah, you! You're the most normal looking one here. Gimme one game you can think of right now.]

Zephyr's eyebrows knitted into one. He instantly answered, "Hide-and-seek?"

[You're right!! Absolutely correct! Thank you, God for giving me one guy that's normal! *sniff*]

Zephyr's face scrunched in confusion. "Are you... crying?"

The voice gasped automatically. They could hear him blew his nose before they heard a slow whisper of the words "I'm okay" repeated three times.

[I don't cry. I'm a big boy.]

"Big boys CAN cry. It's okay," comforted An with a gentle voice.

[Thank you. That helps. OI! You're the one who makes me cry in the first place!]

Vanessa was already tired of listening to the silly voice. She groaned in annoyance. "Just go on with the game already! How can we go back home?"

[Fine... Fine... Sheesh! As you obviously know, this place is not your original world. This is the world within the mirror, the inverted world from your own. To go back to your real world, you need to hide and capture your shadow, reflection- whatever form it takes. But beware! You can only touch them if they were completely not moving. If they caught you first, they will steal your body and you could never escape this place forever! Pay attention to the bells. The closer they are, the further the bell sounded. The game will start after the countdown. Ready?]

Zephyr and the others flinched. "Wait!" shouted the male alpha, but the voice did not tolerate him.

[Ten.]

"Shit!" Zephyr took Vanessa's hand and headed to the door.

[Nine.]

"The door's locked!" screamed Vanessa in terror.

[Eight.]

An saw a glimpse of someone's shadow in the mirror. He grabbed a dumbbell.

[Seven.]

Zephyr saw the shadow too. He told Vanessa to move and started to slam onto the door with his body. It didn't work.

[Six.]

An pushed Zephyr away before he hit the doorknob with the dumbbell. It wouldn't budge. So, Zephyr snatched the dumbbell from his hand and hit the doorknob as hard as he could.

[Five.]

The door was flung open. Zephyr grabbed Vanessa's and An's hand and dragged them away.

[Four.]

"Over there!" shouted Vanessa while pointing at an opened door.

[Three.]

Zephyr waste no time to pulled both his girlfriend and his wife to the room.

[Two.]

They closed the door and locked it.

[One.]

An inspected the room and saw no movement or shadow. They were safe. For now. Vanessa slid down the floor while holding her rapidly beating chest. Zephyr patted Vanessa's small back to calm her down.

"The shadow came out even before the countdown finished!" complained Zephyr in anger.

An opened the bathroom door and stopped moving when he saw the mirror facing the door. He carefully closed the bathroom door and went to the wardrobe to take a towel. Then, he went back to the bathroom to cover the mirror completely with the towel.

He turned around and was shocked by Zephyr sudden appearance at the door.

"What are you doing?" Zephyr asked, his brows furrowing. Their gaze both stopped at the towel covering the mirror.

"As a precaution," answered the omega. "Just in case they could travel using the mirror."

Zephyr grinned. "Guess all that time playing video games weren't wasted, after all."

"Of course not." An huffed, then pushed through the gap between Zephyr and the door. His eyes landed on the pale-faced Vanessa who was sitting on the bed. He turned back to Zephyr while folding his arms against his chest.

"You know that the most efficient way of playing hide-and-seek is hiding separately, right?" An raised one of his eyebrows while staring at Zephyr.

Vanessa was shocked. "No way I'm gonna hide alone! I'm staying with Zephyr!"

Zephyr nodded before glancing at An. "And you should know that in horror stories, going separate ways was one of the most idiotic decisions ever made. At least, we could look after each other when we're together."

Zephyr walked to the bed and took the trembling Vanessa into his arms. He was fully aware of how scared Vanessa with horror stuff. Now that they were experiencing the real horror experience, he couldn't even imagine what the woman's thinking.

He took a glance at An. Thankfully this certain omega was a fan of horror. Or else, he had to look after them both.

An shook his head in disagreement. "I'm not risking it. If we're caught together, we're doomed."

Vanessa directed a death glare at An and gritted her teeth. "It's all your fault! If you didn't do this stupid thing, we won't be in this situation!"

An sharply glared at Vanessa. "Excuse me? Who was the one that intruded me and wouldn't go even if I clearly said that I didn't invite her?"

"You-!"

"Okay, guys! Stop arguing! This is not the time okay? Let's think of the way to survive this. We can't stay here forever. We need a plan."

Zephyr looked at Vanessa and An, one by one. An sighed.

"I'm outta here. I'll find the shadows and try to catch them. We need to find them sooner or later, anyway." An went to the door.

Zephyr stood up and tried to stop the omega. That was when An turned around and said,

"Be alert of the bells. If they were close, it'll sounds like they were far away, and vice versa. Wish you luck."

Then, An went out and slowly closed the door. Zephyr sat back on the bed and messed up his hair in frustration. Vanessa looked at Zephyr and rubbed his shoulder. He turned to her and smiled.

"Let's go home."

●○●○●

An creeped around while being alert of any sounds or movements. He didn't want to miss anything. He went to the door of one of the bedroom before he carefully and quietly opened it. There was nothing inside. He let out a relieved sigh.

In actuality, he didn't expect that the urban legend he casually read in one of the internet thread online would be real. Although this was a dangerous and terrifying situation, he somehow felt excited with the thrill. I mean, exactly what are the chances that you ended up experiencing the real-life horror game? Nada. At least, not in reality.

"As expected, moving solo is the best," he whispered.

Right now, he could move freely, without the loud Vanessa and the naghing Zephyr. What a life! An just hope that he wouldn't get caught without extra eyes watching his back.

Cling! Cling!

An's movement stopped. He focused on the sound as his eyes were busy glancing around. The sound sounded far. It must be near him. He should be careful. Unlike games, there were no checkpoints or retries.

An slowly enter the nearest room, checked for mirrors or anything that could reflect images clearly. When he confirmed that it's clear, he locked the door quietly. The sound becoming more distinct. An crouched on the floor and peeked through the gap between the door and the floor.

As the sound becoming more and more distinct, he saw a shadow on the floor. The shadow slowly slid closer until it passed the room where An was hiding. An slowly let out his breath that he unconsciously held.

All of a sudden, the shadow quickly went right in front of An's door and stopped. An automatically held his breath.

Knock! Knock!

"You're in there," the shadow whispered. "I... knooooow...."

An was still peeking through the gap. He was too scared to close his eyes, afraid that the shadow would make a move while he blinked.

After a full minute standing there, the shadow moved away and the bell sound becoming clearer until it suddenly stopped. An released his breath in relieve.

He clicked his tongue in disappointment. He thought that it was easy to catch the shadow, but unfortunately for him, he was too scared to risk himself.

"There have to be another way..." An whispered to himself.

●○●○●

Zephyr pulled Vanessa closer to him when he heard loud jingles coming towards them. Vanessa gripped his hand tighter while trying to control her trembling. Zephyr shifted his gaze to look at his girl before he flashed a half confident smile to reassure her.

"It's okay. If it sounds near, that means it's far," Zephyr reminded her.

Vanessa nodded her head. Even though it seemed like a simple concept, it was the opposite of what they used to. So, they always freaked out whenever the sound felt near.

"There are three shadows, right? Yours, mine and the omega's? So far, we only heard one." Vanessa glanced around them and moved closer to Zephyr. "How can we capture them? We can't even let them notice us!"

Zephyr pulled Vanessa into a safe room and quickly locked the door. "He said, this is hide-and-seek. That means, we need to touch them when they aren't moving. We just need to find the perfect time to touch them... and called out their name? Damn it! There was a lot of versions of hide-and-seek, I can't remember the rules!"

Also, he had long since graduated from childhood. How can he remember the exact rule of the game? Plus, he rarely played hide-and-seek as a child.

Zephyr knocked his head in frustration. He was hoping that An succeeded in capturing one of the shadow.

Vanessa bit her nails and looked at Zephyr. "It doesn't matter. As long as we could touch them."

"Shh!" Zephyr shoved his palm to Vanessa's mouth. Vanessa struggled a little when Zephyr's hand covered her nose too. Zephyr loosened his grip and signalled Vanessa to focus her hearing.

They could hear the jingles from afar. That means, the shadow was near. They both stayed silent until the bell sound stopped.

Their breath was quickened along with their heartbeats. Vanessa could feel chills coming from her back. Zephyr signaled to Vanessa to stay in the room while he went out to check. Vanessa nodded her head. Then, Zephyr went out and closed the door.

Vanessa was now alone. She endured the fear that was clawing on her mind and slowly took a deep breath to calm herself down. The bells sounded further and further away. She turned away from the door and slowly looked up.

Her eyes widened in horror.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!!"

●○●○●