Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“He’s going to blame us for this. You know that don’t you?” Ezra asked.

Vin stopped pacing the room they were locked in and looked over to Ezra. “Not if we get out before he knows.”

Ezra let out a sigh and looked around their current prison. The room was approximately twelve by twelve. It was sparsely furnished with just a chair and an ornate mirror on the wall. A bare bulb hanging from the ceiling gave off dim light. It was in the basement of an abandoned house they’d been searching. A tip had been called in about the house being used as a hiding spot for counterfeit rare and vintage wines that, if sold, could fetch upwards of several thousand dollars per bottle.

Since Team Seven wasn’t currently working an active case, Vin and Ezra had been dispatched to search the premises. They’d griped about having to go on a Sunday – and Halloween to boot. But, as Chris had reminded them, the court didn’t care what day it was when the search warrant was issued. After going through the entire house, they’d come up empty handed. The basement room they were currently in was the last they’d searched.

The door to it had been opened when they’d approached it. Vin had gone in first, followed by Ezra. As soon as both men were in the room, the door had swung shut with a bang. When they tried to open it, they discovered there was no doorknob inside the room, and they couldn’t get the door open. That, coupled with a lack of windows meant they were locked in. Added to that, neither was able to get a signal on his cell phone.

“So, tell me, Houdini, how do you propose we escape a room that has no windows and only one door that can’t be opened from inside this room?” Ezra turned a small circle in the center of the room. “I fail to see another way out.”

Vin shrugged and also looked around. “There has to be a way out...and if there isn’t, Chris is the one who sent us, so it’s his fault.”

“Your logic astounds me.” Letting out a small sigh, Ezra sat on the lone chair in the room. He looked over at the mirror, then got up to inspect it more closely. “This seems a rather odd place to store an antique,” he said as he ran his fingers over the frame of the looking glass.

Vin joined him by the mirror and studied it. “Maybe it’s a way out,” he suggested.

“A way out?” Ezra echoed questioningly. “Need I remind you that neither of our names is Alice.” When Vin looked at him in confusion, he added on, “As in Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll’s sequel to Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.”

Vin let out an exasperated breath. “I didn’t mean through the mirror. I meant maybe it's hiding another door or some other way out. Hell, maybe there’s some switch or something that opens the door we came through. And don’t forget, Chris did call us Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum that time we sorta got into a bar fight.”

“I try to forget that.” Ezra couldn’t help the embarrassed look that crossed over his face as he remembered the incident in question. “It was not one of my better moments.”

“Nope, but sure was fun.” Vin grinned at Ezra until he finally let out a chuckle as he looked down and shook his head slowly.

“Perhaps,” Ezra finally conceded. He looked carefully at the mirror. It was taller than him going from slightly above the floor to just below the ceiling. The frame was ornately carved and gilded. The mirror itself had the appearance of being old with cloudy areas where the backing had oxidized. “So how do you propose we move this?” He didn’t doubt it was quite heavy.

“I guess it depends on how it’s up there.” Vin inspected the side of the mirror where he was standing and gave it a little push to see if it would move. “Looks solid. What’s it look like over there.”

Ezra also pushed his side of the mirror, but it didn’t budge. “Maybe it’s bolted to the wall.” He dragged the chair over so he could stand on it to see if there was anything at the top of the mirror that would move. He was just reaching to the top when he heard an ominous creaking sound. The next thing he knew, the chair splintered under him, and he crashed to the floor. He lay dazed staring at the hand crooked in front of his face and the dusty floor.

“Shit! Ezra!” Vin called out. He kicked aside the broken pieces of the chair then knelt by his fallen friend. “Ez?” he asked again. Ezra groaned softly and tried to roll over only to have the movement stopped by Vin. “Just stay still for a second.”

Ignoring Vin’s advice, Ezra brushed away his friend’s hand and rolled over to his back changing his view from the floor to the ceiling. When he did, Vin was able to see blood trickling down his face from a gash at his hairline. “’M ok,” Ezra mumbled as he wiped blood from his eyes.

“The blood on your face says otherwise.” Vin reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bandana. He folded it into a pad and gently pressed it to side of Ezra’s head with one hand. As he did so, he held up his other hand in front of his friend’s face. “How many fingers am I holding up.”

Ezra let out a sigh. “Either you’re holding up two fingers or I’m seeing double. Satisfied?”

“It’s two...but since you weren’t sure, that means you might have a concussion or something.”

“What else is new?” Ezra asked with another sigh. He looked over to the mirror they’d been trying to move. “I believe we can assume the mirror is bolted to the wall and is not going to provide an exit for us unless one of us really is Alice.”

“What makes you say that?” Vin pulled the bandana away slightly to see if the bleeding had slowed then pressed it firmly back in place.

“It didn’t move an inch when my head struck it.” Ezra reached up to brush Vin’s hand away and to hold the bandana in place himself. He also pushed up to sit leaning against the wall. He squeezed his eyes closed for moment when the room spun dizzily around him. Thankfully, when he reopened them, the spinning had stopped. “It appears we’ve no choice other than to wait here until Mr. Larabee sees fit to come looking for us when we don’t return to the office.”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like sitting through all the jokes the guys can come up with about us being the ‘troublesome twosome’ or any other names they can think of.” As he spoke, Vin looked all around the room trying to see if they’d missed something that would set them free. “You hurt anywhere else,” he asked when his eyes came to Ezra.

“I believe my pride has taken quite a bruising.” Ezra looked over to the broken bits of the chair in disgust. “It looked solid.”

Vin patted his friend on the shoulder. “Well, maybe you should cut back on all those Reece’s you don’t think we see you sneaking. I swear you emptied out half that pumpkin on JD’s desk.”

“I have not been alone in that endeavor. I recall seeing quite a few Snickers wrappers in your trash can.”

“Yeah,” Vin agreed as he gave Ezra one more pat on the shoulder, then got up and went back to the door. “But I’m not the one who broke a chair,” he said with a smirk as he looked over his shoulder at his friend.”

“How very droll, Mr. Tanner,” Ezra grumped. “You really shouldn’t give up your day job.” As he spoke, Ezra slowly got up from the floor.

“And you shouldn’t be getting up. Sit your butt back on the floor.”

Ezra waved off Vin’s concern. “I’m fine. He pulled the bandana away from his head to show Vin that the bleeding had stopped. “You know head wounds always look worse than they are.”

“Nathan’s right,” Vin grumbled as he turned back to the door. “You are a stubborn ass.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Ezra countered as he looked at the mirror again. The reflection he saw sent chills up his spine. “Mr. Tanner...Vin,” he called with a quaver in his voice. “We are the only occupants of this room, are we not?”

Vin quickly spun to Ezra thinking the head wound was worse than the other man was letting on. “What are you talking about? You seeing things?”

“Perhaps,” Ezra answered in a voice slightly above a whisper. “That could explain the appearance of the girl.”

“What girl?” Vin walked over to his friend keeping his eyes on him. He hadn’t thought Ezra had hit his head that hard which is why he hadn't forced him to stay down. Still, if he were hallucinating, that couldn’t be good.

“There,” Ezra said pointing to the mirror. “Are you telling me you don’t see her.”

Vin looked to where Ezra was pointing. In the mirror he saw his reflection and Ezra’s, but no other. “There’s just us.” He reached to take Ezra’s arm. “Maybe you oughtta sit down again.”

Ezra shook off Vin’s hand and walked closer to the mirror. He watched as his reflection came closer and also that of the young girl he could see. He stopped when he was less than an arm’s length away. “I see her right there,” he said pointing to a spot on the mirror by his side. He looked down beside himself. “But she’s not here. Don’t you see her?” he begged Vin.

“I’m sorry, Ez. I don’t see anything.” Again, Vin grasped his friend’s arm. He led him over to the wall by the door and forced him to sit down by it. “You got your bell rung pretty hard.”

“I am not hallucinating,” Ezra said forcefully. “There is a girl in the mirror. She’s about seventeen, has dark brown hair and eyes and she’s wearing incredibly old clothes...they look to be from the 18th or 19th century.”

“I’m sorry, Ez. I only see me and you in the reflection.”

“Damn it, Vin,” Ezra said in exasperation. “She’s standing just to your left. How can you not see her?” Just the faintest hint of panic crept into his voice.

“There’s no one,” Vin began to say as he waved his hand to his left, but suddenly stopped himself. “Whoa. That was weird.” Again, he waved his hand to his left and a visible shudder went through is body. He quickly took a few steps to his right.

“What? What’s weird?” Ezra demanded.

“When my hand went through the air there, it was like the temperature dropped to freezing just in that small space.” Vin stepped back to where he’d been initially standing and again waved his arm. “Now it’s not cold.”

Ezra licked at his lips nervously. “She’s not there anymore. He patted the floor to his right and recoiled as a shiver went through his body. She’s sitting by me now.” He kept his gaze locked on the reflection and watched as the girl he was seeing reached toward him and rested her hand on his arm. At the same time, he felt an iciness on his arm so cold it burned. “Argh,” he cried out as he jumped to his feet and moved away.

“What?” Vin asked in alarm. Even though he couldn’t see whatever Ezra was seeing he still looked around. “What’s wrong?”

“She touched me. The cold burned.” As he spoke, Ezra briskly rubbed his left arm where he’d felt the icy touch.

“Ok,” Vin said as calmy as he could. “We really need to get out of here and get you some help.”

“I am not hallucinating,” Ezra said again forcefully. “I can see her and feel her. Even you said you could feel the cold where I saw her standing.”

“Maybe,” Vin said as he threw his hands up. “Maybe there is something...someone here, but let’s face it, you weren’t seeing anything until you hit your head. It’s got to be connected.”

“Help me,” a high, whispery voice called out before Ezra could respond. Hearing the voice, Vin’s face drained of color.

“You heard that, didn’t you?” Ezra challenged.

“Uh huh,” Vin acknowledged as he looked all around. “Ok, whoever’s playing tricks, I’ve about had enough,” he called out at the ceiling. “We’re Federal agents. You best let us out of this room and stop screwing around.” He pulled his weapon from its holster. “I ain’t above shooting this door open if I have to.”

As Vin made the threat, Ezra carefully watched the girl only he could see. She shrank in terror from Vin, pulling herself close to Ezra. He felt cold all along his left side and pulled away. “Stop it, Vin. You’re frightening her.”

“Frightening her?” Vin couldn’t stop the nervous chuckle that came out. “Unless there’s someone here playing tricks on us, she’s a ghost and you’re telling me I’m frightening her?”

“Put your gun away,” Ezra said slowly then looked to his left and slightly down. “Mr. Tanner has no intention of hurting you, dear.”

“Help me,” the two men heard again.

Slowly, Vin re-holstered his weapon. “You know this is crazy, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure what this is. I’d like to think this is some wild, practical joke Buck and JD set up, but I don’t believe they’d get Chris to go along with something like this.” He slowly stood up and approached the mirror again. When he was near it, he lay his hand flat on it, feeling the coolness of the glass. When he did, the image of the girl vanished. Ezra sagged against the mirror, seeming to become disoriented.

Seeing the other man looking on the verge of falling over, Vin quickly crossed to him. As he put out a hand to support him, Ezra straightened up. “You ok, Ez?” he asked concerned that his friend didn’t quite look like he was with it.

Ezra blinked a few times, then brushed his hand over the mirror again. “Who are you?” His voice had a lighter quality. He backed away from Vin, holding up a hand to keep him away. “Who are you?” he asked again. This time there was fear in his voice.

Vin’s first inclination was that Ezra had suffered a more serious head injury than either had thought. Considering what had happened in the last few minutes, though, he was willing to believe something else was going on. “I’m Vin. Who are you?”

Ezra turned back to the mirror and traced the outline of his face. “Felicity,” he said off-handedly. He continued to stare enraptured at his face. “What’s his name?”

Vin’s gaze moved from Ezra to the reflection in the mirror. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. Instead of just his and Ezra’s reflection, there was the shadowy vision of a girl’s face superimposed over Ezra’s. She had dark brown hair and eyes as Ezra had described. Her hair was pulled back and covered by a white linen mob cap. He was unable to make out her clothing as her image blended into Ezra’s.

“He looks kind,” Ezra said then looked over to Vin. “What’s his name.”

“Ezra.” The way Vin said it, it could have been an answer to the question or calling out for his friend.

“Ezra,” Ezra repeated. He turned away from the mirror to face Vin. “His clothes are strange,” he stated running a hand over the nylon ATF windbreaker Ezra was wearing. He looked around and took a step in the direction of the door. “What is this place?”

“Um…a room…in a basement.” Vin followed one step behind his friend. “Um…Felicity…is…um…is Ezra still here.”

Ezra’s head nodded once. “He’s sleeping. Can you help me? I’ve been trapped here for so long.”

“Oookkk,” Vin breathed out slowly. There were two options. Either Ezra had something really wrong in his head, or he’d just been possessed by a ghost. The way the day was going, Vin wasn’t about to count out the second option. Whichever the reason was, it was probably best to play along for now. “How’d you get trapped?”

Ezra started to slowly wander around the room. “Papa was with Colonel Innes in Yorktown. He sent Mama, me, and the younger children to stay with Mr. Dudley on his plantation. He thought we’d be safer there.” His wandering had brought him back to the mirror and he stopped, looking at it. “This mirror hung in the grand parlor.” He looked over at Vin. “This isn’t Mr. Dudley’s manor.”

“Uh...no. I don’t think so. Where was...is... Mr. Dudley’s manor.”

“It’s two days ride from the capital city.” Ezra laughed lightly as if he’d heard a joke only he understood. “Both of the capital cities.” Seeing a quizzical look on Vin’s face, he further explained, “It was just two years ago that capital was moved to Richmond. The governor, Mr. Jefferson, feared the British. Mr. Dudley’s plantation is a two-day ride to both Richmond and Williamsburg.”

“Richmond?” Vin questioned. “So, Mr. Dudley’s manor was in Virginia?”

“Yes.” Ezra again looked all around the room. “Isn’t that where we are?”

“Colorado,” Vin answered. “Although I’m not sure you know where that is in...your time. So, what happened when you were with Mr. Dudley?” he prompted.

Ezra’s face darkened at the question. “Thomas Dudley, his son, wished to take me for his wife. I did not care for him and did not wish the match, but he kept pressing. I thought him a coward hiding away instead of fighting with the General. We were in the grand parlor one evening. He was again pressing me, and I told him just what I thought of him. Thomas was very hot-blooded with a quick temper. He laid hands on me, shaking me, and demanding I recant my words, but I wouldn’t. In a fit of temper, he shoved me backwards quite hard.” He reached out to touch the frame of the mirror. “My head struck here, and I knew no more for a time.” Ezra pulled his hand away from the mirror, tacky with blood from where his head had hit. “Curious,” he commented when he saw the blood, then wiped it with the bandana he still held. “I believe my life ceased. Since then, I’ve only existed in there,” he said pointing to the mirror, “and have only seen what’s on the other side of the looking glass.”

Vin wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry,” he finally settled on.

Ezra bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. “I’ve tried to reach others. Only some could see me, and they’d often run away in fear. You and this man are the only ones who haven’t run. I mean no ill will.”

“Well, Ez and me are kind of stuck here since we can’t get the door to open.” An idea came to Vin that, maybe, could be a test of what was happening. “If you’ve been stuck in that mirror, I don’t suppose you ever saw someone come in and out of this room. Maybe you know the way out.”

Ezra wandered over to the door and ran his fingers lightly over the barely noticeable gap around it. “I’ve seen another. He reminded me very much of Thomas. He would hide boxes under the floor then leave. I was greatly relieved every time he’d go through the door. I never tried to reach out to him. If I tell you how he left, you’ll leave as well, and I’ll be trapped again. I’ll be alone.”

“We can’t stay here forever. There’s no food and no water. We wouldn’t last more than a week if that. Besides, Ezra needs medical help. I think he hit his head harder than we first thought. He could die...I could die.” Vin couldn’t believe he was trying to rationalize with a ghost. “Then what?”

An eerie smile came to Ezra’s face. “Then we’d be together always. I wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.”

Chapter Text

He felt like a prisoner in his own body. After touching the mirror, he’d felt an almost electric buzz, then seemed to lose control of his body. He could hear himself talking and feel himself moving, but he didn’t have control over it…and he wasn’t alone.

After the first few panicked moments of trying to gain control, Ezra finally stopped and did one of the things he did best…he observed. It seemed the girl whose reflection he’d seen had somehow entered him and taken control. He felt and heard himself tell Vin that her name was Felicity and that he was sleeping. Maybe, since he’d stopped fighting, she didn’t think he was conscious any longer.

He took in the story of woe she told Vin, but it didn’t feel right. Although Felicity may have been innocent when this Thomas Dudley person tried to force her into marriage, the impression he had wasn’t that she was simply an innocent victim, but that she was a malevolent presence. Perhaps all the time she’s spent in this in between had warped her somehow.

“You can’t do that,” he heard Vin say. “There are people who are going to look for us.”

He felt and heard himself let out a chilling laugh. “Then I’d have more to keep me company.” He felt his body whirl around until he was once more facing the mirror. He was able to see Felicity’s image superimposed over his own as if they were both in the mirror and outside of it. There had to be a way to undo this. He just had to figure it out…all while keeping the girl unaware.

“Felicity,” Vin said as he grabbed hold of Ezra’s shoulder and turned him back around. “This isn’t right. Think about how you felt when Thomas was trying to force you to marry him. That was against your will. You’re doing the same thing to Ezra…and me now. You know it ain’t right.”

“Right and wrong matters not. I’ve been waiting for someone to come on this day year after year and the two of you were finally sent to me. This is as it should be.”

Vin couldn’t believe this was happening. This was supposed to be a simple search, but here he was trying to rationalize and convince a ghost that had been stuck in a mirror for 241 years to give up the body of his friend and let them leave.

“It’s All Hallows Eve,” Ezra’s voice continued. The veil between that which is living and that which is no longer is at its thinnest this night. None of the others who saw me ever came on All Hallows Eve. When the clock strikes the midnight hour, I’ll be separate from this looking glass.”

“You’ll be separate.” Vin looked uneasily between Ezra and mirror. “What’s that mean?”

Ezra again turned toward the mirror and ran his hand over the reflection. “It means this man,” she looked back over her shoulder at Vin, “Ezra, you say his name is.” She didn’t wait for Vin to answer before looking back to the mirror. “Ezra and I will be together for always. I’ll never be lonely again. He’ll wake then, and we’ll be companions forever more.”

“That’s all well and good,” Vin said trying not to let any uneasiness into voice. “But we’re still stuck in this room. Like I said with no food and no water, you’re only going to be companions for a real short time.”

Caressing the mirror gently, Ezra smiled at Vin. “We can return to the looking glass then. He is quite handsome. I think I should like to have been wife to him.”

“Wait a minute. Hang on.” Vin was quickly concluding that this ghost wasn’t of sound mind. He almost laughed out loud at the thought. Who’d have thought he’d be analyzing the sanity of a ghost. “I thought you wanted out of the mirror. Now you want to hang around inside of Ezra until he keels over dead from lack of water so you can take him back in the mirror.”

“And you. We will be companions for all eternity.”

“You’re nuts, lady. I ain’t hanging around her ‘til I’m dead just to be with you in a mirror and I’m not going to let Ezra do that either.”

“You’ve little choice in the matter. Tell me of this man…this Ezra.”

“Why don’t you wake him up and ask him yourself,” Vin suggested.

Ezra’s shoulders raised in a shrug. “If you won’t tell me of him, I can wait until the clock chimes the midnight hour.”

“Got a while ‘til that happens,” Vin responded as he pulled out his phone to check the time. He was surprised when he saw it was already 11:30 at night. It had been just after three in the afternoon when he and Ezra arrived at the house. It hadn’t taken them long to search it. He didn’t think they’d been locked in the room for that long. Yet over eight hours had gone by. That left the question of where the others were. There’s no way Chris would have let this much time go by without trying to contact them, and, not getting an answer, he and the others would have been here looking for them hours ago. “What the hell,” he muttered.

“What a curious time piece,” Ezra said as he watched Vin check the time. “Time can move quite quickly,” he added seeing the shock on the other man’s face. “Soon. Soon.”

Vin moved back to the door. Echoing Ezra’s movement from earlier, he traced his finger over the barely seen gap between it and the door frame. He had half an hour to get himself and Ezra out.

He noticed that even if Felicity moved around the room, she always brought Ezra’s body back close to the mirror. Something was telling him that if he could get them out of the room, whatever hold she had over Ezra would break as soon as he was out of proximity of the mirror.

“You said another man would come into this room. What was he doing?” He hoped if he could get her to talk, she might reveal something.

“As I said. He would hide boxes under the floor and then he would leave. Sometimes, he would take the boxes out again.”

“Has he been here recently? What part of the floor did he hide these boxes under?”

“He’s not been here for days.” Ezra pointed to a corner of the room. “He’d hide the boxes there.”

Vin went over to the corner of the room and squatted down to look at the floor. He ran his hand over the floorboards but didn’t find any way to lift them up. Logically, he realized, unless there was a sub-basement, there shouldn’t be any room below the floorboards to hide anything. He was just turning to say as such when he saw Ezra behind him. He held a piece of the broken chair above his head ready to bring it crashing down on Vin’s head.

“What the hell,” Vin exclaimed as he rolled away from the piece of wood.

“I won’t let you take him.” Ezra’s arm raised to strike another blow, but instead of coming down, his arm shook. It was as if one force tried to bring it down while another tried to hold it back. His face twisted as opposing forces tried to control the body.

“Fight her, Ez,” Vin called out seeing the struggle on his friend’s face. “You’re stronger than her. You can do it.”

Unexpectedly, the piece of wood Ezra held was flung to the side and he fell to the ground where he stayed hunched over breathing heavily. When he looked up, Vin could have sworn he saw his friend’s eyes turn from their accustomed green to brown then back again. “You will not win,” Ezra’s voice snarled as he crawled back to the mirror. He sat with his back against it breathing heavily for a moment before getting up. “The time is short. Soon, we will be together for eternity.”

Vin checked the time again thinking he still has most of the half hour. He sucked in a breath when he saw time seemed to have jumped again and he had less than five minutes to figure a way out. If Ezra had been able to gain control once, he had to be able to do it again. Vin just had to reach him. “Fight her, Ezra. We need a way out of this, but you’ve got to fight her.”

Again, a struggle for control showed on Ezra’s face. “Vin,” he gasped out. “Help me.”

“I’m trying to, Ez. You gotta tell me how. She knows how. Tell me.”

“The mirror,” Ezra gasped out. Again, there was an internal struggle as Felicity took control again. “No!” Ezra’s voice shouted. “You will not tell him.”

“Fight her, Ezra.” Vin looked at the time again. “We’re running out of time. You’ve gotta tell me.” He grasped his friend by the shoulders and shook him. “Let him go, damn you. Let him, go.”

“The mirror,” Ezra gasped as he regained control again.

“Yeah. What about the mirror.”

“Break it, Vin. You must break it.”

“How?” Vin demanded. Did Ezra mean just the glass of the mirror or did the frame have to be broken as well.

“Please!” Ezra begged as time ran out. “You must shatter it.” He wrenched himself from Vin’s hold as Felicity gained control again. “Nooooo!!!!” his voice called out.

Knowing there was no time to waste, Vin pulled out his weapon and aimed at the mirror. Just as he pulled the trigger, Ezra’s body came toward him trying to stop the shot. Not wanting to shoot his friend, Vin pulled his arm to the right and his shot barely nicked the frame. The two then began to struggle for the gun. It felt like a clock was ticking in Vin’s head. Suddenly, he started hearing chiming and knew time was just about up. Wrenching the gun from Ezra’s hold, he took aim and pulled the trigged four times in quick succession and the mirror shattered. When it did, a blinding flash filled the room. Vin and Ezra were flung apart and were now…

M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7

…descending the stairs into the basement of an abandoned Victorian home on the outskirts of the city. They’d spent the last several hours searching the abandoned the building and they’d still to find any sign of the counterfeit wine they’d received a tip about.

Both men were eager to finish the search. Not only was it Sunday, but it was also Halloween. Vin had promised to help set up the costume party at the youth center and he was eager to get there and get started. Ezra was looking forward to a night spent giving out candy to the neighborhood trick or treaters. He’d bought several pumpkins and wanted to carve Jack o’Lanterns to put out before the children started to arrive.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ezra abruptly stopped and shook his head. “I’ve the strangest feeling that we’ve already come down these stairs.”

“Like déjà vu?” Vin asked. “Cause I got that feeling, too…and that we were somewhere else just a second ago.”

“Yes. Me as well,” Ezra agreed. He looked all around as if he expected someone or something to materialize. “Perhaps it’s just this house and day.”

“Yeah. It does have that haunted house kinda feel to it.” They’d reached the bottom of the steps and saw a room at the far side of the basement. The door was open and there was a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling illuminating it dimly. The only contents they could see from the doorway was a wooden chair and a mirror that looked antique. Just as he was about to step in the room, Ezra grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “What?” he asked.

“It’s a trap,” Ezra said then pointed to the door. “If it closes, we’ve no way out.”

Vin looked to where Ezra was pointing and saw there was no doorknob on the inside of the door. As Ezra had said, if the door closed behind them, they’d have no way out of the room. “Good catch. How’d you know?”

Ezra shook his head. “I don’t know. I just had a feeling.” A chill went through is body that he tried to suppress. “I have the oddest feeling about this room…like something…malevolent is here.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean,” Vin agreed. “I say we call in to Chris that we didn’t find anything. DPD can secure the place until a more thorough search can be made. Let’s just get out of here.”

Ezra looked warily into the room then quickly looked away when his gaze stopped on the mirror. “I completely agree with you, Vin.” As the two men backed away from the room, he swung the door closed blocking the mirror from his sight. As he did, he thought he caught sight of a shadowy figure in the mirror…a girl with dark hair and eyes dressed in clothing from the 18th Century. As the door snicked shut, he shook his head. He had to have imagined it. As Vin had said, the house did give off a haunted house vibe and it was Halloween. “Let’s get on to our holiday plans,” he said as he led the way up the basement stairs.

M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7 M7

As the door swung shut on the room, the image of Felicity appeared in the mirror again. She barely caught a glimpse of Ezra just before it snicked shut. “Next time,” she whispered then disappeared.