Work Text:
[Tape clicks on.]
JONATHAN SIMS
Do you mind stating your name again? For the recording.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
Oh, sure. No problem. My name is Oliver Chapman.
JONATHAN SIMS
And this is regarding…?
OLIVER CHAPMAN
Sorry?
JONATHAN SIMS
[Exhausted sigh.] What is the subject of your experience in a few words?
OLIVER CHAPMAN
Right. Sorry. Uhm… A strange labyrinth my friend and I found. It was not supposed to be there, I think. It was-
JONATHAN SIMS
Save that part for the statement. I have to start it properly first.
Statement of Oliver Chapman, regarding a peculiar labyrinth he and a friend of his found. Statement recorded direct from subject, 2nd December 2016.
Statement begins.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
I was meeting my friend Sophie about-
JONATHAN SIMS
I have to ask you to use full names. Please. [Sigh.] At least once so we know who you are talking about and we can do follow up research on your statement.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
(Statement)
Oh. Yeah, sorry. I’m just a bit scatterbrained lately. So…
As I said, I was meeting my friend Sophia Lyon a week ago. We went to university together, and hadn’t seen each other since graduation, as she moved away for a great job opportunity. We talked now and then, but we didn’t meet in person.
Well about a month ago, she texted me that she’s coming home to visit and we should meet if I have time. So we arranged a day for ourselves. Nothing fancy. Just going to a tea house or cafe or walking around in a park, catching up and letting the day take us anywhere if some idea came up to do something else.
The first half of our day was normal. We sat in a tea house, drank tea and ate pastries. When we were done there, we decided to go on a walk. The plan was to just wander around and continue talking. We didn’t even make it five meters away from the tea house before we got side tracked in the form of a cat. Sophie loves cats, and she wanted to pet the thing. I was against it as it could be sick or just aggressive, and attack her. But she didn’t care about that, so we followed it. It took us to an alley, before we lost sight of it. Sophie was pretty sad about it, but you know… I didn't want to follow it anyway, so I told her that we should go and I was quick to turn around, and start heading back to the main road. However, when I emerged from the alley, Sophie wasn’t with me. I was starting to get agitated at this point, but went back to see what was going on. She wasn’t where she was before I left. I called out her name a few times, and ultimately decided to go deeper into the alley.
When I finally found her a few minutes later, she was staring intensely at a door. The door looked like it would lead to a little girls room or some kind of play area. It was bright pink with a brass-looking, round knob. It was sticking out like a sore thumb against the brown brick of the wall.
I called Sophie’s name, but she didn’t react. She instead took a few steps towards the door, and extended her hand to the knob. I called her name again, louder this time. Again, she didn’t react. I was getting really annoyed. I went over to her to… I don’t know. Drag her away? Maybe snap her out of whatever trance she was in? I didn’t exactly have a plan. I just wanted to get out of there and take her with me. But before I reached her, she turned the knob and pushed in the door. Sophie stepped inside before I could pull her back.
I followed her inside. It was a terrible idea, I know. At the least, we were trespassing. But that seemed like the most logical thing to do at the time. I had no idea what got into Sophie, but I wasn’t about to leave her alone in there.
The pink door led to a narrow corridor. Everything was so bright and the walls and ceiling were covered in mirrors. I have no idea where the light came from. There were no windows or even lights I could see. What I could see however, was Sophie already at the end of the corridor, opening another door. I called out for her but it was too late. She already went through the door. I- I ran after her, but when I opened the same door, it led to a big room with no other doors, and Sophie was nowhere. I thought maybe I had opened the wrong door. There was another one right next to the one I opened, so it would have been easy to mix them up. Behind that door was another corridor, so I entered. Still, no Sophie, but it would’ve made more sense for her to come this way.
It was then that I started noticing that the mirrors were not regular. The walls were lined with these… Crazy mirrors? There were ones that stretched my body out or squished it, ones that made me look like my body was rippling and all kinds of stuff. You know how crazy mirrors are. [Brief silence.] You do know what crazy mirrors are, right?... Okay, brilliant.
I briefly stopped to look at them, but then I realised I didn’t have time for that. I still needed to find Sophie. So I tried to ignore the mirrors and went on to the next door I could find. The room behind it looked exactly like the corridor I just left. The room bathed in light, walls lined with crazy mirrors. Only this time they were weird. No, I mean, all this was already really weird, but... You know what I mean. I don’t think crazy mirrors usually change the colours of the person looking into it, or make you look like some of your features are drawn on you instead of- the regular body parts.
There was one crazy mirror that made me look like I was from some cartoon for kids with crazy neon colors. My hair turned neon blue, my skin orange, my clothes bright yellow. The next mirror showed a childishly drawn mouth over my own. It was around four or five times the size of my mouth and covered the bottom part of my face. The mouth was filled with sharp teeth.
I- I went on. I really wanted to just find Sophie and get out of there. I noticed a doorway on the other side of the room. I have done a great deal of thinking since then you know, and I don’t think that doorway was there when I entered the room. But that didn’t occur to me at the time. The next few rooms and corridors I went through were exactly like the last. The… Crazier crazy mirrors- No, that is a horrible name for them. The neon and cartoon crazy mirrors I mentioned; they dominated the rooms, with a few normal crazy mirrors scattered around sometimes.
After a while, I stopped looking at the mirrors. Well, I did my best not to look at them. I just tried to find a way out of that godforsaken labyrinth. I went through doors, took turns. The occasional glance I caught of a mirror told me that they were getting crazier and crazier. I can’t even start to describe how they looked at that point. I’m not even sure they were mirrors anymore or paintings or pictures. They moved when I walked past. So they must have been mirrors. I think.
I never saw or heard Sophie or anything that could lead to her. At that point, I gave up. On finding her, that is. I just focused on getting out of there. I thought if I finally got back to the street, I could do something else to find her. Or maybe she was already out there, waiting for me and we could go back to our day like nothing happened.
The last door I opened was the one leading outside. Never felt that kind of relief that I did at that moment. I tried calling and texting Sophie. She didn't answer. So I contemplated going back to find her. But when I turned to the door it… wasn't there anymore. Only the brownish red bricks of the building remained. How is that even possible? How was the whole thing possible? The building certainly wasn't big enough to have the labyrinth inside. Unless I was taking the same turns over and over again. But I don't think I did.
I haven't heard from Sophie since. I texted and called every day, but she didn’t answer. I even thought that she lost her phone and that was why she didn’t answer. She was safe and sound at home, and she didn’t call me because she doesn’t remember my phone number. But, her mum called me a few days ago. She asked if Sophie was with me, because they didn't hear from her in a while. I didn't know what to tell her or what to do. I could have gone to the police. But I think after hearing all this they would have thought I'm crazy and put me in a ward or book me for a drug addict. That's when I saw your advertisement in the newspaper and decided to come.
I hope you can solve this. Find Sophie. God, I really, really hope you can.
JONATHAN SIMS
[Long pause.] That sounds like a lot.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
You tell me. So, you're like the police but for… unusual cases?
JONATHAN SIMS
You could say that. We will follow up on your statement, do research. If we find anything we will reach out to you if you want that.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
Of course I want that. Why wouldn’t I want that?
JONATHAN SIMS
Some people give statements to get what happened out of their head so they could finally be at peace. They usually don’t want to be connected during or after followup.
OLIVER CHAPMAN
Well, I do want to be contacted if you uncover anything.
JONATHAN SIMS
So you said already.
I think we're done here Mr Chapman, if you don’t have anything else to add to your statement. Or questions, perhaps?
OLIVER CHAPMAN
No, I don’t.
[Tape clicks off. Tape clicks on.]
JONATHAN SIMS
A door again. Whatever is causing this, seems to be picking up lately. This is the second or third statement about doors. I’ll have to review the other statements to compare.
At least Mr Chapman left through an actual door. It has been there since I started my work here at the Institute and is still there as of today, a handful of days after Mr Chapman has given his statement.
However, there is not much I can add to this statement. Neither Sasha, nor I found anything relevant about the neighbourhood, or the building the pink door was at the side of. According to blueprints there is not and never has been a door at that side of the building. I think I’ll send Tim to look around the area in person. See if he finds anything.
Additionally, as of right now, there is no news of Sophia Lyon either. But I will keep an eye out for anything.
End recording.
[Tape clicks off.]