MAG 156: Reflection

Audio
Transcript
Warnings

Statement of Adelard Dekker, taken from a letter to Gertrude Robinson.

## Pre-Statement

Martin Blackwood takes notice of a tape recorder and comments aloud that he was planning to take a statement anyway.

## Statement

Adelard Dekker, in a note written to Gertrude Robinson, tells a story given to him by a source he keeps anonymous -- though he acknowledges that Gertrude could probably find the giver of the statement if she so chose.

The statement details the experiences of a man planning on hosting a party at an abandoned carnival ground where he continually finds strangely clean areas despite being in disrepair. Adelard admits that he laughed aloud at one point while listening to the story, as the anonymous giver of the statement did not seem to find that weird at all.

At some point before the party, the man enters a hall of mirrors where he finds one mirror that distorted his body into a long, thin, gaunt figure.  He is unable -- or refuses -- to describe exactly how, but is somehow pulled into the mirror and lost consciousness in the process. When he awoke, it was bright, and he could hear loud voices and noises. Exiting the hall of mirrors, he finds the fairground now populated with people. At first, everyone seems normal and joyful, but after a moment, he realizes everyone is small, thin, and gaunt with oversized clothes. One of the games is advertising "Win Bread", but the sign is crossed out, and does not seem to have any prizes to win at all. A young girl wins a prize at one of the game booths and is given a small bone. Desperately, she cracks it in two, trying to get at the little marrow inside.

Suddenly, the man hears a scream -- one of terror rather than the joy one would hear at a carnival. He sees a figure, too thin to be properly secured by a roller coaster's safety mechanisms, being thrown from a ride. The body lands on the main stretch of the fairground with a crunch. After a long silence, a carnie jumps a fence and runs towards the body, which suddenly spurs everyone else to do the same. The man has to turn away as they descend upon the "still-twitching" corpse and eat him, leaving nothing but bone fragments when they're done.

The man then becomes horrifyingly aware of how much meat is on his own bones and runs back into the hall of mirrors. Adelard explains that the man's description about what happened inside the hall of mirrors did not make much sense. The crowd chases him until he finds the same group of mirrors he had originally fallen into. He takes a moment to look at the mirrors and finds one that had no reflection at all. He runs into it and finds himself back in the abandoned carnival. He had a bite mark on his wrist, though he could not remember how he had gotten it as he could not remember any of the emaciated people catching him. Adelard explains that the man has since continually spotted a thin, gaunt figure following him, and acknowledges the strangeness of the mirror having no reflection. He also states that neither he or Gertrude can do anything to save the man from the strange figure now.

## Post-Statement

Before Martin can speculate much, Peter appears and spooks him. He thinks it is funny to do so. He finally tells Martin about something located in the center of the tunnels beneath the Archives, and Martin infers that Peter intends to have him use it. Martin asks if he will be coming back, and Peter says no. He claims that Martin will not die, however.