A/N: Good evening. How are we all?

I would love to thank the lovely Carmel March for their review.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7.

Amelia's mind yelled at her to move and avoid getting slapped a second time, but instead she hesitated and continued stare into his eyes. They were incredibly unnatural and frightening, a sharp contrast to his pale face. The absence of white in his eyes perfectly summed up what he was.

No matter how many times he looked at her with those orbs, she felt as though they would always chill her to the bone.

He blinked slowly, his face remaining surprisingly calm. It infuriated her. She wanted to see him angry; she wanted him to suffer from her defiance. She wanted him to know that he did not, and could not control her.

An overwhelming amount of hate filled her veins and quickly overflowed, it savagely gripped every fibre of her body until she could taste, feel, see, smell and hear absolute malevolence. Her chest heaved as her breath quickened and she clenched her fists. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched.

She wanted him to bleed. She wanted to shove her hand through his chest and watch his body fall to the floor. She wanted him dead.

Amelia's head throbbed and her blood boiled.

"Blankets? Is that what you wanted, dear Felix? Okay, I'll get you some blankets," Amelia snarled, and spun on her heel and disappeared from Felix's gaze in seconds.

Moments later she returned with a large white blanket bunched up in her arms. She grinned viciously and lifted the blanket slightly into the air. "Here you go!" Amelia sung, and Felix could only widen his eyes as the blanket was flung over the mirror.

Amelia quickly tucked the edges of the blanket over the back of the mirror, madly laughing the whole time, and her fingers scraped mercilessly against the cemented wall. She pulled back to observe her work, the grin never leaving her face and her racing heart never slowing down.

"Can't do anything when you can't see me, huh?" Amelia said.

Amelia clasped her hands together and leaned forward with a cheeky grin. "Huh, huh! Isn't that right?" she said.

Felix chuckled lowly and Amelia's short nails dug into her soft palm. He continued and it had soon escalated into a bellowing laughter.

"That's it? So now you're going to happily continue your days and sleep peacefully at night knowing that you're safe? What about Fin? What about that old lady? You're a murderer. You have no life, no friends, no family. You need me. You can't escape me," Felix said and laughed.

Amelia unclasped her hands and let them fall limply by her sides.

"Huh, huh? Isn't that right?" Felix whispered hauntingly.

Amelia looked away from the covered mirror with hard eyes. "I'll get away from you . . . everything will work out," she said.

Felix spat out a loud, "Ha!" and said, "keep dreaming lovely lady, because it's only going to get worse."

Amelia looked down at the dead bodies with a grimace.

"Leave me and I'll kill you," Felix said in a singsong voice.

Amelia sighed and shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. Why would you do that?"

Silence followed her words and she pursed her lips in a tight smile, a strange feeling of pride flowed through her. A satisfying achievement.

A moment longer passed and Amelia found herself shifting uncomfortably.

Is he even there?

"You're supposed to be helping me, and then in return I would help you," he said finally.

Amelia placed a hand on her hip, "You did not answer my question."

"I know that, stupid human."

"Well answer me!" Amelia snapped, and threw her hands into the air.

"I don't need to answer anything."

"Fine! It doesn't matter anyway, I know you're just fucking insane," Amelia said, and almost regretted her words when her ears were met with deafening silence.

Amelia turned to walk away, ready to find some more blankets and more importantly, flee from the scene, but Felix's sharp tone stopped her, "Watch your mouth, little girl."

She bit the inside of her cheek before continuing to walk down the hallway.

Amelia sat quietly on her bed in her room. She had found another blanket and slipped it over the mirror from the back. She had also thrown a towel over the mirror in the bathroom from a strange angle. Felix had not made one sound, but she did not want to risk standing in front of it.

Her hand absentmindedly tugged at the sheet beneath her as she stared at the wall across the room. Her body ached and her eyes were heavy, but she did not want to sleep.

Amelia's stomach gurgled, reminding her that she had not eaten all day. She placed a hand on it, hoping to silence its cries.

Her eyes wandered towards the covered mirror, and she could not help but stare. Amelia thought her retaliation was pathetic, but she did not know what else she could do. She wondered if Felix could appear in all mirrors, and the thought made her sigh deeply and look away.

Amelia's phone began to ring.

She jumped from the abrupt sound and whipped her head around to look at the phone. It was not often that anyone rang, especially her mobile. She rushed across the room to answer it, her eyes glancing at the concealed mirror as she passed. Amelia picked it up off the desk and her grip tightened when she saw who was calling.

Amelia held it to her ear and said, "Hello?"

"Hey Amelia!"

"Chloe," Amelia said.

"That's me! So, I thought I should ring and say that I'm in your apartment," Chloe announced cheerily. Amelia's response was not so cheery. Her heart squeezed painfully and she pressed her hand against her chest. The racing heart under Amelia's hand was unmistakable.

"What?"

"Yep! I'm walking up your stairs—" just like the old lady had, "and I'll be at your door in a moment. I bought you your favourite type of cake! I know how much you love food. Me and Josh stopped at the bakery on the way here and I instantly thought of you. Don't worry though, he went home. How are you not fat yet anyway? Gosh—" Chloe said, but Amelia stopped listening and pulled the phone away from her face, hoping that Chloe could not hear her shallow breathing. Amelia's eyes darted frantically around the room and she stumbled towards the door.

The bodies! The bodies!

Amelia could vaguely hear Chloe speaking from her phone as she rushed into her hallway, but her thumping heart was much louder. Amelia brought the phone back to her ear and yelled a breathless, "Okay!"

The phone clattered against the floorboards, but it was long forgotten as Amelia sprinted up the hallway. The smell was still excruciatingly horrific, but Amelia could barely tell. She studied Fin's body for a moment before bending over and grabbing a hold of his feet.

Chloe knocked twice against the door, and Amelia's heart stuttered each time. "Amelia! Ugh what is that smell? God, that's horrible!" Chloe said nasally, as her fingers had pinched her nose shut.

Amelia desperately tried to block Chloe out. Sweat had broken out all over her body and she panted huskily. She began to drag Fin backwards, his clothing scratching loudly against the floorboards. Amelia cringed at the sound, but proceeded to pull him.

Chloe knocked twice more and said, "Amelia, what's that noise? Open the door!"

The panic in her voice was unmistakable.

Amelia had barely thought of where to put the bodies, but she quickly decided that the only place they could go was her own room.

She stopped in front of her door and stood up straight for a moment, her back aching and her chest tightening. She pushed her fist against her chest and coughed and wheezed.

Amelia heard Chloe jiggle with the doorhandle, and she quickly bent over and pulled Fin inside of her room. She dropped his feet and woozily jumped over his body. Amelia rushed back up the hallway, Chloe banged on the door the whole time.

"Amelia are you okay?"

Sweat dripped off Amelia's chin as she quickly bent over to grasp the old lady's legs. She swayed and gasped from the sudden movement, but caught herself.

"Amelia—!"

"I'm fine Chloe, give me a second," Amelia rasped, and she began to drag the second body down the hallway. It made a huge amount of noise against the floor, but Amelia was so worn out that she barely noticed. Amelia was incredibly surprised that she had moved both of the bodies as far as she had, because she never exercised, so it was no wonder that she was already so fatigued. Her father had once vaguely mentioned that if she did not keep fit, it would catch up with her and she would, "Probably die." Amelia always thought that the only reason he said that was because her mother was a fitness trainer and she did not want to talk to her, so he felt the need to, as her dad did just as little exercise as her. Or that she did not care enough to.

Chloe stayed quiet.

Amelia's arms began to shake and her mouth was dry, but she took the last few shaky steps into her room, angling the body away from Fin's, and dropped the old lady's legs. Amelia stood up straight and placed a hand on her back, hissing in pain.

"I did it . . ." Amelia whispered, and closed her eyes with an exhausted smile. She slowly opened her eyes and stepped out of her room, closing the door along the way.

Amelia loosely decided that she should fix up her appearance so that she didn't look too dishevelled, but she quickly remembered Felix, having forgotten about him in her moment of mass panic, and felt like slapping herself. She frowned, realising that she would never be able to look in a mirror again.

Is it worth it? Amelia thought.

Of course it is!

Amelia lugged herself up the hallway feeling lightheaded, but her breath slowly began to level out. She reached the front door and opened it, the breeze was nice against her hot skin. Chloe stood with a look of absolute worry stretched across her face. Her light brown hair was messy from her hand constantly running through her hair and her brown eyes were moist as if she was on the verge of crying. Her hands clenched tightly around the box she was holding before determinedly walking forward and shoving past Amelia.

"Oh hey Amelia, great to see you!" Chloe spat.

Amelia cringed and closed the door behind her. She spun around to see Chloe glaring at her.

"What the Hell is that awful smell? It's like something crawled in here and died over and over and over again. And what were you doing before?"

"I don't really know what it is. And I wasn't doing anything."

"Right, right. Typical Amelia! You never tell me anything. You're bullshit at lying, so cough it up," Chloe hissed, and placed a hand on her hip. Her eyes wandered to her right and looked at the blanket covered mirror. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at it. "Why is this covered?"

Amelia's eyes widened and she stepped forward, ready to push Chloe away. She suddenly realised that Felix could speak at any moment and Chloe might wonder where the voice came from, and pull the blanket off and get them both killed.

Amelia's face contorted in fear and Chloe blinked at her, waiting for a response.

He hasn't said anything at all for a long time . . .

"No reason—well, it's broken and I'm covering it so that the glass doesn't fall and go everywhere," Amelia said.

Chloe's venomous look made her continue. "I just haven't been feeling well. I think there's something wrong with me."

"So what, that's why I got a call in the middle of my date telling me that no one arrived to replace my shift?" Chloe said harshly.

Amelia nodded. "I'm sorry, I really haven't been feeling well."

Chloe frowned at her and Amelia clenched and unclenched her fists, wishing that she would stop asking so many questions and just accept what she was saying. There was no way she would ever tell her; for one thing Amelia was sure Chloe wouldn't believe her about Felix, and she most definitely wouldn't take lightly to the dead people. Especially because one was Fin.

Amelia felt as though she was no longer on par with Chloe, or anyone else for that matter. She had deliberately hurt someone and let them die. She had watched two people die, and they were now lying on the floor in her bedroom. Most of all, she had been tainted by a monster. There was a layer of dirt on her, and it would never come off. But she still wanted Chloe here. Amelia wanted to prove Felix wrong and show that she did have a friend, and most of all, she did not want to be alone. Even as a very child she hated being alone, and having a lack of brothers and sisters did not help. She had begged her parents for years to let her have a dog, and they never straight up told her no, and stuck with the, "You're allergic to pets," story, regardless of the fact that her best friend's dog did not make her have an allergic reaction.

He did not want to be alone, Amelia thought, and her chest tightened. She could not deny the fact that she felt empathy towards Felix. Even if he was a monster, she knew what he was going through.

Chloe held the box out in front of her with a small smile, and Amelia tried to return the smile, but it was incredibly forced. "Here, have some cake. I'm sure it'll help you feel better."

Amelia looked pointedly at the white box with a grimace on her face. Chloe's eyes widened and she said, "Don't tell me you don't want cake!"

Amelia looked back at her with the grimace still clear on her face, and Chloe gapped at her. "You always have room for cake—especially when it's sponge cake. It's your favourite," Chloe whined.

Amelia shrugged. "I told you there was something wrong with me."

"There must be!" Chloe announced, and scrunched up her nose. "Where can I get some spray around here to cover up this God awful smell?"

"In the bathroom, and don't go in my room because . . ." Amelia faltered, "I just cleaned the floor in there."

Chloe nodded and turned on her heels, the buckles of her shoes clinking as she walked away. Amelia stood frozen for a moment watching Chloe's retreating back, not believing that she actually believed her. She could not believe that she actually got out of that situation.

Amelia smiled, and with one last look at the covered mirror, she scuttled down the hallway and into the lounge room.

"I'll be in the lounge room!" Amelia called, and Chloe responded with an, "okay!"

Amelia laid back on the lounge against the armrest, and a sigh escaped her. She looked up and out of the window where she could see the clouded sky, and guessed that it was around lunch time. Her stomach growled at the thought of lunch, and Chloe's sponge cake suddenly sounded incredibly appetizing.

The sound of spraying made Amelia's head turn and look out the lounge room and down the hallway. She could not see Chloe, but her excessive spraying made Amelia grin.

"How's it going?" Amelia called.

Chloe stopped spraying and said, "I can still—" she paused to cough loudly. Chloe groaned and quickly entered the lounge room with her hand on her head and the air freshener in the other. "I think I inhaled everything I sprayed," she said and rubbed her head, "instant headache."

Amelia sat up and scooted over with a small laugh. "I hate those."

"Mm," Chloe said and sat on the sofa. She placed the spray on the table and leaned back with her eyes closed. Amelia watched her with an incredibly happy feeling bundled up in her chest. She was ecstatic that she did not have to be alone.

Chloe's eyes flung open and she flew forward. Amelia jumped and yelled, "What?"

"Your cake! I left it in the bathroom," Chloe said and looked at Amelia with a smile. She stood and rushed out of the room. A moment later she came back with the box in hand and quickly sat down. She opened it and they were greeted by a luscious sponge cake.

Chloe looked at Amelia who was eyeing the cake. "I need a knife . . ." Chloe said.

Amelia shook her head with a sly grin and bent forward to pick off a bit with her hand. "Nuh uh," Amelia said. Chloe gaped at her before she laughed and did the same thing.

I touched dead people with these hands! Amelia's thoughts screamed, but she ignored them and continued to grin happily, as she felt at that very moment nothing could dampen her mood.

"Why is the mirror in the bathroom covered up?" Chloe asked, her voice muffled from the cake in her mouth.

Amelia's grin wavered. "That one is broken too, it's really strange."

"Hmm, another one?" Chloe asked

"Yeah."

"Wow, why is that?"

"I think it's from the heat or something, you know?"

"Not really . . ."

"Well . . . the mirrors get too hot, so when it cools down they break."

"But they don't break completely?"

"Bingo," Amelia said with a weak smile. Chloe nodded with a suspicious look, but she picked off another bit of cake nonetheless.

"Oh! I saw your mum the other day," Chloe said, and spun her body around to face Amelia.

Amelia nodded slowly and averted her eyes.

"She asked about you, but I didn't tell her anything, really. I said that I hadn't heard from you," Chloe said with a smile. Amelia perked up at her words and looked at her, a huge smile on her face.

"You're amazing, Chloe."

Chloe grinned and leaned forward to embrace Amelia.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Amelia asked with a miserable look. Chloe hugged her and pulled away, an apologetic look on her face.

"I wouldn't leave, but you know how important dinner with my family is to me," Chloe said with a frown.

"I know . . ."

"I'll be back another day. Next time I'll drag Fin up here, okay?"

Amelia's heart spluttered and she felt disgusting standing on the same place that he had died. She felt like absolute scum.

I'm sorry, Chloe.

"No, that's okay. Just us girls, alright?" Amelia said, her voice wavering. Chloe nodded and turned around to open the door. She walked out and turned back to face Amelia, her hand waving.

"Bye, Amelia. I'm glad you liked the cake."

Amelia nodded, her stomach twisting in knots.

Don't go . . . please . . .

"Bye," Amelia whispered. She stepped forward and closed the door on Chloe who had turned to leave.

The hallway was silent.

It was dark, the sun had set long ago, but she could still see quite well. That did not stop the fear that gripped her and the walls that slowly closed in on her. Dark shapes danced in the corners of her eyes, and each time she turned her head, they were gone.

It was too quiet.

She wanted to run and hide in her room, but that was no longer an option. Goosebumps prickled her arms, and it was not the warmth that caused them.

"You can keep her," he said.

Amelia cringed at the sound of his all too familiar voice, and looked at the concealed mirror. "Just when I thought you were gone," Amelia whispered.

Felix chuckled, his voice soft. "Where would I go?"

Amelia looked away, deciding she did not want to respond.

"You may keep her," he repeated.

"I was going to whether you liked it or not. You can't do anything, remember?"

Felix hummed. "I can't?"

Amelia bit her lip.

"Well, we'll just have to see then, huh?" Felix said.