Noara's eyes were immediately drawn to the opening in the mirror. She felt a tug, as if it was calling to her.
"An exit…"
"No… a… ra…"
The entire world became foggy and muddy and dark. She felt like she was falling in a downward spiral.
"Noara!"
The fog broke down at the sound of Clara's voice. The dark space where she had been fell apart, and, the next thing she knew, her friend was pulling her body backwards.
"Huh? What?"
"NOARAAA! It's a trap!!!"
She was standing in the middle of the way to the mirror, with Clara clinging to her arm, pulling her away from it.
"Huh? How did I come here? I was sitting-"
She turned towards the table and chairs where she had been a few moments before. Her chair was turned on the floor, along with her backpack. Julia was staring at her, terrified.
But before she could finish the phrase, they heard the sound of shattering glass.
Noara turned back towards the mirror. To her relief, it had become a normal mirror again, reflecting its surroundings as if nothing special had just happened.
"Thank you, Clara…"
She looked at her friend's face. She was weeping in a mix of despair and solace.
"I'm so happy you turned back, Noara… I thought I would lose you…"
The two hugged each other, but the reeling body of one of the fighters in the confusion of the door hit them before falling in a lump to the floor.
He was bleeding in several places, and a knife was still lodged in his abdomen.
***
The three retreated to the place in the bar that was farthest away from the fight, near the DJ desk.
The chaos near the entrance door was spiraling, already completely out of control.
"Clara! I think that I know how to break that chaos there. We have to disrupt their perception, like you did with Noara and the mirror."
Noara heard Julia's assessment and shook her head.
"My class lets me mess with emotions. That's how I stunned those shadows earlier. But I'm dry, can't cast again. It would be perfect…"
"And I can't simply go and pull their arm like I did with you. They would tear me apart."
The three silenced again, their eyes watching the macabre spectacle in front of them.
It took some minutes of defeated silence for Noara to speak again.
"With the right lighting and camera angles, this would be a great movie scene."
"Wait, what?"
Clara snapped in her direction, her face looking distraught.
"I just thought it would be a great movie sce-"
"No, not that. Before. Lighti-"
She froze.
The music was dead, but the lights...
"They never went down."
She quickly stood up and ran towards a discreet table in the corner, behind the DJ table. It had several switches with labels.
Clara didn't even look at the labels. Her practiced hands went quickly pressing buttons and changing switches, and immediately the light of the club changed.
She didn't need to think, as she was the club's own lighting artist, used to make performances go from average to epic by playing with that little, unassuming table.
All lights turned off for two entire seconds, then all turned on again. Then off, then only the blue ones, then off, then all on again.
The second time all lights were on, someone screamed. It was not a scream of fighting or anger, but of horror.
Everyone had stopped their fight and were looking at each other and at the bodies on the floor.
The emotional loop had been broken, but its toll was not easy to deal with.
Noara stepped forward, seizing the moment before chaos could descend again.
***
Noara walked into the center of the club with a calm, confident demeanor. Clara quickly put a spotlight on her, dimming the other lights.
"Stop right now, everyone."
They did. Not because they believed in her or anything, but because she was an excuse to not look at what they had done.
"Ground yourself."
Her voice is calm and steady, oddly comforting for the moment and environment.
"Breathe. Slowly."
They do it instinctively. It's a flee response, and Noara knows it. Giving away responsibility is easier than taking it.
But she also knew that it wouldn't last. It was a fragile control that could shatter at any instant.
"Listen. The moment we panic, we die. Or kill. You don't want any of that. So stay grounded on me. Clara will create a path so we can go outside. Slowly. One by one. Understood?"
No one questioned. They had already tried to flee the place in panic, and they knew what happened. They were happy she wasn't blaming them for it, but the bodies on the floor were enough proof for their own minds.
"Good. Clara!"
A path of light formed from one of the people to the door. Clara's voice then echoed in the club.
"You, with the red sweater, go now. Slowly."
The girl who was under the light path now followed it.
She hesitated before the door but didn't feel the weirdness that took control of her before. She took a deep breath in and then stepped forward.
She crossed the doorway.
The same scene repeated for another person, then another.
***
The lower floor of the club was eerily empty and quiet. With the double doors and the big windows of opaque but breakable glass, people didn't have much trouble reaching the street from there.
Noara let out a strangled sigh and fell on her knees.
"Noara!"
Clara and Julia ran towards her. She had been the last one to cross the doorway and come down the stairs.
She was trembling and hyperventilating.
"It's a panic attack. I'll get some water from the bar."
Julia bolted out while Clara stayed with Noara.
"It's okay, babe."
She hugged Noara and patted her head. Noara snuggled to her and began weeping, her tears dripping onto Clara's chest.
"It's all ok now. It's ok to cry. You were so brave and helped so many people. You're such a good girl."
Right then, Julia returned with a bottle of water, opened it, and pressed it into Noara's hands.
"Here, drink this."
Noara complied, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She took one gulp of the water, then gently nudged Clara.
"I'm not a good girl, Clara. I'm not your sub."
The three laughed together, bringing a small relief.
[STABILITY EVENT RECORDED]
Lethal spatial loop identified.
Panic cascade interrupted.
Human casualties avoided.
+20 XP awarded.
***
The world outside the bar was not the safety they were expecting.
The Augusta street was a sea of chaos. Downslope, they could see a car burning. Around them, screams, shouts, sirens, a gunshot in the distance.
It was like society itself was collapsing.
At least they weren't in immediate danger, like inside the club, so they took their time to check their phones.
"Fuck! Do you have any phone signal? Internet?"
"Nope."
"None here."
Julia's question was mostly rhetoric. She knew that it would be the same for the others.
"So, what do we do now? We need a safe place to spend the rest of the ni-"
Sudden movement broke in the crowd closest to them, people screaming and running. They looked like they were fleeing from something.
The three didn't move. They waited to see what was happening.
And then they saw it. A dog. But it wasn't a normal one. It looked bloated and swollen. But worst of all, it looked rabid. Like it had come right out of a nightmare.