Carlton and Marla stared at each other, gasping as if they’d run miles. “Was that Freddy?” she whispered. He shook his head.

“I don’t know, but he was different,” Carlton said.

“What? Different from what?”

“The other animatronics we’ve seen so far. He was … looking at me,” Carlton said uncomfortably.

“They’re all looking at us.”

“No, he was looking at me.”

“I can hear you; come on out!” Freddy called out as if on cue. His voice echoed through the maze of mirrors, as impossible to locate as it had been before. Carlton took a deep, steadying breath.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?” he whispered, trying to sound calmer than he felt. “Where even are we?”

“There, that light.” Marla pointed over their heads at the rafters above them, where a red stage light beamed down over the entirety of the maze.

“What?”

“I saw that light when we first came in, but it must have been at least twenty feet away, now it’s right over our heads. We just have to keep moving away from it now,” she said confidently. Carlton studied the ceiling for a moment, considering what she’d said.

“I told you; I’m good at mazes.” She winked. “We just have to wait for the right panels to open.” She pointed toward a specific panel.

“That could take ages,” Carlton said despairingly.

“It will take longer if we don’t keep track of what direction we’re going in,” Marla said. “Come on.” She set off down the path she had indicated, and Carlton followed close behind.

“I’m getting clo-ser …” Freddy’s voice resounded through the maze.

“That sounded like it was behind us again. He’s coming around,” Carlton whispered.

“Okay, okay. Then we go around, too.”

“Just get us out,” he said quietly. Marla nodded, and they walked cautiously onward, flanked by their various, distorted duplicates.

The pivoting panels forced them nearly in a circle before giving them a choice of direction, and Marla leaped on the chance, grabbing Carlton by the hand and almost running down the passage until they were stopped again, and made to turn.

“Shh,” Carlton hissed frantically.

Marla pushed experimentally on the side of one of the panels, but it didn’t budge; Carlton stepped up to help, throwing his full weight against the mirror, but even under their combined force, it would not turn. “I don’t know why I thought that would work,” Marla whispered.

“I’ve almost g-ot you …” Freddy intoned. Marla looked around uncertainly.

“I’ve got a really terrible idea,” Carlton said slowly. Marla gave him a warning look. “Are you still keeping track of where we are? Or at least, the direction that we should go?”

“I think so,” she said, scanning the rafters again, a look of comprehension dawning on her face.

“Close enough,” he said.