"*Whoa* *Whoa*" said Maddie as she suddenly appeared finding it difficult to stand firmly on her feet.
She was unable to regain her balance as she fell flat on her face and she groaned feeling the soft fabric of the rug tickling her nose as she quickly stood up remembering that countless shoes have stepped on this same rug and here she was stuffing her face in it.
Maddie spluttered as she rubbed her face with her right hand, she only hoped that she had not inhaled some strange, disgusting , foreign object.
"Guys??" called Maddie as she looked around.
"Guys??" she called again.
"Where am I?" she asked as she looked at her surrounding, wondering where she was.
She realized that she was inside, but where exactly? She had never been here before, especially not here.
Maddie narrowed her eyes at her surroundings, she was confused, just what sort of place was this?
Maddie noticed that the walls of the hallway she was standing in were made out of mirrors.
Clear, shiny large mirrors that spanned the length of the walls. Maddie looked up to see that there were even mirrors on the celling.
Maddie felt creeped out as she saw the several mirrors everywhere. Just what strange hallway was this?? What was the deal with the mirrors everywhere except the floor?
"Guys?? Where are you?? Where am I?" asked Maddie as she wondered where the heck she conveyed to. This was not where she had intended to go. She did not even know that a place like this existed. She only hoped that she was still in the Castle.
Maddie looked down at the rug again, this time convinced that she was still in the Castle, since the rug was the same red and gold colour.
Maddie looked at her reflection in the mirror as she frowned and ran her fingers through her hair trying to smooth out the disarrayed strands.
She was currently contemplating whether or not to stay still and wait for them to come find or, of if she was to go and try to find her way out of here. In the midst of her contemplation she suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Hello..." she called as she looked around.
"Is there anyone there?? I heard someone speaking, show yourself." she said as her narrowed eyes scanned around.
"I said, so you must be Maddie." came the male voice again as now Maddie was prepared for combat.
"Who are you?? Stop hiding, come out and face me you coward!" Maddie declared hotly, if whoever this man was thought that he would be able to scare her like this, he was sorely mistaken!
"I'm not hiding." came the voice of the man right beside Maddie as she turned to her side only to be shocked to see the very real reflection of a man in the mirror.
"Ahhhh!!" came Maddie's scream as she jolted back in fear.
She panicked looking around as the man could not be found anywhere beside her, and yet his reflection was right beside hers in the mirror. Just what sort of sorcery was this??!
"I'm so sorry Maddie, I didn't mean to scare you, it was not my intention at all." said the man with an apologetic smile on his face as Maddie calmed herself down. She needed to be calm and think straight, for one, this strange man was apologizing, and he did not look like he meant her any harm at all, he was even smiling softly.
"How do you know my name?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him, moving further away as he followed her reflection.
"I know your name because I'm Oliver's friend, my name is Adrish, you know I'm very upset that he never mentioned me before." said Adrish as he frowned sounding a little bit childish.
"That blondie seems to have all the knowledge in the world and yet he seems to forget to mention the important things." said Maddie as she rolled her eyes.
"Right?? I agree with you a hundred percent, he always forgets to mention the most important things, typical Oliver nature." said Adrish as he scoffed.
"Finally, someone who understands me that blondie has everyone fooled that he's the most perfect." said Maddie as she smiled, she was no longer scared, for one, this man, or whatever he was, seemed to really know Ollie, and she was still in the Castle and she had no doubt in her mind that her friends would find her soon.
"Well can we blame him? He has to make up for his deficiencies in knowledge." said Adrish.
"Right??!" agreed Maddie as both she and Adrish laughed.
"You know what, you are even more prettier in person, Oliver was not joking when he said that you were very pretty." said Adrish as Maddie laughed.
"Of course I am, what surprises me though is that the blondie thinks that I'm pretty and he even has the audacity to tell his... friend that." said Maddie as Adrish smiled.
"Your name is Adrish right?" asked Maddie as Adrish nodded.
"At your service my lady." he replied with a smile and little bow as Maddie giggled.
"Nice to meet you Adrish, my name is Maddie, even though you already know that, anyway, do you happen to know where exactly I am?" she asked.
"Of course, you're currently in the hall of mirrors." he replied with a smile.
"I can see that." she said as she looked around suddenly hearing quick footsteps.
"Maddie, thank goodness you're alright." said Annie as she rushed to Maddie and hugged her as soon as she saw her.
"Of course I'm alright." said Maddie as she smiled and both Ollie and Matt sighed in relief.
"You really scared us when you disappeared." said Matt as Annie stopped hugging her.
"I definitely feared the worst." said Ollie.
"I don't know what happened guys, I just disappeared and appeared here." said Maddie.
"I don't know how or why you were able to break through the protective barrier I set up." said Ollie.
"I don't know either." said Maddie.
"Well let's see...were you thinking of something or someone in particular?" asked Ollie as he really wanted to get to the bottom of this, so he would know where he went wrong.
"Well no...not really but..." said Maddie as she paused.
"But what?" asked Annie.
"But I was hungry and thinking of food..." said Maddie sheepishly as she heard an annoyed groan from Matt and Annie.
"I see... so your will to eat was stronger than the barrier and hence why you ended up here... you wanted to end up in the kitchen didn't you?" asked Ollie.
"Well can you blame me? Conveying takes a lot of work and I'm hungry." said Maddie as Ollie laughed, he had been worried that something dangerous happened, but it turned out that Maddie being a foodie.
"You should have just said so, we could have taken a break and had a had some snacks before we continued." said Ollie as Annie shook her head.
"I can't believe that you got us all so worried just because you were hungry." said Annie as Maddie laughed sheepishly.
"Well, well, it doesn't matter anymore, we know why I disappeared, besides, it's not that bad, I happened to meet a very nice person." said Maddie as she smiled and turned to look at Adrish.
"Oh Adrish, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." said Ollie as he looked at Adrish.
"It's fine Oliver, I could see that you were busy, anyway, it is so nice to finally see all your friends in person." said Adrish as he smiled.
"It's a shame that I had to meet them like this... you just seemed to forget about me." said Adrish with a smile that made Ollie feel guilty.
"I'm so sorry Adrish, I just—" said Ollie as he was cut off.
"Just forgot about me, it's fine." said Adrish as Ollie felt even more guilty because it was true, he had forgotten about him.
"No, no I'm really sorry Adrish, yes I did forget about you, but I was very busy as well, I'm sorry." said Ollie honestly.
"Apology accepted." said Adrish with a smile.
"Guys, this is Adrish, Adrish, these are my friends, that's Annie, that's Matt, and I'm sure you already met Maddie." said Ollie as he introduced them.
"Nice to meet you Adrish." said Annie as she smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." said Matt as he smiled.
"I am so pleased to finally meet you all." said Adrish with a smile. He had been bored like always and he felt even worse knowing that Ollie had not come to see him because of his friends, so imagine his surprise when Maddie suddenly appeared? It was like she was a blessing that dropped from heaven.
"And I'm really sorry that I forgot about you Adrish, I didn't mean to." said Ollie as he apologized once more.
"It's alright Oliver, I understand." said Adrish as he smiled, he definitely was no longer upset at all.