Amy carefully laid out her pattern on the window. She made a complicated hallway, criss-crossed with X's, arches, and banisters. As she painted, she made each stroke with the intention of it being a trap. The closest thing I have to magic is my desire for this to work!, she thought. It was an intriguing hallway and she hoped it would be enough to draw him in.
She stepped back to admire her work and said, "What do you think, Cal? Not bad considering that I only had white, right?" She'd incorporated the scenery of the garden beyond the windows into her design of the trap. Here, a well-placed arch looked as though ivy crawled along it. There, a small window looked out to the sea.
"It's fabulous, Sugar. What is that hole in the painting for?" he said, pointing to a triangular hole in the paint about halfway down the hall.
"That's where you come in. I need you to make yourself invisible and go out to the garden. Hold the mirror in that spot. And when the time is right, turn the mirror toward me, ok? You'll know when." She hid the paint bucket behind the edge of the tapestry and prepared herself to walk in to the Man in White's room. "Thanks Cal, for everything. I'll see you in a minute."
Amy stepped through the shimmer.
And found herself not in the hallway she'd left, but in a room. It was richly appointed, with gold leafing surrounding murals painted on the ceiling, velvet curtains framing the windows, and even several statues tucked into corners. And on the far side, seated in a red chair with golden poms for accents, sat the Man in White. His ascetic appearance clashed with the lushness of the room, and yet he was clearly master of the space. Standing next to him, painted in exquisite detail, was a statue of Irena. No, it was Irena! Her eyes blinked, and widened a little at Amy's appearance. Alive then, but trapped. That's why she wasn't moving.
"I knew it was only a matter of time until that tramp of a genie showed you where to find me," the Man in White said. His odd speech accented the word 'tramp' in a way that made Amy angry.
"Yes, my friend Cal showed me where to find you. You've got quite the setup here. How much of it is real, I wonder? How many of these statues are poor, trapped individuals?" Amy met Irena's eyes and tried to send reassurance through her gaze.
"I assure you it is all quite real," he said, walking toward her. "The question is, what shall I do with you? You have what I want but are unwilling to give it freely. Shall I torture it out of you? Perhaps then your genie friend would come save you and I could force him to take me to your world. But that's not as fun as you giving it up yourself."
He was playing right into her plan! She knew his desire to get to her world would work to her advantage! Now was the time to entice him out to her trap.
What should she do to get him to leave the room with her?
Say, "If you free Irena, I will show You the way."
or, "Yes, well, I've figured it out. No torture, please. Follow me."
Run awaY! Hopefully he will follow.
