Romance in a Carnival Mirror

A Transgender Paranormal Romantasy

From the Paranormal Visitor Universe

Chapter 1: Midnight Escape

By Sasha Zarya Nexus

Both kindred spirits June and Goldie who found each other at the Carnival are hunted by the Shadowmaster.
Will June's sacrificial love overcome the Shadowmaster and save her friends?

Copyright 2025 by Sasha Zarya Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note:

This novelette, in it's entirety, is available on my Patreon. BCTS will get weekly postings on Tuesdays to complete it here. Patreon Free Members can read my new complete book by chapters, Things We Do for Love

The clock on the kitchen wall glowed 12:07 AM, its steady tick the only sound in the hush of the Walsh house. June pressed her hand to her chest, feeling the frantic flutter of her heart beneath her pajama shirt. She held her breath and listened-her father’s snores rumbled from the bedroom down the hall, a low, reassuring thunder. Good. He wouldn’t wake.

She crept across the linoleum, careful to avoid the squeaky third tile, and slipped on her battered sneakers. Her backpack waited by the door, packed with a flashlight, a half-empty water bottle, and, wrapped in a scarf at the very bottom, her most precious possession: the moth-shaped brooch. She’d found it at a thrift store last spring, its wings iridescent and delicate as spun sugar. She’d never dared wear it outside, but tonight… tonight was different.

Tonight, the Solstice Carnival had come to town.

June eased open the back door, wincing as the hinges whined. She paused, heart in her throat. The snoring continued, unchanged. She exhaled, a shiver of relief running through her. The night air was thick with the scent of honeysuckle and cut grass, and somewhere in the distance, the faint, dizzying music of the carnival drifted on the breeze-calliope notes and laughter, bright and wild.

She hurried down the porch steps and into the backyard, the grass cool and damp against her ankles. She ducked behind the hedge, keeping to the shadows as she made her way to the alley. Her phone buzzed in her pocket-a text from her friend Morgan:

u coming?

She typed back, almost there, and tucked the phone away.

The town was different at night. Houses hunched in silence, their windows dark. The old oak trees along Maple Street stretched their branches overhead like watchful sentinels. June moved quickly, every sense on high alert, her mind racing with what-ifs: What if Dad woke up and found her gone? What if someone from school saw her? What if she lost her nerve at the last second and turned back?

But each step closer to the carnival, the fear faded, replaced by a fluttery, electric anticipation. She could see the Ferris wheel now, its lights spinning slow and hypnotic above the treetops. She could hear the shouts and laughter, the barkers calling out for customers, the music swelling and fading.

She stopped at the edge of the fairgrounds, breathless. The carnival gates were open, spilling golden light onto the cracked pavement. Banners fluttered overhead, painted with strange, swirling designs-moths and mirrors and stars. The air buzzed with possibility.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket again-a text from her friend Morgan:

Caught n Grounded Sry

She thought. "No Morgan tonight and for a while. Bummer. Guess I gotta do this solo. I can do this!"

June reached into her backpack and unwrapped the moth brooch. She pinned it to the inside of her jacket, just over her heart, where no one else could see but she could feel its weight-a secret, a promise.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and stepped through the gates.

For the first time in months, she felt almost real.

Romance in a Carnival Mirror

A Transgender Paranormal Romantasy

From the Paranormal Visitor Universe

Chapter 2: Hall of Mirrors

By Sasha Zarya Nexus

Both kindred spirits June and Goldie who found each other at the Carnival are hunted by the Shadowmaster.
Will June's sacrificial love overcome the Shadowmaster and save her friends?

Copyright 2025 by Sasha Zarya Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note:

This novelette, in it's entirety, is available on my Patreon. BCTS will get weekly postings on Tuesdays to complete it here. Patreon Free Members can read my new complete book by chapters, Things We Do for Love

The carnival was a living thing at night-colors brighter, shadows deeper, every sound sharp and strange. June drifted through the crowd, her hands buried in her jacket pockets, the moth brooch pressing cool and steady against her chest. She kept her head down, dodging clusters of laughing teens and families with sticky-fingered kids, eyes fixed on the glowing path ahead.

She’d made it. She was here. But now, surrounded by so many faces, a new anxiety crept in. What if someone recognized her? What if she did something wrong, something that gave her away?

She tried to focus on the sights instead: the cotton candy clouds spinning pink and blue, the ring toss games with their impossible prizes, the carousel horses frozen mid-gallop, manes flying. Everything shimmered with possibility. But June couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she was an intruder, a shadow slipping through the light.

A cluster of girls from her school passed by, giggling, and June ducked behind a popcorn stand, heart pounding. She waited, counting her breaths, until their voices faded into the music. She needed somewhere to hide, somewhere to catch her breath.

That’s when she saw it: the Hall of Mirrors.

It stood at the edge of the midway, its entrance framed by curling silver letters and flickering lanterns. The sign above the door read:

SEE YOUR TRUEST SELF!

June hesitated. She’d heard stories about this attraction-how the mirrors didn’t just show your reflection but something deeper, something secret. It was probably just a trick of the lights, some clever glasswork. Still, the idea tugged at her, both thrilling and terrifying.

She glanced over her shoulder. The girls from school were gone. The crowd had thinned. She could slip inside, just for a minute, and no one would ever know.

Her feet moved before she’d made up her mind. She slid through the velvet curtains, into the hush of the Hall.

Inside, the world changed. The noise of the carnival faded, replaced by a soft, echoing silence. The air was cool and smelled faintly of lavender and dust. Mirrors lined the walls, each one tall and narrow, their surfaces warped and glimmering. The only light came from a row of tiny bulbs overhead, casting everything in a dreamy, golden haze.

June moved slowly, her reflection following her in a hundred different shapes-tall, short, stretched, squashed. She paused in front of one that made her look impossibly thin, her eyes huge and haunted. Another shrank her to child-size, her features blurred and indistinct.

She laughed, a shaky sound, and kept walking. It was just glass, just tricks. Nothing to be afraid of.

But then she turned a corner and stopped.

There, in a mirror framed in silver filigree, she saw herself-not as she was, but as she wished she could be. Her hair was longer, her face softer, her body curved in ways that felt right. She wore a dress she’d only ever imagined, sunlight catching on the moth brooch pinned proudly at her collar.

June stared, transfixed. For a moment, she forgot to breathe.

The reflection smiled at her-her smile, but brighter, braver. June reached out, fingertips brushing cool glass. The image shimmered, almost as if it wanted to step forward, to become real.

A sudden noise-a crash, a burst of laughter from outside-snapped her back. June jerked her hand away, heart racing. What was she doing? This was just a trick, a fantasy. She didn’t belong here, not really.

She turned, stumbling away from the mirror, her cheeks burning. As she hurried toward the exit, she bumped into a display, sending a stack of carnival flyers tumbling to the floor.

“Sorry!” she whispered, scooping them up with shaking hands. She shoved them back onto the table and slipped out through the curtains, back into the noise and light.

Outside, the music and laughter crashed over her like a wave. June pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the moth brooch pulse beneath her fingers.

She’d seen something in that mirror-something she’d never dared to hope for. And for the first time, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, it could be real.