A Waiting Room With Too Many Mirrors

The Phoenix sun baked the parking lot outside Desert Sparkle Dentistry.

Inside, Dr. Skull hovered near a ceiling vent, his long black hair tucked behind his bat wings like it was a secret. One bright green eye peeked out from heavy bangs. He did not smile.

Dr. Pinkie clicked a pen. “No jump-scares today.”

Dr. Skull’s small fangs flashed anyway. “Fear works.”

Dr. Hearts pointed to the waiting room. “Not for kids like those.”

Collin, Brandon, Will, and Brooke sat in a row, knees bouncing. On Brooke’s phone, a haircut video played—snip, snip—way too loud.

Brandon swallowed. “Dentists and barbers? That’s like… double doom.”

Dr. Mikey lifted a clipboard. A barbershop flyer was taped to it: a bright red chair and the words DARE DAY.

He glanced up at Dr. Skull’s hair, which fell down his back. “Also… for you.”

Dr. Skull gripped his skull hair pins. “No.”

The front buzzer sounded.

The Chair With Red Teeth

The buzzer at Desert Sparkle Dentistry was not the front door.

Dr. Pinkie yanked it open—and hot air slapped her face. “Oops.”

Next door, a laundromat rattled with spinning dryers. A puddle shimmered by the entrance, and a bright red barber chair sat on a folding mat like it had moved in.

A man in a blue apron waved scissors. “Mr. Stitch! Shoemaker and guest barber. DARE DAY!”

A phone on a tripod pointed at the chair. A LIVE sticker blinked.

Collin shrank behind Brandon. “It’s… on the internet?”

Dr. Hearts lowered her voice. “One question each before anything happens. Deal?”

Brooke swallowed. “Do the overbite tools pinch?”

Mr. Stitch leaned toward the phone. “Only one way to find out! First sitter wins free sneakers!”

Dr. Skull, the vampire tooth fairy with bat wings, drifted forward, hair down his back like a curtain. “Bribes are boring.”

Mr. Stitch snapped a cape open anyway. “Haircut bet, kid. Sit.”

Dr. Skull jerked back. The chair rolled. The clippers on the seat clicked on by themselves, buzzing like angry bees, and Will stepped into the puddle