Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1)

by Clairisa Campbell

  I grabbed the vial. I had to make an opening for Chase to get here. The liquid was a shiny silver color—almost like the surface of an actual mirror. Made sense if he was going to travel through it from Mirror Image. I had just barely managed to get the vial out of the bag when the Formless slammed its entire body into the shield. The ribbon blocked the blow the first time, but its rhythm and speed suffered. The second time the monster attacked, I felt pushed back by the force, almost dropping the vial. The third time the Formless hit with all of its force and I was pressed against the back of the shield.

  The vial slipped from my fingers but didn’t break. Instinctively I reached for the small bottle., This put more stress on the shield to stretch around my outstretched hand. It only took a fourth slam to pop the bubble entirely. I grabbed the vial again, but the final impact sent me flying across the room. The straps of the sling broke, and I felt the weight of gravity on me again. I screamed as pain assaulted my shoulder. My arm fell limp beside me, since I strapped the sling around Loic’s arm, and the sling chose to stay with him. My good arm braced my injured arm. The vial fell from my hands again, rolling against the far wall. Loic was still out cold in the center of the room, only rolling a little further than where we started. The ribbon fell limp over him, its glow going out entirely. Could it only function when I was near?

  Looking up I realized that this Formless wasn’t alone at all. The second one now lumbered closer to me. Its large black body took the shape of a huge salamander with eight legs. All eight limbs attached to the ceiling and wall. Its tail reached and grabbed me with a hand-like end, pulling me into the air and close to its body. Then it opened its mouth.

  I struggled, feeling like I was trapped in sticky gum. I tried to grab the bookshelf to free myself, but I only managed to get myself buried deeper in the Formless’s tar-like body. My skin began to burn and itch. Poison! Chase had said the tar was poison.

  I screamed, hoping it would do anything. Wake up Loic or have someone come to help. Anything. The beast made a gurgling sound. A pain stood out among the stinging of the monster’ skin. A heat from my chest? The stone Chase had given to me hung around my neck. Had it been in the bag as well? Or was it attached to my soul separately? It heated up painful levels against my sternum. The heat started to make small bubbles in the monster’s skin. When a bubble popped, I saw a light cutting through the darkness. The monster seemed unfazed as it continued to pull me closer to its mouth.

  Was this light something to use? Just a reaction of the stone touching this sludge. I wasn’t sure. My mind continued to race. I needed help. Why did I think I could do this? Why did I think I could actually be useful in this case? I yelled, hoping again, maybe someone would hear me, but nobody came. Loic was unconscious. Chase was in another world. My family was on the other side of this world. And Juliet was somewhere in Venice, probably looking for me, not like she would last any longer here then I would.

  It was just me alone with these monsters. Sobs shook me, and I closed my eyes trying to think of happier times. Sadly, I couldn’t really remember any. They were all lost in the confusion of the events I had just been through. From the alleyway to this moment were all I could recall. Was this how I was going to die?

  I had my two choices, open my eyes and watch what happened or face my death in pure darkness. I felt a pulse urging me to stay awake. The same pulse that sent me on this mission to start with. The pulse that sent me after Juliet’s mirror, that told me to save Loic. It was telling me to stay awake right now. To stay alive.

  What did I have to lose? I would listen to the pulse one last time. I stared the beast in the eyes.

  Suddenly the warmth from my chest surrounded my body. The beast screeched in a mix of voices, some human and others of an animal in pain. I hit the ground, the impact splashing blood up into my eyes. I caught a glimpse of a shine against the wall. I pulled myself closer to it and grabbed it. The vial! I had it back.

  The beast screamed louder, the human voices melded in different tones both male and female, all screams of pain, like thousands of swallowed sounds let out in one burst. It silenced the voices, sealing its mouth shut seemingly forming a new one before it began slithering over to me. I slammed my hand down as hard as possible. The glass vial shattered. The Formless lunged at me. I tried to roll away from it, but it scratched my stomach. The burn intensified. The extra movement made my head spin. I tried to yell again.

  “S-stay back…someone…help.”

  The pulse went through me again, and the blazing heat overwhelmed me. I clutched the stone on my neck and soon a light filled up the entire room. The beasts shrieked even more hideously. All I could see was a white silhouette that looked like a woman.

  Isha? No, she didn’t seem to be anyone I recognized. She had her back turned to me and the light eventually made her fade as well. I finally started to go numb from the pain. The numbness came with the feeling of a warm hand, much like the one that pulled me from the in-between.

  Then I could taste was blood on my lips.

  FIVE

  ♦

  Found

  “RAYNE! WAKE UP. Stay with me."

  I heard Chase’s panicked voice over me. Strong hands shook me. I felt my entire body twitch, almost to stop myself from falling from something. The jolt chilled my spine and in turn I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry at first, shades of red blended with the mixing colors of the light. I tried to recall where I last was. My body felt warm, but I could feel a temperature difference around me. Some areas felt wet and cold, I blinked and saw more of the color red around me. Red? Blood! I swallowed hard and my chest felt heavy. the memory of burning was what I focused on only to realize it wasn’t as noticeable as I last remembered it. Something that bad how could it just be gone?

  My vision cleared. Chase's face came back to me. His eyes surrounded by dark circles and his eyebrows drew together. His formally slicked back hair fell over his face as well. He kept looking over his shoulder. Once I looked at him, he stopped.

  “Thank goodness you're alive. Can you hear me all right?"

  "Yeah." I winced and sat up.

  Pain jolted through me and Chase reacted holding me in place.

  “Rayne it’s okay you need to stay still for a moment.” Chase begged.

  How could I? I smelled tar everywhere, where were the monsters? Where was Loic?

  Chase was here so that was a bit of comfort. Still I didn’t feel fully safe. My heart raced and all I wanted to do was keep scooting against a wall, to hide from those things coming back.

  Yet chase held me in place, I couldn’t move.

  “Rayne it’s okay, please I beg of you stay still.”

  “They, that thing.” it held me it was going to eat me. I felt my face burn, tears waiting just about ready to pour out.

  Chase, still holding me still stroked my hair attempting to calm me down. “Rayne, it’s okay, breathe.” He took deep breaths urging me to follow along.

  My abdomen burned, the feeling I had expected. Wounds slashed my chest and stomach. My shoulder had bled as well. My head throbbed as the rest of my body pulsed with pain. But I followed his lead.

  Inhale…Exhale…rinse and repeat.

  “Good. The worst of it is past. Now that you are aware, let’s heal you.” He held out a pill that looked like a small capsule with a leaf of some sort wrapped tightly inside it. Different shades of green became more visible as the light hit it between his fingers. “Here, take this. It will stop the Formless poison."

  I swallowed the small pill he gave me with no hesitation. I wanted the terrible burning to stop. There was no time for suspicion. The burning feeling began fading within moments. Taking a breath of relief, I looked back to Chase. He was bent over, checking my other wounds.

  My major injuries were already sewn up and bandaged. I felt the tight bandages around the areas where I thought I was hit and the pain itself was dulled slightly by the pressure. I wore a white dress like
the one at Ishas house. The cloth had small spots of blood on it, but nothing was as bad as my clothes had been. My arm was back in a sling and rebandaged. Chase took care of my smaller scratches and burns using a green paste. It smelled like grass and flowers. At first my skin felt cold but as the paste was worked into my skin it warmed up and the sting from the cuts vanished. On my arm it looked like the paste had covered the scratches and closed them as the color lightened from green to my skin color. I would have to ask him what it was made of because whatever it was it worked. Chase glanced at the silver liquid that pooled up on the floor and reached into the pool, grabbing more medical supplies.

  “Thank you, Lady Isha.” He smiled. While facing the liquid pool. I smiled as well.

  Now the dress made sense. Isha must have been on the other side of the liquid sending stuff over, or had she been here before I woke up? Seemed like Chase had help with the medical work.

  Where was Loic? Fear struck me. I looked around and saw him patched up and sitting against the wall. He blinked and looked over at me. his eyes seemed dull until he glanced up at me fully. A slow smile appeared crossed his face for a moment and he exhaled a breath. Relief surfaced before he recoiled a bit, seemingly from his own pain. He was alive and awake, my own relief flushed over me.

  I did it.

  I actually did it. I had gotten Chase there in time.

  Loic huffed, probably because of the stupid smile plastered on my face.

  He was bound up more than I was. There wasn’t an area of his chest and back that wasn’t covered in a bandage. His head and arms were wrapped up as well. His skin was weakly colored with a few fading black spots visible through his bandages. Loic had been more injured than I was, so he probably got more poison as well. No matter what shape we were in, I was glad everyone was alive.

  "Loic! You're okay!"

  "Yeah, nice save. Thanks." His forced smile, attempting to correct his slumped posture against the wall, he instead twisted downward as he winced.

  “Loic! What did I tell you?” Chase barked.

  “Don’t try to move too quick…” Loic grimaced, looking down in defeat.

  “Exactly. Now stay put while I finish up.” His voice warbled, giving off a sense of anxiety. Chase turned away from Loic, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

  Loic forced himself to relax as well. His body sank a little as he settled into the large rolling ottoman where he was sitting. The seat was covered in blankets like he was meant to be laying down, but he had forced himself into an upright position. He too was breathing heavily, flinching each time his chest rose and fell. He pressed his lips in a thin line, probably against pain.

  Someone tapped my shoulder. I looked up to see Chase.

  "Rayne, can you tell me what happened? The Formless were gone when I arrived.”

  Shock rippled through me. They were gone?

  In corner of my eye, Loic grumbled and recoiled, as if he was expecting the monsters to be nearby. Chase had mentioned that he and Loic were knights, similar to our military. Perhaps he was used to being healed in the middle of a fight. Ready to jump back in at a moments notice.

  What had happened then? Events from the horrible fight filtered through me. I woke up here. Loic was tossed around. The Formless grabbed me. Then there was that light. That strange, mysterious light.

  What happened after that? The light was the last thing I recalled. I felt like I was missing something.

  “We were in trouble and…” I held my hand around the stone that still hung from my neck. “This made a light, and I blacked out.”

  I still felt the experience. Even when my mind was fading in old age, I would never forget how it all felt. The burn eating at me from the inside out, the shooting pain coming from every joint and muscle in my body, the blood soaking through my clothes and splashing up at me. None of it would ever truly leave my skin. I held back tears, trying to force myself to move on. A few mirror shards gleaned from the ground. I avoided them, trying to clear my head.

  First the mirrors, now the memory of being eaten away by poisonous monsters. The list of terrors was growing by the day.

  Chase’s eyes lit up.

  “That’s incredible, Rayne. I think you defeated the Formless yourself!”

  “What?” I exclaimed!

  “How?” Loic asked.

  “I’m not sure, but all evidence points to that occurrence.” He took my hand in his and gestured to the stone.

  “These stones not only lead us to who we are linked with. They also amplify latent magical abilities. You mentioned a light coming from it. That is normally the form magic takes in Mirror Image.”

  My brow wrinkled. “So, I have powers?”

  “You can already see Formless. It is not that far of a stretch to imagine you have other abilities.”

  Me with magic, enough to beat the Formless. How was this possible?

  “Yes, that has to be it,” Chase said. “There’s no other explanation at the moment.”

  Loic looked over shifting around and leaning in to look at Chase specifically, the two make eye contact.

  “Okay Rayne being able to see Formless is one thing, but how could she possibly have the magic to fight them?”

  “Do you have any other ideas Lad?” Chase sighed and glared at Loic.

  “Well, no but It could have been…” Loic choked on his words as Chase kept his gaze on him.

  Loic shrugged. “Okay, I did feel some kind of power during the event. I assumed it came from what was in the bag she had with her.”

  “Perhaps not.” Chase stood, offering me his hand. I felt sore and tired, but he supported me on his shoulder. Once I was leaning against him, the stinging of my wounds went numb, almost like anesthesia. From where? It didn’t matter. If it made all of the pain disappear, I’d could live with it. Although I did miss knowing whether I was actually making contact with the ground or not.

  Chase adjusted his stance to compensate for holding up my semi-limp body. “We will deal with other puzzles later on. First, let’s move you two to a better place to rest. You won’t heal very well here. Once you are both healed, we can settle this.”

  He turned, and we approached Loic. He studied me; his eyes almost gentler. As though he really was relieved that I was okay. Then he turned to Chase, and his expression turned peevish. Chase patted Loic’s head, rustling up his hair. Loic grimaced at first but his expression softened.

  Chase then offered his hand to help Loic to his feet. Chase was unsteady at first, but then Loic leaned and acted almost as a counterbalance for him, placing his feet in a way to adjust for the height difference.

  Chases smile said it all. The two of them seemed so much like family: Chase being glad that Loic made it out of this alive, and Loic being relieved to see him again. The silent conversation made me want to remember and paint these expressions later on. Something about Chases’ expression seemed like he was worried that the ordeal was not over. I glanced at Loic. Chase twitched. Did he want to support us himself? Loic must not have wanted him to try.

  I felt completely numb, and I wasn’t nearly as hurt as Loic was. Was he fighting his numbness? Or had Chases’ medicine been less effective on him, so he was putting on a mask? Trying to help his father figure, while dealing with his own pain.

  Chase shuffled both of us carefully to his office, setting Loic on a rolling ottoman and me on the sofa I recalled from before. He gave our wounds another once over. I was still numb, for the most part, only feeling small stings of pain. Whatever Chase did held together pretty well.

  “There. All set,”

  Chase finished up with me and looked over at Loic. His softer expression grew stiffer just before he turned away from me.

  Loic sat against the wall again. The ottoman shifted, and Loic held the door frame to keep from rolling away.

  “That was a close call, Loic,” Chase said.

  “Yeah, so what?” Loic shifted on his ottoman, his expres
sion defensive.

  Chase tensed. “You could have been killed.”

  “Well, your point is void. You had to be with her on that side, so I had to come here alone. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be standing here with the little princess, now would we?”

  Through his pained expression he had that triumphant smirk.

  Annoyance flickered in me. One, that was a bit too cocky. Two, Loic was lying through his teeth.

  I was no princess, and he did not have that situation under control at all.

  Chase rolled his eyes. “You did manage to kill the one in the lobby but if I hadn’t let Rayne go after you, we’d be handling your own funeral arrangements, boy.”

  I tried not to smile, even though I felt a bit of pride. I’d been useful! The realization finally seemed to hit Loic, and his expression became puzzled.

  “Let her? As in, it wasn’t your idea old man?”

  I swallowed hard. Loic looked at me. I was on the spot now. Yeah, it was my idea to go help. But I’d rather it just remain a thing in the past and not put it on the forefront of everyone’s attention. My earlier pride evaporated. How much had I helped? Sure, I did get the vial. But these claims that I actually beat the Formless myself, while kind of cool in theory, were something I did not want to re-experience any time soon.

  Loic’s stare tore through me, and I averted my gaze.

  “I- I felt like I had to do something,” I muttered.

  Loic shifted and scooted the ottoman over my way. He forced another smile on his face and reached out to me. My shoulders seized—then he patted me on the head. Was this his way of thanking me? A head pat?

  Without really knowing him or and having a personal connection, it didn’t mean as much to me as I guessed it meant to him.

  “Thanks for the save, princess. I’ll owe you later. How about a fancy coffee?”

  I turned red, barely able to return his stare. I wished he didn’t force himself to do this. I saw the pain he tried to hide. He was much worse off than I was. He had sacrificed far more.