Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1)

by Clairisa Campbell

  If he was able to recover from our attacks, how strong would I have to become?

  Paradox fake??? Scribbling several question marks after this.

  Either he knew that all of this was fake for sure, or he had found a way to break the curse.

  Take over the world! I added as the last note.

  I snuck in a little evil doodle under some of the notes, along with some ideas on what these notes could mean. Then I closed the notebook and stared at the cover. I dug through my purse to find a black marker and wrote Night Mirror on the cover. I would take notes of whatever I learned here. My lessons would go in here as well. I was going to get to the bottom of this before Rakesh found what he wanted. Or before he took the Mirror Stone from me.

  ~

  Loic took me home to my apartment the next day. We left early enough that the hour trip wouldn’t interfere with getting to class later. The ferry trip seemed longer than usual, being in silence. Everyone had come to the agreement that war talk could be held back a day or so after my latest near-death experience. I knew even though they were silent about it, they were still preparing for it. Loic stuck by me, constantly scanning the environment around us. I met his gaze a few times. His face was shadowed with determination and exhaustion. My first thought was are we safe? My second thought: was Loic bitter with me about the other day?

  “Loic? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” He cracked a smile. “Don’t I look it?”

  “Honestly? No.”

  “Sorry. Just a lot on my mind.”

  He scanned the area away from me and stayed silent.

  “Are you mad at me or something?” I muttered.

  I heard him inhale quickly and he looked back at me, his face a mix of shock and regret.

  “No, Rayne you didn’t do anything wrong.” He stammered between a few words, as if trying to find the right words.

  “Then why do I feel bad about it.”

  “What? yelling at me?” One of his eyebrows curled upward as he held his gaze on me.

  “Yeah.” I breathed the word out in a defeated sigh.

  “Rayne, don’t feel bad about that.” He sighed and shot me a slim smile. “Don’t feel bad about putting me in my place okay. I’ve thought about it, and as much as I want…to keep you out of this. As much as I want to protect you…”

  He set his hand on top of mine as I gripped the railing. I responded by covering his hand in turn. He flinched, seeming surprised at the gesture.

  “It’s stupid of me to think you wouldn’t have to fight.” He scratched his face with his free hand.

  “It’s stupid of me to even think about it anymore. You were right, if you have to then you might as well fight.”

  “I can’t ask you to not think about the fight.” I blurted, not able to get it out of my own head. “That wouldn’t be fair, considering what has happened. My own therapist would say ‘oh you shouldn’t worry so much, this is all in your head’ but it’s not anymore. It’s all real, and I’m not sure how to work with that. I’m so used to things being internal.”

  “Rayne? What are you getting at?”

  “Sorry.” I sucked in a breath. “I’m just saying you can talk to me instead of thinking about all of this alone. And that I’m sorry.” I broke my gaze from him, but I noticed him looking at me up and down before resting on my face. He leaned in and twisted my hair between his fingers.

  “You know you’re cute when you’re concerned.” He smiled and rested his hand on my shoulder. Loic pulled me closer and rested his forehead against mine. He was silent for a bit, his dual colored eyes drinking me in, just before giving me a quick kiss.

  I think everyone needed a break after last night. They all looked tired and sore. I did as well. I still felt some pain in my chest, even though I was in my own body now. I still couldn’t believe Chase was able to heal the damage in Luna’s.

  We finally made it back to Venice and headed to my apartment. Loic still scanned the area. I couldn’t see anything, and his lack of reaction meant he didn’t sense danger at this moment. I could relax a little bit.

  The streets on the way home weren’t very occupied. It was still barely morning, so I didn’t expect a lot of people to be out. Maybe that helped the fact there weren’t any Formless out. No human food meant no trouble.

  I continued to my door, cutting ahead of Loic to unlock the door. Loic followed me into the building. He sat by the window, on the other side of my apartment. Looking for anything suspicious, I guessed. I wandered around my apartment and looked to the closet. Opening it up, I found an item in the back covered by a tarp. I knew exactly what was under it.

  A mirror.

  One my father sent me when I was first planning to go to Italy.

  My mother was the only one who knew about my fear of mirrors. We hadn’t discovered that until much later, long after he thought I was okay.

  My father worked overseas while I recovered from my accident. I took much longer to recover then he did. From what mom said he only had a broken arm and some scratches after the truck turned. From how she told it he was actually the one who reported the accident. Mom never mentioned how long he was laid up; it might have been too painful for her. I do remember that after I woke up dad hardly left her side, only leaving when his work threatened to fire him if he didn’t leave. His bosses wanted the work done so they didn't care what was going on. They didn’t care that his daughter had forgotten who he was and that he felt like it was his fault since he’d been driving. I recalled hearing him curse often about it and lamenting that ‘someone had to pay for his mistake’ Just as often. To add on that I was scared of mirrors, it wouldn’t have made him feel any better.

  So, when he ended up giving me a mirror, I didn’t have the heart to turn down his gift.

  My mom was kind enough then to hide a note in the box telling me what it was ahead of time, so I wouldn’t panic as well. That note was still taped to the tarp:

  Rayne,

  Hey, how are you, sweetie? Your dad was kind enough to send you a congrats gift for Italy. I still haven’t told him. When he said he bought this so that you could look at yourself and remember us in your face. I just didn’t have the heart to dissuade him.

  Just know you are beautiful so even if you never look into it, you’ll know it

  -Good luck sweetie! Love, Mom and Dad.

  Staring at the tarp got me thinking about everything that happened. Loic and Chase have been saying that the Mirror Stone was attached to my soul. My life was what decided the fate of both of our worlds. They were going to fight, teach me to fight to the death, starting tomorrow. I would have to face the possible destruction of everything. Yet, here I was: afraid of a piece of glass.

  My heart pounded. I got on my knees and reached for the tarp over the mirror. I hesitated, and my fingers trembled as I grabbed the cover. The stone flashed. The cover flew off. I caught a glimpse of the mirror’s surface and my chest tightened. A flash of a shadow appeared for only a second, but that was more than long enough for me to panic. I felt a cold chill come over me. I closed my eyes and screamed. I hit the wall. Loic ran over to me and shielded me. He covered the mirror back up and persuaded me to look at him.

  "Rayne, it's okay."

  "No, it's not. Loic how can I fight?" I began to cry and tremble. "I'm terrified. How can I fight to protect our worlds when I can't even look at a mirror? I can't do this! It is not okay! Why did I think I could do this?"

  Loic pulled me closer to his chest and held me there.

  "Rayne. I will help you. Everything will be fine."

  "How? How will everything be fine? I'm not strong enough for this, Loic. I was just trying to...seem strong for everyone. I don’t want to be useless, but I am. I’m just a burden to everyone. A pathetic victim."

  Everything in my head crashed all at once. Beginning my meltdown, my emotions and body began to fail. I couldn't focus on anything. Loic shifted and grabbed my hand, wrapp
ing his fingers with mine and reaching in front of us. He hugged me with his other arm crossing my opposite arm around my chest like his was. The hug pulled me closer on his lap and he held me firm, despite my trembling.

  “Rayne. It’s true. You may not be a fighter. But whatever you are meant to do, it will become clear. I know what I’m meant to do at this point.”

  “And what are you meant to do?”

  “Keep you alive. Whether it’s from Formless, Rakesh...”

  He pulled my arm ahead of us further, and soon I felt my fingertips go numb.

  "Or from your own fears. I can help you."

  Loic leaned in close, and I felt his warmth around me. He laid his head on my neck and whispered to me.

  "You said you wouldn't let me fight alone. Well, let me make a promise of my own. I swear I will face this fear with you. Together, I swear we will crush it."

  He closed my eyes and lifted my arm up. I felt a cold feeling on my fingertips, and I shivered. He held my hand steady and covered my hand with his until my palm was on a flat, cold surface.

  I looked and saw my hand under the mirror’s cover. I felt my hand on the surface of the mirror. My heart rate and my breath got harder and faster. I held my breath, panic starting to rise. Then I leaned back, more into Loic’s chest. He took his free hand to hold me as tight as he could against him. My heart slowed down, matching Loic’s as he held me close. I still felt scared, frozen in place, but I wasn’t screaming. I exhaled, attempting to calm down. I tried to focus on him and his heat, holding my cold hand in place.

  I didn’t feel like I did before he came over, not anymore. There were no shadows. The dread in the air wasn’t as thick as it usually was. The former dread-filled air was replaced with his breath, and the smell of whatever soap he used. The air felt much lighter.

  I felt safer. Just by having him here. I flexed my fingers, pinned between the mirrors glass and his palm. The cold surface, completely smooth, untouched before this moment. I took a deep breath and I started to feel less dread, less scared. I turned and fell into his earnest, charming face. Then he kissed me, and all of my fears melted away. At last, Loic pulled away, still running his fingers through my hair.

  "See, Princess? I can help if you'll let me."

  "I will,” I whispered, daring to touch his cheek. “Thanks, Loic."

  "Anytime, Rayne."

  He helped me to my feet, both of us wearing too-large, probably goofy smiles.

  "I have an idea,” He said. “How about we forget about this other world thing, that starts tomorrow?"

  "Forget?” I blinked. “But Loic it's your home."

  "It's only for the time being. Right now, I'm away from home and I have a pretty foreign princess all to myself.” He grinned. “So, for now just relax. Why don't I make some dinner?"

  "You cook?”

  "Don't act so surprised. I was raised by my mother, remember? She taught me a thing or two."

  "Ah and I can trust that because she raised you, you're too nice of a guy to take advantage of this pretty foreign princess, right?"

  "Of course, you silly girl.” He leaned over and tapped my nose swiftly. “What do you take me for?"

  "A fairy tale prince.”

  He turned to me and kissed me again. I kissed back, enjoying every minute.

  "Don't worry princess,” He winked. “I'll keep it rated PG for you."

  "How very Disney of you."

  "Hey! Don’t underestimate the dark side of Disney." He laughed.

  "I'm surprised you know about that."

  "Seriously, I've lived in this world for 12 years. You can’t really pass a day without hearing something from them." He teased, grabbing my wrist.

  “I guess you're right.” I laughed, too.

  He led me to the table and sat me in the chair. Then Loic grabbed my cookbook and flipped through not allowing me to see his choice. Everything felt normal for a moment. He worked magic in the kitchen, only asking for the placement of my utensils and teasing me on how I didn’t have anything stored right. I stayed out of his way and doodled in my sketchbook and soon enough my doodle turned into a portrait of him as ‘Master Chef Vallen’

  “Oh, and by the way Princess. Make sure to capture the moment. I may have that framed someday.”

  I turned red, realizing he could see the picture in the reflection of the small mirror he had pointed my way. I looked away feeling the dread for a short bit, but it faded quickly.

  “I never pegged you for the type who’d want to stare at himself.” Extra surprising because the view was from behind him, so he would be looking at his own back all the time.

  “Eh why not? The ladies all say I have a sweet ass.”

  “Are you sure they’re not just calling you one?”

  I was quickly assaulted by mashed potatoes for that comment. I wiped off the glob with a laugh. Then Loic turned away.

  “Well, I found out a thing that relaxes you. You didn’t even mention the mirror until I said something. Even when you knew it was there, you didn’t panic.”

  “My sketches always did help. Maybe that’s why I got the courage to come here in the first place.”

  “I wondered about that. Why come to Italy when you just regained your memories of life back home?”

  “I’m not really sure. Maybe I wanted something different, something to make up for lost time. I felt like a burden for so long and when I gravitated to art, I wanted to be the best at it. So, I could paint and be happy, all while supporting my parents as a thank you to them.” I chewed on my lip. “They deserved more than they got. Having to basically raise their daughter twice? That’s a lot to ask of them. I wanted to be good enough at something to tell them how grateful I was. Sure, a fine arts degree isn’t like being a doctor or anything like that, but it was better than I was. More for them to be proud of.”

  “Now that’s real Disney of you, princess.”

  He laughed and continued cooking. We talked more about our pasts. His life raising dragon steeds with his mother before joining the guard and my life from after my accident. Everything seemed peaceful. I had never felt so normal before, not even with my family.

  Even after the meal was done, I still felt calm, more than I ever remembered feeling. With Loic on the couch nearby, I felt safe. I fell asleep with no nightmares.

  The trip to the in-between was brief this time. No shadow this time. Instead, there was the woman of light from the tapestry. She looked at me, unmoving and seemingly unaffected by the water.

  “Who are you?” I asked. “Why do I keep seeing you?”

  There was no response. She just stood there. Her outline barely distinguishable through the light she admitted. The only shadow she casted was what look like her hood covering her face. Everything else looked like one bright light that vaguely looked like a long cloak. The faceless form faced me, not even really looking at me, but through me in a way.

  I felt like I was moving and then I woke up back up in my own bed. In my own body. I looked to see Loic sleeping on the couch peacefully. I got showered and dressed without waking him. I left a note by his head and left for the museum on my own that day.

  I figured a little extra sleep would be a good repayment for the company.

  Luckily for me, they taught me a good way to get to the museum where I shouldn’t run into much trouble. I just hoped that the theory was correct.

  ~

  On my way to the docks, I passed Juliet and she waved at me. I saw she was with Marco and another group of friends. I waved back and kept on my route. Then I saw the bartender from the shattered glass bar. He came over to me.

  “Ah, if it isn’t Vallens’ better half! Rayne, was it?” He nodded, his jet-black hair falling on his face.

  “Yeah.” I chuckled. “You’re Lance from the bar?”

  “The one and only.” He saluted with a wink. “So, what are you doing out here alone?”

  “Just heading to meet Chase.”r />
  He turned to face the same direction I was facing. “We did get an all-clear for your path, but I would still make haste to the docks.”

  My stomach knotted. “Have there been Formless?”

  “No sightings, but we did lose three of our own. We’re assuming they were caught.” His eyes narrowed as he spoke.

  I swallowed my breath. They lost three people. I turned back to the direction of Juliet and her friends. Lance saw the group as well.

  “Do you sense any among them?” He asked.

  “No, no I’m just worried about them. My friend is in that group.”

  He smiled. “Don’t worry. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll ask one of my partners to watch them.”

  “Partners?’

  He opened his coat. In a flash of light, there was a magpie. The little bird chirped.

  “I use this little guy for scouting. Not only has this species pass the mirror cognition test but seems they are also better equipped to spot Formless. Saved my own life a few times. He can keep an eye on your friend.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed. “Thank you so much!”

  “I do warn you. Our enemy could be skilled with avian creatures as well. Be wary of any other birds acting strangely.”

  Other birds acting strangely? Birds acted weird all the time. What would be considered strange enough that I should worry about it? And what did that have to do with Rakesh? Was Lance saying they had similar hobbies at one time?

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I answered.

  He sent the bird off and walked ahead of me, escorting me to the dock until I got on the ferry to the island.

  Once there, I went to the lobby of the museum, walking around the old paintings and detritus. Chase was leaning against the wall. He was dressed a bit more casual than usual, swapping his gentleman's suit for what looked like a dress shirt, similar to the kind Loic liked. Reading glasses fell on his face as he turned to me.

  "Ah, Rayne! Glad you're here.” He yawned. “I've been up all night. Seems Rakesh was wrong about the museum."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It hasn't outlived its usefulness."

  He seemed like an excited child, almost. Swaying as he walked and having a slight grin on his face that widened as he approached. He kept composed and put an old book on the table.