Mirror in the Forest: Book One

by B. Groves

She tried to show it, she really did, but she felt like she was not enjoying the moment like she should. She couldn’t relax, and kissing him was becoming a chore.

  She gasped a little as he wrapped his hands around her bottom. She could feel the smile on his lips, but did not let go. Jessica cringed. She couldn’t help it; she wasn’t enjoying this at all.

  “I am looking forward to tomorrow night aren’t you?” He finally asked after they pulled away.

  “I am too,” she said, not really meaning it.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the dance?” He asked.

  Jessica shook her head. “No. Mandy may be injured, but you know she will get homecoming queen anyway. What’s the point?”

  “I hope you don’t still feel bad for what you said?” Danny asked.

  Jessica sighed. “I said a lot of things this week that I can’t take back, but I realize it was an accident.”

  Jessica wanted to kiss some more to try to get into the mood, but the thought of it made her sick to her stomach again.

  She knew she needed a way out, so Danny would just take her home.

  She got what she hoped for when someone came around the corner, and began to break up the groups behind the warehouse.

  The bright light of a flashlight suddenly blinded her, and she held up her hand to cover her eyes.

  “Ok, kids. Time to go,” the voice said from behind the flashlight.

  Jessica froze as the other kids that were there groaning in protest.

  It was Mark who had discovered them.

  “Come on,” he said. “Time to go.”

  He walked around shining his flashlight at the faces around him.

  Another deputy joined him, and Danny let go of Jessica.

  Finally, Mark’s flashlight settled on her face. She tried to look away, but noticed the hesitation when Mark realized who she was.

  “Jessica,” he said flatly.

  “Hi Sheriff,” she answered, feeling really guilty, and somewhat hurt by his tone.

  She had no idea why she was feeling guilty. He did pay for her dinner one night, but so what? It wasn’t like some kind of date? Was it?

  “We need everyone to clear the field,” he said directly to her.

  “Alright,” she answered. “Sorry.”

  He waved his flashlight, and Jessica said, “Sheriff, how was Mandy? Was she okay?”

  Mark hesitated, stopping directly in front of Jessica and Danny.

  Danny said hello and Mark nodded to him, but did not answer.

  “All I know is she could not feel her legs when they took her away,” Mark said in a business tone.

  Jessica’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Danny, who stood there in shock.

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” Jessica said. “We’ll go now.” She noticed he didn’t correct her this time, and tell her to call him ‘Mark.’ She suddenly felt depressed about it.

  “Yep,” Mark said, turning away and getting the other kids to move too.

  Jessica thought she heard anger in his voice, and wanted to say something else to him, but it was too late. He had moved onto other kids in the area.

  Jessica went to Danny’s car, and found it was a late 1970s Dodge Magnum. It was black in color, but it was beat up, and the paint was peeling.

  “That’s nice,” Jessica said, wishing she had a car by now.

  Danny shrugged, answering, “I got it for a steal. It gets me around, but I work on it a lot.”

  “Well, when you become a big baseball player, you’ll be able to get a BMW,” Jessica said smiling.

  Danny laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  Jessica and Danny got in, and thankfully, the traffic was clear now.

  “Do you know the Sheriff personally?” Danny asked as he pulled into the street.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “He seemed a little pissed to see you and me there,” Danny observed.

  Jessica didn’t know what to say, but Danny was right. She didn’t want to tell Danny that Mark bought her dinner a few nights ago.

  “I don’t know. I think he was mad that I refused to do anything after the party. My Mom said he has been trying to bring down Mandy’s dad for a while,” she answered, hoping that would do the trick.

  Danny suddenly looked at her seriously. “I just want to tell you that Mr. Cooper has been trying to help me get my scholarship. That’s what Mandy was talking about. He calls it some kind of charity for underprivileged kids, but I say he bribes it out of schools and sponsors.”

  Jessica softened and took his free hand in hers. “I understand. You are being given a chance to change your life, you have to take it.”

  Danny smiled at her understanding.

  “Jessica. What I really like about you is that you never fell for Mandy’s bullshit throughout school. You never got caught up in that crap that she and her stupid friends spew. She has nothing on you besides the party. Believe me she has taken a lot of good kids down for less,” he said.

  Jessica thought for a moment and remembered a couple of years ago when a classmate named Mike Novak had hung himself in his closet.

  “Mike?” She asked.

  Danny nodded seriously.

  Jessica shook her head, and then remembered a few others who had to transfer or drop out, and she started to wonder about them. The more she wondered the less guilty she felt.

  “Mandy gave me this whole thing about how she could help me get into a great school, great opportunities, but I had to do things for her,” Danny said swallowing.

  Jessica scrunched her eyebrows in question. She really was in the dark about these things.

  “Like what, Danny?”

  “If anyone crossed her, then myself and some friends would have to get things on that person that she could use against them even if it meant planting things,” Danny confessed.

  Jessica swallowed hard as she took in what Danny was telling her.

  “So, that night at the party? Is this all an act?”

  Danny turned to her sharply, and almost went off the road.

  “Sorry,” he muttered.

  Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and said, “Jessica, that night was completely me. I have been trying to get out from under her thumb for a while. I don’t give a damn about the money. I just wanted it to stop. You were not a plan.”

  Jessica believed him, because he looked really sad for the things he had done to other people at school.

  “Now, you have. If what the Sheriff said was true, then we will never see her again,” Jessica said smiling at him.

  “I’m kinda glad,” he answered.

  Jessica smiled.

  “Me too.”

  Chapter 16

  Jessica entered the house and found her parents whispering at the dining room table.

  “Hi, honey,” Mary said with a cigarette in her hand, and Don with his usual beer.

  “Hi Mom. Hi Dad,” Jessica answered.

  “Glad that boy brought you home safe,” Don said, smiling.

  “Don’t worry, he’s a good guy,” Jessica said, sincerely.

  “I wanted to ask you something,” Mary said, looking at her daughter.

  “Two things,” Don corrected.

  Mary nodded and said, “First, I want to know if you were okay with what happened. I know that can be horrible to witness. A lot of people were shaken up tonight.”

  “I would never wish something like that to happen to anyone, even Mandy. I did disagree that they went on with the game,” Jessica answered, trying to act sad over the accident.

  Mary looked relieved, and shot a look to Don.

  “Also, before you go to bed,” Mary said ashing her cigarette. “Did you happen to see my grandmother’s necklace? I couldn’t find it. I agree about Mandy, but apparently she requested it before they took her away."

  Well, wasn’t Mandy just the martyr? Jessica thought, sarcastically.

  Jessica looked at her steadily. “No Mom, sorry, I didn’t.”

  Mary shook her
head and smiled slightly. “I figured. I just wanted to make you didn’t borrow it or anything. I’m sure it will turn up.”

  Jessica smiled back and said, “I’ll look for it too, how about that?”

  “Thanks honey. Good night,” she said.

  “Good night Mom. Good night Dad,” she answered as she made her way up the stairs.

  Jessica didn’t even wait for her father to answer. She knew exactly where the necklace was, and knew her mother would never see it again.

  Jessica had to put up a good act, and play dumb about it.

  ….

  The next morning her parents went out to breakfast with some friends before her dad had to go back to Spokane.

  Jessica took the time alone to go into the woods, and see The Spirit of the Mirror.

  She had no idea what to say to him.

  When she reached him, she almost walked away again, but knew she was grateful to him, even though she had her doubts.

  Mandy Cooper was an evil person, and what happened to her was much deserved.

  The Spirit appeared and his white eyes glowed in the dark, dismal Washington day.

  “Hello, Jessica,” he said pleasantly.

  “Hello, Spirit,” she answered hesitantly.

  “Why are you afraid?” He asked, immediately picking up on her apprehension.

  “You don’t have any plans like that for me do you?” She asked, cautiously.

  The Spirit chuckled and said, “Absolutely not. I would never hurt you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “I know I asked for revenge, but I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.

  The Spirit thought a for a moment, and said, “Mandy Cooper has done many evil things to good people. She only received what she has given.”

  “What has she received?”

  The Spirit smirked. “She will be paralyzed from the neck down the rest of her life.”

  Jessica gasped in shock. “So, it’s true what the Sheriff told me then."

  “Yes.”

  Jessica let out a breath, and looked around the forest. The leaves were now changing from green to gold, red, and yellow. She suddenly felt very cold. Thinking of Mandy falling head first into the ground made her shiver to her core.

  “Jessica, I think deep down you know what I did was the right thing,” he said to her watching her movements.

  “Yes, but….”

  “But what….”

  Jessica couldn’t even think. Her wishes with The Spirit had taken a whole new level, and she didn’t know what to do.

  “Let me ask you a question, Jessica,” The Spirit suddenly said.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Are you sad to see that happen to Mandy Cooper?”

  Jessica thought for a moment.

  “No,” she said honestly.

  “Then my work has been completed with the wish,” he said smiling.

  “I just didn’t expect her to be paralyzed like that over giving you just a necklace,” she tried to argue.

  Jessica knew it was a moot argument. What’s done is done.

  She could not change it, nor could she grant another wish to undo it.

  Jessica suddenly smiled, and thought of all the kids Mandy hurt over the years, and continued to do so, especially Danny. Now, they could be free from her control.

  “I knew you would see it my way, Jessica,” The Spirit said.

  “I do, but now that I have Danny I don’t know if I need any more wishes now,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Take a look in the mirror, child,” the spirit said stepping out of the way.

  Jessica walked past the spirit and closer to the mirror.

  “Think about it for just a moment,” he persuaded.

  Jessica set her gaze upon both of her reflections in the mirror, and knew she was still not happy with her physical appearance. Her new hair did wonders, but she wanted so much more.

  “You said we had to be subtle,” she said looking over at him.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “I would really like to be thinner. I’m really getting tired of being called fat,” she said eyeing her curves.

  “If I do that then people will question you,” he said.

  Jessica suddenly had a brilliant idea. Her eyes lit up with anticipation.

  “We have basketball tryouts coming for the winter. Do you think that would work?” She asked.

  “Do you want to be on the team?” He asked.

  “Yes, and then the weight will come off without anyone getting suspicious,” she said smiling.

  “Excellent! Would you like the most recognition of the team you will play on?” He inquired.

  Jessica thought for a moment. Most of the cheerleaders will be on the basketball team from what was left of Mandy’s group.

  Mandy always had total control of the team from the time they were freshman in high school. This would be Jessica’s chance to take over the spotlight, and take it away from those that would inherit Mandy’s throne per se.

  First, there was Kelly Martin, Mandy’s best friend, who came into the room the night of the party with Mandy. Jessica knew there were times that Kelly was even meaner than Mandy.

  Kelly was also just as rich as Mandy, perhaps more, except her family came from old money. Her grandfather had owned several restaurants in Los Angeles and made millions off of them.

  Then there was Amber Lexington. Amber was actually one of the nicer ones, if you could call her that. Jessica always knew she was follower, and did whatever Mandy said. Whenever Amber was not with her group, she had always been nice to Jessica, and apologized a few times for her friend’s behavior.

  “Is that your wish?” He asked, patiently waiting for Jessica’s response.

  Jessica turned back to the mirror with determination in her eyes.

  “Yes, that is my wish. What is the gift I need to give you?”

  The spirit thought for a moment and said, “There is an old antique store in your town.”

  Jessica’s eyes lit up again, she knew exactly whom The Spirit of the Mirror was referring to. Sara Miller, she owned the store, and Jessica’s mom loved it in there. Whenever Jessica and Mary went shopping, Mary always made it a point to stop in there, and then complained about the money she would spend in Sara’s store when they finally left.

  “Yes, what about it?” Jessica asked.

  “There is a dagger that the owner has behind her counter. It has markings similar to the mirror. I want that dagger,” he said.

  Jessica let out a breath. She didn’t think she would have to steal again.

  How could she possibly get her hands on that dagger?

  The Spirit eyed her and his white eyes suddenly flashed a little.

  “I know what you are thinking Jessica, but it must be done to grant your wish,” he said.

  “Do I have to steal it?” She asked hesitating.

  “That is a decision that you will have to make, but I will need the dagger to fulfill your wish,” The Spirit answered.

  Jessica was relieved. If she could cough up the money then she could bring it to him, and keep her conscious clean.

  “Just keep in mind that the dagger is extremely valuable and you may not have enough of the funds humans use to purchase it,” The Spirit said reading her mind.

  Jessica couldn’t remember seeing the dagger before when she visited Sara’s store, but she would take a look to see what she could do.

  “The gifts will soon be changing Jessica. This is the last physical item I will ask for,” The Spirit commented.

  Jessica was relieved, but still apprehensive about having to steal something again.

  The more she thought it over, she could not come up with a way to give The Spirit the dagger without Sara Miller discovering her plan.

  “If you say so,” Jessica said still doubting what he wanted.

  “I promise you, this is my last physical request,” he answered.

  “I will get the dagger for you,
” Jessica said, with a renewed confidence in her voice.