Mirror Land

by Kirstie Riley

  She shook herself, annoyed that she’d jumped away instead of lashing out. At least then she could have shown him that she wasn’t to be trifled with. She gave a short sharp nod before she realised he was going to make her go in first. She shuffled ahead of him, checking back every few seconds to make sure he was keeping some distance between them in the gloom. She blinked as she opened a door ahead of her, the light blinding for a second against the semi-dark corridor. It took a moment of getting used to before she noticed the other figures sitting around in the room.

  Gary smiled at her look of confusion, walking passed her. “Welcome to the Stormchaser’s hideout.”

  Kay looked back up at him, a flash of recognition at the name going through her that had her looking at the group in an entirely different light.

  ~~~~

  Kay looked up expectantly as the door to the store opened with a hum, trying not to smile when she saw it was Gary. He had so far visited every day since their first meeting and she had learnt his name on one of these appearances. Though, she had found out little else from his visits; he liked to ask her questions instead of the other way round and skirted around whatever questions he could without annoying her too much. There was a snort beside her which made her turn with a raised eyebrow. Her co-worker gave her a roll of his eyes that insinuated more than she was ready for. She tried not to blush and glared instead in retaliation, hoping he got the hint to back off. She looked back round quickly as she realised Gary was walking towards her and smiled brightly up at him as he gave her his shopping. On handing back the change to him, he kept hold of her hand.

  He smiled at her, hoping he wasn’t seeming too forward in anyway. “Hey…would you mind coming with me for a bit?”

  “Huh? Now?” Kay stared at him for a moment before realising he meant it. She frowned, she’d have probably met up with him after work if he’d asked but it wasn’t like she could just up and leave. “I’m kind of working at the moment?”

  Gary nodded and let go of her arm. “OK, give me just a second.” He walked over to her co-worker and whispered, grinning when he saw her watching him with thinly veiled curiosity and confusion. She strained to hear them but couldn’t make out what was being said and before she knew it he was walking back to her again, still smiling. “Your co-worker said he wouldn’t mind if you left for the day.” He took her arm again. “Let’s go.”

  Kay followed behind, not really knowing what to say as they walked out and oddly bemused by the entire situation. “Where are we going exactly?”

  “Just a little hideaway of mine.”

  “A hideaway?” Kay looked up at him, a tad worried at this elusive response.

  Gary looked down at her, noting the sudden apprehension and almost stuttering in his attempt to reassure. “Don’t worry! I’m not taking you somewhere dangerous. My friends just wanted to meet you, that’s all.”

  “And they couldn’t wait until after my shift?”

  “I thought that you could use an afternoon off.”

  Kay’s amusement at his flustered response increased. She nodded, letting him know she was less worried though more perplexed at the notion. “So…your friends want to meet me? Why?”

  Gary’s smile reappeared, relieved that she wasn’t suspicious of him anymore. “You’ll see.”

  He stepped out from beside her as he reached his motorbike, giving her a helmet.

  “You just happened to be carrying a spare?” Kay lifted her eyebrows at him in mock disbelief.

  “Of course. I do it all the time.” He grinned nonchalantly as he sat down. “You getting on?” He patted behind him.

  Kay sighed as she sat behind him, a blush lingering on her face as she realised she had to put her arms around him and she wasn’t quite sure whether to just get on with it or not, considering she didn’t really know the guy.

  He took her arms and placed them gently round his waist, tapping them once they were secure, obviously entertained. “You’ll fall off if you don’t hold on, you know.”

  “I-I know that.”

  Gary smiled at the stuttering behind him and the tense grip around his waist as he revved the engine.

  Kay looked up when she felt the motorbike stop what felt like only a few moments later but must have been awhile from the twists and turns they took to get there. She noted the shabby building before her with a hint of surprise, her arms slipping from around him as he got up. “This is your hideaway?” She glanced around as Gary stood beside her, helping her off the motorbike, a hand on her shoulder to steady her though he didn’t relinquish the grip once she’d got down.

  He smiled reassuringly at her as they walked into the hideaway, the gloom as they first entered contrasting the brightness of the next room making it difficult for her eyes to adjust. The first thing she noticed when they did were four other people standing or sitting around the room. She looked up as Gary let go of her shoulder.

  “Welcome to our hideaway.”

  “Who’s exactly?” Kay asked, a quiver of confusion entering her voice.

  “The Stormchaser’s of course.”

  Kay blinked at him, not understanding at all and wondered if she was meant to know what he was talking about by his cheeky grin.

  Chapter 3: Differences

  Between realities there are always differences that can be spotted almost instantaneously. Outcomes in the past that have affected the present that never happened in a parallel world. Saying Yes or No to questions that might have once seemed trivial. There are always at least small details that will show up.

  No two worlds are ever exactly the same.

  Though again, notably, there are always similarities between people and their mirror images.

  “Are you trying to intimidate her?”

  Kay looked around, staying quiet and observing for now, as one of the men in the room spoke. She made eye contact with him from across the room without even meaning to but he smiled encouragingly at her in response, his mousey brown hair and glasses in her opinion making him look more at home in a classroom, not in some suspicious hideout. She noticed a woman at the same time near the centre of the room; petit but muscular she was sprawled across the sofa and its other occupant, a fair-haired sleepy looking man who seemed to be zoning out of the conversation. She rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat as if bored already with the exchange before going back to a handheld gaming device in her hands.

  Gary laughed, an awkward edge to the sound. “What? No, of course not. I’m just letting her know now before she accuses me of not telling her later on.”

  Kay still stayed quiet, watching the interactions between them, an odd twisted feeling of being shocked by this turn of events and at the same time weirdly unimpressed. So this was the infamous group ‘The Stormchasers’? A motorbike gang that was known to roam in her neighbourhood. No one who lived there hadn’t heard of them. A group that had a habit of pulling riskier and riskier crimes every time they were sighted. The Stormchaser name suited them; they were thrill seekers pure and simple. She blinked quietly in thought. What had Gary been doing robbing a small store like hers? A fleeting moment of boredom?

  “But you have scared her, haven’t you? Look how quiet she is.” The girl she had noticed earlier sneered at her from across the room.

  She bristled at the comment. “I’m not intimidated, just...” She looked over at Gary, an unreadable expression on her face. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  “Sure, if you say so.” The girl’s smirk grew, her comment dripping with sarcasm as she sat up slightly, her game forgotten in favour of the conversation now that there was an interesting party involved. The other occupant of the sofa gave a grumbling noise as she moved, put out by her fidgeting from where she’s been leaning against him.

  Kay scowled at her before looking away, noting the room’s final occupant sitting in another chair further back had yet to say a word. It was hard to analyse much from his appearance; his jittery movements taking most of her attention. He looked like he wan
ted to ask a million questions but knew better than to voice them right at that moment, which made her wonder what she might be in store for later. She walked into the room properly for the moment, her head held high, to show how unfazed she was of them all. Her mouth ran away with her again as she muttered. “Well, there’s not really much to be scared of, now is there?”

  “Huh?” The four in front of her blinked in disbelief, eyes glancing to their friend behind her as he grinned, obviously glad that this was her response to them all.

  Kay tilted her head at them, scrutinising them. “Well, from what I know you’ve never hurt anyone in a crime you’ve committed, now have you? Unless it was an accident that is.” She added the last sentence quickly, noticing that she was going to be interrupted. “You know what I mean; you’ve never gone out of your way to take people out. You’ve also never taken jobs purely to hurt people, only heists and robberies.”

  “H-how could you possibly know that?” The guy who had spoken first tried to smile but it came across as fake and uncertain.

  Kay shrugged. “I like living on my own, people got worried when they found out what neighbourhood I lived in so I found what information I could to make them less worried. I’m just glad I didn’t have to lie about it.” She smiled at the group; trying not to giggle at the dumbfounded looks they were giving her in response. She turned back to Gary, a smug satisfaction taking over when she saw he looked shocked as well. “Are your friends always like this when you bring girls here? I mean I know there’s protective but this little meeting is a little extreme.” There was a snort behind her and Gary’s ears turned red, glaring behind her at the sniggering girl on the sofa.

  “Actually, he’s never brought a girl here before.” The guy who’d spoken first came forward, his smile a lot more natural and relaxed now. “Sorry if we seemed rude. I’m Ryan.” He held his hand out to her, trying to be polite.

  “Kay.” She took his hand, shaking it.

  Ryan nodded before looking round, making his way around the room as he did so. “The one who’s being snarky is Moira. I’d say her barks worse than her bite but…I’m not so sure that’s true.” The girl raised a hand at Kay, eyes already back to her game as she flicked her dark hair out of her way. She flopped once again onto the man beside her, getting a resounding exhale of breath for her efforts before she made herself comfortable resting her head in his lap. “The one she’s draped over is James. He’s our leader.” The man smiled at her and nodded, still as quiet as when she first entered. “And over there in the corner is Liam, he’s-.”

  Kay blinked and suddenly the other man was in front of her, eyes alight with curiosity, cutting off Ryan’s introduction. “Hi!” He pulled back slightly when she didn’t respond with a small frown. Kay staring at him as he started to speak, not understanding everything he said and pretty sure he got tongue-tied, with the speed he was going at, at least twice. She was only really able to discern ‘glad to meet you’ and ‘hope you’re here to stay so we can get to know you’ from the mess of questions and ramblings spewing from his mouth.

  “Who on earth gave you coffee?” Kay blurted out without meaning to, earning an approving laugh from across the room. She tried to ignore the reproachful look Liam gave her in return.

  “Sorry, he gets like this. You should see him on a heist, he’s like a whirlwind. You want something done fast, he’s your man. He just doesn’t know when to slow down.” Gary pulled Liam away and ruffled his hair. “I think you’ve scared her more than anything else has. She definitely wasn’t expecting that kind of welcome.”

  “Technically I wasn’t expecting any kind of welcome. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing.” Kay crossed her arms, slightly put out when her remark was ignored.

  “I scared her?” Liam looked slightly distraught at even thinking about it.

  “He’s messing with you, Liam.” Ryan spoke over his shoulder as he walked into one of the other rooms. “I’m going to make drinks, come and help me before he teases you further.”

  “K.” Liam darted after him, grin once again set on his face.

  Kay walked over to the guys on the couch, fairly amused at the atmosphere, not really having expected this for a gang’s hideout, especially one so infamous in the local area. She leaned against the back of the sofa, peeking through the doorway into the next room where Liam was buzzing around Ryan who had an exasperated look on his face as if he wondered why he’d made the effort. “Liam is not what I expected in The Stormchasers.”

  “Yeah well Ryan keeps him out of trouble and he’s good at what he does. If you’re wondering they’re not together.”

  “Oh? Why would I have thought that?”

  “Lots of people before you have.”

  Kay looked down at Moira, who shrugged half-heartedly while she spoke, eyes still glued to the screen. Kay smirked at her sprawling figure over the other man. “Do the same questions get asked about you two?”

  Moira looked up then for a moment, a mirrored smirk on her face. “Now how would you know that?”

  Kay snorted. “Because it’s so hard to tell.” She chuckled as James coughed and looked away from the pair of them with feigned disinterest.

  Moving away from them she hit something hard with her foot and winced, hoping she hadn’t broken something. Looking down she sighed with relief at the game box she’d almost stepped on. She tilted her head to read the box a few seconds later as something dawned on her. “Eh? This doesn’t come out until next week.”

  Moira paused the game, shocked at the response. None of the guys they were with had any inkling of what she was playing. She grinned in surprise. “I know right? It’s taken so long to come out, I just couldn’t resist. Do you want a copy?”

  “Ye-” Kay paused, realising what the ‘I couldn’t resist’ probably meant. “Actually, no, it’s OK. I think can wait until next week.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Gary smiled from where he leant against the doorway, glad that she seemed to be settling in without a hitch. He hadn’t actually let himself hope it would go this smoothly. He was slightly worried about her getting so friendly with Moira so quickly. They had enough trouble dealing with her antics without her having a helper. Deep in this thought he jumped as he realised someone was standing next to him without him even noticing.

  Kay grinned, giving him an appraising look. “You may look the part but you sure don’t act like you’re in a gang.”

  “So you say but you were terrified of me when we first met.” He grinned as she pouted.

  “Yeah but if I’d known you were part of the Stormchasers I wouldn’t have been actually.” She smiled as he looked confused. “Well, what would be the point of robbing a small convenience store? It’s not like there’s much excitement in that kind of robbery…you must have been looking at something else, now weren’t you?” She whistled innocently, hearing the laughter echoing from the other room and sighed softly. What was she doing here? In fact what were any of them doing here? It was weird to know that you were in the hideout of a notorious gang and yet feel less anxious than you had before, even if all the details still eluded you. Then again, she had wished for a more exciting life. “How did you guys get into all this anyway? You hardly seem the types.”

  Gary shrugged. “We work for a bigger syndicate; they don’t mind how we do our jobs as long as we get them done and as long as we don’t get caught.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean, don’t avoid the question. How did you get involved in the syndicate then?”

  Gary shrugged again. “It just kind of…happened? Though it took a little convincing to get these guys involved.” He frowned. “I still feel kind of guilty for getting Ryan involved, he was really against it all but when everyone else said they wanted to be a part of it, I think he just came along to make sure we looked after ourselves.”

  “Oh. Well that was stupidly kind of him.”

  Gary chuckled, shaking his head at the remark. “I guess it
was, maybe if he’d been more decisive we wouldn’t have done this.”

  Kay shrugged. “Maybe or maybe it would have just been the four of you with no one to look after you all.”

  An echoing ‘Oi’ came from the other side of the room where Moira had been listening in, made them both laugh.

  ~~~~

  “Oi, Gary, I thought we had got through to you about that stupid name.” The girl on the sofa dropped her head back against the other man sitting there with a thud that made him wince. “You’re embarrassing us.”

  Gary laughed. “What? It’s not that bad a name and you were all for it before.”

  “Yeah, when we were how old, exactly?”

  Kay looked round the room, smiling back at one of the occupants before looking back and forth between the two bantering. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat, interrupting them. “Am I missing something here?”

  Gary shrugged. “It was just a name that we came up with, when we were younger, for us lot, when we thought about becoming a gang.”

  “A gang?”

  “Well that doesn’t matter now, does it?”

  Kay turned to the man who had smiled at her earlier as he crossed his arms, a disapproving look on his face. “Huh?”

  The man smiled again though it was strained as he pushed his glasses back up again. “We sorted that out a while ago.”

  The girl on the sofa snorted again. “You mean you made sure we weren’t stupid and turned down the offer before we even had a chance to think it through.”

  “Yeah, I guess. But you’ve got to agree, it really was a stupid idea. Can you imagine what kind of trouble we’d have got ourselves into by now?” The man turned back from the sofa to Kay, an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry, I haven’t introduced us. I’m Ryan-”

  “The responsible one of us all. What would we ever do without him?”

  Ryan rolling his eyes. “The one who can’t stop talking is Moira. That’s James she’s using as a seat and that’s Liam.” He pointed behind him to the others. “You’re…Kay, right?”