Dark Side Of The Mirror (Emily's War)

by R. L. Austin

  Emily quickly gathered the things she needed for an overnight stay and threw them into her suitcase. She was at the top of the stairs at the back of her closet, intending to leave by the same route she came, when another idea occurred to her.

  Emily yanked down the sheet she had placed over the large mirror inside her closet and stepped through. There was a large man in a tattered brown suit standing a few feet away, and she realized it was his voice she had heard through the mirror. Her first thought was to help him escape the mirror by taking him with her, but her practical side told her it was better to wait. Emily felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of leaving him, so she made a promise to herself to come back for him before she gave up the triad.

  A quick check of the watch showed the hands had adjusted themselves to 10:30. Now that she knew the setting for the mirror in her bedroom, she could return anytime she wanted. She adjusted the hands to 11:10 and stepped back to Tyler’s room in time to hear a knock.

  “Come in.”

  Tyler shuffled into the room and leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets. “Hey.”

  Emily noticed that he kept looking at the floor. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, Mom’s fine.”

  “I’m glad she’s better. I felt bad when she fainted, and even worse when she fainted again as I came out.”

  “Don’t worry about it. She just needs some time to recover from the shock. The good news is…she’s finally stopped asking where we’ve been.” Tyler was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, but he let go when he noticed the suitcase in Emily’s hand. “Hey, where’d that come from?”

  “I needed to get a few things,” she explained.

  Tyler’s eyes got even bigger as understanding sank in. “You used the mirror to go back to your uncle’s house, didn’t you?”

  “I was careful,” Emily shot back, determined not to sound defensive. “And it’s not a big deal.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m cool with it. Did you see your parents?”

  “No, I didn’t see or hear anybody. I thought my parents might have gone to the police station.”

  “So they’ve finally figured out you’re gone?”

  “I don’t know,” Emily admitted, which reminded her that she had muted her cell phone earlier. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked it, but she had no missed calls and no messages. “It’s just weird that they haven’t called.” Emily had been resisting the idea that her parents didn’t know she had left, but it felt more plausible with each passing hour. “I guess it’s possible they went to bed because they don’t know I’m gone.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Well, it’s kind of hard to believe they don’t know by now.”

  “I know, but I can’t think of any other reason they wouldn’t have called. Not even once.” She glanced at her phone again, but she still had no messages. “I guess they’ll call in the morning.”

  “Yeah, I bet they will.” Tyler said while staring at his shoes.

  Emily could tell he had something else he wanted to say, so she waited.

  “Um, I wanted to…”

  He was mumbling, so Emily couldn’t hear. “What?”

  Tyler began again, louder. “I wanted to say good night and…well, tell you there’s a new movie at the local theater. It’s a really good one. If Mom lets me leave the house, um, would you like to go?”

  When Emily realized he was asking her on a date, it was her turn to look uncomfortable. She had never been on a date before, but she had been thinking about it since she first saw Tyler’s pictures. A nervous giggle tried to force its way out, but she managed to keep her voice calm. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”

  Tyler looked up with a big smile. “That’s great…great! I’ll let you know what Mom says.” He darted from the room so quickly that Emily didn’t get a chance to ask the name of the movie.

  Emily put her suitcase on the dresser before she stopped to stretch and yawn. It had been an eventful day, and she was tired. She followed her usual bathroom routine and changed into her nightgown before she made the bed and slipped under the covers. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she took the time to send a text message to Tracy, grinning the whole time. ZZZ n Tyler’s bed 2nt. & 2moro we hav a D8 

  She was glad her phone was set to mute, because her suggestive message was sure to spawn a flurry of calls and text replies. Emily checked her messages one last time before she turned off the light. Her parents still hadn’t called. Emily couldn’t control a growing feeling of disappointment, but contented herself with the idea they would probably call the next morning with a dozen police officers listening in.

  “Yeah, that’s it.” Emily snuggled deep into the bed that still smelled like Tyler. It was exciting to be sleeping in a boy’s bed, especially one she had just met, but it didn’t stop her from drifting off to sleep.

  ***

  The next morning Emily had a dozen text messages from Tracy, begging for juicy details, but no messages from her parents.

  Tyler’s mother, Barbara, was stumbling around the kitchen when Emily walked in. The woman’s hair was in wild disarray, the buttons of her robe were in the wrong holes, and she moved with the wooden gestures of a zombie doing its best to act like a mother and make pancakes.

  Stop that! Emily chided herself. It’s not right to think like that. She just managed before Nick walked in.

  “Good morning, sunshine!” He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. Her only response was a bleary-eyed gaze and a mumble that Emily couldn’t understand.

  Nick grabbed a coffee cup and turned to Emily with a wink. “Good morning, Emily. Please excuse Barbara. She didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Good morn—”

  Emily was interrupted by a heavy thump that came from the direction of the stairs, followed by Tyler bounding into the kitchen. “Good morning, everyone.” He gave each of his parents a quick hug before he slipped into a chair across the table from Emily. “Are we still on for the movie?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, then it’s now or never. Wish me luck!” He sat up straight and put on a big smile. “Hey, Mom, Dad, I was wondering if I could take Emily to see a movie this afternoon.”

  Nick was okay with the idea, but Barbara snapped out of her daze long enough to vow that no one was leaving the house without a police escort.

  “But Mom, it’s a matinee.”

  “I said no!” She crossed her arms with a sense of finality, but Nick assured her they would be safe. “Emily’s uncle can’t do a thing without the triad, even if he knew where to find us.”

  Barbara’s jaw remained set, but she finally relented after Nick gave her a few well-placed kisses.

  ***

  Walnut Creek turned out to be bigger than Emily expected, but it was decidedly smaller than New York or San Francisco. They encountered three of Tyler’s friends before they reached the movie theater, and each of them wanted to know where he’d been for the past week. He politely introduced Emily before he made a vague excuse that he’d been away.

  Tyler’s friends were all happy to have him back, and it was obvious that he was popular in his hometown. Emily knew what that kind of popularity felt like, and it made her homesick for New York. She almost sent another text message to Tracy, but decided to wait until after the movie.

  The matinee feature turned out to be an action adventure movie. There were lots of shootouts and explosions, and everyone except the main character died before the movie was over. It held no interest for Emily, so she spent her time sending text messages to her friends and sharing a tub of popcorn with Tyler. The popcorn gave out long before the last person died and the movie ended, and Emily had a long list of text replies demanding more details about her date with Tyler. She grinned as she slipped the phone into her pocket, deciding to torture her friends by making them wait.

  Tyler walked backwards in front of Emily as they exited the theater, making wide gestures with his arms as he talked about the movie. “That
was great! Even better than the last one and the one before that. Wasn’t it great?”

  Emily chose her words carefully. “I didn’t think anyone could survive that many gunfights and crashes. And he did it without a scratch!”

  “I know. It was so great when he blew up the building with that tank. Kapow!”

  Emily remembered hearing lots of explosions, but didn’t remember a tank, so she wasn’t sure which one Tyler was referring to. “Yeah, that was cool.”

  They were on the sidewalk in front of the theater when Tyler slipped his hand over hers. “I’m glad you liked it. I was kind of worried you wouldn’t.”

  The warmth of holding his hand spread to her body, and it didn’t stop until it reached her toes. It was a good feeling.

  The walk back, hand in hand, was slow and leisurely. Tyler made several stops to show her some of his favorite places. Each of them had its own funny story that made Emily laugh. The return trip turned out to be more fun than the movie, and Emily decided she wanted more dates like this one.

  When they got back to Tyler’s house, Emily excused herself and went to Tyler’s room. She needed a little quiet time to respond to a barrage of text messages from her friends in New York. It took almost an hour to satisfy all their questions about Tyler and their first date, but a whole new round of texting started when she uploaded his photo, the shirtless one, and forwarded it to Tracy.

  When Emily finally put her phone away she was basking in delight, but even her happiness couldn’t overcome a growing uneasiness she had felt since waking up. She had checked her phone a hundred times for a message from her parents, but they still had not called. It felt wrong, and a little knot of worry was now growing in the back of her mind. As the afternoon turned into evening without a call, that worry turned into a nagging voice that became loud and persistent. By eight o’clock, Emily was anxiously checking her phone every few minutes.

  She still had the triad and watch in her suitcase, so she made up her mind that she wasn’t going to bed until she knew her parents were okay. If she was lucky, she would see them through one of the mirrors at her uncle’s house. If not, she would leave the mirror and search her uncle’s house until she found them, even if it put the triad at risk.

  Not knowing if Nick would try to stop her, Emily excused herself and returned to Tyler’s room. She would have a few minutes before Tyler wondered where she was, and a few more before he came looking for her. She decided that was plenty of time to make a quick trip without anyone realizing she had gone. It was a definite risk to take the triad back to her uncle’s house, but she had to know why her parents hadn’t called.

  Emily shifted back and forth between the mirrors in the dining room and rear hallway, but did not see or hear her parents from either one, which meant she would have to search for them. She switched to the mirror hanging in her closet, thinking it would be a good place to enter the house, but she hesitated when she saw all of her belongings on the floor. Her uncle must have been searching for the triad.

  She waited and listened for several minutes before she stepped out of the mirror. One of her purses, a black vinyl bag with a long shoulder strap, was on the floor at her feet. She picked it up and put the triad and the watch inside before she tiptoed her way across the room. She was reaching for the door when she spotted the yo-yo that had been left as a substitute for the watch. I’ll bet that ticked him off. She picked it up and slipped it into her pocket before she cracked her bedroom door to listen.

  The house was quiet, and Emily noticed there was no lingering smell from her mother’s cooking, so she went back to her closet and crept down her grandfather’s hidden stairway to the second level. Her parents’ room was close to the front stairs, but the rest of the second level was unused. Her uncle’s study was on the first level, and she hoped he was in his precious study right now, but she didn’t intend to get close enough to find out.

  Emily was wiping beads of nervous sweat from her brow by the time she reached her parents’ bedroom. The heavy wooden door was closed, so she tested the brass doorknob to see if it was locked. She felt the same tingling sensation she had in her uncle’s study, but ignored it. The knob turned without resistance, and she cracked the door open just wide enough to peer into the room.

  She saw both her parents lying on top of their bed, apparently sleeping, but they were fully clothed. It didn’t look right, so Emily opened the door and slipped inside. “Mom, Dad, wake up.” Neither of them responded.

  When Emily reached the side of the bed she noticed they were still wearing the clothes they had worn to the restaurant the night before. Her father was on the side closest to her, so she gave him a shake. He felt warm, but did not wake up. “Dad, it’s me, Emily.” He remained limp, so she hurried around the bed and shook her mother. “Mom, can you hear me?” Again, there was no reaction at all.

  Emily stepped back and tried to make sense of the situation. If her parents had been unconscious all this time, it would explain why she hadn’t heard from them. But why were they sleeping? She decided her uncle Mansel must had drugged them, or put them under some sort of spell. Whatever it was, she had to figure out a way to wake them.

  Cold water might work. The nearest bathroom was across the hall, so Emily hurried to get some. When she grabbed the brass knob on the inside of the door, her fingers clenched onto it with a vice-like grip. “What the…” She tried to pull away, but her fingers refused to release. She also noticed the lights in the hallway were flashing like a strobe. Emily leaned back and strained to pull herself free, but her fingers refused to let go of the doorknob. Her uncle had set a trap, and she had carelessly blundered into it.

  Emily knew she had to get her hand off the knob before her uncle arrived. If it was a spell holding her, she needed to break it. Emily had no idea how to break a spell, but she remembered how her grandmother’s green amulet had prevented the triad from working. Maybe the amulet would stop this spell from working.

  The necklace was in her right pocket, but her right hand was stuck on the knob. “Great!” She used her left hand to reach across and dig into her right pocket. It was awkward, but she managed to push her hand deep enough to feel the yo-yo she had picked up earlier. The amulet was underneath it. She strained to reach past the yo-yo until she could feel the amulet with the tips of her fingers. She gingerly pinched it and tried to pull it free, but the smooth stone slipped away as she worked it past the yo-yo.

  The smooth amulet also slipped free on her next try, but Emily was quick to raise her leg and pinch her pocket, preventing the stone from falling back to the bottom. Standing on one leg, Emily felt like a contortionist as she pushed the yo-yo to the side and got a firm grip on the green stone. As awkward as the whole process was, it worked. She pulled the amulet free and lowered her leg. But her sense of relief was cut short when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps in the hallway. Her uncle knew his trap had been sprung, and he was coming to claim his prize.

  If he caught her before she got away, everything would be lost, including her parents. Emily pressed the amulet to the knob, and her clenched fingers immediately let go. She had enough time to scramble back and grab her purse before her uncle opened the door.

  “There you are. You have something that belongs to me.”

  Emily was now pressed against her parents’ bed. “Stay away from me.”

  Her uncle glanced at the doorknob. “I’m not sure how you did it, but I’m impressed that you managed to get free. It doesn’t matter, though, because your tricks won’t help you now. Give me the triad and the watch, and I’ll allow you and your parents to leave. If you resist, I’ll have no choice but to take them from you.”

  Emily shuffled sideways along the bed until she was able to slip around to the far side. “Stay back.”

  Mansel took a step forward and gave her a sinister smile. “There’s no way to escape, so be a nice little girl and hand them over.”

  There was no mistaking her uncle’s derogatory tone, and Emily’
s fear turned to anger. She wasn’t helpless. And I’m not a nice little girl.

  She had already saved Tyler and Nick; her uncle probably didn’t know that yet, and she knew how the triad and the watch functioned. With her anger growing, she decided to show him how much she had learned.

  Emily knew there was a full-length mirror on the door of her parent’s closet. If she could get to it before her uncle grabbed her, she could get away. But Mansel was closer to the closet than she was. What she needed a diversion, so she reached into her pocket and pulled out the yo-yo that had given her so much trouble moments before. “You can’t have the triad, but you can have the watch.” Emily tossed the yo-yo away from the closet. When her uncle lurched for it, she bolted toward the mirror. She had almost reached it when something glanced off the side of her head and hit the wall. Emily stumbled but caught herself before she fell, and the yo-yo rolled to a stop at her feet.

  “That’s it, no more games. Give me the damn triad.” Mansel was now yelling.

  Emily knew her uncle was coming for her, so she pulled the triad from her purse and dove for the mirror. She expected to pass through the mirror, but she slammed into the hard glass surface. “Oww!”

  Stunned, and with her face stinging from the unexpected impact, she tried to understand what had gone wrong. The amulet, of course! She was still holding it, so it had prevented the triad from working. She slipped the green stone into her pocket and plunged toward the mirror again. She was passing through when she felt her uncle’s fingers rake through her hair, trying to grab hold before she was gone.

  Emily stood inside the mirror, shaking. Her escape had been close. Too close. With her nerves frazzled, it took a moment to notice a woman with a vacant stare standing only a few feet away. She was beautiful, in an old fashioned way. Her dress was well tailored to be form fitting, with broad shoulders and a belt to cinch the waist. Emily had seen women dressed like her in old black-and-white movies, but never in person. Emily pushed away thoughts of movies and dresses and turned back to her parents’ bedroom.