The Split

by Hannah Hopkins

  “In the year 1985, humans first made contact with aliens,” the voice began. Will rolled his eyes and scoffed.

  “Can we skip the history lesson?” he complained. “We already know all of this.”

  “Sorry,” Lois said, shutting down the video. She scrolled through the database, revealing hundreds of individual files on screen.

  “How are we going to know if that thing’s on there?” Will said with despair. “There’s thousands of files.”

  “There should be a way to search by characteristics,” Emily interjected.

  “In English?” Will sighed.

  “It’s a database,” Emily explained. “There will be a way to search through it, hopefully by typing in what the alien looked like.”

  “Go ahead,” Lois said, vacating her seat so that Emily could sit down.

  While Emily was absorbed in typing, Will began to wander off, nosing through the shelves of dusty old books that were sat beside the Captain’s desk.

  “Why does your dad have books, Lois?” Will asked her. “Shouldn’t they be in the Museum or something?”

  “I don’t know,” Lois sighed. “He likes to collect things from Earth.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t touch them,” Finley frowned, but Will ignored him, choosing books at random and flicking through them to examine their contents.

  “Any luck, Emily?” Lois asked her, after she had been at work for ten minutes or so.

  “I don’t think so,” she frowned. “There doesn’t appear to be any aliens on here that match the description of what we saw.”

  “Are you sure?” Lois pressed her. “Maybe you missed something.”

  “I can’t be certain, no, not without opening every single file individually and reading through them, but that could take days,” she replied. “It says here there are 300,000 entries in total.”

  Finley’s shoulders slumped with defeat. He looked at the others in desperation, hoping one of them would suggest an alternative idea, but their faces appeared just as blank as his own.

  “Guys…” Will said slowly from behind them. “I think I’ve found something.”

  “What is it?” Emily asked him, jumping up from her chair. Will rushed forwards, a cluster of tattered notebook pages clutched in his hands.

  “Look at this,” he demanded and the three of them gathered around him.

  “Where did you get those?” Lois asked him.

  “They fell out of one the books,” Will replied.

  Finley looked down at the pages and was a bewildered to see a drawing of the creature from the hallway, every feature perfectly recaptured in pencil. Its various atrocities had been labelled in an untidy scrawl, with everything from ‘claw-like hands’ to ‘empty eyes’ included in the illustration. Next to the drawing was an almost illegible sentence, which after scrunching his eyes up tightly, Finley read as ‘drawn to human emotion’.

  “Look there,” Finley said, gesturing to some scribble at the top of the page. “This person’s given the alien a name; ‘The Vacuous’”

  “Whose notes are these?” Lois wondered out loud, her face contorted with confusion.

  “They’re your dad’s aren’t they?” Emily replied.

  “That’s not his handwriting,” she said. “I don’t recognise it.”

  “Hang on,” Finley added, pointing to the top of one of the pages, “what are those numbers?”

  “2098,” Emily out loud. “That must be the date these notes were taken on.”

  “Wait a minute,” Will mused, his eyes darting back and forth as something began formulating in his brain. “I’ve seen that date written before, in Krecher’s office.”

  Finley, Emily and Lois looked at him with bewilderment.

  “Krecher was a teacher at the College that my mum, dad and the Captain went to back on Earth. He had a photo hanging in his office with them all in it. It had the date ‘2098’ written underneath,” he explained.

  “So… these notes belong to Mr. Krecher?” Emily asked.

  “I think so,” Will replied. “He had a journal in his desk with a padlock on it. Some of the pages were missing. I’m betting this is them.”

  “What were you doing in Krecher’s desk?” Finley frowned. Will ignored the question.

  “More to the point, why does my dad have Krecher’s notes about the aliens?” Lois asked. “Do you think he knows about them too?”

  “I think they might have all known,” Will nodded. “Your dad, Krecher and my parents. They must have come across them when they were all at College.”

  “So, what you’re saying is, these “Vacuous” creatures were on Earth?” Emily clarified, “and your parents, the Captain and Krecher all saw them.”

  “I think that’s possible,” Will nodded.

  “But how can we ask them about it without admitting everything? If anyone tells Allance we were out of bed that night, we could end up being blamed for the vandalism,” Lois fretted. “After all, we haven’t got any proof that the Vacuous was there.”

  “Forget Allance” Will replied. “My mum wouldn’t let me set foot at the Academy ever again if she knew there were aliens roaming in the dormitories at night.”

  “Mine either,” Finley realised with deflation.

  “If we can’t tell our teachers and we can’t tell our parents, then what are we going to do?” Emily frowned.

  The four of them stood in silence, each attempting to conjure an impossible solution in their minds.

  “There is a way we can find out what our parents saw… without having to ask them anything,” Will announced.

  “How is that possible?” Lois asked.

  “The Looking Glass,” Will replied cryptically. “The answers are in the Looking Glass.”

  16.

  Return To The Past

  The new term at the Space Academy began with a flurry of exams, putting the plans that Will had made on hold until the chaos of the first few weeks died down. In truth, the four of them had been so absorbed in their scheming that they had hardly managed to prepare for any of the rigorous tests they were now facing in every subject. So far, they had endured a practical Combat and Weaponry exam, which involved fighting off a horde of holographic aliens in a simulated war zone using the laser weapons they had been studying that term. A written assignment for the subject had demanded they write a gruelling two-thousand-word essay on the War of the Classes, which Will was certain he would have failed had he not paid attention to a few of his mum’s stories about Earth.

  For their Alien Studies exam, Krecher had brought out an array of species for the class to identify, which, thanks to Finley’s insistence that they use Alfie’s database for revision, hadn’t been too difficult. Emily had prepped them all the night before their Technology exam in which Mr. Mayhem asked them to evaluate a piece of existing tech. Finley had chosen the I-Fridge, seemingly have a lot to say about the device. For Resources, they had spent an entire day in the forest and were marked by their ability to forage food, find water, build shelters and make a fire. The most important exam of all, however, was their Rocket Control test. Mr. Zeppler had taken the class out into Space to fly personal rockets around a suspended obstacle course and had informed them that passing the test meant that they would receive their first licence, allowing them to fly small rockets unsupervised. Will had found the obstacles exceptionally easy to navigate, but Finley, still scarred from the incident at the beginning of the year, had lost his nerve several times and had to retake the test twice before he was able to complete it successfully.

  The last day of the exam period rolled around and a heavy essay on the Ancient Egyptians for Civilisations was the only thing now standing in the way of their freedom. Having spent the last four weeks on guard for any signs of the Vacuous, it hadn’t taken much for Will to convince Finley, Emily and Lois to sneak out with him to the Looking Glass at the first opportunity. He had recounted his first experience with the mirror in vivid detail, igniting their curiosity and convincing them that t
he answers they sought would be found inside. With Admiral Allance’s threats still looming over their heads, Will had studied their designated route several times, until he was certain that it was the best path to take to avoid detection.

  That night at dinner, they established Will’s room as their meeting point, agreeing to arrive there as soon as Ms. Everly’s evening rounds were finished. Having settled this, they spent the rest of the meal eagerly speculating about what the Looking Glass might show them and what secrets they could unearth. Despite the ominous nature of the Vacuous, they couldn’t help but be excited by the prospect of solving the mystery that had been presented to them.

  When the hour arrived, Will left his bedroom door unlocked, allowing Lois, Emily and Finley to enter discreetly, each of them wearing black clothing at his request. Once they had regrouped, they snuck out of the dormitories, which were now deserted after curfew thanks to the “vandalism” incident, and into the dark grounds beyond.

  “Did Allance ever say whether they decided to put cameras in the dorms or not?” Finley whispered with worry as they set off.

  “Well if they did, we’ll soon know about it,” Will replied ominously.

  They navigated their way across the school campus, using the shadowy pathways that Will had meticulously picked out for them, and reached the Ivory Tower in ten minutes flat.

  “Can you hear any aliens out in the grounds?” Emily asked the others as they loaded into Jeff’s shuttle. “What if Krecher’s still up there?”

  “We’ve come this far,” said Will as he started up the engine. “No use turning back now.”

  Emily’s fears however, luckily turned out to be unfounded. Upon arriving at the top of the tower, they found Krecher’s classroom quiet and empty. Satisfied that there were no discernible signs of life in the building, the four of them headed into the office, closing the door behind them with care.

  “Over there,” Will instructed, pointing to the hilted mirror in the corner.

  “This is it?” Emily asked, staring with scepticism at the ordinary looking piece of furniture, which was innocently displaying their curious reflections.

  “Yes,” Will confirmed. “That’s it.”

  “How do you know it’s going to take us to the right place?” Finley questioned him.

  “I don’t know for sure” Will admitted. “But it showed me what I needed to see last time.”

  They stood and waited, Emily, Lois and Finley shuffling on their feet and exchanging sideways glances as the mirror continued to reflect only the room around them. Will stared at the mirror patiently, holding absolute faith that it would allow them to see what they desired.

  “How will we know when it’s working?” Lois whispered.

  “Maybe it only works for one person,” Finley frowned.

  “Maybe Krecher put some kind of block on it after you broke in last time,” Emily sighed.

  “Do you think we should go back?”.

  “Just wait,” he told them. “It’ll happen.”

  As though the mirror had heard him, a shiny handle suddenly materialised on its surface, rewarding Will for his faithfulness and stifling the other’s doubts.

  “Woah,” Finley said. “That was impressive. How does it work?”

  “It’s alien,” Will replied shortly. “That’s all I know. Are you all ready?”

  The three of them nodded and Will gripped the handle and took a deep breath before twisting it to the side.

  “Follow me!” he shouted, pulling the mirror open with force and running at full pelt into the blackness beyond.

  This time, he was ready for the gut-pulling disorientation that followed entry into the Looking Glass, staggering only slightly as he let his lungs fill with the cool, clean air that only Earth could provide. He was busy studying the street around him when a series of heavy footsteps indicated the arrival of Finley, Lois and Emily.

  “Are we in the right place, Will?” Finley asked, gawking at their surroundings.

  “Yeah, this is it,” Will nodded, noting the snow-peaked mountains in the distance. “This is where my parents went to College. If the Vacuous were here, we’ll find them.”

  “So, where do we start?” Emily inquired.

  Will scoped the area, scanning for clues that might suggest which path they should take. His eye was caught by an old, stone building, looming upon a hill top a few miles from where they stood. There was something drawing about its presence and gut instinct told Will it would be a good place to start their search.

  “Over there,” he pointed, marching towards the building with the others in close pursuit. They navigated their way through the winding streets of sleepy houses, startling at any sign of movement and checking over their shoulders in case a Vacuous suddenly appeared behind them. As they drew closer to their destination, Will’s nose was overpowered with the unpleasant stench of rotting food, causing him to stop dead and recoil.

  “What is that smell?!” Emily exclaimed when she caught up with him, pinching her nose between her finger and thumb.

  “I don’t know, but brace yourselves, we’re about to find out,” Will grimaced.

  He pulled the collar of his black, cotton jumper up to the ridge of his nose and continued forwards, breathing through his mouth to keep the powerful odour at bay. Keeping in step with one and other, Will, Emily, Finley and Lois rounded the next corner, finding themselves on a residential street, almost identical to the others in the area. As soon as they stepped onto the smooth tarmac of the road, it immediately became clear that something was very wrong. Every single one of the large rubbish bins positioned outside of the houses had been knocked over, causing litter and debris to fill the street. Flies swarmed in their hundreds, descending upon old, discarded food in packs of dark, vibrating, clouds. Metal drink cans scraped across the floor and plastic wrappers rustled with every gust of wind, interrupting the silence that hung over the street. Upon further inspection, Will noticed that one of the cars parked next to the pavement had been bashed out of place, its wide, silver rear sticking out diagonally into the road. Etched into the paint work on the side of its body were three, deep claw marks, their impact so powerful a small dent had been left in one of the doors.

  “I’ve seen marks like that before,” Lois swallowed, fear rising in her voice. “In our dormitories the night we saw the Vacuous.”

  “There’s one here,” Will concluded.

  “It won’t be able to see us, will it?” Emily fretted.

  “No, we can’t be seen or heard in the Looking Glass. It’s like being a ghost,” Will reassured her.

  “Can we move anything?” Emily queried, walking over to one of the discarded bins and attempting to pick it up.

  “No, you can’t touch anything either. Technically, you’d be changing the past which the Looking Glass doesn’t allow” Will explained. “Come on, we’d better keep going.”

  Hugging themselves against the bitter cold, they trudged through the streets, following every fork and bend in the road that led them closer to the ancient building. Eventually, they came to an old high street, the shop windows gathering with dust after being abandoned by their owners, with only a few appearing to still be in business. They crossed the town centre, passing under an imposing, grey clock tower that chimed urgently to inform them it was midnight, before meandering through the backstreets, finally reaching the foot of the hill they had been searching for. Carved into the grassy slope was a set of sturdy, stone steps which they ascended hastily, clambering to the peak of the hill within minutes.

  Once they had reached the top, they were met with a set of wrought iron gates, with two eagles carved into the flanks. Across the top, the words “College Snowdonia” were inscribed above a motto that read “Prudentia Salvi Erimus”. Will realised with a giddy surge of adrenaline that they had found his parent’s College, his belief in its significance growing stronger by the second. By some miracle, one of the gates had been left slightly ajar, allowing the four of them to enter without
being stopped by their inability to touch anything. A short, gravel path took them to the entranceway of the stone dwelling, which comprised of a set of mahogany doors under a stone archway. The doors had also been left open by whoever had proceeded them, revealing the dim glow of artificial light from inside the College. The four of them took one last glimpse at the building, which rose from the ground imposingly above them, its twisted turrets and domed windows giving it the stately appearance of a stern church rather than a place of education. Despite its threatening exterior, Will confidently led the others over the building’s threshold, relieved to find that the inside was much friendlier than the outer shell would suggest.

  They had walked into the main entrance, made apparent by the large reception desk in the centre of the room, covered in various I-Tech gadgets that provided a small amount of comfort and familiarity. The walls were covered in art work created by the students, hung amongst an excess of posters and flyers advertising for various sports teams and clubs, including football, lacrosse and ‘The Society of the Enlightened’. To the right of the doors was a coffee shop and small seating area, discarded paper cups scattered across the round metal tables. On the right-hand side was a green door, a sign reading “Lecture Rooms” attached to the front. With a glance at the others to confirm they were all in agreement, Will pushed the door open, finding himself in a long, musty hallway. The walls in this part of the building were bare and painted in a faded magnolia, giving an eerie feel to their surroundings. They reached a corner and turned it, entering a second identical hallway. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker and fade, plunging them into pungent, impenetrable darkness.

  “Someone get the torch on their Personal Device!” Finley called out from somewhere in the blackness.

  “Mines not working,” Emily replied from Will’s right.

  “I don’t think Personal Devices work in the Looking Glass,” Will frowned.

  “Great, so we’re just stuck in the dark then,” Lois complained.

  “Wait, ssh!” Finley hissed. “What’s that noise?”