“You found her.” He nodded.
Emily pulled the girl into a hug, her disfigured face transformed. “Hell couldn’t keep me away.”
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
Emily followed the realtor up the stairs of the bright and sunny Pennsylvania farmhouse. April clung to her arm. Emily gave her daughter a reassuring smile, but she looked away.
Except for her haunted expression, April appeared almost normal. Her hair was three inches long, and clothes hid most of the scars from her burns.
Emily was not so lucky—she sported several shiny, pink patches on her hands and face, and so far, her eyebrows hadn’t grown back. But she’d had reconstructive surgery to repair her teeth, and her smile never looked brighter. She smiled a lot these days.
“Here we have the master bedroom,” said the realtor, her beribboned ponytail bobbing. “It has a lovely view of the backyard.” She waited until Emily and April stepped beside her and then pointed out the window. “There’s the rose garden you were interested in, and the old oak with the tire swing. Just right for you, young lady. The barn is over there. Did you say you wanted to make it a studio?”
“An office.” Emily looked out at an expanse of summer green. “I plan to write a novel.”
That wasn’t all she intended to do, of course. She hoped to host a website in search of Gun, make it a sort of support group for survivors of the Mirror. Chastity had already signed on to help.
“A novelist. Don’t think we have one of them in these parts.” The realtor crossed the room. “Here’s a nice, walk-in closet. Obviously an addition. They didn’t think of closet space back in the day.”
April tugged Emily’s arm. Emily knelt before her, gently smoothing the girl’s hair.
“What will happen to our real home?” April whispered. “What about Esmeralda?”
“She found a new job,” Emily said. “I explained that to you.”
“Won’t we see Uncle Ross anymore?”
Emily glanced away. She couldn’t bear to be near Ross Devine. She blamed him for everything. Aside from that, she couldn’t imagine continuing her job. How could she work to disprove a myth when she herself had seen so many unbelievable things?
“No,” she said. “But if we rent this place, we will be near Grandpa. You can see him whenever you like. That will be nice, won’t it?”
April nodded, but her eyes were unsure. “Why can’t we tell Grampy where we were?”
Sighing, Emily pulled her into a hug. “If Grandpa knew what happened to us, he would be sad. You don’t want that, right?” She felt her daughter squirm and held her tighter. “It has to be our secret.”
From across the room, the realtor said, “If you will follow me, I will show you the other two bedrooms on this floor.”
Emily stood.
But April refused to move. “I don’t want my own room. I want to sleep with you.”
Emily chuckled. “You can stay in my room until you’re twenty-six years old. After that, I think we’ll both be safe.”
April gave one of her rare smiles, and they walked into the hallway.
On the wall of the bedroom, unseen by either, came a faint shimmer. Like a vertical pool of water.
Or a mirror.
ABOUT AUTHOR ROXANNE SMOLEN
Roxanne Smolen was born in Detroit, the eldest daughter of five children. She learned to read at an early age and read voraciously, be it classic novels, comic books, or cereal boxes. As a child, her summers were spent on a farm with her favorite aunt, a devout woman who encouraged her to read the Bible. Smolen became obsessed with Revelation and the apocalypse. She turned to science in an attempt to explain the phenomenon.
Along the way, she discovered science fiction. She was drawn to stories about the end of the world but soon branched off to outer space and a limitless future. She decided to become an astronaut. But reality intervened. She married right out of high school and started a family. When her children were school-aged, she enrolled in Wayne State University, intent on becoming a scientist. However, she took a course in creative writing, and it became her passion. She decided if she couldn’t visit the stars in person, she would do it page by page.
Yet again, life took another turn. Smolen was diagnosed with a genetic eye disease and lost her vision. Her husband gave her one year to mope and feel sorry for herself. Then he sent her to a local Lighthouse of the Blind to learn how to use a computer without looking. She has since written eight novels in the science fiction realm, ranging from sci-fi romance to horror. Her underlying themes are always the same. Believe in yourself and never give up.
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