The Other Side of the Mirror

Completely Elusive

Rhea's PoV

I don't remember much about the journey to the human land. My vision was blurry due to the tears in my eyes and my mind could only focus on one thing. I would never see Morpheus again.

The thought would not leave my head. It brought me so much anger and sadness but most of all pain.

I can still feel the all too familiar pang in my heart whenever I think back to that time.

My mind slowly drifted back to what we were talking about just before I was caught and it occurred to me that I never got the chance to tell him some important news, which only made me cry more.

I was only brought back to reality when the policeman halted abruptly in front of a mysterious rift. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my free hand and for the first time took in our surroundings. We were deep in the woods, the tall oak trees around us stretched so high they seemed to part the clouds. Everything was silent apart from my sniffs and an eerie whispering sound coming from the rift.

The rift itself was mesmerising. It was as though someone had cut through space and filled the gap with a thick mist which danced around in the gentle night breeze.

"Stop that silly crying at once. You must look as presentable as possible for your new family." The policeman had a harsh, firm tone to his voice but I knew it would be pointless to put up a fight given he still had a firm grasp of my wrist and even if I could get free and make a run for it, he would catch me.

I nodded solemnly and took a few deep breaths to calm myself as much as possible. When he was satisfied I looked somewhat presentable he pulled me through the rift.

Suddenly, the world around us faded away and we began spinning through dimensions. Just as dots of black began to spot my vision the overwhelming spinning stopped and we were standing in a completely black space. It was completely empty and every noise we made echoed around us. I gazed around and spotted what looked like a window a few metres away from us.

"Get up! We don't have much time." Without giving me a chance to push myself up off the ground, the police officer hauled me up by my arm that, despite the alarming journey, he was still gripping tightly.

He stormed over to the window, dragging me along with him. I stared through the pane of glass in awe. We were looking through into a neat bedroom, the walls were plain white and a plump duvet was folded neatly on the double bed in the centre of the room. I didn't get much more time to take in the room as the policeman turned my head so I was facing him. He shook his head in a disapproving manner and told me to be polite and respectful before pulling me through the glass.

We stepped out into the room we had been looking at through a beautiful antique mirror.

"Wait here." The police officer's voice was stern with no hint of compassion or sympathy of my situation.

He walked over to the door before halting abruptly and turning back to face me. "And don't think you can just disappear back through the mirror while I'm gone, you need an incantation to return to our...my land." With that, he left the room and his footsteps gradually disappeared down a hallway.

Other than the bed and a few other bits of furniture the room was empty and bare. I stood awkwardly in the middle of it, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

No matter how much I tried to distract myself, the thought that I would never see Morpheus again kept intruding my mind. It took all my strength to not break down into tears and curl up in a ball on the carpet.

I waited for about few minutes before I couldn't take it anymore and decided to find where the police officer had disappeared to. I quietly approached the door and creaked it open just enough to stick my head around and see if the coast was clear.

The hallway was dark and I couldn't tell if anyone was nearby or not. I listened intently for the sound of footsteps or breathing and when I heard neither I gingerly stepped out into the hallway. I pulled the door shut behind me, grimacing as it make a loud creak.

I had only taken a few steps when I heard the sound of a floorboard creaking somewhere in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and put a hand over my mouth to muffle my panicked breathing.

The creaking got louder as whoever it was came closer and closer to me. I slowly backed away until I was pressed against a wall, trapped.

I squinted my eyes, expecting a figure to emerge from the darkness as the sound of creaking floorboards came even closer to me, but no one appeared.

I wondered if it was just my mind playing tricks on me until I felt something brush against my shaking leg. I jumped up at the sudden contact and looked down. Two gleaning eyes were staring back up at me. I let out a sigh of relief, it had just been a cat.

I slid down against the wall until I was sitting on the cold floor and gave the cat a gentle stroke which got me a grateful meow in response.

I continued petting the cat which lay down beside me and began to purr, enjoying the attention it was receiving. I stopped short when the faint sound of voices reached my ears.

Much to the cats dismay I got up and began walking towards where the voices were coming from. As I approached the end of the hallway, the voices became louder. I noticed a strip of light beneath a closed door next to where I was standing and pressed my ear against it. Sure enough, the voices were coming from this room.

"We have already taken in and raised one of those infernal children. We have done our bit!Go find someone else to look after the brat." A woman's sharp and angry voice came.

"I understand ma'am, but the rift brought us here which means you have been chosen once again, like it or not." The policeman tried to reason with her, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Maybe we should take them in, after all we have the space since Alissa moved out." The man's voice paused for a moment. "Besides it's not the child's fault they were born to a Wisp." He tried to reason.

"Ah about that, unlike the other one you took in, this one isn't a child. I only caught her about an hour ago. I reckon she's late teens or early twenties."

A loud silence followed.

"Can't she go and live on her own then! What do you need us for?" The woman exclaimed, annoyance laced through her voice.

"The girl will need somewhere to stay until she finds her feet in this land. She seems quite pleasant and with any luck she won't stay long before she moves out and makes her own way in the world."

The woman let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine." I could imagine her rolling her eyes and sucking her teeth.

A few tears trickled down my face as I quietly ran back to the room we arrived in.

I perched on the edge of the bed and desperately wished to be back with Morpheus, lying on the grass and staring up at the stars without a care in the world.