Inner Demons (Book Eight of the Silver Society)

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

Jesse... A voice called in the darkness.

Considering he'd barely fallen asleep, Jesse wasn't in the mood for disembodied voices. "What now?" He grumbled.

Jesse, get up... Come here. We need to talk.

Beyond annoyed, Jesse stood up. He was startled to see something in his mirror besides his own reflection. In fact, his reflection wasn't there at all.

"Tommi?" He asked in confusion. Tommi West was one of his closest friends, but considering she was in his mirror, he knew this wasn't his Tommi. "What's going on?" He asked the Tommi from the half-dimension, Mirror.

"My Jesse's missing. He went out last night and never came home. Something's wrong. I need your help," Mirror Tommi explained.

"Why do you need my help? I don't know where he is."

"You're an idiot sometimes... I need you to come through to Mirror. You guys will switch places and he can tell me what's going on so I can help."

"That would leave me in whatever trouble he's stuck in," Jesse pointed out.

"You can switch back after. You did it before, right? When the hunters and Rikki Henley abducted you? It worked then. It will work now, too."

He sighed. "You're really worried about him, aren't you?"

"My Jesse is the only person in this entire dimension who matters to me. Yes, I'm worried. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Alright... I'll go through and see what I can do."

Reluctantly, Jesse crossed into Mirror. He stumbled through and nearly fell. What he saw left him terrified.

There was blood everywhere. The scent told him it belonged to his Mirror self. "Wow... It looks like someone really messed him up," he mumbled.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," a voice Jesse had hoped never to hear again said with a sadistic laugh. "Hello, Son."

"I'm not your son," Jesse replied sharply.

"Actually, you are... It's time we finish what we started, Jesse."

As his father lunged at him, Jesse awoke screaming. He sat up in his bed and tried to make sense of how he'd gotten there.

Melissa ran into his room. "What's wrong?" She demanded.

"My... My father..." Jesse mumbled.

"Was it a nightmare? It's okay, Puppy," Melissa said sympathetically. "Talk to me."

"I was in Mirror, trying to help the other me... And my father was there. I think he hurt him. I... I don't understand. It felt so real, Melissa."

She looked concerned as she said, "It's okay, Jesse. Really. Whatever happened, we'll figure it out. Maybe it was just a bad dream."

"Maybe..." He shook his head. "I need to get some air and clear my mind."

"Want company? I could use a run myself."

"Sure." Jesse didn't bother getting dressed before heading out of the house in his pajama pants and shifting form into a wolf. Melissa eagerly followed him, changing form into a leopard. They took off running.

Everything made more sense when Jesse ran. His nerves always eased and his mind cleared as he allowed his beast to take control. This time, however, it wasn't working. Somehow, he knew his dream was anything but.