Dark Halls, Stone Walls

Chapter Twenty-Three

I peaked inside the bathroom on my hands and knees to check and be sure that the notepad and pen were still there. When I confirmed that they were still there, I popped up and rushed inside, scribbling down the words, "I know how to make it work!"

Prince William, who had been pacing for who knows how long, saw my message and raised an eyebrow, left, and came back with his own pen and pad.

"How?"

"Apparently, I talked to this one woman who said she'd help me go back if I promised not to hurt you. She said if I broke the promise, I'd be put back here on the other side of the mirror."

His eyes softened. "Then you can come back over?"

"Yeah, but can you move? I don't want you to look up my skirt." I paused. "She said she knows how to help me get my memories back, but she wanted to give you a stern talking to, first. She said, 'stop being a jerk.'"

He pulled his lips into a thin line. "You sure that's another woman?"

I rolled my eyes and put my foot on the counter. He tastefully looked away.

Guess he's a gentleman in some cases. I pulled myself up and through the mirror as if it were just a plain old hallway.

I beamed at him. "Told you so!"

He turned to me, looking a little nervous but relieved. It must have been out of instinct, because when I got to my waist, he grabbed around my chest to hoist me up and out of the mirror without a moment of hesitation. I wrapped my arms around him to help move down.

"Now, can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" I looked up at him, a bit bashful from him being so close.

He sighed and shook his head.

I pursed my lips, "But why won't you?"

"You should know why," He grumbled, our reunion now embittered by the state of things.

Then, at my knees, the mirror stopped, and a pair of hands wrapped around my ankles.

I froze. "William," I whispered into his shoulder. "Something... something just grabbed me." I started to struggle against the mirror, but like quick sand, it started absorbing me back into that reality. "Oh my GOD IT'S TAKING ME BACK!" I started hollering and gripped onto him harder.

He pulled on me harder, now starting to panic himself. "What the hell—Kick it, damn it!"

I wiggled against the hands. "I–I'm trying! It's not doing anything—" The hands yanked me back until only my neck was through the mirror. Arms wrapped under my armpits and on top of my shoulders.

"William, I—"

Before I could finish, I was jerked back even farther, and thanks to the momentum of falling back, he was successfully pulled through the mirror as well, where he toppled unceremoniously onto the floor right next to me.

If he hadn't been holding onto me so hard, I would have struggled to get away from him, jumped through the mirror, and held him prisoner until he told me everything I wanted to know. That was the plan, which would have only worked if he didn't let go when I got 'sucked in' by my other self pulling me in.

But alas, the poor man was pale and panting from the adrenaline and was dedicated to holding me in his arms. He snapped his head up and looked around for the threat that had pulled us in.

The 'threat' was the other version of me, that now stood in the doorway with wide eyes at me. Why aren't you moving?

I can't! I glanced to Prince William, who was still holding me, using his body as a shield for some unknown threat.