The Mirror

The Mirror pt. 2

“Well, what’s the easiest way?”
“Not an option means not an option, you know. I’m not just saying that because I heard it on TV… although I suppose I have heard it on TV before… what show though? It’s got to be some kind of spy thing… or maybe crime? I’m not sure. Have you heard it on TV?”
Tom was used to Jayden’s mind wandering off task, but even still it irritated him, as was clear by his deepening frown. The guy threatened to give him a headache at times.
“Well, why don’t you just tell me why not?” he asked, hanging on to the last thread of his patience.
“Why not what?” the necromancer said, flicking a pocket lighter on and off, entranced by the tiny flame. He reached up absently and scratched the scar that ran through his right eye, tilting his head to the side as he awaited Tom’s answer.
“What,” Tom spoke slowly, “is the easiest way for you to summon up a spirit?”
Jayden sat up from where he had been lounging on the couch, temporarily focused once more. “Well, the easiest way would be if there’s a spirit already there. I don’t even need to do any summoning then, just need to make them show themselves. Failing that, the easiest way would be if I had the body… but that’s not an option, is it?”
Tom had to admit that it wasn’t. It knocked the two easiest options off the running, as his workroom wasn’t haunted to his knowledge, and he wasn’t ambitious enough to stoop to grave robbery.
“How do you summon if you’ve not got the body?”
He paused for a moment. “I would need a name, maybe something of theirs if you can get it, and it would help if you could at least let me know roughly where they’re buried. It’s also best if they’re… fresh-ish. I can cope with a few decades, but centuries is beyond me.“
Tom nodded, satisfied by this. “I think I can make that work.”
Jayden continued to flick his lighter. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Exactly what do you plan to do once I’ve summoned said spirit?”
Tom had expected the question, and it only took him a moment to carry the carefully wrapped square across to the coffee table. He tugged the string loose and pulled the brown paper aside, propping it up so Jayden could get a proper view.
“You’re going to put it in this,” he told him.
The necromancer studied his reflection for a moment. “A mirror.”
“That’s right.”
“Why a mirror?”
“It will work, won’t it? I think I’ve heard about it before somewhere,” Tom said, hoping he was right. The silly thing had cost him a genuine fortune, but if he was going to stick a ghost in a mirror, it stood to reason it had to be a pretty good-looking mirror. At least money was of little concern to him, thanks to his family.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. It would work with anything. I could stick one in your teacup if you wanted, although I don’t see why you would,” he replied. “Hang on, why exactly do you want to trap this spirit? You’re not thinking of keeping it about, are you, because I can tell you right now that it’s a very bad idea. It wouldn’t be like keeping a pigeon, or even a rat. It would be like keeping a hungry lion, and I’m sure you can work out how that would end.”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” Tom assured him, wrapping the mirror up again. “I just want to see if any of those… what do you call them? Thread things?”
“Thread things,” Jayden parroted, distracted by the lighter.
Tom continued. “I want to see if any of those ‘thread things’ will register on my equipment. The only way I can think for that to work is for you to do something with them. So you’ll bind it to the mirror.”
“But we have to destroy the mirror after,” he said, staring back intently with a sudden firmness Tom hadn’t expected. He looked into Jayden’s peculiar mismatched eyes, and he knew there was no point in arguing.
“Of course,” he said smoothly, as if calming a small child. “We’ll destroy the mirror as soon as the experiment’s done.”
“We have to destroy the mirror,” Jayden repeated, more relaxed this time. He had settled back to lounging. “As soon as the binding is done, we should get rid of it. It will be safer that way.”
“You’re the expert.”