Stolen Souls

chapter two

"We left a life
that's ordinary from
the start."
-Stranger Things, Kygo, OneRepublic

chapter two

The moment my feet touched the thick earth on the other side of the mirror, I collapsed out of Camden's arms. When we walked through the glass, my face started to sting with the coldest feeling. I didn't imagine something warm like James had told me to, and I was completely regretting it.

Camden wasn't expecting me to go entirely limp. As I slid out his arms, his reaction to saving me from banging my head off the hard ground was delayed. My body was shivering uncontrollably as I was slumped by his feet.

"What the-"

When James saw me on the ground, he instantly crouched down next to my side. He started shaking me as he called my name. He was the last person I saw before I blacked out.

"Ayla?" His voice echoed inside my skull.

•••

I was lying in the backseat of an old car when I gained consciousness. The upper part of my body was lying in someone's lap. The scent of pine cologne told me it was Camden.

James must have been driving. It felt like we were flying down the roads as the woods were blurred through the windows. If he didn't slow down, we were destined to be pulled over by a cop.

I tried to remember what happened before I blacked out. The events of the storm, the garage, and the mirror replayed in my head over and over. I quickly realized I wasn't somewhere normal.

Maybe this was all a dream? The extreme pain in my head denied that thought. I had no idea where I was, and I was now riding in the backseat of a car going ninety-five miles an hour with two strangers.

What if they kill me?

I still wasn't accepting the fact that we had walked through a mirror. How was that even possible? What happened to my life not being a horror story?

James slammed on the brakes, and we all went flying forward. I groaned as I hit my head on the leather seat. Camden heard me and gently pushed me into an upright position.

"James, she's awake."

"Great, she's up just in time to be here as we get arrested," he mumbled.

Shouldn't have been going ninety-five.

James stomped out of the car and slammed the door, and Camden did the same. Before, I could touch the handle on my side, James had already opened the door. He helped me out of the car, since I was still pretty dizzy.

"Don't make eye contact and don't say anything," he whispered into my ear.

I followed the boys as they walked around to the other side of the silver car. The whole scene was making me completely confused. I was one hundred and twenty percent sure that when someone gets pulled over they should stay in the car. I was also sure that the car that was parked fifty feet behind us was not a police car.

A tall man dressed in all black walked up to us. He was carrying a gun and what looked like a walkie-talkie. His features were old and tiresome, yet there was so much hate in his eyes. He looked each one of us up and down multiple times.