Witches Beware

Chapter Five: Room Full of Half Deads

The mirror... that damn mirror... It haunted me more than the demon; the cloudy reflection, thick frame with incoherent marking with a wooden snake looking directly into my soul. I can still hear the low hum coming from it like a mix of battle drums and deep groans. I stared down at it, the sketch in my hand wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for others to understand.

"I don't get it." Of course, others who know the situation perfectly. Maxine hovered over Athena and I shoulders, her brows furrowed, lips thin. The crunching of the granola bar in her mouth was driving me crazy, along with the fuzzy feeling jabbing my nerves until it were needles pricking my skin. She was too close.

Athena nudged her back and huffed in frustration. "It's nothing for you to get."

"Oh come one, keep me in the loop, what's going on?" Maxine circles the couch, her book bag hanging off her shoulders, cheeks puffy and slightly red, her hair fluffy and swallowed her face. She sat on the sturdy coffee table, knees touching one another as her feet were practically a yard away. I felt uneasy for her to see the sketch and twice as uncomfortable for her to know.

"Seriously, it's nothing." I voiced while folding the paper into a small messy square.

The stubborn teenager huffed and slowly rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep me out of your secret. I'm too awesome for it anyway." She stormed off to the door, causing it to slam on her ass and make the house shake.

"She'll get over it." Athena assures with a wave of her hand. Reaching over to her laptop, she immediately typed upon it with fast fingers. "I'm looking up the closest antic mirror shop in Louisiana."

A heavy sigh passed my lips as I fall back into the couch, my eyes wandering around the small sitting room until coming upon the large window across the room. A humming bird was flapping around near the cherry tree, with a blinking once, I focused on it- watching its thin wings flap slowly, witness its blue and green feathers sparkle under the sun, see its tongue dart in and out. I could hear his rings flapping- a thump and whoosh, so peaceful, so....

"Jupiter, are you listening?" Athena's voice pulled me back to reality, immediately causing me to lose focus as everything came back in full regular motion.

"Huh?"

"I said there's an antic shop in Ruston, it looks like the owner deals with creepy looking mirrors like that one. It's two hours from here but if we go after lunch, we can make it there by three."

"Wait, don't you have work?"

I can pop in for a little bit and leave early, no biggie."

*~*~*~*

Two hours on the road with Athena, not once regretting any second of it. Spending time with my cousin I have seen in twelve years can shine light on a developing relationship. We arrived to Ruston, a small town with a few attractions but not enough to keep us there. The antic mirror shop held nothing special, in fact Athena past it twice until the tiny sign over the door came to view.

Once out the car, I stretched every limb in my body and took in the smell of burning wood and mulch. "You smell that Athena." I took a huge unnecessary whiff for added effects, along with the thick backwoods southern accent. "That's the smell of hard work and rednecks."

A loud laugh passed her lips but she immediately placed a hand over her mouth to give a silent reaction. "That's just awful of you to say, shame on you."

An old fashion bell chimes when opening the door, quite instantly we were faced with ourselves in the hall of mirrors. "Sunset must be very painful for the owner." Athena mumbled as we walked further through the small maze until finding the actual owner behind the glass counter reading a magazine and petting her fluffy white cat. "Hello."