The Greatest Power Of All | MILEVEN AU

mirror, mirror on the wall

song - Sorry by Halsey 

~"I run away when things are good
And never really understood
The way you laid your eyes on me
In ways that no one ever could"~

Jane woke up that night to somebody shaking her. A cold hand started stroking her hair until mumbles escaped her lips, eyelashes fluttering open to focus on the sight before her. Papa was knelt down by her bed, raising his eyebrows at her in a way that her instantly straightening. She wiped the frown off her face, smiling triumphantly at him as if it would somehow make him proud, as simply peered back at her with questioning eyes. Her brown eyes widened slightly, seeing the thin book in his hands, a sleek cover with pretty illustrations on the cover. She recognized the title as one of her favorite fairy tale collections and gulped, trying her best to shoot him a confident smile. 

"What is this, Jane?" he asked her, dangling the book in front of her eyes. 

She shrugged, trying to stop her hands from shaking. "He gave it to me after we met, guess he is a little nerd for fairy tales or something. He said it was a present for me, and that we would be seeing each other again soon."

Papa nodding, seeming to believe her. "So the plan is going well?"

"Of course" she repeated instantly. "I have a good feeling about this, Papa. I will have him under my spell in no time, and I swear that I won't let you down."

"Good girl" he mumbled, stroking her hair between her fingers. She smiled back at his affection, trying to stop her shoulders from tensing up automatically as he smiled gently at her. After a moment he tugged the strand of hair gently, grabbing the brush by the side of her bed before beginning to run it through her soft hair. He was gentle, untangling her short locks while she hummed to herself, playing along with his game. It reminded her of one of the fairy tales where the princess would brush her long locks, making sure that she always looked beautiful just like Jane needed to be. She couldn't help but feel like it was different with her Papa, like it was less carefree and innocent than the moments in fairy tales.

Once she had finished she smiled, "Goodnight, Papa."

"One more thing..." he turned around before exiting her room, his fingers drumming along the wooden panel of her door, "I need this done in two weeks, is that do-able?"

She nodded quickly to please him. "Easy."

As soon as his shadow nodded at her before leaving the room, Jane got out of bed to where he had thrown the small book into the trash pile by her desk. She snatched it out of the bin with careful fingers, glancing at the light underneath the door to make sure that no footsteps could be seen around the wood of her door. He had not torn the pages, simply folded over one of the edges when he shut the pages, but it was easily fixed as her fingers gracefully smoothed over the glossy paper. Jane sniffled before returning it to secret stash underneath her pillow, fluffing them up so that it would not be noticeable. Although he had reminded her how childish the stories were, and how degrading of her powers, she couldn't help the feelings of comfort that they provided her. Just keeping them underneath her pillow was almost like leaving a little gift for the tooth fairy or whoever was listening, to ask if she could somehow get her own happily ever after like in the fairy tales. 

Before she knew what she was doing, she turned around to the mystical object in her room, an object that fed off her own power. Papa did not know how far her abilities stretched and how she practiced on them when he wasn't around, curious herself to explore without being underneath a microscope. The mirror was tall, swallowing up most of the space with a wooden frame that was painted into a cheap gold color. The mirror itself had no magic, no value whatsoever apart from an object that could portray whatever she wanted to see. Jane closed her eyes, letting out a long breath before pleading with the object. 

"Show him to me" she mumbled with her eyes closed. 

The mirror did as it was asked with no question, revealing exactly what she needed once her eyelids fluttered open. Michael Wheeler-Mike-she corrected herself, was sitting on the couch in a strange room that looked strangely like a basement. The moment that his image was cleared through the blurriness of the mirror's reflection, her eyes blinked with interest. There was just something about him, whether it was the way that his hair curled around his ears and shone underneath the warm glow of the lamp beside him. Or maybe it was the straight slope of his nose, small freckles scattered across the bridge before meeting in the middle, like a pattern that was finally interconnected a single point. He was studying, tapping his fingers along the spine of the textbook-a nervous habit-before running his fingers through his messy hair. He couldn't seem to grasp the topic, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion and frustration, something that almost made her want to smooth out the creases mapped across his forehead. The creases interrupted the smooth planes of his pale skin, only joined by the beautiful constellations of freckles which were unlike anything that she had ever seen before, and suddenly wondered what would happen if he smiled. She wanted to know if his freckles would light up, dancing around in circles across the expanse of his skin like little dots of energy, or whether he would gain creases beside his deep set brown eyes. She tilted her head as she watched him, taking into account the little mannerisms that he had when fidgeting or changing position, mentally taking notes on it all. She snapped out of her curious gaze when his name was called. 

"Mike" a bored voice called out, "it's time for dinner."

A small huff left his lips and before making any movement, he slammed his head back down onto the textbook as if filled with distress. The action made Jane jump slightly, brown eyes wide and filled with surprise as he kicked the couch before mumbling his reply. 

"I'll just be a second."

The dinner was unlike anything that she had seen before, almost as dressed up and artificial as scenes on the television that Papa sometimes rewarded her with. Mike's family barely spoke, only the noise of forks scraping against the plates filling the blank silence, the awkward atmosphere amplified every time that he so much as shuffled nervously. His fork was stuck still, twirling around a pile of pasta as if he had no energy to eat with them. Jane watched for a while, a heavy feeling settling in her own chest as if she could somehow understand the forced nature of Mike's life, and why he always seemed to quiet. She eventually shook away the image, mumbling for the magic mirror to stop, letting her powers give up so that she didn't have to watch anymore. She didn't want to watch something that she didn't understand, something that filled her with such sadness without knowing why. 

"I'll see you soon..." she mumbled into the air, "...Mike."

xxx

I love coming up with title names for these chapters, because most of them are fairy-tale/Disney related which is basically the best thing ever. Also I am going to Disney Land Paris for the first time ever in a couple of weeks, and it is safe to say that I genuinely cannot contain my excitement as I am such a sucker for all things Disney. I cannot wait to share pictures with all of you on my instagram and see how it goes :)

I will update real soon, probably the day after tomorrow after I am off from work for a while, so hold on tight! Next part will be fluff filled and Mike will be seeing a lot more of Jane, as well as the pair getting closer in general! Please leave a comment, let me know what you think will happen and what you think of this book so far! I adore all of the feedback so far and this chapter is dedicated to everyone who has left me a lovely comment or messaged me, it genuinely means the world <3

~Jodie