Blood Is Thicker

Chapter Two: Dark Blue Stare

Chapter Two: Dark Blue Stare

            He could stare at the mirror for hours.  He never spoke, nor did he display any form of discomfort, his only movement the occasional shuffle of his feet as he shifted his weight.  To any observer, it would appear that this man was a full-fledged narcissist, entranced by his own reflection.  But the truth was, the man hardly ever noticed his image in the glass; he was looking much deeper than that.  He stared straight through his amber-green irises, ignored the several days’ accumulation of stubble on his cheeks, and had never considered the fact that he was far too young to have a receding hairline. 

            The tips of his fingers brushed the polished surface, his touch more gentle than a lover’s, yet colder than the ice his brother held so dear.  So simple… Just a piece of treated glass, cleaned meticulously and stood upright in a frame.  So simple, yet so very important.  Once sought after by more primitive cultures, now a mundane item of the everyday.  Who would have thought something so ordinary could be so crucial?  The vast majority of the world walked past hundreds of mirrors daily and never considered that, in the right hands, they could unlock a vast wealth of information.  Every human living today assumed that all a mirror could teach them was if their clothes were in order, if their hair needed to be attended to, if they fit society’s standards or if they had fallen short of other’s expectations.  Every human, except for a special set of girls – and himself – would see absolutely nothing of worth reflected back to them.

            I am the only one who knows what can be done with a piece of glass.  He could not do it alone, of course.  Without the power of the Lenses, his Gift would be of no help to him.  I need them to focus…

            “Hey, bro, I’m home.  Oh.  The mirror again, huh?”  Edgar turned from the floor-length mirror and stored his thoughts into the recesses of his mind.  His plan had been, much like the mirror, polished again and again, and he was now sure that every detail had been seen too, that every flaw had been corrected.  His brother had returned from work or school, Edgar wasn’t sure of which.  When one must plan the future, do such trivial schedules matter?  Especially when this present will soon cease to exist… 

            “Yes, the mirror again.”  He whispered. 

            His brother did not respond, instead walking past him to his room.  “All the loose ends have been tied up.”  He called after his brother’s departing back.

            “Cool.”  Was his only reply, followed by the slamming of a door.  Edgar returned to gazing at the mirror.  As absorbed as he could be in his plans, it had not escaped his notice that his brother looked exhausted.

            “Hey, do we have any Benadryl?”  His brother called through the still closed door.

            “Bathroom drawer.”  

            “Thanks.  Damn mosquitos.”

            Soon, Edgar thought, now completely returned to his realm of self-contained thought.  So very soon.  He had been waiting for sixteen years for this chance… his only chance.  This time, I will not fail… neither of us will.  Right, brother?

***

            I wandered slowly back towards my dorm building, but I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to go back to bed.  It was going on 9, and I highly doubted I could sleep, anyways.  Campus was just starting to get busy, with commuter lots filling up and most of the residents finding their way out of bed.  The sun had warmed the air up, and the excitement of the first day of the fall semester was evident in the buzzing hum of student activity.  For a moment I stood in one of the busiest parts of campus, the wide walkway outside the Pierce Library, and took a deep breath, releasing a great gasp of air, trying to force my anxiety and nausea away on the wind. 

            I let my gaze wander from student to student, wondering what classes they were off to, how their summers had been.  My dorm building, like all the others, had been practically deserted, and I knew that the vast majority of these students had gotten to go home for the summer, instead of staying at school, as I had been forced to.  It was a relaxing distraction, if only for a moment.  As I was scanning the noisy crowds, I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but it made me turn…

            On the opposite end of the walkway, a tall, skinny girl in a black ballerina dress was standing stock still, staring directly at me.  She had incredibly long, raven-black hair worn straight down to the small of her back, and an intense stare that lit up her dark blue eyes.  For a moment, the chatter of students and noise of traffic faded into silence.  All I could think about was this strange girl’s dark blue eyes… they feel familiar…  Suddenly the feeling I had experienced in Starbucks, the nagging of a memory too far away to be caught, returned.  The shock of finding someone watching me so intensely, and this strange nostalgia, added onto the emotional fatigue this bizarre morning had brought about, almost made me collapse onto the pavement.  My knees buckled, and I thought I was going to fall, when someone grabbed my shoulder.

            “Aah!”  I shouted at the unexpected touch. 

            “It’s just me!”  KJ exclaimed, dropping his hand off of my shoulder in surprise.  He and Sharon had walked up behind me unnoticed.  Their lab must be over.  “You ok?”

            “Yeah, I just –” I looked away from KJ, back to the girl who was staring at me – she was gone.  There was no sign that the ballerina had ever been there.  I stood on my tiptoes, certain that I’d be able to pick out her black hair in the crowd, but she had disappeared completely.  I sighed.  This whole morning has just been too damn weird. 

            “What are you looking for?”  Sharon asked.

            “Never mind, it’s not important.  I need to sit down now.”  I staggered my way over to a bench and practically fell onto it.   

            Sharon sat next to me, and KJ stood in front of us.  I looked up at him, and found his eyes, normally so nonchalant, filled with concern and… he looks angry.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen KJ get angry about anything… I couldn’t take it; the emotion was so foreign to my friend and roommate that I had to look away.  Sharon’s eyes were full of worry too, though fortunately, she didn’t look mad.  “What’s wrong, Jack?”  She asked quietly.  “You look like you just saw a ghost!”

            I looked down at my hands.  They were trembling worse than ever, and I felt something slippery groping its way around my stomach.  I was beginning to shiver, even though it was quickly reaching 70 degrees.  “I don’t know…”  I muttered.  My gaze jumped from Sharon to KJ, then back again.  “What’s wrong with me?”  I whispered, trying not to lose it and completely failing.

            “Let’s go back to the dorm room.”  KJ said.  “Come on, you need sleep.” 

            I started to stand, ready to follow any instruction as long as it would make this insanity end. 

            “Maybe I –”  Sharon started to say, but KJ cut her short.     

            “I’m taking him back to the dorm.”  His retort was so cold and angry that it left a bitter taste in my mouth… or maybe that was the creature in my belly reacting to the Americano.  We left Sharon sitting on the bench, staring up into the sky as if answers would be written in the clouds.  I wanted to say something to her, to tell her I would be fine, but I found myself completely preoccupied with trying not to vomit in front of half the student body. 

            After the boys had walked away, Sharon sighed and returned her gaze to the ground.  I’m sorry, mother.  We tried.  There’s no choice now.  She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket, and hit the first speed dial.

            “Yo, sis!  What’s up?”

            “Rose, we’re out of time.”

            The silence from the other end was as heavy as a cement truck full of guilt.

            “Rose, we don’t have a choice anymore!” Sharon defended herself, emotion making her voice crack.

            Rose finally replied, a barely audible whisper.  “… I was afraid of that.”