Mirror

Fear of the Unknown

Tyreek took me back to his little house in the woods. Terr was there on one of the porch swings and so was a boy. I knew he must be Danny, but his face registered blank.

Tyreek reached for the door handle and stopped when he realized I wasn't doing the same. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

Pain flared up in my side and thought I might be sick again, but the feeling passed when I looked away. I nodded.

Danny looked up when he heard the porch steps creak. As soon as he saw me he was on his feet. When he saw the expression on my face he sat back down. "So it's true?" he asked more of himself than me.

"Yeah," Tyreek replied. His voice held more than just a little suspicion. "I was hoping you could tell us what happened." And by that it was clear he wanted to ask, "What did you do?"

Danny hesitated for a long time. So long, in fact, that I was sure he wasn't even going to bother answering, but Tyreek waited, as did Terr. The tension was almost unbearable and the pressure wasn't even on me. "We entered the Dimensional flip," he said eventually, quietly.

"We know."

"And Litty threw Cantery's shovel into the river Life."

That was all gibberish to me, but Tyreek and Terr didn't seem concerned.

"Danny, we know that," Tyreek spit the words out. He was just shy of open anger. Terr's ears were pushed back too, but his expression was more carefully controlled. I reached out to touch his arm. He looked up and his ears came up slightly. He offered me a brief smile, a sad smile, and gestured that I should sit next to him. Tyreek noticed the interaction and sighed, visibly relaxing in the shoulders. "Danny, is Litty okay in Mirror?"

The boy looked up at me for the briefest of moments and then, though it was Tyreek who asked the question, he spoke to me. "Litty, you have a body in another world. You might find it difficult to sleep tonight. Actually, I recommend you don't try. When you sleep you will have to be conscious within that body and it- you- have suffered-" he paused to look up again and seeing that he still had my attention, went on- "some damage."

At that, Tyreek stepped forward, but Terr motioned for him to wait.

I put a hand against my side. Even now, when the pain wasn't intolerable, it burned like a hot iron pressed against the inside of my body and I found it hard to breath. "Are they completely separate?" I asked.

Everyone was looking at me now. It was Terr who shook his head. "No," he said softly. "I'm not sure we really understand why, but your body here seems to be affected by the one on Mirror."

I tried to take that knowledge in stride, but there was something profoundly disturbing about carrying the damage done to a body that wasn't mine, or at least wasn't the one I occupied now. It must have shown on my face because Terr pulled me a little closer. "But she will recover?" he asked.

"I don't know." Danny's voice was void of emotion. It might have made the subject easier for him to discuss. Then again, he didn't explain further until Tyreek prompted him again in slow, enunciated words. "She was stabbed." Seeing Tyreek's hands ball into fists he added, "by May."

They didn't believe him, not at first. Tyreek and Terr stared at each other. "A friend of mine?" I asked, hazarding a guess.

"You don't remember her, but she stabbed you, therefore she must a friend, huh?" Tyreek snapped. I lowered my head a little into my shoulders. Tyreek closed his eyes. His patience was wearing thin, but his voice was soft when he answered. "Yes, we thought she was a friend. She was also a child." He rounded on Danny, looking for further explanation.