Mirror

Epilogue

"You want to go where?" Kya asked at breakfast. Neither of us had dreamt of Mirror- at least nothing that we could remember- since the night Tazmia died two weeks ago. She hadn't been surprised when I told her, but a somber atmosphere had settled in the house since then. Mirror was not openly discussed, but never seemed absent in my thoughts for long and surely it was the same for Kya and Shui.

"Back to my old school. There's someone there I want to talk to."

"Who?"

"A friend. I've got some information I want to share with him."

"May I come with you?" Kya asked.

"Please do. I want Shui to come too. I called Ethan and he said he could drive us. Mom already said it was okay."

"Are we going to meet Ethan then?" Kya asked with just a hint of disgust in her tone, though it was clear she was in fact making the effort to conceal it.

Before I could answer, the doorbell rang. I smiled at her and made my way to the door, signaling that she and Shui, who came from his room at the sound of the bell, should follow.

Ethan greeted us with a wide smiled, but quickly picked up on the serious mood and became serious himself.

I brushed my hand along the shiny grass blades in Epitome fields before gathering up the courage to take the path toward the abandon house in the woods.

To my relief there was a sketchy old van in the gravel drive way. Shui, Ethan, and Kya followed me in silence. I took a deep breath and knocked on the front door.

Within moment a bewildered Tyreek arrived at the door and opened it for us. "Litty! Come for a visit?" He sounded more than pleasantly surprised.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

Tyreek scanned the faces of the people behind me and nodded solemnly. "Yeah," he said and joined the rest of us on the porch. "What's this about?"

Tyreek took the news about Tazmia in silence and stillness. After a long minute he said, "Thank you. For coming to tell me. I lost all connections I had to Mirror after you and Terr left. I thought I could let it go, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about her." He looked up at me from his seat on the porch swing opposite of mine. "Or you," he added.

I offered him a small smile and he returned it with a chuckle.

"How did Terr get back to Mirror?" I asked.

Tyreek laughed. "Funny story about that. It was about as easy as it gets. He let go of the charm he had in his possession." He pulled on a cord around his neck to reveal a tiny gray stone, almost perfectly spherical, hanging from it. I stood up to get a better look and upon closer inspection it appeared to have a detailed map of Earth etched into the surface. "He left it with me for safekeeping," Tyreek explained. His eyes dropped to my neck for a brief moment then flicked them up to meet my gaze again. "Though, he indicated that I should find the correct person to give it to. Not sure how I'm going to-"

"I can solve that problem right now," I told him before he could finish the thought. Shui has the amulet now." I frowned. "I don't know how to get the charm back to Mirror though."