Mirrors

Chapter Five: Shards

<WARNING- Language and Mild Violence are included in this chapter, read at your own risk>

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Alexa dashed up the stairs and stood before her mirror.

"Acela?" She called, "Acela?!"

She banged on the frame of the glassy portal in nervous anticipation. The reflection finally shifted and once again she was face to face with her twin.

"Where have you been?! It's been too long! Come on in!!" Acela practically shouted.

Alexa stepped through and was almost blinded by the sunlight. She had been gone for longer than she ever had, she forgot how much brighter it was.

"You look upset..is there something wrong?" Acela asked, twirling her thumbs.

"No, well, this little kid that goes to my church is gone. His mother said that she last saw him in bed and woke up with a smashed mirror and a missing son. I was wondering..if maybe he came here?" Alexa asked.

Acela looked shocked and put a hand over her mouth, "A-a broken mirror?!"

The phrase was said quietly as if she were scared, and her eyes went full with fear.

"What? What's wrong? Tell me!" Alexa demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"W-well, a broken mirror..if this kid did go through and the mirror was smashed then..there's a killer on the loose." Acela stuttered.

She turned and grabbed her cellphone, calling a number Alexa couldn't see, but assumed was the police.

"Yes, hello..My name is Acela Preston, I was talking with my human and she said she may have discovered a broken mirror... Yes, Alexa what's the boy's name?" Acela said.

"His name was Tyler Bryson in our world..I don't know about here, or if he is even here at all," Alexa answered.

Acela gave them all the information they could come up with and hung up, "They can track down the reflection, and once they are found they said they'll see what they can do."

"Wait, is he gonna be stuck here? His mirror was smashed.." Alexa asked.

"No! They can fix the portal , but..only on this end. Unless the other mirror is replaced he can't return. In a case like this they are usually sent back through someone else's mirror, someone who has died so that they don't get the portals fused. So, someone like my mom is known as a mirror doner. She uses her mirror as a gateway for those who have no mirror or have lost theirs." Acela explained.

"So, it's like an emergency exit? Is it here? You know, just in case that happens to me?" Alexa asked.

"Don't worry, you're safe, but no, it's in a special facility in the sky tower, way far off in the mountains. Every town here has a sky facility, heavily gaurded just in case one of those mirror-smashers decides to cut off our reserve links." Acela told her, "It's impossible to get in without an escort, trust me."

Alexa tried to drink it all in. This world, the way things worked, it was overwhelming, "Wow..that's crazy," was all she could say.

The girls decided to brush it off since the situation was being dealt with, and they went out to the fields to have some fun and forget about it all. Alexa enjoyed being able to just let go and enjoy life there, but the scary feeling deep down that her mirror would get smashed and she'd be trapped there forever was slowly rising. The longer she stayed, the more dangers seamed to arise. After a long time of laughter and fun, Alexa returned to her room. As soon as she got back, she heard the phone ringing. Jogging down the stairs and picking it up, she sat on the kitchen table and uttered a casual, "Alexa Price, to whom am I speaking?"