Five Friends and A Mansion

Part 3

"I think we should look around the left hallways this time. Maybe Abbey's super senses would sense the mirror" joked Willow, but it was partially true. Abbey was the one who sensed the flag.

The left hallway was no different from the right one. Old unpleasant paintings, ridiculous amounts of cobwebs, smells like a decaying coffin. But this time, they were not as afraid anymore. They knew there wasn't any ghost. The only thing that was peculiar was the magical incidents. Appear-out-of-nowhere carvings, exploding flag poles, auto-lock ancient doors.

Suddenly, Stella stopped. The group turned around, it was supposed to be Abbey who as acting weird, but Stella too? Her pupils shrank, she was gazing into oblivion. Just like Abbey a couple of minutes ago.

Her right hand twitched a little and reached for the rusted doorknob. But instead of following unintended instincts, she tried fighting back. She vigorously shook her head like a pack of bees were attacking her. But her hands were still fixed on the doorknob, she had no control of them. She tried pulling her body away but her palm was still clinging to the knob. Then, her hands turned it, the door opened. Well, it wasn't a mistake.

They were greeted with a beguiling, captivating room. It was dark, but unlike the rest of the mansion, the dark wasn't black but more of navy blue. The air sparkled, like a handful of glitter were thrown all over the room and somehow suspended in the air. The moonlight shone across the room as a result of the glass ceiling. The floors looked like a galaxy, black with spirals of metallic blue and purple, with microscopic spots of silver. Unlike the rest of the room, the wall was plain. Egyptian blue with flecks of silver and gold painted all over it.

"Wow... This place looks like an observatory. But much more decorative and bewitching" said Laguna.

"Stella, this is impressive. I can't believe you found this room" said Abbey. Joan wolf-whistled, impressed.

Stella was still frozen. She was about to join the others when she heard a faith whisper in her ear.

"Stella, Stella, Stella..." chanted the mysterious voice. It seemed suspicious but she couldn't resist.

Her feet subconsciously followed the voice. Her head was blank, all her brain cells were directed to following the voice. Where would the voice lead her? How can her friends not hear? Then, the voice stopped. She snapped out of her daze. In front of her was an object, twice her size, that was covered in a midnight blue thin net-like sheet.

"What did you find?" asked the others, anxious but curious.

"I think I found the mirror" murmured Stella. She tugged the fabric and the whole sheet came falling down. The others gasped, half impressed, half breath-taken.

The mirror was no ordinary mirror, the same as the room was no ordinary room.

"Wow... " gasped everyone.

On the mirror was an engaging view of a heavenly, winsome beach. The frame was gorgeous, it was coated in beautiful detailed carvings of flowers: lilacs, roses, tulips, daisies. The color itself was a deep umber brown with thin strokes of beige. It wasn't necessarily a painting, the face was still glossy and reflective.

"Wait. What're you doing?" exclaimed Lagun.

Stella was placing her hand on the surface. Her eyes still glowing in the dark, she could hear the whispers again. Her hand was about to touch the glass when it suddenly went through.

"Wow" gasped Stella while examining her palm.

Stella didn't stop there, she gently placed her foot through the thin vortex. Then, she forced her whole body in. She wasn't scared, she wasn't even concerned. The whispers were getting even more irritating by the second.

She was greeted with a big gust of wind. The stiff canvas became an animated film. The beach came to life, the best part was that she was on the beach. Like instincts, she took off her shoes and felt the sand underneath her feet. The gold powder felt like flour against her cold skin. The ocean was stunning, the cobalt liquid was bright compared to the night sky. It was like someone thrown in gallons of silver sequins into the darkness. The skies were twice as beautiful, not just stars, she could even see the galaxies and maybe some planets. The sky wasn't a dull black just like back home, it was a gradation of indigo, blue, pink, and even a tiny bit of red. Pulled together with a thousand of white flecks.

Soon, the others went through too. They were as surprised as Stella.

"OK, that was awesome but this is unbelievable! Am I dreaming?" said Joan while pinching herself.

"Ouch. No, I'm not"

Willow ran up to the shore, feeling the glorious wave on her feet. She grabbed a handful of water, the sparkles were still there. The water seemed to glow in the dark, maybe they were glowing magically.

"This place is amazing!" gasped Abbey.

"There is no way I'm leaving" exclaimed Joan.

Stella was about to dive in the beach when suddenly, the ground started to rumble. Their headshot up to the sea. Only a mile away, there was a giant wave heading their way. It wasn't a wave, it was an angry tsunami.

"Run! Run! Run!" yelled Stella while shoving her friend out the vortex.

The tsunami was getting closer., rushing with the breeze. Even though it was dangerous and deadly, it was also beautiful. The large waves, three times her size, were infused with ornamental stars. But the water already glowed by itself.

The tsunami was arriving at the shore, it furiously punched the golden sand. Stella moved faster, running with all her might. Finally, she dashed through the vortex, gripping the frame of the mirror for extra support. Before she could turn back, the mirror shattered into tiny million pieces. There weren't even pieces, the shattered glass was like sand. She was thrown against the wall. Luckily, she didn't hit her head, her arm was bruised though.

"You OK?" asked Willow while helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But the mirror's obviously not" murmured Stella.

"It's fine. The mansion is magical so I'm sure it knows we found it" said Laguna.

"I was really looking forward to bringing that mirror home. What is up with this place and exploding items?" said Joan, sarcastically.

The girls snickered.

"Well, I guess we can check that off our list. Now, we need to find the book" said Abbey.

"Hey, you're a nerd! You must be an expert on books" exclaimed Joan while playfully punching Laguna's shoulder.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Anyways, there must be hundreds of books in this mansion. The magical spirit expects us to find only one. We're doomed" said Laguna while slapping her forehead.

"You said that the last time. And look! We found the impossible mirror! So I guess we can find a book too" said Abbey.

"Stop chatting and start looking. I think we should split up. The only dangerous thing in this mansion is only exploding objects. I think we can handle that" said Laguna.

They agreed. Abbey and Willow went to find the book. Laguna, Joan, and Stella set out to find the bow and arrow and hopefully the necklace too. They agreed to meet up in front of the door once done.