Mirrors and Shadows

Chapter Twenty

I can't believe we're already at Chapter Twenty and around 33K words! Thank you all for supporting this book. Cookie Celebration for 1K views!!! https://discord.gg/f5r26uA

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I grab the nearest thing for support, which is a chair. It's my fault.

I'm a failure. I couldn't save David, and couldn't save Jake.

My stomach churns at the thought.

I can't do this. Why am I doing this? We'll only lose more people this way. I...

"What happened?" Ally barges in, confused. "Can't go one night without trouble?"

He sees the state I'm in. "Oh... uh... I'll go," he says, backing out.

"No, it's okay..." I say, calling him back.

He sits on the bed with me. "So what happened?"

"It was a nightmare," I reply.

"Still thinking about Jake huh?" Ally says.

I bury my face in my hands, "It's my fault."

"Look here," Ally says with a determined tone I've never heard before. "First off, it's not your fault. All this was caused by the Emergent. If not for them we would have just been normal spies..."

His voice cracks too. But he somehow manages to pull himself together. "Second, Jake wouldn't want you think grieve for him like this and think it's your own fault.

He's right. Jake wouldn't want me to blame myself. I have to pull myself together. Together...

Then I hear gunfire outside and Christoph yelling, "We're being attacked!"

We stand up, alert.

Christoph runs in, flustered like he's never been before. "Hayden and Mr. Ramburt have already been knocked out! They sneak attacked their room and are dragging them away!"

"How about the others?" Ally asks.

"Julio's unconscious but safe. Everybody else is wide awake and alert. We need to save Mr. Ramble and Hayden!"

We hurry out to see two assassins dressed in black dragging Mr. Ramble and Hayden away and hopping into a mirror.

Ally and I follow suit into the mirror realm.

Since they're weighed down by Mr. Ramble and Hayden, they're much slower than us. Me and my mirror self simply melt into our shadows and catch up easily. Ally freezes and his shadow follows mine while his mirror self stands guard at his frozen body.

The assassins see us coming and throw Hayden's unconscious body at us. We scramble to catch him, myself slipping out of my shadow. He's unhurt.

But when I look up again to chase the assassins carrying Mr. Ramble, they're gone.

I sink to my knees, staring in the direction where the assassins went. No. No no no no no no no no. I can't afford to lose another person.

Ms. Clarke. David. Jake.

Mr. Ramburt, annoying old Mr. Ramburt. I can't believe how much his loss makes an impact on me.

No...

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Hayden and Julio are both awake and are currently working on a plan to save Mr. Ramble. The others spend the next few hours comforting me and telling me it isn't my fault.