The MirrorMasters (5 page)

"
Y
ou and Brian
are too cute." Kara chuckled as she dug her key from her oversized purse and unlocked the door. "The way you two couldn't keep your eyes off each other. How he kissed your hand. The way you blush around him…"

"Stop it, Kara!" My lips quirked upward in a smile, but I shook my head. "I told you. He and his father are the ones in my vision. They're dangerous."

"Out with it." Kara put her hands on her hips, fixing me with a demanding stare. "What was this vision of yours?"

As much as I wanted to shield her from the visions, Kara had to know the truth about the Drakes. "Okay, last night in the mirror, I saw them attacking the Stanford twins outside the church."

"Come on. That doesn't mean they'll try anything now. If that happened in a past life, this could be their chance to make it right this time."

I rolled my eyes and gave Kara a playful shove. "Even so, I don't want to take that chance, and you shouldn't be encouraging me." I would just have to find a way to keep my distance from Brian, no matter how difficult it proved.

Inside, the place was empty save for Misty, a small grey cat with bright blue, inquisitive eyes. Misty trotted up to us and meowed, standing on hind legs with her front paws curled.

"Hey, Misty baby," Kara crooned, scooping up the cat and planting a kiss on its head. I gave Misty affectionate scratches behind the ears. Lots of purring ensued, along with a few kitty kisses. I laughed with delight at the sensation of her rough sandpaper tongue on my skin.

Jenny observed this with an amused grin. "Shall we get down to business, ladies?"

"You make it sound so official," Kara commented, her tone somewhere between playfulness and respect for the seriousness of the situation. "We should talk in my room. Mom's out shopping, and she could be home any time now."

"Good idea," I said. Now that we were about to start, I found myself looking forward to the discoveries that awaited us.

When Jenny attempted to pet Misty, the cat hissed and batted. Jenny narrowed her eyes at the little cat.

"Misty!" Kara chastised, wagging her finger. Misty blinked and twitched an ear, gazing back unrepentantly, then stalked off in search of her toy or maybe her food dish.

We went upstairs to Kara's room. Decorated in gold with deep red trim on the walls and eclectic furnishings of dark wood, it exuded a warmth that embodied Kara's vibrant personality. While Kara sat cross-legged on her bed, I settled in the comfortable papasan chair with a red cushion and matching ottoman. Jenny sat on the edge of Kara's desk, her feet still touching the floor.

"So, any ideas as to how to decipher the writing?" Jenny cut to the chase, glancing pointedly at my backpack on the floor beside me. "We need to know what the prophecy says."

I retrieved the box and placed it on my lap, frowning. The task of finding the MirrorMaster would be daunting, and the thought of having to give up my box and its contents left me with a deep sadness. "No. I don't even know where to begin. It's going to be hard enough to find the MirrorMaster and get all this to her."

"Leah's right. We have no way to figure out the meaning, unless somewhere in her box is a manual that translates this language into English. But I have an idea that might help us find out who the MirrorMaster is."

"How?" I shifted my gaze to Kara, eyes widening. "It could be anyone. Madame Helena thinks it's one of us, but for all we know the MirrorMaster — if she exists — isn't even here on Earth."

Jenny remained silent, but watched with interest.

"Mirror gazing for information," Kara said, grabbing a book from her nightstand and holding it up with a flourish. "Some people have the ability to mentally go to other people, places, even other times, and see what's happening. To see the answers to questions they want to know. It's rare for anyone to actually manage it, but there are tons of books on the subject. I picked up this little tome at the Spirit Shoppe and have been reading about it."

"Isn't it dangerous?" I asked, wary of what getting involved might expose us to. Was mirror-gazing what I'd done the other night? Those images and the power of that force coursing through my body would never leave me, and the thought of trying it again, of learning how to intentionally get information this way, was both terrifying and exhilarating.

Kara shook her head. "No. You just focus on a mirror and let your mind see the answer and show it to you there. Madame Helena says this is true scrying."

"And if none of us can do this? What do you propose we do then?" Jenny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We have to," I said, my voice fierce, determined. "If this doesn't work, I don't think we have much chance of finding her, or of confirming Madame Helena's tale." I didn't for a second think it was as simple as Kara made it sound. Kara wouldn't want to believe there were risks involved. A part of me dreaded another brush with that power, but I would face it again a million times if it meant I could help save lives.

"Madame Helena must have some reason for thinking it's one of us," Kara pointed out. She waved her hand over the box, and I held my breath. I didn't want it to light up and snap open for her because it would mark her as a target, like I probably was now. When the box did nothing, Kara sighed in disappointment while I sighed in relief. "Okay, that rules me out, because the box doesn't get all glowy for me. But it could be you, Leah. Nobody knows anything about your birth parents."

"Wait, what?" Jenny asked, then quickly corrected herself. "Oh, right. I forgot you were adopted, Leah. It's not something we talk much about."

I nodded. It was weird that Jenny had forgotten, but I let the subject drop. "So, we focus on the location of the MirrorMaster, right? Maybe if all three of us focus together, it will help."

"Sounds logical," Jenny said. "Let's give it a try."

We sat on Kara's bed, facing the mirror. Concentrating in silence, we prepared ourselves until I voiced the question, "Where is the First Daughter?" Kara repeated it, and it soon became a chant.

"I feel silly doing this." Jenny smirked and crossed her arms.

"Concentrate!" Kara protested, laughing.

"Come on, you guys! We have to do this," I reminded them. "If there's any chance Madame Helena's right about a disaster threatening not only Earth, but some other planet, and we can do something to stop it — shouldn't we?"

This sobered the mood, and we returned to focusing on the mirror, taking deep breaths to calm ourselves. I held the question in my mind, attempting to visualize the First Daughter and where we might find her. Intuitively, I brushed aside any other distractions that could hinder us reaching that goal. My body started to tingle from my fingertips to my toes, and a tidal wave of energy flowed through my veins so strong that it raised the hair on my arms. For a moment, an image of a crystal palace by a sparkling purple ocean shimmered into view, but the shock of seeing it jarred me out of the vision.

"Did you see that?" I asked, eyes widening in amazement.

"I think so!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Try again," Kara encouraged.

"Okay." I pushed away doubts about being able to do this again, but it took longer this time to focus my thoughts on the lost MirrorMaster. My whole body hummed and buzzed with power. Sharp tingles spread from my stomach out to my fingers, my head, and my toes. The tingles stabbed and burned. Overcome, I didn't know if I was about to make a breakthrough in controlling the mirror, or if I was about to spontaneously combust.

When I attempted to channel the energy, one hazy image after another appeared in random bursts, then fizzled out before I could catch any details. Again and again, my mental push to sustain an image in the mirror —
any
image — failed. Ten minutes of fruitless effort later, red-faced, sweaty, and quivering with pent-up power, I wanted to scream in frustration.

Jenny grabbed my hand. "Breathe. And focus," she ordered. "Use my energy."

"
Our
energy," Kara said, taking my other hand.

A soothing, cooling relief like being plunged into ice water flooded my veins and seemed to wash the tingles away. In the mirror, another image appeared. This time, it showed Brian with his arms outstretched, confronting his father while Janice Stanford ran into the forest. Brian was protecting her?

The scene disappeared from the mirror, replaced by a barrage of devastated landscapes beneath a purple sky. A vicious hailstorm swept through a glowing jungle. A mile-high wall of water battered an island, demolishing every glass skyscraper in its path. Layers of ice and snow entombed a tropical beach, stilling the waves in the sea and turning palm trees into frozen, glittering jewels.

Faster and faster the images came, shifting too quickly for us to comprehend any of them. I'd lost control again. Now the pictures in the mirror blurred together, and I struggled to relax enough to let the power flow through me so I could slow them down. Whenever I glanced away from the mirror or closed my eyes to take deep breaths, the images disappeared altogether. Eventually, after many more fizzled attempts, another image focused in the mirror. Clearer this time, it showed me as I was now, along with a young woman. This woman resembled me, with the same vivid green eyes. She had similar bone structure, with high cheekbones and full lips. The wavy blond hair was shorter than mine, shoulder-length, but other than a few subtle differences, the woman could pass for an older version of me.

"I knew it was you!" Kara exclaimed, breaking my concentration.

"Maybe." I shrugged. "Maybe not. But who is the older girl?"

"You could have a sister."

"Yeah. She wasn't me," I realized. "I think you're right, Kara."

"A sister?" Jenny's voice trailed off. Her gaze still fixed on the mirror where the image slowly faded away.

"Anything's possible. And now we know that Leah's the MirrorMaster."

"How?" I asked. "How do we know we're not just imagining this because we want to help these people? Even if it's me, we still have no idea where to find that other girl, or how we'll get this box back to that other world. Unless it's possible to actually travel through the mirror…," I said, half-teasing, but the possibility somehow held a ring of truth to it.

"Maybe you can," Jenny said, her expression thoughtful.

"Or maybe they came here in spaceships. Spaceships that are still here and can take you home," Kara suggested.

"No, no, no. No way! I can't just...go there." Panic and curiosity warred within me at the idea of leaving Earth. As if directed by some inner force, I stood and backed away in protest, shaking my head. However unrealistic and farfetched, the thought of leaving behind everything I knew and everyone I loved was overwhelming enough to make me rebel against it with all my might. Trembling all over, I sank down onto the papasan chair and breathed deeply again with my head in my hands, struggling to regain my composure.

Jenny came over to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Look, we don't even know for sure whether or not some other world is in trouble. We have to keep searching for answers, and we'll figure this craziness out."

Slightly reassured. I ran a hand through my hair and leaned my head back against the chair. "Yeah, we will."

"We've had a great start," Kara added. "We have a long way to go, but we've found out a lot already."

"I'm tired," I murmured, closing my eyes for a moment. It was a struggle to keep them open. "I'd like to try more, but I can't. How are you guys feeling?"

"A little tired, but not as drained as you," Kara said.

"I'm fine," Jenny said, playing with a lock of my hair.

I let her. Jenny had always been like an older sister, and moments like these served as a powerful reminder of that. Without her — or David or Kevin, for that matter — I didn't know how I'd manage next year.

"Good. So we'll try this again another day," Kara suggested.

"I think we should also talk to Madame Helena again and check the library to look for newspaper clippings of any unusual events — anything that might help us find others," I said.

"And we should check the social services records," Kara added. "I know you haven't wanted to do this, Leah, but we need all the information we can get. Maybe that girl you saw is your sister. Maybe she's here somewhere on Earth. If we can find her, we should try."

For a moment, I thought about it. Many of my reservations stemmed from concern over my parents' reactions. Deep down, I had always been curious, but I had a wonderful life with the only family I knew. I didn't want to hurt them by searching for my birth family. Now, with the need to find out who I was and where I came from — not to mention the dire circumstances on my possible homeworld — I could feel change coming.

"Yeah, I know. It's time for me to look into it." I checked my watch and sighed. "We can't today. They've probably already closed, and Jenny's mom will have a fit if she's not home soon." In a way, it was a relief to be able to put this off a little while longer, but all these lingering questions would consume my thoughts until then.

"Oh, right. Maybe tomorrow after work we'll go to the social services agency."

M
y cell phone
rang on the way home. Tired and clumsy, I dug the phone out of my pink and green striped beach bag, but narrowly missed dropping both as the phone almost slipped through my fingers. "Hello?"

"Hey, Leah. It's Celia. Can you come over for a bit? Tomorrow is shaping up to be a super busy day. I'd love to get you up to speed and have you meet the kids today so you'll be ready to jump right in."

Blast! I had wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, but the unexpected invitation sent adrenaline coursing through my body. Now I was awake. "Sure thing. I'll stop by in a few."

"Perfect."

When I hung up with Celia, I groaned and glanced at my watch, then down at my tank top, jean shorts, and flip flops. I'd need to change — and fast — before going in. Great. Just great. If Dad found out, he'd yell at me for being unprepared, for going to the beach and to Kara's the day before work. He'd say I should have expected this to come up.

As if I didn't already have butterflies of nervousness and excitement flitting around in my stomach. Now I had to face my first job in a matter of minutes, not the hours I'd thought I had. Maybe it was silly to worry about a babysitting job when I had the fate of another world in my hands, but I couldn't help this tendency to sweat the small stuff. I took off at a sprint for home.

B
y the time
I'd met with Celia and her prankster daughters, the crowds had thinned, leaving the beach practically empty. I took one last glance toward the ocean, listening to the soothing sounds of the waves against the shore, and spotted Brian sitting alone in a secluded spot on the dunes. Something about the way he sat, shoulders slumped and his head in his hands, called to me. He seemed so lonely. Gripping the railings to keep myself from going over to him, I fought to turn around and walk home. A trail of gold glitter glue stuck to the wood beneath my fingers, courtesy of those little imps who must have dumped half the bottle of the stuff all over their hands — on purpose — to make sure it got all over me, too.

No, I can't help Brian. I have to stay away.

Who was I kidding? I couldn't leave him like that. I'd feel awful about myself if I did. Maybe Kara was right, that I had a chance to change things for the better this time. Instinct overrode self-preservation, and I descended the steps to the beach, toward Brian and whatever future my decision held.

"Hey," I said when I reached him. He turned to me, anger and pain in his eyes. The sheer intensity of it took my breath away, leaving me with an almost physical need to console him.

"Hey," he replied. At the sight of me, glitter-spattered hands, hair, shirt and all, his expression softened. The tension in his shoulders and back relaxed slightly. "Hmm. You kind of sparkle."

My lips twitched upward. "A little gift from the girls I'm going to be babysitting. Could you use some company?" I asked tentatively, reaching up to tuck my hair behind my ears.

"Yeah."

"David didn't do anything, did he?" I sat down beside him, cross-legged on the fine, sugar-white sand. A gentle breeze caressed my skin, and the fading sunlight drew my gaze out to the aqua waters. The fierce daytime waves had calmed into an ocean of smooth, rippling glass.

"What? No, it's...my dad. I don't want to get into what happened." Brian stayed quiet for a while, and I shared in the silence until he could no longer hold in what was bothering him. "He kept so much from me, Leah! You'd never believe how much he's kept from me my entire life!"

"Woah." I knew exactly what he was going through, even without the specifics. How did people we were supposed to be able to trust do this? "That's a huge betrayal."

He's a stronger person than I am. When I went through it, I trashed my room. Probably would still do that even now.

Brian shot me a look of gratitude. "The worst."

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, a little uncertain at first. To my relief, my effort was rewarded with Brian's warm hand covering mine.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"I will — I want to, but not yet. It's too much right now. It makes me so angry I can't
think
straight."

"Oh, I hear you," I said, giving his hand a light squeeze. If only there were something I could do to help, but I felt inadequate to the task. "I know what it's like to feel so hurt and betrayed that you think you'll never get over it or be able to trust again."

"You've been through this before?" Brian asked, his ice blue eyes widening.

I winced. In letting him know how well I understood what he was going through, I'd revealed too much. I should leave it at that. We both should. But his hungry look, his desperation to connect with another soul who could share that pain, tugged at my heart. Our families were alike in silence, each deeply wounded by a secret. As far as I could tell, the only way to break its power and begin to heal would be to stop keeping it locked inside, to stop avoiding its existence. Maybe together, we could lead that change.

"About five years ago, I discovered I was adopted,” I began, sparing him the details that seemed too overwhelming to speak aloud to anyone, much less to someone new. One day, I came across a copy of my adoption papers in a drawer in my dad's study. That was how I found out my parents adopted me when I was two. I'd gone in there to look for a pen for my homework but instead found out that I wasn't who I always thought I was. They'd never told me, and it changed everything. "For a while, it felt like my whole life had been a lie, that everything I'd based my life on wasn't the solid foundation I'd always thought. It had only been built on shifting sand."

"Shifting sand. I feel like my whole life has been like that, too, after what I found out," Brian admitted. "Dad would never talk about Mom, no matter how much I begged him to. He —" Here, he paused, weighing his next words. “Well, let's just say he dropped some major revelations today — about Mom, about why he and I have to move around so much. Why couldn't he have told me any of this before? And why now?”

"I don't know," I said, my voice soft.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, letting my hand slip from his grip. "Why couldn't he ever tell me about her? Even now, he still won't tell me anything else about my mom, and I want to know. I want to know what she was like. I want to know what her favorite things were, what she was good at, and what she was passionate about. I want to know..."

Again, he hesitated and shook his head as though deeming his final thought too intimate to share, leaving it unspoken.

A painful lump formed in my throat. I'd give anything to take away his pain. How could his dad keep so much from him? "I hate secrets!"

"So do I." Brian's voice broke, and his body shook. I wrapped my arms around him, tears shimmering in my eyes as he clung to me like a lifeline. It made my heart ache to see him in so much pain. We stayed like that for a long while before pulling apart, though I had no idea how much time had passed. The sun hung lower than before, casting a warm, golden glow and illuminating the sky in brilliant golds and reds.

"It hurt a lot at first, when I found out," I confessed. "I was so angry. It took time to move past that and understand their side of it, that they were trying to protect me, that they were scared and couldn't face bringing it up. Maybe it's like that with your dad."

Brian seemed to consider this, silently watching the ocean for several moments. "Yeah, maybe talking about my mom is too painful," he finally said. "I worry about him, how he deals with all this alone. I don't know what to do for him!"

"It's a good first step that he told you. In time, he might open up more about your mom." I smiled, grateful to see a look of relief in Brian's eyes, a hope that things could get better with his dad.

"I'm sorry, Leah. I didn't mean to burden you with all this."

"It isn't a burden. I'm just glad I was here to listen. "

"It helped. I usually don't talk about this stuff with anyone. Not like I can talk to my dad about it — we've never been close enough for that."

"I usually don't talk about this stuff, either. But I'm glad we both did."

"I am, too. I should head home. My dad will be worried about me."

"And my parents are probably wondering where I am. I have to help with dinner, and there's a project for work I need to coordinate with David."

We stood and faced each other. Brian enfolded me in another hug and whispered into my ear, his voice choked with emotion, "Thanks."

I
held
him close and whispered back, "Anytime."