Chapter Six~The Mirror Visit

    Settling deep into the satin sheets Phoebe opened her book with every intention to read but halfway through the page her eyes burned as if filled with sand, begging to be allowed to rest. Setting the book down on the night stand she turned off the light allowing the darkness to seep into every inch of the small bedroom. A sudden sensation of being watched flooded her body but it soon faded and was replaced by the oncoming world of sleep and dreams.
    Running, running was all that mattered, anything to escape the foul creature who stalked her in the night. The scent of death and decay followed every jerked movement causing her to stumble as her eyes filled with unwanted tears, the poignant odor swirled around her clouding her senses forcing her to choose the wrong direction. Darkness slithered about her, entering her mind leaving it's vile energy behind. Pumping her arms she ran in slow motion as if caught in a vast sea, her feet running through sand and mud. A steady beat of blood pounded through her ears and her chest heaved from the expended energy, no scream would escape her constricted throat and tears streamed down her ashen cheaks. The feeling of impending doomed stalked her as she ran, soon it would catch up to her, this she knew. It was playing with her mind and senses just waiting patiently to capture her and make it theirs forever.    
    With the sudden realization of eventual defeat Phoebe resigned her spirit and stopped running. The darkness would consume her, leaving nothing but the empty shell of her beaten body to the world, casting her soul into oblivion. Heaviness seaped into the air as a dark mass clouded around her until the particles condensed leaving a tall, brooding man standing before her. "I have waited many nights for this. Your soul was not so easy to frighten and many powerful magics inhibited my invasion. The Great Prince told me nothing of you so this I ask, why were you able to resist my influence so long? Why were you able to sense me when it is within my power to remain invisible to you?" Phoebe stared at the man panic rising in her abdomen, she knew nothing of what he spoke. Magic did not exist, it was nothing more than fairytales meant to scare and sometimes teach lessons to little children. There was nothing powerful about herself. She had no mother nor father that she knew of, she had grown up in foster homes, but something in the back of her subconscious stirred with his words.
    "This is nothing but a dream. A dream brought on by my paranoia of the dark moon. You are nothing more than a figment of my imagination." Even as the words poured from her lips she knew them to be false. She may be in the presence of a dream but the man before her was no figment of her imagination. She recognized his aura, the sensations she had been feeling every morning and night as she came and went from her small apartment. He was the being she had felt from the time she moved to New York City six months before. "Who are you? Why have you been stalking me?" The man cackled throwing his hand about his massive stomach.
    "The Great Prince has taken specific intrest in you. Six months ago he sensed a great power arrive here in the city, a power that could and would become a danger to his reign. Many of us Night Stalkers were sent to search for the aura he so felt in his dreams and visions. My searches led me to you and I shall not cease my grasp on your soul until I can bring you back as my bounty to the Great Prince." Phoebe backed away as the man's human features shifted into something so hideous nothing could compare. His face contorted with rage, boils and scars traced their way down his defined cheek bones and a third eye blossomed in the center of his now burnt red forehead. "You Shall be Forever Mine!" The Night Stalker lunged for Phoebe's arm attempting to hold her prisoner within his power but power blossomed within Phoebe's chest and she lashed out, releasing all the energy that had been building up without her knowledge. Her skin buzzed with electricity and the Night Stalker lunged once again toward her but the most pure light Phoebe had ever seen showered forth from every inch of her body. The light swirled with etheral radiance protecting her from Harkin but also burning his already distorted skin. His screams of agony pierced her mind as she fought to control the power building inside her. Directing the last of her energy and will toward Harkin she covered his body with light, his screams became louder until he retreated, holding his hands to his head. Shaking he shimmered from her dream leaving her alone in a world of darkness.

    The world shifted back into focus and Phoebe sat up in bed panting from the energy expended in her dream. She felt as if she had run for miles, glancing around her room she jumped in surprise when she noted the mirror above her dresser glowing with the same light she had fought of the demon with in her dream. Stumbling out of bed Phoebe gasped, blood soaked the bottom of her nightgown, blood that most definitely came not from her. Making her way over to the mirror she peared fearfully into its depths waiting for another terrible creature to be staring back at her in place of her reflection. No demon or human stared back at her, instead a woman looking quite similar to herself gazed into her own chestnut brown eyes.

    "Who are you?" Phoebe was surprised how calm her voice sounded when her entire mind was flooded with fear and uncertainty.
    "It is not who I am that must be known but instead you should seek the answers to who you are. You must realize you no longer inhabit the dream world you once did but instead understand that all that has happened in your dream was as real as the light of the full moon. I am Selene, Ancient Goddess of the Full Moon and patron Goddess of all women. It was through my blood and essence that you were made, a creation to save all of mankind. You know my voice for I have spoken to you in your dreams since you were but a small child. Over the centuries you have lost your memories of who you once were and the reason you were created. A new dawn approaches and the Prince of Night once again gains power. Hecate, my elder sister, and wisest of us has retained more power than I or my younger sister Artemis. Through what little power I have left I have used it to communicate with you in your dreams but my power is waning and it is now up to you Phaedra, to fight for this world for what I believe will be the ultimate battle. The Prince of Night has created a new enemy and you are to fear him above all others. Your elder sister retains the old power and many of the old memories, she will be seeking you shortly but your younger sister remains unfound. Her guardian shall help lead her to you but you must combine your powers to find her. The time of the old world is now ending and a new one awaits, if you should fail the world as man has come to know it will perish."

    The light faded leaving so many question unanswered and so many doubts lingering at the back of Phoebe's mind. Despite the late hour and the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm her Phoebe began to write. Letting her mind flow as she had once done in her early years she wrote about memories that had often plagued her, never her own or so she had once thought. She would write without thought and remember the places Selene had said she had once existed. If any of what she had just witnessed was true she would need to prepare and remember the power that lay deep within her, dormant, waiting for the right moment to be released and restored.

Reviews

[DowntoEarthDreamer]

again you've shown deep characters and given us reader just enough information to tempt us into reading more and more of your writing just to find out what will happen next! i can't wait, as usual.

[Robert Luna]

You have continued this story wonderful. I love the way you are writing this really make me feel a deeper connection with the characters. This was an important chapter as it increases the depth of the interaction and development of the importances that is given in the beginning of the story. I can't wait to read the next part. Keep up the great work.


Well DOne!!!!!