Through the Mirror - Prologue

Two years before the current story... This basically shows how we got where we are (self explanatory?)

We crouched in the shadows just out of sight of our prey, which skipped throughout the street triumphantly under the dull moon light.  The prey were naturally humanoid, but on this occasion had donned gruesome masks of grotesque creatures which they flaunted about with a giddy childish happiness that sickened me.  We waited until the three children passed us by and then crept up behind them.  Each of my comrades chose a victim, leaving me with the remainder, which was dressed as the classic bed sheet ghost.  Unsheathing our blades, we uttered guttural grunts and circled around the children in a frightening manor.

The three children turned, and upon seeing us standing there with our horrible masks and fearsome looking blades, dropped their bags of candy and ran off like a pack of disoriented squirrels.

“That was just too perfect!”  I cried out, lifting my share of the loot and laughing like a hyena.  I looked around at my companions unimpressed faces and took a deep sigh.

“Come on guys, you can’t possibly tell me that that was not amazing!  Didn’t you see their faces? They were all like…”  I said enthusiastically making funny faces towards them until I got a smirk or two.

Jane swept up her victims candy, and shoved it into her backpack, giving me a weak smile.  “Okay, maybe it was just a little bit of fun, but I think that’s enough alright?”  Darren strolled over towards us and stepped in between me and her, over his candy.  I looked at him for help, hoping he would convince her into a little bit more mischief, but it was a lost hope.  I couldn’t believe it; I saw the betrayal on his face before he opened his mouth.

“I think she’s got you there Marc, we better drop it before the cops get involved.”  Darren said, pushing Jane out of the way playfully to grab his own loot.  She laughed, and when he stood back up she used one hand to shove him with all her might.  Hardly moving an inch, he growled and snapped his teeth, still in the monster frame of mind.

Jane giggled.  “Dare, your a freak sometimes you know that?”

Darren made a snorting noise as he ripped open a candy bar with his teeth.  He took a huge gorging bite out of it and tried speaking at the same time, which made his speech nearly undecipherable… Years of knowing the kid made me come to the conclusion he had said, “You know you like it Amber!”  Jane giggled again, digging around her own bag for a satisfactory treat.  Jane was actually her birth name, but for one reason or another she had self proclaimed that she changed her name.  She said once that Jane simply wasn’t exotic enough.

I snarled and turned away in disgust.  Lately Dare agreed with her on basically everything, and the flirting was driving me up the wall!  I wish he would just marry her already, and then I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore!  I balled my hands into fists.  It was Halloween night for cryin’ out loud!  If we aren’t going to torment the kids, then what the hell were we supposed to do!

“Marc… Hey, Marc!”  It was Darren.  I unclenched my fists and turned around to face them, realizing I have been making animalistic growling noises in my anger.  “Are you turning into wolverine to redouble your efforts, or is that triple bean burrito giving you some trouble?”  He left a pause here where I could hear Amber suppressing a laugh.  

Dare didn’t bother to hold it in whatsoever, and I ground my teeth in further anger.  With night prevailing and the thoughts of camouflage gone, I saw the two of them yank flashlights from their bags and, flicking them on, start walking a few yards down the street.  I spit on the ground and trailed after the budding lovebirds, leaving my candy behind in the street.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?  Where are you going to do, go home?  The night is still young!  The freaking preteens are still hanging out!”

They both turned and I caught a flash of mischievousness from Darren’s expression.  “Relax,” He said, smirking a little bit and looking from me to Amber and back again.  “I have a little plan brewing.”  

A bolt of lightening flashed and thunder roared overhead suddenly and you could see all the children in the distance dash for their homes as it started to downpour at flash flood proportions.  

“Now that’s what I’m talking about Dare!”  I grinned in excitement and caught up to them quickly.  “What’s the plan?”

                     ***

“So, you’re telling me…  This random kid anyone hardly ever saw winds up killing himself just months after his father ran off and the mother bit the dust, and that makes his old place haunted?”  I said, telling myself never to have as much time handy as the fools who made these stories up.

Darren put an evil grin on his face and took the flashlight he had had trained on the road and placed it at the bottom of his chin.  “And they never found a body…”  He said, letting out a low moan and dancing around like an idiot.  Amber tilted her chin down and raised her hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh as hard as her mind was commanding her to.  Her light blonde hair flowed down her sides like ribbons of temptation.  I had always loved her hair, so long and flowing, the darkness of it as soothing as the light blue color of her eyes.  I had always wanted her, but of course, Dare nearly always got the things I wanted.

I diverted my frustration into a gigantic puddle that had presumably formed within the last few minutes.  From the angle I was getting I could give Darren a nice kick in the head.  “Never found a body?  Puh-leese!  I get more shivers from R.L. Stine for cripes sake!”  I poured enough venom into my tone to down a rhino.

Oblivious, he continued.  “Nope, all they found was some creepy old mirror, and one of them old fountain pens with blood dripping from the tip…”  he paused as Amber stopped and turned to face me.

“What the hell is your deal lately Marc?  She said, her eyes glaring from the slits that held her.  God she was cute when she was angry.

“Amber…  Let it go, you know he’s not having the best of times lately.”  Dare said, defending my bullheaded blundering.

“That doesn’t give him the damn right to be a jerk to his own friends!” she said, letting her hair fall in front of her face in her anger.  God damn it...

“Alright, I’m sorry guys…  It’s just… my mother…   and dad…”  My mother had vanished years ago, and I had recently been consistently fighting with my dad for the past few months.

“We know Marc…  C’mon lets just get goin’, I’m getting soaked.”  Dare said, shooting a look at Amber that said they would be talking about this later.  He then quickened his pace to get a few steps ahead of everybody.  I felt myself smirk.  Perhaps it wasn’t too late to get with her after all.  I sped up as well, getting beside her and putting on my best innocent face.  I then politely apologized for my behavior and offered comfort to her because of the frightening circumstances.  She then politely responded that I would not be having children for the rest of my days if I didn’t back off.  God damn it!  I narrowed my eyes and backed down, clenching my fists again.

“So, WHY exactly are we going to this place?”  I asked the frustration swelling within my words.  

“Because…” Darren said monotonously.  “It’s haunted…”  He paused for a second to look me over.  “Wait just a second… Are you afraid?”

“What!  Of course not…  I just didn’t want to do something so boring is all…  Let’s go!”  I couldn’t let him show me up, especially with Amber right there.

And so we followed Darren down a dead end road and on past it onto a dirt path in the woods.  The sky was like a dark angry void, which was either angry or sad.  Needless to say, the raining had not let up.  Puddles had formed at every declination of the road, and all of the children had vanished from our sight.  I also distinctly recalled my clothes weighing about a pound or two less when I had chosen them out this morning.  For once, I realized just how frightening the situation was, and I couldn’t believe how cool Dare was being.  

After a while Darren slowed his pace again, and he and Amber were once more walking a hair apart from each other.  I nodded disapprovingly and went to the other side of her, hoping to spark some sort of interest.  

“So anyway,” Darren said after a while, sinking into his semi-creepy voice once more.
“Its said that the dripping pen was the proof he had sold himself off as the devils w***e, and that the Mirror was his price.  The boy was obsessed with mirrors, and this one had been his final boon.  As always though, there was a trick in Satan’s eyes, and the boy was struck down.  The Mirror remained as a powerful reminder, and the soul of one person every year on the very night it happened that is exposed to this said mirror will be obliterated, leaving no signs behind for this world.”  

There were several cracks of lightening, followed by a horrendous dose of thunder.  I fought the urge to laugh as Amber jumped, and clutched onto Darren’s arm in horror.  When she realized what position she had gotten into (on purpose?)  She straightened, but left he arm hooked into his.  He smiled slightly and allowed her to remain gripped to his side, and we continued further down our path to demise.  

At least that’s what the atmosphere suggested.  Great looming leafless trees stood at either side of the narrow path we had traveled onto, and I began wondering why we had allowed him to lead us out to begin with.  There were roots and thorn bushes scattered all around the trail, and the gathering mud was not helping a thing.  Just as I was about to confront Dare, our flashlight beams each caught the front of a structure.  It was pitch dark, the only light coming from the moon and our three identical flashlight beams.  This really was not a good idea, now that I thought of it.  Nobody knew where we were, and it was freezing cold, wet, and dark.  I don’t even think any of us remembered extra batteries for the lights.  

Feeling sick to my stomach, I used my flashlight beam to help the others examine the surface of the building.  The paint had peeled back from the wood, leaving a dark rotting wood behind.  What windows had been there had been smashed by vandals, and there were little blurbs of undecipherable graffiti scattered over what remained of the brick siding.  

“You know guys; we don’t have to do this…”  Darren’s voice shook from the cold, or possibly from fear.  I was right behind him on this one, but I couldn’t help but take the chance to show him I was stronger than him.

“What, are you gonna wimp out of your own plan, genius?”  I said, with just enough humor in my voice so he wouldn’t beat my a*s.  “Afraid your soul’s gonna be next?”

He looked bewildered at his own thought process and glanced over at the pale, shivering Amber.  “No… Not at all…  I was just a bit worried about her, man.  Don’t want to have to carry her back when she passes out is all.”

“Yeah, you’d like that.” I mumbled under my breath.  Then, so they could both hear, I said.  “Maybe if you let her get a bit further away from you, she wouldn’t feel so sick!”

“Haw, Haw, Haw Marc, very funny.”  Amber said, glaring at me coldly.  Then, forcing a smile, she looked at Darren.  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.”  She then unstuck her arm from his to emphasize the point.  There was then another flash of lightening and I caught the shocking figure of a looming creature, which sat not fifty feet from us.  

“…the hell was that?”  Darren said, the fear imprinted on his voice like a searing mark on a farmers stock.

“What?  It was just lightening.”  Amber said, innocently.

“No, there was just a freaking…”  I started, confused as to what exactly I had seen.

“Monster!”  Darren said, searching the area with his flashlight.

“I didn’t see anything!  Come on guys cut it out your scaring me.”  She said, and started to walk towards the building slowly.

Just then a long series of flashing commenced, where the entire area was lit up.  The three of us could see clearly the figure of a beast whose body was that of a scorpion, but was disproportionally large.  There were extremely large wings folded up on top of the figure, and its eight legs were shining brightly, like swords.  The stinger quivered above its humongous body, probably containing enough venom to bring down fifty men.

Amber screamed out a bloodcurdling cry and jumped back to clutch Dare once more.  Both Darren and I said several expletives and our flashlight beams searched the area erratically for the sight we had seen.  There was then silence for a moment, other than the persistent downpour and the strange noises of fear resounding from Amber, where we continued to search around with the beams.  

Slowly, I began to realize we had no idea where the thing was at the current moment.  The only logical solution to me was to find cover, which I did.  They must have also hit the same realization, as we all began running towards the building with the determination of our lives.

The flashlights bobbed erratically as we raced to the door in blind determination.  With each falling foot step, the thoughts of panic escalated, no thoughts other than what the beast could do with those shining bladed legs, or the colossal stinger attached at its rear.  

We each reached the door with near identical timing and jumped through it as fast as could be managed.  I turned and slammed the door behind me, turning my light towards my two comrades, who each wore a mask of complete terror.  

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?”  Dare said, abandoning his air of authority and bravery.  

“I don’t know, what do you expect me to do, pull a solution out of my rear?  This was all your idea in the first place!”  We continued to bicker, hardly noticing the rain had ceased, and that the moon was sending a sliver of light through the room.

“GUYS!”  Amber screamed at us after several accusatory statements and insults.  “Shut…  The hell… Up.  Who’s acting like a bunch of preschoolers reading Goosebumps now?  We don’t even know anything was there…  It could have just been shadows.”

“You saying you didn’t see that?”  I shouted, pointing at the boarded window where Dare sat looking out at where the monster had stood beyond.  

“No!  I didn’t see a thing okay?”  She said, scrunching her face in anger.

“Then why the hell did you scream?!”  I said, getting in her face and balling my fists.

“Why?  WHY did I scream?  I’m cold, I’m walking through the woods in the middle of nowhere, it’s raining, I’m wet, and suddenly my friends start saying they saw monsters and run away from my current location.  I think I was well qualified to scream alright?”  She said, pausing between each entity of her list to emphasize her point.

“Enough.”  Dare said, regaining his composure as he stood down from the window.  “I don’t see anything.  We’re all just freaked out… let’s just get out of here okay?  He then walked to Amber and clutched her, drowning her panicked sobs with his shoulder.

I let out a roar of protest and stalked the floor, my balled fists swinging at my sides.  I didn’t want them to think I was the cause of the night’s pain, but I couldn’t stop the rage from searing over my mind.  In a moment of blind mix of emotions including jealousy and rage, I ran across the room and kicked the wall with all my might.  I then sat there breathing heavily and trying to control my emotions.  

Flashes of memory coursed through my mind of my parent’s fights and their divorce, and of how my friendships were slowly deteriorating.  I pressed the palms of my hands against my forehead, realizing for the first time that I did not have the flashlight.  I turned toward Amber and Dare and saw that it was lying on the window sill.  The light from it was cast out the window; where I caught a glimpse of something move.  My heart caught in my throat.

“Guys?”  They were still standing there clutching each other pathetically, looking towards me with brows creased with fear.  I looked back to the window and struggled to make out what was there.  I saw the flash of blades and two red glowing sockets and a flash of panic pierced my brain.  

“Guys!  Look out!”  I shouted, jumping into a heroic run towards them, not sure as to what my own intent was.  The looks of fear left them momentarily and my brain was scorched with the image of their confusion as the bladed body barreled through the wall, not only crushing it but a small portion of floor with its blast.  My friends’ bodies plunged into the newly made pit, and I reared into a complete stop.  

I didn’t have time to process the sound of Amber screaming and the floor splintering before I was confronted with the monster.  It was flapping its great wings now, its tail curled up underneath it with the blades hanging at the ready in front of it.  I fell backwards and raised my arms in protection as the beast advanced on me, its blades swinging.  I scrambled around behind me for something to use as protection, and my hands closed onto a metal bar.  

I swung wildly, attempting to ward off its barrage of blows and retreat into the unknown parts of the building.  The blades of its arms clanked into contact with the bar, and I thought for a minute I could fend off the mythical beast.  Just as I was thinking it was retreating, it went back into the form I had recalled seeing earlier, where it used the blades to walk and the wings were up on its back.  It then advanced on me faster than ever and struck its stinger into my side.  The effects were nearly instantaneous, my vision cloudy as I felt my world slip away.

                         ***

I laughed heartily to myself while watching through a looking glass into the alternate plane where Venom, my Valxmera, had just successfully captured a man of great importance to me.  I turned away from the table and stalked out of the room, shoving aside the curtain that contained it and continued down the hall to the portal room.  I looked down the hallway at the several gleaming mirrors, which each lead to a separate portion of my dynasty.  I walked several paces down and turned, facing the one which lead to the towers.  Venom would need to travel quite a way from the reentry point, and I wanted to be waiting when he arrived.

Without hesitation, I took stride and collided heavily face first into the mirror.  The contact knocked me back a pace and I stood there, dazed.  “What in the world?” I thought, complete confusion clouding my mind.  I then became aware of a strange lightness about my body, which was uncharacteristic of one who bears the Devil’s Pendant.  That’s when it hit me.  “Of course!” I thought, twisting away from the mirror with such ferocity that my silvery cape twirled behind me.  The pendant was required to pass between the planes, and I had therefore needed to place it upon the Valxmera I had selected for this mission.  Unfortunately, I had also programmed it so that it was needed to use the portals of my city as well.  This was to ensure that nobody – or anything, could get where they were not wanted.  I snarled and turned to the stairs, which wound up hundreds of feet.  As I began the long decent, I reminisced about how I had allowed Venom access to the mirror.

You see it had not been an easy task.  The mirror, known as the Adamas mirror, was located in the small resistance which had formed at the source.  The resistance was lead by the only woman that had ever held the keys to my heart.  I had brought her here with me after I had gained possession of the pendant, and back when I was still a weak boy.  Danielle was her name, and though I now could not possess the feeling to enjoy it, she was stunningly beautiful.  I had only met her because I had been infatuated with the alternate plane back then, and she was the only mortal who saw me for what I was and did not turn in fear.  For most mortals, the deathly pale tone of Refractionals skin and jet black hair was distasteful, and if they were to catch sight of the long pointed ears, you could just forget about it.  

My heart plummeted as I nearly missed a step.  I stood still for a moment and shook my head, trying to eliminate the thoughts from my mind.  Those times were over now!  I had long since wizened to the evil of the mortals, and turned my back to those now known as the “resistance” forever.  

I launched through the last few steps and came out onto the landing of the tip of my tallest tower.  The portal which I had been unable to access before shimmered to one side, and Danielle was tied to a support beam on the other.  The tower overlooked the city, which was located in a vast and desolate barren dessert that I had known as home for years now.  It was always relatively dark in Refraction in comparison to Earth, which was responsible for the lack of pigmentation in those who dwelt here.  

I crept up to her gagged and blindfolded form, which was tied upright against the support beam.  Standing not three feet from her, I looked upon her beautiful form and my stomach twisted.  I turned from her, disgusted.  She was meant to be my queen!  Why had she resisted?  Of course, she had her reasons for not wishing to leave Earth, but why would she resist coming here to become his queen?  She had said love, and that had remained with him forever.  Not only had she completely resisted, but she strayed from him and stayed close to the mirror, becoming queen of the resistance for gods’ sake!   She’s the reason he now felt discomfort in his own land, why he now sought a successor.  

In one fluid motion he turned back to her and backhanded her across the face.  She screamed out sharply and began to hyperventilate, her panic overflowing with the unknown source of her pain.  

“Who is it?”  She shouted out, from behind the gag in her teeth.

I responded by removing the blindfold and allowing her to see my now silvered hair.  I took pride in my image, and at the colossal turning point in my life, I had used the pendants power to alter it slightly, to amplify the change.  The flicker of recognition on her face stopped the panic, and she now only appeared furious.  Hate shined in her eyes to the point where I couldn’t bear to look any longer.  She knew at this point there was no reason to beg or plead, for I would do what I would do and that was that.  

She continued to glare after me even as I went to the ledge of the tower and looked out at the desert that preceded my city.  There was ash blowing around the land as if a winter storm was quickly approaching, which caused there to be less visibility, but it had been that way as far as I could remember.  The air was scattered with Valxmere, which I strained my eyes to make out, thinking I could see the one that contained my successor.  I was about to give up and go back to the lady, when out of the corner of my eye I caught a flicker.  Focusing on that point, I saw that it was indeed the large Valxmera known as Venom, and he did indeed hold my successor.  The glare I had seen was the pendant, hanging from the neck of the beast loosely.  

Several moments later Venom had arrived with the boon, and I had taken my pendant back happily.  I used the power from the pendant to open a compartment above which released a strange looking person.  They weren’t the brightest of people, but the one thing they did well was fly.  Venom began the chase for his meal, which he would never be able to eat if he was able to retreat back to the Mainland Mansion, as Danielle had named her fortress.  

I looked down at my successor and silently examined his form.  He had low cut dark hair and a relatively strength driven body.  He must have picked that up from the mortal end of the deal, for Refractionals were not as muscular as he.   He did have the temper, as I had seen recently through the looking glass, and could control people if he wished.  He will have to do.  

“Welcome to Refraction, son…”

 

Author's Note

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