Broken Glass

again... i'm not into explaining my stories or giving overviews... i think it ruins the fun in reading them...

 

Chapter 1

Sitting, watching the parallel universe of sanity unfold through the broken glass, realization floods through my body.

 

I received my first kiss on the night of my sixteenth birthday. That night I thought I was truly dippy-happy-piss-your-pants-scared-as-hell-head-over-heals in love. However, over the course of the next few days, my viewpoints began to change. Many things began to change. My newly-found mentor said it was the kiss that caused these changes; that the person I had kissed passed a piece of himself on to me, and for a certain reason. It was my duty to figure out the reasoning behind my new “gifts,” and to learn how to use them.

 

How was I to learn how to use something that I knew nothing about? I did not know what my new “gifts” were, nor did I know how to go about learning how to use them. I asked Caiden if he would help me, but he only said what he always said: “You must find that out for yourself. It will come in time.” What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to sit around on my a*s waiting for something to happen? I would surely never find my gifts if I did that. What kind of mentor was Caiden if he only told me to wait, to figure things out for myself? I thought mentors were supposed to teach you, help you, but Caiden was not helping.

 

The frustration building up brought me to my limit. I punched the wall next to my bed where I had been lying, and somehow, the mirror on my vanity table cracked as though it had been punched. A few shards of glass falling to the table’s surface caught my attention. As I watched, the cracks began to cut deeper into the glass, spreading completely over the surface so that there was not one piece larger than a standard playing card. I rolled off the side of my bed, and slowly made my way over to the vanity set, staring in awe. The cracks in the glass were still slowly moving as though they were alive. A couple more pieces fell from what used to be my vanity mirror, crashing on the table in front of me. 

 

That was strange, I thought as I stared at the mirror. I felt strange, too. A feeling of being watched coursed through my veins and the hair on the back of my neck rose in cold fear. But what was I afraid of… the mirror… myself?

 

At seventeen, you would think I would be able to figure it out. Common sense. But no, no mater what I did, my mind seemed to be in permanent shut-down mode. I had just witnessed something surreal, so of course, my mind must have been trying to block it out… by not working at all.  

 

I went into the bathroom and started the shower, turning the dial up so the hot water made the whole room fog up. A hot shower would most definitely help me calm down. When I looked into the mirror, it seemed as though the glass was beginning to melt, but it wasn’t loosing its shape. I looked harder thinking it was just the fog, but now I could see myself looking back at me, only the background was completely different. Other people were moving around in the picture, people I didn’t know. Even I looked different; my hair was black instead of red and my eyes were green instead of blue. I looked behind me: nothing. What was happening?

 

I ran back to my room, picked up my phone, and dialed Caiden’s number. One… Two… Three rings. “Hello?” he asks groggily. I think I may have woken him up, but it’s the middle of the day. “Caiden? It’s me. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I think you should come over. I’m a little freaked out to say in the least.” There’s silence on the other end. “Caiden!” “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there in a few.” He yawns and then I hear the other line click off.

 

I slam the phone down in its cradle and sit on my bed, exasperated. I happen to glance at the vanity mirror and notice that, in it too, I can see differences and other people moving around. I can see things in the mirror that aren’t in my room. My bedroom door opens and Caiden enters. “Your mom let me in. I hope it’s alright.” “Caiden, I told you to come over. Now, what do you make of this?”

 

I show him the mirror and wonder if he can see what I see within the glass. He stares at it for a while. “How did it happen? What were you thinking, what were you doing when it happened?”

 

“I don’t know. I think I was sitting on my bed, thinking about how pissed off I am at you and Alexis.” “Hmm. Interesting. I think you have channeled some sort of connection with an alternate universe. You know they exist everywhere, we just don’t see them. Every decision you make, every fork you come upon in your life’s path creates a new alternate reality. If I am correct, you now have access to every alternate universe ever created. If that’s true, you also have the ability to jump through time and you can even sort of transport yourself from one place to another within a single reality, like teleportation!” Whoa! That was way too much to dump on me at one time. My head was spinning. I could barely maintain my balance.

 

“Try something for me… Try touching the mirror. See what happens.” Caiden was now looking very excited. If he thought he could use me to experiment with his novel ideas, he had another think coming. I was not going to be his guinea pig. However, I did seem very compelled to touch the mirror. I wanted to know what would happen. Before I could will myself to be the guinea pig and try it, Caiden gave me a shove toward the mirror and I lost my balance. I fell into the mirror, and when I say I fell into it I mean that I literally fell into the mirror. I went right through the glass. I turned around and there was another, unbroken mirror, through which I could see Caiden smiling like an idiot and my bedroom the way I knew it to be. I put my hand up to press it against the glass and it went back through to my real bedroom. Before I had the chance to walk back through and forget about it and move on with my life, Caiden told me to turn around.

 

I thought that I had fallen into some sort of abyss. I hadn’t noticed the never-ending hallway of mirrors and doors and pools and puddles and all sorts of other portals until Caiden told me to turn around. Through the mirror that would take me back to my own room, Caiden said, “Through this ‘hallway,’ if you will…” He actually used air quotes. “You have access to every single alternate reality and practically every location on earth. The hallway seems endless, but if you know where you want to go, the portal will come to you. No one else can see what you see in mirrors and reflective surfaces except others like you, which would include Alexis, and their mentors, which would include moi! If you look at the portals, they are all labeled, for your convenience of course. And I should mention, there are others like you, so don’t freak out if you see someone else in the hallway.” “Wait! Back up, buddy. Alexis has the same powers as I do and he couldn’t help me? Something is wrong with that­­­-” “No, no, no. You see, when someone passes their powers along, there is no way they can tell what powers the second party will receive. Alexis, by so-called law, was not allowed to share with you any of that information. Neither was I. Please don’t be upset at us.” “Fine!”

 

Chapter 2

A dark night creeps upon the woods, as I stand motionless in deep shadows. Two beams of light moving together: a car moving very slowly. The driver’s face, dimly lit by dashboard lights, is searching the trees. He is looking for me.

 

I recede further into the shadows. Not too far. I do not want to go back yet. There are things I need to know first.

 

The car continues on. I can catch up if I want, but do I want to? Do I want to face him yet? Am I ready to face him?

 

Yes. I step from the shadows into the street. Brake lights. Reverse lights. Alexis’s face in the rearview grows larger. He is smiling. Why is he smiling? I imagine he thinks I am giving in. He thinks I will forgive him and pretend nothing ever happened. He is too wrong. I will not give in, not until I have answers. 

 

Soft music fills the air as he rolls down the window and leans across the seat to look into my face. He is still smiling.  

 

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The beautiful greens of spring leaves and the contrast of deep green grass against red earth. It is beautiful.  My mind is enveloped in the beauty, and I almost forget why I came to this place. Why I took the train.

 

But, as I snap back into my own head, I remember that I am running. I am being a coward. Running to the only place that I know I can hide. A place with no mirrors, no mentors, no Alexis. I do not want the gift anymore, but he said it would not go away. He gave it away did he not? He gave it to me! But he would not help. 

 

He came and went as he pleased. Never there when I needed him. When he was around, he would not tell me anything more than Caiden. He just sat around and watched, as I thought. Thought of ways out of this mess. Thought of why he gave it to me.

 

I let my mind trail off for a while, hoping to forget why I am here. I just want to enjoy myself while I can. He would show up eventually. He always found me. I do not know how, but he did. It was as if he was tuned into me… But he gave his gift to me, so how could he know?

 

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A pile of giant pillows form a makeshift bed. Sheets, comforters, blankets to keep me warm. Stone floors, walls, ceilings keep my sanctuary very cold compared to the heavy heat outside. 

 

The sky looks like rain, but it is still beautiful. This whole place is beautiful. The southern wilderness. Georgia. I grew up here. This old, abandoned, castle-like home: my childhood hideout. My house is about seven miles away. I do not know who is living there now. My family is gone, living in New York. He would know to look near my old house, but no one knows about this place. I’ve never told anyone about, never brought a special someone.  Only me.  And the butterflies: my grandfather’s soul.

 

The sky cracked open and a sudden downpour was upon the land. I retreated to my ice castle. The roof was leaking in a few spots, leaving small puddles on the floor. The puddles steamed as the stone chilled the warm rain waters. The steam filled the room and warmed my skin, though I could still feel the chill of stone in my bones.

 

When the rain was finally gone, I went outside and it was still very warm, and humid. I climbed up to the roof where the moss grows and watched as the birds and bugs and butterflies emerged from their shelters. 

 

Looking around, I noticed an old water basin carved into a boulder and an ancient, rusty sundial and a few uprooted, fallen trees. I decided I wanted to explore and climbed down to the water basin. The rain filled it to the top and I could see my reflection in the clear, still surface. Despite the heat, the water suddenly started to crystallize and freeze over. Its surface was still very smooth and clear, and I could still see my reflection. But as I looked, my reflection wavered and I saw movement in the shiny, mirror-like surface. I backed away quickly, not wanting to be a part of it, refusing my gifts. As I approached the other small puddles, left over from the rain, they too began to freeze over.

 

I ran inside and threw myself on my bed of pillows. When I looked up, I realized that the puddles that had gathered on the floor were not freezing over. They were not steaming anymore either. Had the brief spell passed?

Author's Note

please excuse grammatical errors...
this is a work in progress... I haven't been able to fit the bits and pieces separated by the breaks into the rest yet...... and i still have a lot more to write...