The Mirror Realm

10.

"What was the smell?" Oliver questions, more demanding this time than the last.

"Death."

"Amy? Oliver? Can we please do something! I'm bored!" The little boy barges into the room without a knock. What they didn't know, is that he had been sitting outside her room listening to every word spoken, eavesdropping.

Oliver gives Levi a look of annoyance, "Can't you see, we're trying to have a conversation here. Why don't you go watch TV or do whatever it is that you ten-year-old boys do these days," Oliver states, irritation clearly present in his voice.

"I'm actually twelve," Levi states in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Does it matter?" Oliver deadpans. Before the two get themselves into a heated conversation, Amy breaks in to stop them.

"Yes, Levi, we will do something with you. What do you want to do?"

"We should play hide and seek," he offers rather excitedly.

"Ugh, really!" Oliver throws his hands up, just as he did in the cafeteria last Friday, and falls back onto the bed.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Levi asks in a snotty tone. Oliver sits up instantly, his mind lighting up with a damnable idea.

"I have something," he mischievously states, a sour snicker painted on his lips. It is clear that there is hatred directed towards Levi from Oliver, and Amy is curt to pick this up but says nothing.

"Have you ever heard of the Mirror Realm?" Oliver asks.

"No, Oliv-"

"No, I haven't," Levi responds, slicing through his sister's unspoken words. The slight snicker on Oliver's face grows to a sinister grin, one showing his pearly white teeth.

"Follow me," he says, getting up and walking to the nearest bathroom, flicking on the light and landing a glance at himself in the mirror.

***

"Have you heard of the rumor?" Oliver asks, shutting the door behind Levi and Amy. Both are now which locked in the bathroom.

"Nope," the boy says, popping the 'p' quite loudly, the sound echoing off the white tiled walls.

"Oh, well then you're in for a real treat," with Oliver's lingering words, he flips the light switch off, the bathroom immediately engulfed in darkness. "There is a rumor," Oliver whispers in a dark voice, "A rumor revolving around the eleven deaths that have happened in the past two months in the town of Lakewood Pierce. This rumor is passed off by the parents and adults of this town to be lies and cruel jokes...but its real, all real. The rumor states that there is another world on the other side of the mirror, a world of Hell. Demons and monsters lurking on the grounds, winged beasts crowding the dark skies lit up by lightning."

"Oliver, st-" Amy is yet again cut off.

"The eleven deaths all happened because of this realm. The demons on the other side pulling the souls of the children through the glass, cutting open their skin and veins. Their own blood staining their hands. The children would pull back, but would fail. Their bodies would be taken in...and the only thing left of them would be their bloodied hand print on the wall...their being, gone," Levi turns to hug onto Amy's legs, burying his face into them.

"Please stop! You're scaring me!" Levi shouts, though his voice is muffled into Amy's back leggings.

"It only takes two words to enter into The Mirror Realm, it only takes two words to leave," Oliver pauses, disregarding Levi's pleas for him to stop his tormenting and taunting.

"Take me! Take me! TAKE ME!" Oliver shouts into the glass, flicking on the light before starting his wailing screams.

"OLIVER! STOP!" Amy screams, Levi's frightened tears soaking the fabric of her leggings. Immediately, he stops.

"Oliver, what was that?! You nearly scared him senseless!" Amy says, hugging Levi's body closer to her. "He's sensitive to that stuff, Oliver!"

"He was eavesdropping on us earlier, Amy! He needs to learn his lesson to stay out of other people's business!"

"That's not the way to do it! He's just a kid!"

The bathroom falls silent, almost too silent. The sound of their heated breaths completely gone.

"I know how you feel about them," Amy begins to say, referring to her family, breaking the silence. "I know that you don't like the way things are, but that is no reason to act out on impulse like that...I understand it's aggravating, but I've dealt with it for twelve years, I've gotten used to it," she says, lying again right to his face.

She hasn't gotten used to it, she never will.

"I'm sorry," Oliver states, "I'm so sorry."