The Mirror Realm

37.

  The printer spits out the last paper, ink covering the page from top to bottom. Oliver races to catch it before it touches the floor; he grabs it and places it in another pile of papers, this paper covering the printed face of Dane King, the boy who disappeared twenty years ago without a trace.

Oliver rapidly places the thick stack of papers in a vanilla colored folder and snatches it up quickly, almost spilling its contents all over the wooden floors. Oliver races out of the room, throwing his bedroom door open wrathfully and running back down the steps.

"Oliver! What did I say about running in the house!" His mother shrieks from inside the kitchen, the knife still in her hand from before.

"I-I sorry mom," he pauses his running body, facing his mother as he pants heavily. "I gotta go, I might have discovered something!" He rapidly spills out his words, and continues to run. He races to the front door, unlocking it and pulling it open.

The cold November air hits his skin, reminding him that its almost December. He rushes down the porch steps, fumbling with his car keys in his back pocket as he struggles to unlock his car door. His breaths are visible in the thin air, and his nose begins to turn a bright red.

He lets out a groan of frustration and gives up, instead he jaunts to his dead bike laying in the front yard. He reaches and grasps the cold metal in his hands, lifting it up and placing both tires on the ground. He mounts it with the file under his arm and rushes down the street, weaving his way through cars, his mind focused on one destination, the school.

***

He throws his bike down violently in the school court yard, students surrounding giving him bewildered glances as he runs into the building as if some mad man were after him. He races down the halls, pushing his way through the crowd, managing to knock a few people off their feet.

"Watch where you're going, Dixon!" A few people shout as he crashes into the crowd like a bowling ball hitting pins.

He turns down an empty hallway, the lockers free of students in front of him. The bell rings and all falls silent when he stops in front of a closed door, the window covered with black paper. He barges in, turning the metal handle, the hinges creak.

"Mr. Nilsson," Oliver breathes heavily, out of breath from the marathon he just ran all the way across the campus. "Do you have a minute?" He asks, finishing his sentence. He waits in the threshold, waiting to be invited in. An elderly man stares up from his paperwork and pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Why Mr. Dixon, haven't seen you in a while. I heard what happened, and I'm so deeply sorry for your loss," Oliver instantly knew that he was talking about Amy, and Mr. Nilsson was smart not to mention her name, for he would be dealing with a raging maniac if he did.

"Do you have a minute?" Oliver repeats, disregarding his previous question.

"Oh, yes of course, come, pull up a seat," Mr. Nilsson gestures for him to step in and grab a student chair.

"You know about the twelve missing person cases, right?"

"Yes of course, Oliver, everyone knows about them-"

"I think they're all connected. In all the files," Oliver opens the folder full of papers and spreads out twelve Missing Person reports on Mr. Nilsson' desk, "There is one key detail that remains the same in all reports. Each person said they saw a figure, three days in a row. Then, they all went missing!"

"I'm not following here, Oliver, couldn't it just be a coincidence?" The professor takes off his glasses and places them beside him. He takes hold of a report and flips through it, studying the information for himself. "Where are you going with this?"

  "These twelve reports all claim to have seen a male figure while these twelve claim to have seen a female figure-" Oliver pauses for a moment, considering if he really should ask his next inquiry. He lets out a sigh, deciding to go with his initial plan, "Do you know anything about the rumor of The Mirror Realm?"

  Mr. Nilsson stares back at Oliver blankly, "You think that these poor teens are gone because of a rumor that has been around for as long as time?"  

  "So you do know about it," Oliver pulls up a chair, plopping down on top of the plastic, indicating for Mr. Nilsson to spill his knowledge.

  He lets out a defeated sigh, "The Mirror Realm is - as you probably already know - a place that is on the other side of the mirror. Its a place where the demons lurk and feast off the people who wish to be taken in. They think they're going to find a better life on the other side, but only find death." Mr. Nilsson pauses, glancing over to Oliver who is studying all twenty four files that are now spread out on the table.

  "I don't know how this myth pertains to any of these tragic cases, Mr. Dixon, but I think you are just paranoid because of what happened to A - I mean her."

  "What else do you know?"

  Mr. Nilsson lets out another sigh, his shoulder dragging, "I know that the last person taken in is said to be special, and is said to wield a kind of dark magic that only a true Devil can posses; but Oliver, this myth was just folklore created by some drunk man a long time ago, you don't actually believe it do you?"

  "I don't believe that a killer picked twelve teenagers and decided to kill them. It just doesn't make sense-"

  "You'd be surprised at what runs through a killer's mind, Oliver, and that is no joke. Sometimes people do unforgivable things for reasons I cannot inform you of," Mr. Nilsson leans forward in his chair, "But I think its best if you leave these things to the state, let them do your job and you do yours. Now, I think you should go home and rest, you don't look too well."

  Oliver nods, all hope of figuring out what's really going on in the cursed town of Lakewood Pierce flushed down the drain. He picks up all the files, and shoves them back in the folder. He picks up the folder, and strides for the door, but is halted at the mention of his name.

  "Oliver, I truly am sorry, I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. But don't lose hope, they will find who did this to them, I promise."

  Oliver leaves with a single nod, knowing that the man he thought could help him was useless to his discoveries now. All he could do is make empty promises he knew he couldn't make come true.

  She's really gone, and there's no way he can ever get her back.