Undying Legacies: Mirrored

11: Truths

11:Truths

"You're going to tell me what's wrong and you're going to tell me the truth this time!" Lila was shouting as Teagan sits on her bed, limp and hunched over, mouth slack and arms limp on her side as she stares into space with terror in her shiny eyes, those tears still hadn't fallen.

"I can't." She whispers.

Lila looks ready to pull her hair out as she stomps over and grabs Teagan's face with both hands. "Yes you can, you promised you wouldn't lie anymore, and I trusted you Teagan, I care about you, we do, if we didn't we wouldn't have been upset about you lying again. For stars sake, just tell me the bloody truth!" Lila looks ready to burst into tears herself.

Teagan's throat is dry, she can't speak even as her mouth opens.

"You not fine and if you say those words again and not mean them I will punch you in your face. You can't lie anymore, now." She straightens and sniffs, throwing her shiny black tail over her shoulder. "Care to explain why you look like you've seen a ghost and why you just broke the bloody mirror like an insane person?" She taps her foot in irritated nerves.

Teagan looks at her slowly; everything is dreamlike and blurry at the edges. "I –" she shudders. "He's back." She whispers, her voice low and strangled as the words she tried so hard to run from come out of her mouth.

Lila raises a brow at her quizzically. "Who's ba-" she stops and stares, Teagan watches as the morbid realization dawns on her, she searches Teagan's face for any sign of a joke, she doesn't find it. "The dark Mage, but how - how do you know, he can't-"

"That's right, he can't." Teagan suddenly straightens. She looks haunted. "he shouldn't, the spell was strong, he should be locked away, gone even, but he's not, he's been sending me that dream all this time and now, now since I wasn't listening he, he's talking to me.-" she whispers all this, silent tears of terror sliding down the sides of her pale face as she hugs her knees and looks to Lila in totally hopelessness.

"Talking to you? How?" Lila says quietly, as if she speaks any louder something will grab her by the ankles and drag her into the dark.

It's nearly sunset now.

"Through- through the mirror, and - and he's - he's wearing my face." Teagan's hoarse words sends shivers down her own spine, Lila shudders visibly too. "He is wearing my face and he... He's talking through it. I - I'm going crazy, Stars, I'm insane." She grabs at her head and starts rocking back and forth.

Lila crying silently now too, she grabs Teagan's arms and stops her. "Listen Teagan, I believe you, alright. I believe you and I wish I didn't but I do. He's trying to get something out of you again and I think -"

"Don't say we tell headmistress." Teagan blurts out suddenly.

Lila sighs. "I told you I would the second I saw something terribly wrong with you. And this counts as-"

"No, no, Headmistress can't be trusted." Teagan's shocked she's said those words out loud. Lila looks surprised too. But perhaps Teagan's been thinking these thoughts since before, she just never let it appear in the forefront of her mind.

"Why not?" Lila demands, clearly finding that thought to be absurd.

It is absurd. But it's what Teagan suspects.

"She knows something, the teachers do too, Ink won't even speak to me any time she sees me in the halls and Core seems a lot more keen on ignoring me than terrorizing me. They won't say what it is but they know something and-" Teagan's eyes level with Lila's wide suspenseful ones. "And they're afraid to tell me what it is."