Chapter 2: Darcy Through the Looking Glass?!

The next day went by all to slowly. I was sitting at my desk, doodling in my notebook, even though I was supposed to be working on math. My teachers didn’t mind though. I was ahead, and probably had more common sense than most people my age. I put my pencil down on my desk and looked down at my uniform. I didn’t think a short plaid skirt, a dress shirt, a sweater, and a striped tie really ‘qualified’ as good clothes to move around in, so I had a change of clothes in my bag. Ari sat in front of me today, and I looked at the back of her head as she worked diligently on her math. She was the reason I had actually talked to someone after school, and had something to do besides homework. The bell rang, signaling the end of this class and the start of a new one. I had Art next, and Ari had Science, so I caught up to her in the hallway. I panted, then grabbed her shoulder.

“Hey Ari, thank you! If I explained, you probably would either scream or laugh, so just thank you.”

“Uh...” she looked at me with confusion evident on her face. “You’re welcome?”

I laughed, knowing she would never know what I was talking about. “Yeah. Thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow in Math!” I ran to the art room, and Ari just stared at me strangely before heading off to Science.

*°*°*

After school ended, I waited outside with the other kids before heading to the bathroom to change. I told my mom that morning that I would be walking home. Just so you know, my dad left us when he found out I was going to be born. I was perfectly fine with just me and Mom. She worked most of the time, so I could do basically what ever. But onto the subject on hand. I changed into a pre-layered shirt (if you’re a fashionista, you’ll probably know what I mean, if you’re not, ask the fashionista) some old jeans, and my sneakers. I took off my headband and shoved into my backpack with my uniform before going up to the mirror. I repeated Bloody Mary ten times again, but Mary took a few moments to show up this time. The first thing I noticed was that she had a large bruise on her cheek.

“Mary!” I exclaimed, before anything else. “What happened? Does this... have to do with your-”

Mary cut me off. “It’s nothing, I promise. I just want to show you what I haven’t shown anyone else before. Don’t hold onto something!”

“What?!” I cried, before I felt a strange force either pushing or pulling me into the mirror. I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was standing next to Mary who was beaming up at me. She was an inch or two shorter than I was, which surprised me, because in the mirror, she seemed exactly my height. “It’s nice to see in color! You’re much prettier this way!”

I looked around to see myself in a room filled with mirrors, and doorways, that I guessed, lead to more rooms, with more mirrors. “In color? What do you mean?”

“Through the mirrors, I can only see black and white. I can’t see anything in color,” she explained. “And this,” she waved her arms around to the room dramatically. “Is how I get to peoples’ mirrors. But come on, we have so much more to see!”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me through a door, and bright sunlight hit my face and blinded me for a minute. My eyes adjusted, and I looked at my surroundings. There were a few buildings here an there, but otherwise, the place was pretty desolate. Red and desolate. Mary looked around and pouted. “Thomas isn’t here! He said he would be here! Let’s go look for him.” She pulled me towards a destination unknown and I looked at her features. The red glow I had seen around her in the mirror was gone, but now her hair had a slight red tint to it. I also noticed that her hands were extremely cold, but surprisingly enough, I didn’t have a problem with it. Again I asked myself, what was going on? Then I heard a voice behind me, “Mary?” I jumped slightly and Mary turned around. When I fully took in that there was a person behind us, so did I.

He looked at me curiously, and turned back to Mary. “Who’s this?” he asked.

I stuck out my hand. “I’m Darcy Jenkins,” I said as he shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

He nodded and let go of my hand. “Nice to meet you too.” There was something strange about him. I didn’t know what, though. “I’m-”

 Then I got it. I could see through him. Right through him. “A ghost!” I exclaimed, jumping back in surprise. He laughed.

“Well, I was going to say ‘Thomas,’ but what you said was right too. I’m Mary’s cousin,” he said, as Mary moved to stand beside him. She smiled at the thirteen or fourteen year old ghost beside her, then at me.

“I was wondering when you’d catch on!” She turned to Thomas. “Now let’s go! I want to introduce her to Aggie before she has to leave!”

Thomas nodded slightly, and we started walking to where we would find Aggie. “So,” I started, trying to make conversation. “If you’re a ghost, how can I touch you?”

Thomas sighed. “Those kind of things are just stereotypes. Most ghosts can actually turn ‘solid’ on command. And as you can see, we actually resemble people. You mortals have twisted ghosts into something none of us would have expected over the years.”

We took a left, and I saw a small purple shack with a blue roof in front of us. There were tons of little kids all over the yard, and the tallest ones (a boy and a girl, who looked about seventeen in earth standards) were watching over them. Another girl was playing with the ones that looked about five in a sand box. When she looked up, she noticed us and stood up, brushing sand off of her dress. They all looked pretty normal, but again, there was something strange about them I couldn’t put my finger on. She went up to Mary, who whispered something in her ear, and then turned to me. “Agatha Redding, demented rag doll.  You can call me Aggie, though.” she stuck out a fingerless hand, which I shook awkwardly. So this was what was different about them, I also noticed her mouth was stitched.

“Darcy Jenkins,” I said, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”

There was a small silent moment, but then Aggie decided to speak up. “Want to come in for a drink? We just went to the market, so you’re in luck.”

Thomas, Mary and I nodded at each other, so we all went inside the strange house. What wasn’t strange about today?

Chapter 1: Ari's Show and Tell Experiment

I stood in the school bathroom and looked at the mirror curiously. During show and tell-or as our teachers called it ‘weekly presentation’ because we were in fifth grade-Ari told the class about a book she was reading, which was about some Urban Legends and stuff. There was one about a woman who died in a swimming pool or something. I couldn’t remember exactly.

Quick things about Ari; no one knew what her full name was really. Everyone just called her Ari, I didn’t even know her full name and I had been in the same class with her for two years. Well, anyway, she’s actually really pretty. I think she’s part Mexican, but I couldn’t be sure. Her hair was a chestnut, or hazelnut color that went half-way between her elbows and shoulders. Her eyes were the same color. She scared me though. We were sitting on the floor, watching a presentation of sorts, and she was sitting in front of me. When Ari turned back, she was glaring at first, then she smiled. An overly sweet, sugary, smile. My friends also blamed her for the disappearance of my stuffed poodle doll, and my sparkly markers. I didn’t want to blame anyone, so I didn’t. If I had gotten to know her better, we could have been good friends. It was a little late for that now, though. Well, that’s Ari.

Where was I? Oh yeah, bathroom, mirror, urban legends. So, basically, the legend, or myth, or whatever that stuck in my head was- I’m gonna let you guess. Ok, now....THINK!!! ..................... Got your answer? Good. Well, you may be wrong, you may be right. It was Bloody Mary. You had to say her name five, or ten, or forty times to get her to show up in the mirror. I touched the mirror with my fingertips, and gazed into it wonderingly. I took a deep breathe and removed my hand from the glass. Since I didn’t know the number, I decided I would just keep counting until she showed up. But if I said Bloody Mary more than one-hundred times, I was giving up and going home. It was after school, and some people were staying to work some more. I stayed because my parents got off work late, and I didn’t really want to work. “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,” I took a short pause. It wasn’t five. “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,” I repeated and the glass in front of me fogged unexpectedly. After it fogged, a figure with black hair, drooping, and covering her face appeared. I screamed and jumped back. The figure raised her head too, and did the same actions I did. I cautiously approached the mirror, and so did she. I frowned and put my hands on my hips (Or hands on my imagination, as one of my teachers said) “Alright, I know you’re a mirror, but seriously. Stop copying me.”  Her eye’s widened and tears threatened to spill. “I’m so... SOOOOOORRY!!!!!” She wailed, sobbing and trying to gasp for breath.

Her cry was unexpected and I rushed over and climbed on the bathroom counter, between two of the sinks. Since there was a barrier in between of us, it made it harder to get her to stop crying, but I managed. Putting both hands on the glass tenderly, I tried to calm her down. “Don’t worry, you have nothing to apologize for. You just took what I said the wrong way, ok?” I was unsure of what I was saying, though. “I-I’m sorry!” she whimpered, curling herself up, and bringing her knees to her chest. Her long black dress hung limply around her. “I didn’t mean to, we-we just had the same reactions. I mean, no one ever calls me! They think I’m fake! I-I’m not fake!”
“I know,” I said, deciding to put up with her rambling.

“It’s n-not my fault, y’know...” she trailed off and hiccuped. I would have put my arm around her, but as you already know, that was physically impossible. “I know,” I said again.


After the girl fully calmed down, my curiosity peaked and I started asking questions. “So, are you Bloody Mary?” I asked first, since that seemed primary. She nodded, the blood red glow around her moved too. “Yeah, that’s what they call me. But if you want, you can just call me Mary. Who’re you?”

“Me?” I motioned to myself. Of course it was me, no one else was around. “I’m Darcy Jenkins.” I paused, and then remembered what I was wondering earlier. “Hey, did a girl with brownish hair, about... so long,” I motioned to the spot on my arm. “Come and talk to you?”

Mary pouted. “Yeah, but she just ran out screaming when she saw me. She wasn’t nice.” I coughed. I might have run out screaming too, if I hadn’t had my senses in me. “Yeah, but that’s just Ari.”

“Ari? Is that her name? Hmph. I’m never answering her calls again.” I coughed again. I knew Ari would never call again. “So, where are you? How do you get to everyone’s mirrors?”

Mary took a deep breath, and went into a lengthy explanation. “Well, I’m in the Hall of Mirrors. It leads into all other mirrors in all other worlds. Why I got assigned to this, I have no idea. But the Hall of Mirrors in the Nightmare World. It’s basically a world of all the monsters and creepers. Kinda like Halloween Town! Boy, I loved that movie...” She shook her head and went on. “So, I have my cousin Thomas here, there’s also my best friend. Aggie is her name. And her-” She stopped and turned away from me. When she turned back, she was glancing around worriedly. “Um... Sorry. But my Dad is calling me and he’s really scary,” she quickly looked behind her again. “So, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, though! Have some good moving around clothes on!” She waved goodbye and disappeared from the mirror. What was going on?

Story Blogs

Gonna make a few of em. This is just my first one. Really like this story. No flame comments or anything please. Maybe just tell me how I can improve my writing. And so starts, Mary in the Mirror!

Thanks!

As Always,
On D Brink