It turned out that even short an arm and eyes devoid of any spark, doctors could restore anyone if the patient was brought to them quickly enough.
I had picked him up in a panic and brought him to an emergency room, barely even thinking about it. I didn’t need to think about where I was going, the hallways just guided me to the place I needed to go.
The second I landed in the emergency room, the doctors rushed him away. I wasn’t entirely sure how the entire process went because of the ridiculous notion of ‘patient confidentiality’, but I did know that eventually they managed to stabilize him.
He didn’t wake up, though. Just lay there with an oxygen mask taped over his face.
Reporters went crazy over the story. I found them lined up outside the hospital he’d been admitted in, harassing all the doctors and staff and even passing officials who were coming in and out of the building, desperate for a scoop or a bite about the condition of one of the first people to walk away from the Mirror Monster alive.
Granted, I was curious too, but I wasn’t planning on getting a restraining order on myself anytime soon. It’s what drove me back to Fold and our investigation.
Or, as it was quickly becoming, Fold and Riley’s investigation.
“I keep an open ear on the local radio networks.” Riley explained, her demure and timid persona melting away as she waved her hands in her hurry to deliver the facts, “And there are a lot of weird people broadcasting, I’ll give you that, but there seems to be an agreement amongst a lot of the on-air people that there’s a conspiracy afoot. Celina was the death that kicked this whole investigation off, and then the guy who was in the team to recover her body is killed? Not a coincidence.”
“But she wasn’t the first, chronologically speaking.” I frowned. As much as the corkboard of gory death had disturbed me, I could still remember the dates pinned next to each and every victim. Dates the people disappeared. Dates when the bodies were found. More than a few were from before the woman had ever signed onto the Medley National Theater.
“Yeah, she wasn’t.” Riley agreed, “This was just the most high-profile case of the murderer. The one that made people sit up and take notice.”
She stared down at the ground for a little while, her eyes watering as she whispered, “Is it weird that I wish my sister hadn’t been attacked, even if the monster had gone on to kill more people unimpeded?”
My heart splintered, “No, of course not.” I told her, wishing almost that I could reach forward and give her some tactile affection. But Riley was clear about her boundaries and personal space, and none of us were allowed within her two-foot bubble.
“Sometimes, you want to keep your loved ones close to you.” I told her softly, “Even if it means sacrificing others. It’s a natural, human response to be more protective of people you know than strangers who would never affect you.”
“But I would affect them.” She pointed out hollowly, wringing her skirt.
“Well, kid, I don’t know how to make this any clearer, but you’re not at fault here and you can’t control anything about this situation.” Fold sighed, “So I need you to buck up and continue on with the investigation, otherwise the one thing behind the whole mess will get away.”
I bristled at his biting tone. He was being too harsh on the girl, who was barely done mourning. I was going to step up for her, but Riley put a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s okay.” She whispered, “He’s right. I need to get a move on.”
“Great!” Fold nodded, “We need to finish up the tooth-mark lead and grab some possibilities from there. So far, the glass factor is lining up reasonably well. We’re going to need our resident reflection-hopping expert now to go and examine the crime scene. On our own terms this time.”
Resident reflection-hopping expert, that was me. I straightened up my back on instinct, already feeling the wariness creep up my spine.
“What are we looking for?”
“Everything.” Fold instructed, “See if there are any traces of some kind of animal or person around the area. Maybe organic matter of any kind. Prints could greatly help, too. I’ll give you my blacklight if you think it’ll help.”
It probably wouldn’t, considering the light inside the mirrors was apparently shifted slightly to the right of the spectrum. Whatever that meant. I didn’t understand it much, other than cop shows making a big deal about how hard that quirk made it to find bodily fluids left over in the hallways. I also wasn’t a forensics scientist or a physicist of any kind, so I didn’t point that out to him.
“And bring the arm over if you can snag it without throwing up.” Fold added, “I need to give you an evidence bag the right size for it, so hang tight while I try to hunt it down.”
He ducked behind his desk, shuffling through filing cabinets looking for said evidence bag. I hesitated, waiting for him to continue giving his instructions, but he didn’t. Must be about the time I could start asking my own questions, then.
“What about the other victims?” I asked, “How did you manage to find them?”
“Library.” Fold replied over his shoulder.
“And a newspaper ad which garnered a surprising amount of support.” Riley added, “But then it got hijacked by true crime enthusiasts trying to get us to hand over the information to them in a ‘collaboration’.” She said the words as if they were an alien concept to her.
“A lot of people who had friends and family fall victim to this supposed monster wanted justice.” Fold explained, “Where the police weren’t going to hand over information, they were very willing to. Well, most of them were. Some of them burst into tears on the spot when we hit them up for a witness account.”
I resisted the urge to tut disapprovingly at the man. How did he manage to accomplish so much while being utterly incompetent with witnesses?
“I was there to give them tissues.” Riley offered as compensation. It made things only slightly better.
“We’re still doing follow-ups on everything down that route.” Fold continued, “But we need to get on top of this situation before the police barge in and mess everything up.”
“Ohhh, I see how it is. You’re trying to give them the run-around while they follow regular protocol and go to the scene where he disappeared instead of jumping straight into the mirrorverse.” I realized, “That’s. Almost sneaky of you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He agreed, sliding across the desk to plop a giant rolled up evidence bag and a blacklight case into my hands, “Now get a move on.” He directed.
I rolled my eyes, “You can’t just order me around like this.” But I listened anyway and slipped through the mirror in the study.
There was a certain hostility in the air the second my feet touched the glassy, reflective ground. The soft muffled ambient sounds of the hallways was the same as ever, and the temperature just as comfortably cool. But something was still different. The atmosphere tried to curl up inside my chest and provide comfort to me, but it wasn’t working. It chafed and prickled over my skin.
Still, I persisted. The hallways bent around me as easily as ever, and I found myself getting lost in my pacing just as I always did. Even with the sharp reality of the mirrors digging into my soul, the hallways still had this mystical quality.
Finally, I found myself at a bend with a disembodied arm lying for everyone to behold. The pool of blood was as it always had been. Completely untouched by any passersby. The monster never seemed to come back after claiming its victim.
There was something odd about the mirrors around me, I realized. It was raining on the other sides of all the mirrors. Raining hard enough to send torrents of mud tumbling past the mirrors.
It had been raining just like this when I had found Celina Minto.
Was there a connection between the two?
I shook my head and pulled out the blacklight to shine it onto the crime scene. The blood lit up ghostly blue, as expected, but nothing else changed. Also expected if I was being honest.
Not wanting to give up without a fight, I swung the beam over the crime scene. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Were the cop shows right?
Then my eye caught onto a speck of light in the very corner of the area. Something I hadn’t seen before. I crept over to look at the speck to find a glob of transparent gel lying on the floor. Organic matter.
I pulled out a tiny plastic test tube and gently scooped the gel up inside using a glass rod and capped it. This was a new breakthrough for us. Hopefully the tiny sample would be enough to identify what the substance was.
After that, there didn’t seem to be anything new to be collected, so I moved on. There was the amputated arm that needed to be taken care of.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Except before I could get around to it, footsteps echoed across the hallways. I barely had enough time to back away to an innocent distance from the crime scene before a whole fleet of policemen came charging into the scene.
I had never seen so many people in the hallways. I barely even cross paths with anyone when walking across the winding, amorphous paths.
The Commissioner from the Medley Police Department led the front, and the second he saw me, his eyebrows furrowed. He was suspicious of me, I knew immediately.
“Hello, Commish.” I smiled, giving him a small wave. He didn’t return the gesture, but he did nod.
“You’re Fold’s apprentice, aren’t you?” He asked, “I recognize you from the Minto case.”
Well, it had barely been a week since then, so I would hope he remembered me, but I wished that he had also taken note of my name, too.
“Yes. Madison Gardner.” I reintroduced myself.
“I remember.” One of the policemen behind him broke rank to say. I found that I remembered them too. It was Officer Sam, Riley’s ex.
“What are you doing here?” Commissioner Brian asked, inserting himself into the situation.
I turned my head back to the blood splatters on the ground, letting hair slip into my eyes in melancholy that was only partially feigned.
“Dave was my friend.” I whispered, “I was the one who found him lying here, almost dead. It was awful. They aren’t letting me see him so this- this was all I could think of.”
Silence. Did it work?
“Well, you can’t do that anymore.” Offer Sam coughed, “This is a crime scene under investigation. Non-police personnel will be considered trespassers.”
I nodded in understanding and backed away.
For a moment, I felt guilty about not handing over the fluid to the police as crucial evidence. But they had gotten to keep the arm, so it all evened out in the end.
I made my way back to Fold’s apartment in a daze, leaving the police behind to investigate by themselves.
“She’s back!” Fold cheered, the moment I slipped through the mirror and onto the carpeted floor. It was disgustingly humid here after the cool hallways. I shuddered and moved past him to open the windows to let some air in.
“Why’d you leave the blinds open?” I asked, pointing to the bare semblance of a guardrail we had made using the old set of blinds Fold had rooted up from somewhere.
“Because you were going to pop back in any moment.” Riley explained, watching me as I crossed the room again to yank the blinds down roughly.
“Well, don’t.” I snapped, “What if something happened? You can’t take the risk.”
“Nothing happened, Maddy.” Fold told me, looking into my eyes with a rare sincerity, “What’s brought on this paranoia? Did you see something?” He spoke with excitement, his hands quivering in well restrained glee.
“Nothing conclusive.” I admitted, “The police came before the arm could be picked up.”
“Ah, dammit.” Fold swore, “We gave it our best shot, though.”
“I found something else that might solve a couple questions, if we’re lucky.” I offered.
Riley and Fold both perked up, eyes fixed on me. I pulled out the test tube of viscous gel and presented it to them.
“Found it at the crime scene using the blacklight.” I explained, “Thought it could be useful.”
Fold hummed and plucked the sample out of my grasp to look it over, “Doesn’t resemble saliva in viscosity.” He noted, “And you’re sure that all matter is stuck in stasis until it leaves the hallways? I need to prepare for the possibility that the material has aged and been corrupted.”
I didn’t know much about forensics, but this was a factoid I was absolutely certain about.
“Yes.” I insisted, “I’d stake my life on it.”
He hesitated for a moment, but nodded nonetheless, “Well then, I need to store this properly. Put it in the freezer before arrangements can be made for it to be taken apart by a lab.”
I stepped aside to give him room to get to the kitchen and the freezer. Soon, the door was swinging shut and Riley and I were left alone.
“So…” She whispered, fiddling her thumbs, “Those police you met… was Sam with them?”
“Wait, you were seriously dating?” I asked, almost too gleefully for someone who had been so exasperated at Fold for digging up baggage like this.
Riley blushed and looked away, “Maybe.” She allowed, “But we broke up. They were being needlessly pushy and controlling and I wasn’t about that. So I broke up with them.”
“I mean, they are police…” I pointed out.
She snorted, “Yeah, I guess that explains it.” She ran a hand down her knees, “After the… murder, we’ve started reconnecting. They’ve been there to comfort me and I- and I- I need the inside information.”
So, Fold really was using her prior relationships as an in for restricted police information. It made my gut churn. It was too underhanded for me to be comfortable with. And it was clearly taking a toll on Riley, too.
“And you’re okay with that?” I asked, trying to be as open as I could be.
Riley grimaced, but nodded anyway, “If that’s what it takes to find out what happened to Celina.” She promised, “We need to bring that beast under control.”
“Right you are, Riley!” Fold agreed, leaning into the doorway, “The sample’s been taken care of for now, and I need to start calling up labs to see who’ll take this. There’s nothing for you two girls to do anymore.”
“Right then.” Riley pulled herself out of the chair, smoothing down her skirts, “I’ll be off. Do you want to walk back with me, Madison?”
I hesitated for a moment. I was just about to accept, but something made me stop. Walking in the real world was the normal, reasonable option. The safer option. But some part of me shuddered at the thought. I had been living in my little flat for three years now, but I had never once walked through the front door. I always just went through the mirror fixed on the inside.
Even with all that had happened, I refused to open the door. It spoke of a sense of wrongness that I refused to budge from.
"You go ahead." I told her instead, “I need some time.”
She sent me a look of pity but left anyway, adjusting her straw hat primly. With the number of nerves I showed, it almost seemed like I was the girl whose sister was murdered, and not Riley.
“I’ll make some tea for you.” Fold offered, “Chamomile sound good?”
That was the one with the calming effect, I think. Or was that all types of tea?
“Sure.” I replied, “That’ll do the trick.”
As if by magic, he brought out a teacup already filled to the brim with amber liquid. Steam curled up from it as he held it out expectantly.
“Did you make this while you were meant to be putting the sample away?” I asked, taking the hot cup from him, “What about the gel?”
“How long do you think it takes to transfer fluid to a freezer-safe vial and put it away?” Fold laughed, as if the joke was meant to be obvious. It wasn’t obvious to me, as my stony silence made it clear. He coughed awkwardly, “Well, it doesn’t take long.” He supplied, “And you looked like you needed it.”
I really did, I realized, as I took my first sip. I knocked the cup back and drained the liquid all in one draught. My throat burned in protest, but all I could wish was that the tea had contained something stronger.
“Woah, slow down!” He laughed, “The drink’s not going anywhere, you know?”
“Sorry.” I gasped, putting the now empty cup on the desk. My throat, my tongue, everything was scalded beyond recognition. My voice was now incredibly raspy, which was the exact opposite of what tea was meant to accomplish.
“You’ve been taking this much harder than I thought you would.” He noted, “When I met you on the job, you always seemed so serious and stalwart, I wasn’t expecting a reaction like this.”
“Because delivering mail is a job.” I tried to explain to him simply, “I was working, then. In a field I have had experience with for years. And taking advantage of a mode of transport I have been doing for years. Of course, I was more comfortable then.”
“Right.” He coughed, “That makes sense.”
“Why’re you so comfortable with this, anyhow?” I asked, tapping one of the model shark teeth he’d brought in for the bitemark analysis. After their use was completed, it seemed that he had just left them in his stationery holders, “With how enthusiastic you are about this whole operation, I would’ve thought that you were a paranormal investigator by trade. But you’re a detective. Why?”
Fold shrugged, “Just thought it was cool when I was a kid.” He explained, “Had an uncle of mine who worked in the police force as a detective. He always encouraged all my questions and musings and stupid little games, and I took quite a shine to his profession.”
“And he isn’t upset at all to know you’re extorting a member of the grand police force using the wiles of a distraught ex-partner?” I asked. This didn’t seem like the kind of thing that could be brushed under the rug, morally speaking.
Fold shifted uncomfortably, “He died. In the line of duty.” Was all he could manage out.
Immediately my stomach dropped like a stone. I hadn’t meant it to blow up like this. Just a stupid little joke. I didn’t imagine…
“Sorry.” I whispered.
“Yeah, well, it happens.” He replied, “Shouldn’t apologize to me about it.” I thought we were going to dwell in silence for a little while, but instead he immediately moved on, “But, anyways, I’ve always been pushed towards the detective path, you know? People expected it of me, and made arrangements for it my whole life, that it never occurred to me to think about different career prospects. But I always did read too much about all the monsters that went bump in the night for someone who only wanted to be a forensics expert.”
“And this is all some wish fulfillment plan for you?” I laughed, playing along with him.
He cracked a smile, “A little bit, yeah.”
I fell into a hushed fit of giggles. And then, moments later, I recovered and fell somber once more.
“Before I saw Dave for the last time.” I whispered, hardly daring to reveal this wretched truth to the world, “I was in his home. And I looked into the mirror he was preparing to jump into, and I saw something.” Fold started beside me, so I had to rush to clarify, “No, not a monster. Not a being of any kind. I saw… I saw Dave. His life, his story, his interests playing out like a vision crafted especially for me. Flashes and flashes that led all the way up to that. Exact. Moment.” I had to over-enunciate those last words. Had to rub in exactly how serious this was.
Because I had said it. After living in denial for the past day, I had admitted it to someone else. And now all of a sudden I was terrified of what he would say. Of whether he would believe me. Or think me mad.
Luckily, Fold seemed to sense that I was not joking. He nodded along seriously.
“I don’t know much about mirrors.” He explained, “But judging by your reaction, that isn’t normal, is it?”
“Seeing some imagined tragic past?” I asked, “No! That’s not normal!”
“But you’re sure that its imagined?” He challenged, “What if it’s real?”
“There’s no way to verify that.”
“Are you sure? I bet I can look into his records. Compare details and see if any of this checks out.”
“And if it is?” I asked. I was afraid to find out what happened next. Of all the places I’d expected this investigation to go, this absolutely wasn’t it. Magic visions? It was unheard of.
“Then we’ll deal with it.” He comforted, “This… could be something bigger.”
My hands scraped over the rough wooden surface of the desk, feeling out the textured grooves. My head was running at a hundred miles an hour. His words calmed me. Made me think things over at a more sedated pace.
“If you’re sure.” I relented, “Can we juggle this beside the monster hunt investigation?”
“Girl, we’ve barely got two leads. The case won’t suffer for it.”
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It started off with a dead actress and a mailwoman grabbed off the street.
Once the teeth were found, and more corpses started surfacing, the case really took off.
And then it kept escalating. Body after body. Attack after attack. Previously set rules were all torn and discarded.
Barely a month later, I find myself running through the maze of mirrored hallways. My shoes are wet, and on top of the smooth glass of the floor, there isn’t any traction. I am slipping in my panic.
There isn’t any time to slow down. The creature behind me is breathing harshly, its breath hot and heavy on my back. Its claws are clunking against the floor, shredding it without any effort at all. There is blood on my face, I could see it. My fear is spilling over, removing any rational thought in my head.
It is getting closer. And closer. And-
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I broke my gaze away from my bathroom mirror. My leave-home alarm was ringing, and I’d barely brushed my teeth.
Needed to leave before I ran late. Didn’t have time to think about the vision from the mirror. I’d have to notify Fold about this new incident later. Maybe this would provide some extra data for us to go on.
I didn’t know what was more concerning. Whether I could look into the past and the future, or whether I was starting to get delusions.
Guess all I could do was wait and see. Was I willing to take the risk?