Anna clasped her hands across her stomach, her eyes drifting off to the side as she spoke. “I was heading to grab clothes from my closet when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Thinking it was a bug, I stepped closer to the mirror to investigate. That’s when the monster grabbed me,” she said, crossing her arms and running her hands over the bruises Elle had seen earlier. “I gave it hell and managed to get outside, where I noticed everything was topsy-turvy.”

Elle nodded along, Anna’s experiences lining up neatly with her own. “Like a mirror.”

Anna smiled tightly. “Exactly. Once I realized that, I was able to find a dumpster to hide in. Something kept poking me, and, when I climbed out to see what it was, I found this.”

Anna lifted the journal, holding the first page open high for Elle to see. “The diary of one Eve Frank.”

Elle’s eyes widened in shock as she ran her eyes over the unmirrored writing.

Catching the movement, Anna said, “That’s right. According to her journal, Eve was from the real world, like us.” She ran her fingers over the pages gently, like she was afraid it was going to fall apart if she touched too hard. Her eyes met Elles. “I didn’t–and still haven’t–had enough time to read the whole thing, yet. But it sounds like she was one of the first ones to be brought here by the monster. She lived here for years, keeping under the monster’s radar.”

Elle scooted closer on the couch, reaching her hand out. She felt like Anna was telling the truth, but… “Can I?”

Anna’s fingers paused their ministrations, and she nodded. “Be careful.”

She didn’t need to explain how valuable the information the journal contained was. The information it contained was life or death for them. Elle nodded solemnly. “I will.”

Anna folded it shut and passed the journal over, the leather pleasantly warm where Anna had been holding it. She continued speaking as Elle flipped through the pages, scanning them to verify Anna’s words. The pages were a dusty yellow, and the ink at in the front was slightly faded, adding veracity to Anna’s words. Its binding was loose, and it smelled of dust–clearly old.

The words inside were written in cute-looking cursive, tight, clear, and small. The inside cover was simple, only a name. Eve Frank.

“...she wrote about her hideaway, mapping out a tiny cabin in the woods..”

June 1, 1972

It’s been months since I first arrived, and the cabin is coming along fabulously. I hid some cherry tomatoes and lettuce among the weeds and got the water working….

“...and she updated it each time she ran across the monster...”

“....Like me, the monster doesn’t have a reflection. This makes me suspect that it may be from our world, instead…”

“And each time she ran across someone from our world.”

“I saw another one today. Running from the monster. I should have helped him. Instead, I hid like a coward and listened as the monster devoured him whole…”

Elle’s breath quickened, and chills ran down her spine. As black blurred the edges of her vision, she interrupted Anna with a horrified question. “It wants to eat us?”

Her brain tried to create a picture of the monster eating her. Would it eat her like a human ate meat, separating the meat from the bone and cooking it? Or was it like a snake, opening its maw and devouring her whole?

Anna gently pried the book from her shaking fingers. “It’ll be okay,” she soothed, pressing a hand on Elle’s knee. “You’re just a kid–I won’t let anything happen to you.”

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The contact was grounding, and Elle drew strength from their connection. “You promise?”

If Anna had any doubts, they didn’t show on her face or linger in her voice. “I promise. Have you eaten yet? How about we get some food for you? How does that sound?”

Elle’s blood drained from her face, the thought of food reminding her of the monster. Realizing her mistake, Anna hastily asked, “There’s some ginger tea? How does that sound?” her voice lifted to a near squeak.

Recognizing the effort, Elle wrapped her hand in her shirt and nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Perfect. Would you like to help me?”

Elle shook her head, her breathing still too fast.

“Well, why don’t you come into the kitchen with me, honey? I can show you where things are.”

Learn where things are? The hands clasped and trembling on her lap blurred with tears. She wasn’t home, and this was a reminder that she might not make it home for a very, very long time. If ever.

Anna tugged on her arm. “C’mon.” Elle felt puppet-like as she let herself get dragged around, Anna chattering loudly as she boiled water and pulled out the tea bags, trying to keep her calm. She handed the cup of tea to Elle, and Elle’s hands wrapped around the warm glass, breathing in the powerful scent of ginger. She lifted the mug to take a sip, and Anne gently grabbed her hand.

“Not yet. It’s still too hot for you.”

Shakily, Elle put it down, the walls of her restraint falling with the mug. She burst into tears, quietly letting the fear and stress from the past few hours fall out in heaving shoulders and falling teardrops. Warm arms wrapped around her shoulders as Anna hugged her tight, pulling her close.

“I know, sweetie. I know,” Anna said, her voice strained. “I know.” Her tears dropped onto Elle’s shoulders, and they both broke.

“I don’t want to get eaten!”

“I know; I’m so sorry.”

“I just want to go home!”

“Me too. We’ll find a way.”

When Elle finally pulled away, their faces were red and puffy with tears. Anna laughed, wiping away the last from her eyes. “I’m sorry, but I’m glad you’re here. At least I’m not alone.”

Elle wiped her face and replied, “I understand.”

They pulled out chairs at the table, sipping at their mugs of tea. Neither of them was fully calm, though Anna did an admirable job of pretending to be. Elle resolved to follow her lead, promising herself they’d make it out together.

The next question Elle asked was difficult, but she felt like she had to know. “What is it? Why does it want…” She couldn’t brighten herself to say ‘to eat us,’ but Anna picked up on the question all the same.

“Eve never figured out what it was. I don’t know if you had a chance to notice, but we don’t have a reflection here, and neither does it. She suspected it was from our world, but…”

Elle nodded, having skimmed over that herself.

“As to what it wants…” Anna trailed off, troubled. “It wants to escape to our world. Eve said it got stronger with each person it…captured,” she said, kindly avoiding saying ‘ate.’ “Once it’s strong enough, she suspected it’ll be able to do more than stick its hands through the mirror.”

Elle’s shoulders shook with a whole body shiver. It was bad enough now, but it that thing made it into the real world…

“And why us?”

Anna sighed. “I don’t know. If Eve ever figured it out, I didn’t read it yet.”

“You used past tense when talking about her. Did it get her?”

“I don’t know,” she said again. Elle’s hands tightened around her cup, frustrated with the lack of answers. Anna continued speaking. “I found the journal with some clothes in the trash, but I can’t imagine she would have thrown it away.”

At Elle’s panicked face, she quickly added. “She managed to save a few others later, and she’s lived here since the 70s. She knew how to avoid it, and she was old.”

Elle fiddled with the handle of her mug, thinking. “So if we do what she did, we’d survive.”

Anna smiled. “Right. I told you–I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“But we won’t ever get home?”

Anna’s smile dropped. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s what happened to Eve. She finally found a way out after all these years.”

Elle could tell even Anna didn’t believe her words. “Maybe.”

She just wanted to go home. She wished with all her heart she could turn back time and throw that cursed mirror to the ground, shattering it into a billion pieces.