The group of kids made their way down the creaky stairs while being watchful. Hathel’s father Tomlin had locked the basement, but Hathel picked the lock. Hathel took the lead with their only oil lamp, the moisture and stench seeping into the group.
Hilda tugged on Hathel’s worn sleeve, “Brother, should we really be doing this? Father locked it for a reason.”
Hathel shook his head, without even glancing at her.
She huffed, and Gregor chimed in, “I’m sure Hathel know’s what he’s doing,” spoken as sarcastically as possible.
Hathel rolled his eyes and continued down the surprisingly steep flight of stairs. Once they reached the bottom, it was clear there was nothing going to jump out at them. Geruck huffed and puffed at the bottom of the stairs, “This mold is making it hard to breath.”
“Or maybe its your distended gut,” Gregor mocked.
Geruck blushed in embarrassment, and Hilda snapped, “Keep your mouth’s shut. Look.”
In the corner of the room was a stained cloth draped over an oval shaped object. Hathel strode right over to it and yanked off the cloth. Hilda screamed suddenly when she saw a human, and only calmed down when she realized it was herself. Hathel spoke softly, “This seems to make a reflection. I think it’s called a mirror.”
Gregor chimed in, “My dad has one of those in our bathroom. He uses it every night.” He stood smugly, but the others ignored him and stood close the the mirror, careful not to step into any green puddles, or on any metal spikes scattered on the floor.
“Man, I knew I was hefty, but this really proves I’m fat,” Geruck sighed and Hilda patted him on the shoulder, “Now that you know, do something about it.” Hathel nodded, “It seems our hair is just as ratty as we always tease each other over.”
“Your lot’s worse than mine,” Gregor said trying to swing the conversation to the fact that his family had enough money to own a brush. Everyone else ignored him. They were told by their parents to spend time with Gregor, because his family was one of the 3 greats, just under the village head. The problem was that he was a damn brat.
“Gregor, we get it, you have a brush, you spent all last month bragging about it already,” Hilda sighed. “Don’t act all cool because you guys found a mirror. Like I said, we’ve had one for years.” Hilda grew frustrated, “We’d like you more if you didn’t act like you were doing us a favor by hanging out with us.” Gregor huffed, “How dare you. I am doing you a favor.” Gregor stomped up the stairs.
“Hilda, you shouldn’t be so truthful when dealing with Gregor. We’ll probably get caught now.” Hilda sulked, “Sorry brother, he’s just so frustrating.” Geruck chuckled, “It’s a bit peaceful now that he’s gone. This mirror is amazing, it captures every movement I make.”
Hathel began scratching at his arm, and suddenly stomping came from above and down the stairs, “Hathel, you damn brat. If a door is locked, leave it locked!” Tomlin entered from above with another torch, and suddenly turned white as ivory when he saw the mirror. He rushed across the room, shoving Hathel to the ground and quickly put the sheet back over the top.
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“Damn you boy, you even brought your sister down here, Gregor told me, but I couldn’t believe it. Are you trying to ruin our family? Why I should…” Tomlin balled up his fist and then released it. “Go upstairs kids, I was going to wait a bit longer, but you should know.” Hathel nodded and drug Hilda up the stairs, Geruck following slowly behind.
Hilda yammered, “What do you mean ruin our family dad? There was just a mirror down there, right?”
They reached the top of the steps and Tomlin motioned for the kids to sit. “There is a legend passed down in the village. Those who are vain in the village of Lothroz must bare the consequences. The spirits of those mirrors will take those longing for beauty.”
Hathel spoke up first, “Father, what do you mean by mirror spirits taking people.”
“It’s as it sounds. My father told me about a time when he was younger, where people of the village began disappearing one after another. The drought was already bad, but for people to vanish from their homes suddenly, it was a disaster.”
Hathel asked, “Then how do we know it was the mirror’s that caused it?”
“People began reporting strange dark shapes in the mirrors, like shadow made man. Once villagers grew frightened enough of their mirrors, the villagers stopped disappearing, but those travelers vain enough to wield their mirrors carelessly in the village began to disappear instead.”
Hilda called out, “Has anyone ever found out what happened to those people?”
Tomlin shook his head, “No dear, there wasn’t even a scrap of clothe to track them by.”
The children sat stunned, except for Hathel, who was already turning ideas through his head. “Father, what kinds of problems were happening in the village during the disappearances, you said a drought? Any other times?” Tomlin thought for a moment, “There have been a few droughts, seems like that’s when the most people disappear.” Tomlin thought for a moment and cut his thread of thought off, “Anyways, the reason why I told you kids this is because you must not go into the basement anymore. If I catch you, you’ll all get a flogging.”
The kids nodded in agreement, but Hathel smirked. The day ended quickly, with the only noticeable change to any of the kids being Geruck’s lack of appetite. Tomlin complimented the young red-headed lad, and sent him off back home after dinner.
The oil lamps in the house all flickered off and two people in the house went to bed. Hathel on the other hand never slept. He spent his nights learning skills to pass the time. Another night of lock-picking seemed to be in order. He would confront that mirror.
And nothing came of it. He tried whispering, turning the light on and off, standing in front, to the side, but he saw nothing. And another thing was bothering him. Gregor said that his father and him used a fancy mirror every day and night for a few years now. No fear in the sentiment at all, no witnessing anything strange. The droughts and crop failure at the time as well seemed odd. Was it a coincidence that disappearances only happened during the bad times. Hathel snuck back to his room and waited for a chance to slink away to learn more. He needed to bide his time.