The Mirror: Chapter Nine

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ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ NíNЄ
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It had not been the reaction Gabriel had expected. Not anything like what he had anticipated in the slightest. He had expected a few tears, and perhaps sobs, but he was not at all prepared for Arietta’s breakdown. But she seemed to calm down quite a bit as they walked up the stairs. He was now holding onto her by the wrists instead of the waist, seeing as she had taken to walking again. They were both aware of where they were headed, and wasted no time in getting there.

As they entered the back room where he had first encountered Arietta, the girl’s quiet sniffles grew slightly in volume. The place seemed to cause a great deal of agitation within her, which was something so very blatant and obvious on her face. The chair, which was there the day they left, was still sitting in the middle of the room. A thin layer of dust now covered the object, and thin beams of light trickled in through the cracks of the boarded up windows, highlighting the floral print hugging the chair. Gabriel still held fast to Arietta’s wrists, and was pulled forward as her feet began to move.

The dust, which had congregated on the floor below him, billowed up into a cloud as he sat down and rested his back against the wall. The light, which surrounded them seemed… odd to Gabriel. It was dark, creating a sense of gloom, but at the same time it was light, which created an out of world experience. The rays of light, which lit the room around them, had an almost silvery color and quality. The dust mites that floated in the air around them seemed to spiral within the light. And because this light cast such a silver glow, the darkness around them seemed to be blue, almost the color of Arietta’s shirt. The deep navy blue darkness that surrounded them unnerved Gabriel. These blues and silvers were not the warm colors of the city he was accustomed to.

And as Arietta walked shakily around the room looking for who knows what, a sense of dread fell upon him. Surely Marcus wouldn’t be able to explain why it was Gabriel was missing that night, or even the next day. So then what would become of him, and then in turn Marcus, his family, and Arietta. What would become of all of them? He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall as he did so. The world seemed just so damn determined to make sure he didn’t succeed. Shivering began to take over his body as the brisk chill of winter began to seep in from the world outside and into the small room. But he could not escape his thoughts.

That was until something dropped onto the floor next to him. His eyes flashed open as he jumped. When he turned his head to the side he found it had merely been Arietta sitting down next to him. She seemed to have retrieved what it was she was searching for. That old green blanket that Lalita had loaned her during her stay. She was trying to unfold the fabric, but she was shivering just as profoundly, if not more so, as himself. He pushed himself closer to her side, his large boots thumping quietly on the floor as he adjusted his position.

“Here, I’ll help.”

“Okay…” the puffs of condensation, which billowed from their mouths, twisted and turned as they floated into the air, mingling and vanishing into vapor. Gabriel found it difficult to take the coarse, rough fabric from the girl’s hands. She was shaking so severely, both from the cold and shock of the scene downstairs, that it took a few moments for Gabriel to snatch the blanket from her quivering fingers. It took him a few moments more to actually unfold the blanket. And even then he found it a pathetic excuse for warmth. The fabric folded, and seemed to stay molded in the position it was unfurled in. Gabriel threw it over Arietta’s quaking body and watched as she grasped the fabric and tried to wrap it tightly around herself, but the blanket just seemed to not want to cooperate.

“Oh for God’s sake, would you come here?” Gabriel said, a bit exasperated. He moved even closer to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. The extra warmth pressed against his side was immediately apparent, and slowed his shivering down immensely, almost to a stop. This seemed to take the same effect on Arietta, although she still shivered. The flimsy blanket still remained wrapped around her, the fabric letting lay bare, her shoes the only protection against the cold.

“Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

“Why do they want to kill me?” she asked, looking up at him with desperate, questioning eyes. She was quivering now, not even shaking with the cold, but quivering with the emotions inside her. This was not the Arietta he had grown to expect. This was the Arietta who was slowly starving to death, not the one who lived under his family’s roof. “Would you just tell me! And not the jumbled riddles of incoherency I’ve been getting, the straightforward truth!” she didn’t yell, she knew better than to yell, but the desperation which laced her voice was enough to get him to talk.

“Alright, alright, fine. If you truly want to know I’ll tell you.” he paused for a moment, staring out into the navy blue darkness before continuing. “I’m sure Jason told you that the powers began once the outsiders started to arrive, but this is entirely untrue. The powers began long before the outsiders, but people began revealing them around the time your kind starting falling into the city. See, the people of Aremaelia were, and still are, unhappy. The government had such a tight control on all aspects of their life that they seemed to have no free will.”

“The outsiders recognized this, and as I’m sure you can tell me, it is not like this where you come from. So naturally the people were entranced by this idea of freedom, and there was almost a revolt. But those with supernatural abilities had made their presence know, for they also wished for freedom, though it was something of a different sort. They wished for the freedom to use their powers. They didn’t want to continue to be locked away in hiding. But by revealing this, and themselves, they actually thwarted their chances. The government used them, to turn the people against the outsiders.”

“They blamed these ‘unnatural changes’ on the arrival of the outsiders. They manipulated the Armaelian people into believing that these abilities were caused by the outsiders. But as you can imagine, this alone was not enough to turn the people onto their side. So they took it one step further. They made it seem as if the ‘monsters’ that had been created wished to take control over Armaelia and their lives. The people turned, and the government trained guards and soldiers to kill the outsiders and those who possessed supernatural gifts. Those with powers went into hiding, and the fence was built to help more efficiently find and kill outsiders.”

“And this is why they want to kill you, along with every other person like you who drops into their world. And now that you’ve escaped them and have evaded them for so long, they wish even more to end your life. They don’t want the people to revolt, or worse, have you escape back to your world and bring others back here to take out the government. So that’s why they want to kill you, and anyone who helps you.” Once he had finished talking, he looked away from the dark and back down at Arietta. She was no longer quivering, perhaps shivering slightly, and had a contemplating look on her face.

“Then why did you save me? Why did you let me live? And why are you helping me?” she asked, looking at him with an expression on her face as if she couldn’t understand why it was he had done all of these things.

“Because I was sick of it…” he almost whispered, looking down at his hands.

“Sick of what?”

“I was sick of that!” he hissed, pointing towards the door, and towards the bottom of the stairs. He knew that she understood; she understood that he meant Lalita. “I was sick of that being my reality! I couldn’t do that to people anymore, not to people who have done nothing other than land on our soil. I was sick of it I couldn’t take it anymore!” he tried not to yell, tried to keep his voice down, but it was so difficult. He shook his head and leaned back against the wall once again. “I was just sick of it…” he whispered to himself, unsure if Arietta could hear. There was no more talk after that, and eventually the two fell asleep. 

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Gabriel woke up early, as usual. He was programmed that way; he woke up at the same time every morning. But today he woke up earlier, and he wasn’t sure why. But he didn’t wish to contemplate his sleeping patterns. He was about to stretch when he felt something on his shoulder. It was Arietta’s head. She had fallen asleep curled up against his side for warmth. He shook her shoulder slightly and pushed himself up once her eyes opened groggily and she was yawning quietly. He reached out a hand and waited for her to take it.

They were gone within a few minutes. He made sure Arietta stayed to his left side when they left the house, careful to block Lalita’s body from the girl’s view. They moved a bit more recklessly than the night before, for Gabriel knew full well that they had very little guards traversing he streets at this early hour. Once they made it back to his family’s house, Gabriel told Arietta to wait a few moments before going in. He opened the back door and looked around, relieved to find Jason sitting in a chair in the sitting room. His brother gave him a quick nod, before vanishing. His inhuman speed always sent chills down Gabriel’s spine. He nodded to Arietta and she came racing into the house. He followed her inside and quickly shut the back door, and locking it for good measure. She disappeared up the stairs and out of his sight.

Gabriel figured he had just enough time to get back to the sleeping quarters before everyone woke. But he continued to stare at the stairs for a good while before making his way towards him. The little voice in the back of his mind told him he was an idiot and was wasting valuable time. Arietta was standing far away from the windows and in a darker section of the room, though her eyes were gazing out upon the city. Gabriel stood in the doorframe for a few moments before walking in. She turned, jumping a bit because she didn’t expect anyone to disturb her.

“Why aren’t you gone yet?” she chastised, though it was said on the softest of whispers. She seemed to be more aware of the need to remain concealed. But Gabriel ignored her question, not bothering to answer it as he walked further into the room. The voice in his head was now screaming about his idiocy and about how he should turn around right now and leave. But he pushed away the voice. Arietta tilted her head, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder while she gave him an utterly puzzled look as he approached her. But her puzzlement turned to surprise when he took her face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. It was a quick kiss, and he had left the room and was walking down the stairs before she could summon a response.

The Mirror: Chapter Eight

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ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ ЄíGĦƬ
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Her days at the Montgomery house had become a little less grueling, and also a little less lonely. Jason now didn't completely ignore her presence, and would on occasion speak to her without the hint of resentment in his voice. It may not have seemed like much of an improvement to anyone else, but to her it was a shocking event. Molly even began to address her about things other than "dinner is ready." But Arietta could still feel that odd feeling in the pit of her stomach when she caught Molly watching her with her all to wise gaze. There was something strange about the little girl, something more than a little peculiar. But Arietta never had much time to fret about it, for once Molly was aware that Arietta had seen her, she would disappear. More miraculous still, her relationship with Gabriel had even increased. And it was a difficult task to accomplish seeing as he was gone more often than not. But every two days or so when he would come over, they would continue their conversation about trivial things.

"I just don't think you understand, his snoring is just... horrendously loud."

"I'm sure my father snores louder than your friend."

"I just can't stress how loud Marcus is. His snores are... vociferous."

"Vociferous, big word coming from you."

And on it would go. Their conversations ranged from snoring to light bulbs. They would go at forever, and in the rare event that Jason would enter the room, a glare and eye roll would be thrown in their direction. But much to Jason's annoyance, they would fire up about even that. Molly found it amusing and would sporadically jump into the conversation, only furthering Arietta's belief that there was something bizarre about the girl. And although a lot of their conversations were frivolous, there were times at which Gabriel and Arietta would talk about something important or earnest.

"What is it that's up there?" Arietta asked, her gaze following Molly as she bounded up the stairs and towards the back room. Gabriel glanced in the same direction and frowned slightly. Jason's angry huff could be heard as the two walked into the sitting room. But he was gone before Arietta could see him.

"Our mother." Gabriel finally answered, looking back at her with the frown still plastered on his face.

"What? Why does she never come down then?" Arietta asked, her brow furrowing slightly as she plopped herself down on the old curving couch.

"She fell ill about a year ago. She can't leave her bed; she's too weak to do anything." he sat himself down in a chair opposite her. "How about we talk about something else?"

But soon most of their conversations turned to rather grave topics. Arietta wasn't quite sure why, but Gabriel's mood was beginning to take a drastic nose dive. She supposed it had something to do with the sirens. It seemed that all of their troubles, which was everyone, the entire city, all of their troubles could be traced back to those damn sirens. Every time she heard that cursed sound, a grisly grimace flickered across her face.

It appeared though, in the days following, that every day Gabriel would come over, the more foul his mood would become. She didn't want to ask about what was upsetting him, figuring that it would only distress him. But when he paid little to no interest in their conversations anymore, and left the house early with a curt nod, she began to lose her temper. And of course, Jason found the entire situation amusing, although it might have been that he was glad to finally have some peace and quiet in his life.

Arietta found it perfectly fitting that Jason was... was well... she really wasn't quite sure. All she knew about were those eyes that gleamed like a cat. She thought he perhaps shifted into a cat, but not a house cat no, a big jungle cat. Perhaps a leopard or tiger or something of that nature. But back to her point, she found it rather befitting that this is what Jason's ability, whatever it may be, was. For cats hold themselves regally, almost snobbishly, and they seem to believe everyone around them only exists to serve them in some way or another. Also, if cat's could talk, they wouldn't. All of this matched up with Jason's personality to a tee. And Arietta found it rather amusing.

And then there was the matter of miss Molly. Arietta could just tell, that she possessed some sort of supernatural ability. It was that oddity, that which made her wary of the girl, that seemed to point to this conclusion. But Arietta just could not seem to figure out what it was the girl could do. Whatever her ability, Molly did a fantastic job of disguising it. Well perhaps not disguising it... but rather concealing it. She left no trace, not one hint that could give Arietta any notion of what it was the girl could do. It drove her up the wall.

It had been a few weeks since Arietta had arrived at the Montgomery residence, and in those few weeks the snow had continuously fallen upon the world. The temperature had dropped considerably from the time when she had first fallen into the sepia city. But the snow never piled up; there always just a slight dusting on the ground. Most of the time it was much to cold for the snow. And the temperature had remained below zero the entire length of the time.

Arietta was sitting in the old office, book in hand, but folded under her chin, gazing out the window and onto the cold world. Somehow, even in the winter, the city was still bathed in sepia. She thought that after a while, she would have grown use to the color, but she hadn't. In fact, the odd coloring seemed to annoy her more than it had before. She wondered if any of the other residents even noticed the color of their reality, or if it meant nothing to them whatsoever.

Jason walked through the door, looking rather troubled and distressed. She gave him a curious look, turning her eyes away from the window to look straight on at him. She had never seen Jason in this state before, much less in front of her, and she couldn't quite seem to put together just what was wrong with him.

"Can I ask you something Arietta?" he asked, not really seeming to see her. His eyes wandered about the room, but nothing ever truly caught their attention. His left hand rubbed the back of his neck while the right hung limp at his side.

"Sure Jason." Once the words left her mouth Jason's eyes seemed to find her in the room.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Where you came from?" Arietta's head jerked back a bit at this comment, her brow raising slightly. That was definitely not what she expected to hear come from his mouth.

"Why do you want to-"

"It's the reason!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands in the air as he walked in a quick circle. "The reason for everything! Can you just tell me?" Arietta gave him a concerned look and drew herself up out of her chair her left hand beginning to reach out for him while the other continued to grasp the book. "Oh just forget it!" Jason scowled, giving her a nasty look before turning on his heel and storming out of the room.

"Is everyone going crazy now?" she whispered to herself as she shook her head. She was beginning to think she was the only sane person underneath the Montgomery roof, or outside of it for that matter.

A day had passed since her encounter with Jason's crazy side, and the guy seemed desperate to avoid her. Every single time she walked into the same room as him, he was gone before she could blink. She rolled her eyes, it's not like she was in a place to judge him. The day seemed to pass uneventfully, Molly was at school, Jason was avoiding her, and she hadn't seen Gabriel in days. She was once again alone in the Montgomery house. And then came the sirens.

They had a familiar call, more loud and quick than usual. The same sound as the day she had left Lalita's home. She quickly put down her book and moved into the small hallway, where there were no windows. She could see Jason dashing from window to window, with speed not anything like a natural human being's. She was about to ask something when the back door came crashing open. She jumped at the sound, but relaxed slightly when she saw it was merely Gabriel standing in the frame. That was until he ran in and started looking around himself like a crazy man.

"Arietta?" he called, sounding very anxious. She walked into the sitting room with her hands poised in the air.

"What? What is it?"

"We have to leave. Now." The stress he put on that last word was enough to send her into panic flight mode. She threw her book onto the couch and looked around like crazy for her jacket. Gabriel was pacing about like mad when Jason walked into the room.

"What is going on?"

"They know Jason, they know she's here."

"What how?"

"A neighbor saw her through the fucking window!" he didn't yell, you would never say he had yelled. But it was loud, and spoken so angrily it made Arietta pause while putting her arm into the jacket. Jason seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

"What did I say. What did I tell you? I said leaving her here would bring us all nothing but trouble. And-"

"Is Molly at school?"

"Well she-"

"Is Molly at school?" there was that not-yell again. Arietta had snapped out of her surprised trance and was now walking towards the back door, waiting for Gabriel to follow.

"Yes she's at school!"

"Deny anything."

"But-"

"Deny anything Jason, I'm serious! If they find no proof nothing will happen, this is technically my house, so they want to hear you deny her ever being here. They don't want to find her here, got it?"

"Yeah." And with that they were gone. Gabriel was dragging her through the streets, quickly dusting away their footsteps as they went. It slowed them down considerably, but it was worth the risk. At least, that's what Gabriel told her. They did have to duck behind shadows multiple times as guards pounded their way towards the Montgomery house. Arietta tried her hardest to keep her teeth from chattering, but the air was so cold. Her lips had already gone dry and were beginning to crack. Gabriel was having the same issue. But none of his mattered. None of it at all. The only thing that mattered was escape.

As the rubbish and garbage that was piled up around them began to grow in number, and eerie feeling set over her. But it was when she saw the body of an old man frozen to the ground, when she saw his toothless mouth twisted into a half-smile half-grimace, did she know where they were going. She looked up at Gabriel with a questioning look, but he looked away as he pulled her along after him. They paused in the shadows. They stood a few feet away from the familiar house. And Arietta could sense right away that something was off.

The door, was swung open, half concealed inside the shadows of the dark, unlit house. No one, not a single soul, walked anywhere close to the old wooden building. But Gabriel pulled her forward, a deeply troubled look etched into his features. And it was when she entered the house beside Gabriel, that she knew why all this was so. Her eyes were locked on Lalita, and for a moment, she couldn't speak. But when the single tear slipped from her eye and onto her cheek did it hit her.

Her knees gave out, and Gabriel tried to catch her as she fell. His hands wrapped around her arms as her body slipped down onto the floor. He tried to keep her standing, but ended up just kneeling next to her on the floor, hands still locked onto her wrists. And it was then that she broke down. Part of it was the compassion she felt for the woman, but mostly it was from the horror of the scene which laid before her on the wooden floor. Sobs racked her body as she buried her face in Gabriel's chest; only half of her face was turned towards Lalita's corpse, unable to look away.

She was mangled. The was the only way Arietta could even begin to describe the sight which she beheld. Her limbs were broken, and thrown in all different directions. Her right arm seemed just about ready to fall off. Only a few sinewy pieces of flesh held the broken appendage fast to Lalita's body. Her breasts lay almost completely exposed, showing the lashings and cuts which were dealt to her chest. Torn pieces of fabric clung to the open flesh and now seemed to have become buried within it. The cuts were oozing puss, and dried blood caked her deflated, greying skin. Her stomach had been slashed open, and her intestines pulled out, though not entirely, not enough to kill her, but to make her suffer profusely.

Frozen blood pooled on the floor below her, on her, and slithered across the floor. Her face was contorted into an expression of such pain and horror Arietta couldn't look away. Her bulging eyes had long turned grey and filmy, glazed over. The back of her head had been smashed in, a bit of it's contents had slipped onto the floor next to her. And perhaps the worst part of it all, was that she was frozen there. Her rotting corpse was frozen stuck to the ground as it was eaten into by vermin and insects. Arietta could make out the form of a rat nibbling away at the remaining guts of her stomach.

Arietta tried to crawl towards the woman who had offered her shelter, she merely wanted to close shut those eyes frozen open in terror, but Gabriel held her back. She collapsed against the floor, letting the tears splatter on the floor. Gabriel had wrapped a restricting arm around her waist, trying to keep her from Lalita.

"If you do anything at all to the body, they'll know." he whispered, his own voice shaking with unseen tears. He began to pull Arietta to her feet, dragging her limp body towards the stairs. "We have to stay here tonight, it's the only option." Arietta shook her head, the smell of Lalita's rotting corpse stayed with them long after her body had left their sight.

The Mirror: Chapter Seven

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ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ SЄVЄN
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One single, grey eye slowly cracked open. The lid moving at a slow pace, ready to slam shut should light even think about entering. And if any noise could be made from a movement of the eye such as this one, it would be the quiet creak you hear from an old wooden door opening. But there was no noise, only silence. And there was no light, only darkness. So when that single eye was fully open, and no light thought to blind it, the other one followed it’s lead and opened as well, although much more quickly. The nose that sat below those two, smoky eyes, twitched as a sniffle ran through it. And the mouth below that nose stretched like a cat as a small, high-pitched yawn escaped from its dark caverns. The eyes blinked, the nose sniffled again, and the mouth came to a close. The eyes went about their own business as the mouth and nose stayed frozen. The grey gaze danced across the room, snapping from corner to corner, from object to object. The eyes found nothing of great interest in their dance about the room, for there wasn't much to be seen in the open space. There were a few scattered chairs, an empty dresser, and the piano.

Arietta stretched out the rest of her body and turned her eyes away from the beckoning piano. Pillows surrounded her, and a few were knocked onto the floor beside her as she let her limbs stretch out to their full, and maximum length. The comforter seemed to look fine, as if nothing was sleeping beneath it, but the sheets were of another matter entirely. The soft, thin sheets that laid under the plush comforter had been mangled into a state beyond recognition. They were twisted and turned in this way and that, tangling themselves about the legs that distorted their being. But Arietta seemed to be unconcerned with all of this and merely untangled her legs as she pushed herself into a sitting position and out of the bed.

When her feet hit the cold hard-wood floor, she couldn't help the involuntary shiver that ran up and down her spine. But she paid this no mind as well and walked over to the empty dresser. She had finally gotten her first real night of sleep since, well since she came to the sepia city. She had been out as soon as she slipped under the covers. Even the after dinner she had had with Jason didn't bother her mind as it was pulled under into the inky darkness of dreams.

Arietta didn't remember much after that conversation. The events of that night following dinner seemed to somewhat blur together. Nothing of great importance happened though, but she was confused as to how it was she managed to find her way up the stairs and into bed. She ran a hand over her face, and then through her hair, trying to wake herself up a bit more. Her hand clutched the edge of the dresser as she looked down at the surface. Her clothes had been washed, folded, and set on top of the old piece of furniture. Her right hand picked up the shirt, but slowly let the deep blue fabric run through its fingers and back onto the dresser. She really wished she had other clothes to wear, but she supposed it didn't really matter what she wore or did not wear.

So she slipped out of the long night gown and put her own clothes back on. She did admit, having clean clothes that actually fit her properly was a fantastic feeling. She pondered over whether or not to put on her shoes, but decided against it. They would add noise to the house which was not there before she had arrived. It may have been a small noise, and the house wasn't being swarmed by guards, but she didn't want to take any chances at all with the Montgomery family.

She wandered over to the piano and stared at it for a while, her gaze running over the curves of the beautiful instrument. It was so upsetting to have it sit there, and watch her. But, having it not be there would have been worse, she thought at least, because she wouldn't have a single connection to her world, aside from the memories locked away inside her mind. As she made her way towards the door, she ran her fingers over the ivory keys. But she was careful not the put any pressure on the keys, so as to not release any music into the world.

Her days at the Montgomery house passed without much excitement. She would wander about the rooms aimlessly for hours, a book in hand, while the cover remained open on the first page. She never did end up reading anything, she planned to, but her mind seemed to wander before she could even glance at the words and she forgot that she was holding a book altogether. On occasion she would see Molly watching her, although she didn't quite know what it was the girl was planning on seeing.

The sirens now seemed to sound much less frequently than when she first arrived. Gabriel had stopped by a few days after leaving her there. He spoke mostly to Jason and paid her no mind. It didn't bother her much; she was sure he didn't have anything to say that she didn't already know. But, when she found him munching on a sandwich in the kitchen, she couldn't help the question which popped into her head.

"So, why does it sound like there are less um... sirens?" Gabriel looked up at her, mouth full of food, and gave her a look as if she were stupid to have not known the answer to this already. But his expression was so ridiculous, with his cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk, that she couldn't help the small laugh which bubbled up and out of her mouth. This only made him furrow his brow, adding to the overall hilarity of the situation. Arietta clamped a hand over her mouth and wrapped the other arm around her waist as she waited for a reply.

"One of the gates has been closed. So we aren't seeing as many outsiders as we were before. Would you wipe the smile off your face?" he mumbled around his food, not bothering to finish before taking another bite. Arietta didn't press on about the matter, and puzzled over it instead. She wasn't sure what he had meant by 'gates', for she hadn't seen any while entering the city. And, she supposed that if a gate were closed then no outsiders could get in. But that wouldn't mean they would see less of them. The entire thing gave her a headache, so she tried not to think about it much.

And as a result, she ended up talking to him about God knows what. She couldn't even remember half of their conversation. But she knew that most of it was about insignificant, trivial things that didn't truly matter. But she needed someone to talk to. She had gone to long without a real, honest-to-goodness conversation. She it was a relief when she was able to open her mouth and let words tumble out, almost as if she had been holding in a breath but hadn't been able to let it out. She wasn't quite sure why Gabriel spoke with her though. Perhaps it was for the same reason, he needed someone to talk to, and she was standing right there blabbering away.

They talked for a good long while, but eventually Gabriel had to leave. Arietta bade him farewell and went about wandering the rooms for the period before dinner. And out of the corner of her eye, she could see Molly watching her again as she chuckled to herself. This conversation seemed to have restored a bit of her strength, and she picked up a book, actually reading a few pages before Molly pulled her away to dinner.

She talked a bit with Molly during dinner, just about what she had done during school that day. For Molly did attend school, though it was much shorter and different from Arietta's remembrance of school. Perhaps it was because it was the girl's first year, and she was quite young to begin attending school. She was only four, which for the sepia city was a young age to begin learning, but Molly was smart. Very smart. And she had an old soul, so Arietta didn't think about her age much.

Jason seemed content to ignore her while she and Molly spoke, but after the little girl was sent off to bed, he seemed perfectly... well not happy, but perfectly willing to start a conversation with her. It seemed it was a day of talking for Arietta, but she wasn't about to complain about it, she missed having real conversations. But then again, Jason didn't care much for talk about inconsequential things as she and Gabriel had. They talked about the outsiders, and the supernatural abilities which were gifted to certain individuals.

It was nothing Arietta hadn't heard before, but Jason went a bit more in depth. He gave specific names, and recounted certain, important events. But when Arietta left the table, she couldn't shake the feeling that everything he had just told her meant absolutely nothing, and that there was more to the situation that he wasn't letting on about.

The Mirror: Chapter Six

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 ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ SíX

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Darkness, complete and utter darkness. There was nothing in the world aside from the cavernous expanse of deathly black. That was it; that was the world. It meant nothing; the world meant nothing. There was nothing, no one, and no pain. And then there was light. The harsh, white brightness of it penetrated his closed eyelids and forced him to roll over. For a few moments he fought against that light, trying to push his eyes away from the sight, but his attempts were all in vain.


"Come on Montgomery, get your ass in gear!" a familiar voice commanded him. He couldn't quite place it's owner though, as his mind was still groggy and filled with thoughts of sleep. But apparently the voice didn't intend to let him sleep, and instead shoved him onto the floor. His eyes opened in a flash as his body crashed onto the cement. A shiver rolled through his body as his skin met the unforgiving chill of the cement floor. He shot a glare at the person who had shoved him onto the floor, but Marcus didn't seem to care in the slightest. He was already pulling black boots onto his feet and making his cot at the same time. "Did you not hear me Montgomery? I said get your ass in gear!" he shouted again as he threw the scratchy wool blanket over the sheets of his bed.


"Why don't you high-tail your ass out of my business." Gabriel muttered as he pushed himself to his feet and began to straighten out his own bed, slamming to single pillow into the headboard. Marcus turned around and shook his head.


"I was only trying to help you man." he muttered before buttoning up his uniform and beginning to walk towards the door. The many other guards were already filing out of the cold, emotionless building. Gabriel had only just tugged on his pants and boots but tried to chase after Marcus. He threw a hand on the other man's shoulder before he could escape. Marcus turned around but didn't say anything.


"Hey, I'm sorry."


"I wasn't kidding about getting your ass in gear." the guy smiled slightly before turning back around and walking out the door. Gabriel raced back to his bed and belongings and finished getting dressed as quickly as he possibly could. He was the last one out the door.


The sepia colored clouds seemed determined to bury them all alive in snow. White flakes fell steadily from the sky, threatening to form into a full-blown blizzard. Single flakes clumped together to form massive blots of snow. The freezing precipitation battered against the guards as they marched their way through the streets. Many complaints could be heard drifting through the doubled up lines as boots crunched through the thickly fallen snow. Gabriel stayed silent, knowing full well that this snow was his ally, and not his enemy.


The search for this girl who had escaped would be slowly, if only by a small margin, and it would give her better chances of escape. And this was something Gabriel was grateful for.


He himself was sometimes unsure of why he had decided to help Arietta. When he had found her in Lalita's home, he had every intention of killing her right then and there. This is what he had been trained to do... no, not even that. It was what he had been programmed to do. It had been drilled into him time and time again. Search, find, kill. Those were the only words that mattered to a guard of Armaelia. But Gabriel was... different. Not in the way Molly and Jason were different, he didn't possess any super natural powers. But he was different than most of the guards.


His father had just died. It was a shock, even though it shouldn't have been. The man had been sick for months, not even strong enough to lift his head from the pillow. It was known that he had little time to live, that he would die within a week or so. But death, is always a shock, even when it is expected. You know that your loved one is going to die, and soon at that. But it always comes as a surprise when they do pass, no matter what.


His mother was a basket case, and would prove to fall even further off the deep end when she learned of her pregnancy. Jason seemed to be so absorbed in his own troubles that his father's death seemed to not have an effect on him.This was when the line between the brothers began to form, Gabriel was furious with Jason for not caring about their father's death. And Jason was furious with Gabriel for being infuriated with him. The entire family was in disarray, scrambled to put the pieces of their life back together again. But it was tough work, and once a certain piece seemed to be back in order, another would fall and knock everything back down again.


Gabriel hadn't planned on becoming a guard. He hadn't even thought of the idea in the slightest. His father was the military man, and God knows what it was he did. Even his wife wasn't sure about what it was James did for the city's army. But Gabriel himself never cared for the violence that riddled the city of Armaelia. He was indifferent to this fact. Gabriel was a musician. The piano was his strong suit though he played many instruments. He was naturally talented at composing and musically gifted when it came to actually playing his work. It may have surprised some that his father fully supported his pursuing of a career in music, though it was perhaps the most difficult path to follow in Armaelia. In fact, James never pushed either of his sons to follow him into the army, he may have even pushed them away from it. For whatever the reason, James never wanted his sons to become involved in this 'war' (as he liked to call it).


But when he suddenly became severely ill, Gabriel knew that he would have to give up on his music. His father proved this true when he called Gabriel into his room. It was before he lost all energy and will to survive. But even then the man's appearance was horrifying. He had lost so much weight he looked like a living skeleton draped in pale white skin. His onyx eyes had lost their spark, and his spirit seemed to have crumpled.


"Come here Gabriel." the skeleton rasped, holding out a hand as if to beckon him, but it only fell onto the crimson sheets, palm open. Gabriel quickly made his way over to his father kneeling by the bed and looking him in the eye.


"Yes?"


"You know you have to move on from this... this music idea."


"Yes I know."


"That's no way to support your family."


"Yes father I know." Gabriel looked down at the sheets, not wanting to look his dying father in the eye. "I'm joining the guards. It's the only way to keep this house." his father remained silent for a while, and Gabriel had to look up at the man to be sure he hadn't stopped breathing.


"Well if you're joining the guards, there are things I must tell you. Things you must never speak of." And after this statement, James went on to tell his son many secrets of the Armaelia army. The two stayed locked in conversation for a good two hours, perhaps even more. Gabriel asked an occasional, but stayed silent mostly as his father rasped on and on. He walked out of that room knowing secrets he wished he had never heard.


As his boots crunched through the snow, falling in time with the rest of the guards in line, Gabriel let a small sigh escape his mouth, the condensation floating up into the air above him. Even the guards didn't truly know what they were fighting against, they didn't even know why. The changes had started long before people began falling from beyond their world and into their city. It was the power which these people gave to the super naturally gifted that was cause for alarm amongst the government officials.


The guards had stopped now to rest and search the alley ways. Gabriel walked up to Marcus, clapping him the back. "I need a favor Marcus."


"Oh no, not again Montgomery."


"Would you just cover for me?"


"Why can't you go see this mysterious girl of yours when it's night, and when I don't have to cover for you." Marcus was convinced Gabriel was sneaking away to go meet some secret girl he was seeing. In a way, this thought was partially true, though Marcus's beliefs in Gabriels intentions couldn't be farther from the truth.


"Just cover for me."


"That girl of yours better be worth it Montgomery; if you're caught you're a dead man!"


"You have no idea Marcus..." Gabriel mumbled to himself as he jogged away.

The Mirror: Chapter Five

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That first night which she spent with Gabriel's family, was perhaps the most lonely she had experienced since the first night she had spent with Lalita. Although, it was lonely in a much different way. She had come to learn that she needn't stay cooped up in a back bedroom while staying with the Montgomery's (which was Gabriel's last name) she could walk around the house as she pleased. Though when she did pass by a window she was sure to duck and draw the curtains to a close. The freedom of mobility was something that truly lifted her spirits; she hadn't realized how much she had been chasing after the feeling until it showed itself to her once again. At last she could move, breath, and speak without the fear of discovery looming over her shoulder. For once she didn't have to worry about the city's guards stumbling upon her location. And it was that sense of assurance which kept her company through the loneliness she endured at the Montgomery residence. For all the company in the world was not worth the feeling of constant dread covering her shoulders like a blanket she couldn't shake loose. No, she wouldn't wish that feeling upon anyone, not even unto the guards chasing her down. But the lonely was indeed difficult to endure.

After she had drained the water from the claw-foot tub, she wrapped a towel around herself and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks remained a bit hollow looking, and her skin still a tad pasty, but her blonde hair had regained it's small bit of sheen. It no longer fell in stringy stands, and looked much healthier. The dirt had been washed away, to reveal clear creamy white skin beneath. But the bones remained. Her facial bones were more than a little pronounced, and she'd seen more of her rib cage in the past week than she had her entire life. She supposed eating nothing but two slices of bread a day was more than enough to drive a human being to complete and utter starvation. But again, she did not regret a single day spent in old Miss Lalita's home. The woman had given her shelter, and kindness. That was more than what she ever could have asked for. Although, her stomach protested this thought by grumbling loudly. Arietta's face scrunched up as the aching of her empty stomach resonated throughout the rest of her body.

Slowly and quietly, she peeked her wet head outside into the hallway. It was at this point, that she couldn't seem to figure out what she was going to do with herself. She was met with three doors, stairs, and the sound of talk coming from the kitchen. All she had around her body, was a small towel. Her dirty, rumpled clothing had mysteriously vanished from the bathroom floor, and she was left with nothing in return. But before she could step out into the hallway to try to find a door that led to the safety of solitude, the sound of running feet echoed from the stairs. She looked to her right to see the bouncing curls of Molly's hair popping into view. The little girl smiled and giggled at her when she reached the top of the staircase, obviously amused by the fact that a strange girl was standing in her house with only a towel wrapped around her. Arietta managed to give the young girl a faint, tight smile. But Molly didn't seem to care, or even notice.

"Jason told me to tell you that you'll be staying in Gabriel's old room and that it's that last door on the left." she smiled. The small child had managed to mispronounce words such as Gabriel, you'll, and left. Arietta found it utterly adorable, as most people would have, and gave the young girl a genuine smile before Molly dashed back down the stairs, giggling all the while.

"Thank you!" she called out to her, knowing that the girl couldn't have possibly heard her soft-spoken whisper of a thanks from the bottom of the stair case. Arietta cleared her throat, wondering if the long time spent without speaking had taken a more serious toll on her than she'd previously believed. She glanced this way and that once more just to make sure she'd have no more unexpected visitors, and then she scurried quickly into the room Molly had pointed out. It was small, like the rest of the house, and seemed to be unlived-in for quite some time. The walls were a neutral cream color, with molding framing them. A bed rested against the far right wall, wrought iron twisting and curling around the head and base. A white comforter set had been newly laid out on the bed, and looked out at her invitingly. After sleeping on old hard wood floors for a week, the sight of an actual bed made tears come to her eyes, though they did not fall.

The one thing that worried her was the large picturesque window which spilled moonlight into the small room. Arietta quickly made her way over to it and threw the curtains together. She was holding the edges together so tightly she had forgotten the towel. She reached to grab it before it could slip around her feet, she then rolled her back against the wall next to the window. A few rays of silver light continued to trickle in from under the bottom edge of the curtains, and cast themselves about the room, but the change was drastic. A shadow seemed to have dropped over the small space, and darkness was predominant. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so. When she released the air she had been holding in, her eyes flashed opened. The two black pupils dilated and changed as her eyes adjusted to the light.

One other object in the room caught her eye, but it was not the dresser, or any of the stray chairs. It was the baby grand piano sitting towards the left side of the room. Her breathing began to slow as she stared at the instrument. It seemed well cared for, for the black sheen stood out against the light walls and no dust had accumulated along the entire length of the piano. She walked over and let one, slightly shaking hand, run along the smooth obsidian colored surface. The joy that leaped into her heart was enough to bring a smile to her face. She hadn't seen a piano since that fateful morning on which she had landed in the sepia city. And even then, it had only been her old keyboard siting in the corner of her room.

But her joy didn't last long, and a tear rolled down her cheek when she realized she wouldn't be able to touch a single ivory key, wouldn't be able to hear the melancholy ring of notes dance around the room, she could not allow her fingers to slip from the outline of the instrument and onto the keys, she could not play a single note, not a single sound. To have the music that she so cherished be so close, so tangible, and not allowed to hear it, touch it, or taste it, well... it broke her heart in two. She didn't know how she would be able to resist the comfort which the piano offered her. So she pushed herself away and forced her eyes to look in the opposite direction.

Gradually and forlornly, she pulled on the white nightgown that either Molly or Jason had left sitting on the bed. It was much longer than she had expected, and pooled lightly around her feet. She assumed it must have been worn by a woman much taller than herself. She shook her head at this, she always thought of herself as tall, though in reality she was only of an average height. She supposed it was her mother's shortness which made her feel as though she towered over the rest of humanity. The bodice of the nightgown seemed to fit her fine, a fact for which she was glad. But she did feel more secure with herself once the robe which accompanied the sleepwear was tightly fastened around her waist.

It was at this point that she let herself fall onto the bed. Her drying, but still damp, blonde hair pressed against her back uncomfortably, but she didn't have the energy to do anything about it. The emotions of the past week finally slipped out of the bottle she kept in the back caverns of her mind. The tears flowed freely, although no sound accompanied them. She wanted to eat her mother's horrible cooking, she wanted to see her friends again, she wanted to hear music, and wear her baggy t-shirts and pajama pants, not be stuck in a war infested world and have to wear an old nightgown. She let all of the petty thoughts roll throughout her mind before she let the deep, emotional feelings run free. The pang of loneliness continued to ram against her, battering away at her will. The feelings of loss drowned out all other thoughts and gave way to more tears. And sorrow continued to roll over her like waves on a sandy shore. She crumpled in on herself, drawing her knees up against her chest, the loose fabric of the nightgown hanging freely over the edge of the bed, cascading like a white waterfall until it finally fell into a pool on the wood floor.

She couldn't tell how long she sat there, letting the sensation of depression run over, around, and through her. Her emotions continued to tumble out of her as she lay there soaking the comforter with the saline water dripping from her red, puffy eyes. Her body trembled slightly as a whisper of cold air slunk quietly across the room. But after that long period of draining her emotions, she was able to bring herself to a slight state of composure. And she was also able to bottle up all of the unused emotions that had yet to make their way out of her body when the door creaked open.

She wiped the few remaining remnants of tears away from her face, and sniffled slightly as she ran a quivering hand through her now dry hair before she looked at the figure standing in the door frame. Once again, the angel-faced sight of Molly looked on at her, with a slightly titled head. Arietta sniffled once more and looked down at her lap; her legs were draped over the edge of the bed almost as if he were riding side-saddle on a horse. Molly's fixated gaze narrowed slightly as she looked on at Arietta. The giggling child within the girl seemed to have melted away, and she looked on at Arietta with what seemed to be an expression beyond her years. She appeared older in that moment, as she watched the wreck of a girl quake on the tear stained bed. It was then that a sense of calm surrounded Arietta, wrapping firm arms around her frame. She could not explain it, but it seemed as if... the world around her didn't matter in a way, that her distressed feelings didn't matter at all.

"Are you coming down for dinner? I helped make it, it's my mommy's beef stew." Molly smiled, the child-like face returning to her as she continued to look at the other strange girl. Arietta's stomach growled loudly, sounding almost like an angry wolf. Saliva seemed to pool in her mouth at the thought of real food; having something to eat besides bread was an enticing thought.

"Of course, lets go already!" she smiled pushing herself off the bed and towards the door, Molly giggled loudly and darted for the stairs. Arietta wasn't far behind her, her feet barely seemingly to fall upon the wooden steps. The smells of the dinner wafted up into her nose as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

As she sat on the edge of her bed that night, the frown that rested on her face seemed to last until she fell asleep. The dinner had not been what she expected it to be at all. While the food itself was delicious, it was the conversation which disturbed her. Jason seemed to all but ignore her presence, and Molly followed his lead, only glancing at her occasionally. Arietta wasn't sure what she had done to infuriate Gabriel's brother so much. After Molly had cleared her plate she was sent off to bed. Jared sat at the table with Arietta, watching her shovel down a third helping of stew. She sat back, utterly full. They sat there for a while, blue eyes staring at grey and vice versa.

"Why don't you like me?"

"Because you're a threat to my family."

"How so?"

Both sides stared at each other coldly, with eyes narrowed. Jason's left hand sat clenched in a tight fist on the table. Arietta stared at his knuckles, and the tendons protruding under his skin.

"You're presence... it brings danger into this house. I don't know what was running through Gabriel's mind when he decided to save your life. It's a waste if you ask me, an unnecessary risk that will only lead to the destruction of everything dear to him, and those around him." Arietta recoiled as if he had slapped her, and she almost wished he had. It would have been easier to handle than those words. The faint light from the overhead fixture cast an eerie amber glow. The dark shadows of night were enclosing the table, leaving all else in the world gone.

"Why do they want to kill me, and all the others?" Arietta asked, the coldness draining from her voice, replacing with a hint of fear. Fear of what the answer would hold.

"You wouldn't understand..." Jason murmured, turning his head to look into the darkness.

"Try me." But the sight that met her when Jason turned back to face her was not what she expected at all. The beautiful blue eyes had changed, a faint green glow gleamed out from the darkness, his pupils turned into black slits. The cat-like gaze frightened the girl, and she recoiled further.

"The changes started when your kind began arriving. People began developing..... characteristics, talents that were not natural. They thought your kind was to blame."

"What do you mean my kind?"

"The outsiders."

"When I was staying with Lalita, she told me something. 'They are killed because they know, but what they know can not be killed.' What did she mean by that?"

"I can not say." he answered, the feline stare continuing to gaze at the girl. And as Arietta looked back at him, fixated by the green gleam of his eyes, she knew that the game had taken a very unexpected turn. One that would change the course of her survival.

The Mirror: Chapter Four

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Arietta gave Gabriel a somewhat puzzled look, as if she didn't quite understand what he was saying. She opened her mouth to respond, but this plan was deterred when she tripped over an extended piece of cloth. Luckily Gabriel was able to catch her before she landed flat on her face. Although she was a bit embarrassed by her inability to control her feet, she didn't have time to dwell on this. For soon after he had righted her, the guard was off again and pulling her arm right along with him. As Arietta glanced around the alley they just so happened to be running down, a toothless man met her eyes. He showed no expression other than dismay and quietly returned to looking at his empty, wrinkled hands that lay limp in his lap. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the sepia city, and to it's people, to throw it into such a state of contempt and disorder. Surely the city had not always been the way she'd been seeing it. But looking into the solemn face of the old man, she knew that it had remained in this state far to long. After one more glance at the man, Arietta was forced to turn her head as Gabriel tugged her around yet another corner. But the image of the man's sunken eyes and distraught face would be staying with her for days to come.

"Who's we?" she asked, turning her grey gaze back on the dark haired guard. Gabriel looked down at her, seeming to be unsure on how to answer her question. So he merely shook his head and turned another corner. Arietta let an agitated frown cross her face as they continued on their run. It seemed that the farther they ran, the less rubbage they came across. Arietta also noticed that the rundown, about-to-fall-over, faded out buildings were beginning to change. Brick was beginning to replace rotting wood, paint was taking the place of exposed boards, and the size of houses were starting to grow, if only slightly. It seemed that they were moving into a nicer part of the city, something Arietta was sure never existed. "Where are we?"

"We're moving towards the center of the city." he said, looking down at her with his intense onyx stare. "We're going to have to be more careful about being seen."

"Alright..." Arietta responded as they ducked down another alley. Only now, their pace had slowed to what seemed to be a snail's pace compared to the rate at which they were moving earlier. Every house or so they would have to stop and hide themselves in the shadows so as not to be seen. Arietta was beginning to think that Lalita's shawl was making her seem more an outcast now than ever. But she was thankful for the extra layer as a mixture of snow, and what seemed to be ash, began to lightly rain down from the sky. But even with the bright whiteness of snow the city continued to look as though it were painted sepia. Arietta was truly beginning to wonder why exactly this oddity seemed to occur.

"Get down!" Gabriel's voice seemed to drill down into her mind, although it was spoken in urgent, hush tones. She didn't quite know how to react, so Gabriel reacted for her. He shoved her down behind the shaded back stairs of a building, a few bits of debris flying up around her as he did so. At first, she didn't realize why he had done this, much less why he was diving down next to her. But when she heard the marching of boot-covered feet, her breathing almost came to a complete halt. At that moment, the only thought that her mind could process was staying alive. Her entire being seemed to crumple as she inched her way behind Gabriel. The guard in question reached behind him to push her even farther into the depths of the shadows. All she could see was his outline, a bit of snow-dusted street, and nothing else. Puffs of condensation floated into the air around them as the temperature dropped. It seemed to take all of Gabriel's effort to stay still as Arietta breathed down the back of his neck. She tried to reposition herself so that she was breathing out into the air and not on his bare skin, but she could hardly move without giving them away.

But this issue didn't seemed to draw on further as boots walked into her line of sight. Both the guard and the girl stopped breathing, not making a sound. For a while the boots moved around, voices grumbling and chuckling as they walked. But they never did stumble across the pair hiding under the steps. At one point a pair of boots strayed to close to the stairs for comfort, and Gabriel leaned back into Arietta. She placed her hands on his back and tried with much effort not to dig her nails into his skin. The apprehension in the surrounding air was so thick it almost seemed to choke her as the arms of trepidation wound their way around her.

Finally, the boots moved away, as did the voices. But Gabriel and Arietta seemed to be frozen in place. The only movement that came from their small bubble under the stairs, was the light bits of snow that were falling down to lightly dust the ground. After a few minutes, Gabriel shifted his muscles, slowly making his way out into the open.

"We should really keep moving." he said, reaching a hand down into the shadows of the steps. Hesitantly, Arietta took the hand offering itself to her, and was pulled out into the sepia light. Reality began to sink down on her as she and Gabriel ducked through dark shadows. There was a great, if not enormous, possibility that she was going to die. But her thoughts were interrupted as Gabriel came to a complete and utter stop. "We're here." he said quietly. Arietta looked away from the uniformed guard and up at the house. It was small, perhaps a bit bigger than Lalita's. But compared to the old woman's, it seemed like a mansion. Brick foundation, cream colored wood, and curtains fluttering around the windows. She couldn't imagine why the people who lived there would allow her to enter into their home.

But sure enough, Gabriel was already holding the black, polished back door open. Before she could hesitate Gabriel ushered her inside and closed the door. The sound of giggling could be heard off in a separate room, followed by a different, deeper chuckling. This only confused her further, did the people living here even know that they would be housing a fugitive? The patter of feet sounded down the hallway, and a little girl came rushing into the the room. She had long, slightly curled, dark blonde hair, and eyes the same onyx color as Gabriel's. She seemed to be three, perhaps four. And jogging down the hall after her, seemed to be a boy of Arietta's own age. Another dark blonde, but this one with blue eyes. She raised an eyebrow.

"Gabriel!!!" the little girl squealed, launching herself at the guard and wrapping her arms around his legs. The other boy just seemed to look at Gabriel and stare, as if he couldn't believe the man was standing before him. His eyes then flickered to Arietta, and his brow furrowed, obviously confused. Gabriel eyed the other boy before picking up the little girl.

"What are you doing here, and who's the girl?" the boy didn't seem to waste any time getting to the point.

"She needs to stay here Jason."

"So you just waltz in here, after two years, and expect me to jut do whatever you say?" the boy, Jason, seemed to be fuming. The giggling mess of the little girl quieted and looked worriedly at Gabriel. "Did you even know about Mom?"

"Yes I knew about..." and on it went. Arietta silently excused herself from the space and backed into the sitting room. The little girl wriggled out of Gabriel's arm and followed after her, hiding behind a chair and peeking her head out to smile at Arietta. She tried to smile back, but she was a bit worried and preoccupied, so she supposed her smile wasn't really that great. This thought was proven true when the girl came out from behind the chair and walked over to her.

"What's your name?" she asked, clutching the end of her dress in her tiny little hands.

"Arietta, what about you?"

"I'm Molly.... how do you know my brother?" so that was how Gabriel knew them, they were his family. And now she was worried. What had he gotten her into? She looked at Molly, with her large onyx doe eyes, unable to answer her. Jason and Gabriel walked in to find her looking at the little girl with her mouth open, unable to formulate a sentence.

"I must leave now, but, I'll be back in a day or two." Gabriel said before rushing out the door. Molly tried to catch up with him, but was only met with a closed door. She sniffled and walked back to hug her other brother. Arietta looked at the girl with a slight frown, before looking towards the door. What was going to happen now?

"Molly, why don't you go show Arietta where the bathroom is, so she can wash up before bed?"

"Okay!" the girl smiled, instantly perking up as she dragged Arietta towards the stairs, Jason looking after her with a frown, slightly shaking his head. Once she had finally gotten the girl to bounce back down the stairs, she turned on the tub. As the hot water slowly began to trickle down out of the faucet, Arietta looked at herself in the mirror. She was a complete and utter mess. Her clothes were rumpled, her hair stringy and dull. Her face and skin was laced with dirt and grime, and her cheeks were beginning to look a bit hollow. She sighed and ran a shaking hand through the knots in her hair before turning off the faucet. As she climbed into the tub and let the warm water take effect, she couldn't help but feel a sense of peace come over her. That was until reality set back in, and the sirens called out into the night.

The Mirror: Chapter Three

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The sirens continued to resound. After the few days of living with Lalita, she found that the sirens sounded almost every few days. Now she knew why none of the city's inhabitants had seemed to take much interest in her when she ran along the perimeter of the fence. But unlike the time she came into the city, the siren's calls did not last nearly as long. Because the guards eventually caught up with the person who was trying to escape them. Arietta took another small bite of bread. That was all she had been able to eat for the past few days of living with Lalita. It was all the old woman could afford to give her. But Arietta wasn't about to complain, she was just thankful that the woman was providing her with shelter. But she did find herself missing her home. She missed her mother, father, bedroom, even her annoying alarm clock. She missed Elwood, Emerson, even Cassandra.... no, scratch that, she wasn't that depressed. But she did miss her reality. She left the small piece of bread roll onto the floor as her head thumped against the wall. She had been trapped up in that back room for much to long, nothing to do, nobody to talk to. That was until that one day, when Lalita had found time in her day to come up and speak with her.

She had been living in the back room for about three days when Lalita came to speak with her. Arietta liked the old woman, she truly did, but she could be a bit hard to understand at times. She was missing more teeth than the ones she still possessed, and it took it's toll on her speech. But eventually Arietta had grown accustomed to Lalita's warped style of speech, and could uderstand a few things the woman said to her. But usually, Lalita didn't say much. She merely handed her bread, gave her a small smile, and walked out the door. But on that third day she stayed put in the room. Arietta had begun to bite into her bread, when she realized that the woman was still standing before her. She gently set down the food and looked up at the woman's old, wrinkled face.

"Do you wish to know why you are here child?" she said, spittle flying from her mouth but only landing on the floor. Arietta's head perked up at these words, it was something she had been puzzling over for a long time. "Well do you?" Lalita demanded, a bit impatiently.

"Yes of course."

"Very well." before she began her story, she went over to the pile of covered furniture and pulled out an old chair, which looked like it could have fallen apart if a feather landed on it. But somehow, the petite chair was able to hold the old woman's weight. Arietta couldn't help the baffled expression that flickered across her face, though Lalita seemed to have missed it. But her attention was turned back to the woman and away from the chair as the raspy voice began to speak once more. "You have heard the sirens blast, and felt the pounding footsteps of the guards. There are others like you dear."

"But how di-"

"No interrupting!" Arietta quickly clamped her mouth shut. Lalita smirked a bit and relaxed back into the chair, the old wood creaking as she moved. Arietta hadn't taken notice of it before, but the small piece of furniture was covered in a black floral fabric. "Now... what was I saying... oh yes, there are others like you." she woman pointed a shaky, boney finger at Arietta. "They come from beyond this world, and fall into our city. And they are chased down. Do you know why this is?" she asked, looking at Arietta as if she expected an answer. The blonde merely shook her head. "No, of course you don't. You come from the outside, from the reality beyond this life." It was about then that Arietta was beginning to wonder just what Lalita was getting at, the woman was seeming to babble off nonsense. "Those that cross over never leave. But you dear, you're the first to escape the guards, perhaps you'll change history." Lalita paused to blow her nose into a handkerchief, Arietta recoiled just slightly. But Lalita leaned forward with a peculiar smirk on her face. "They are killed because they know, but what they know cannot be killed. The life of a secret is not within it's telling, but within it's keeping."

Airetta looked on at the woman with a distraught expression of confusion. She had just been told complete and utter nonsense, and she didn't know what to make of it. Lalita simply stood and left the room, her chair still sitting in the middle of the hard wood floor. Arietta gazed at it for a while, her grey eyes tracing over the patterns of pink flowers on a black background. The fabric had been torn here and there, and some flowers split apart because of this, but it was still a beautiful piece. Arietta looked back up at the empty door frame, wondering if Lalita knew that what she said had held no meaning in her mind.

She flashed back to the present day and looked at the half-eaten piece of bread that lay next to her hand. She couldn't bare the thought of it going to waste, so she gingerly picked it up, and finished it with shaking hands. She had lost a bit of weight while she was in the sepia city(as she liked to call it). Eating nothing but two slices of bread a day took it's toll on her body, she needed protein, and the thought of steak made her stomach growl painfully. Arietta squinted her face up in discomfort and laid herself down on the ground, curling her arms around her torso. Perhaps if she could just fall asleep...

She dreamed of her mother. And no, it was not a dream where her mother showered her with love. She dreamed the Camerata she had known all her life. The small woman with hands planted firmly on her hips, the tips of her heels tapping at the ground impatiently as she waited for Arietta. Her father grumbled to himself in the background as he paced behind Camerata. He wouldn't want to get involved in whatever she was about to start. He just wanted to leave and be done with it. Arietta wasn't even sure where they were going, she only knew that she didn't want to go. Soon though, the yells of her mother to "hurry up" faded away and melted into blackness. And soon the sirens replaced her yelling, and Arietta was outside the fence again, running to save herself. Only this time, there was no upturned chain links, she was stuck outside the perimeter. A figure stepped in her path, grabbing her arms and pinning them against her body. No it was not Lalita, it was Gabriel, the guard that she met her first day in the sepia city. Only this time, he didn't drop the silver knife in his hand.

Arietta's eyes flashed open, and she sat up with a start. Even in her dream, she was running from death. She grabbed the blanket that sat folded in the corner and wrapped it around herself, the coarse fabric scratching against her skin as it partly folded itself around her. She pulled her legs up and let her arms tighten around them as she rested her chin on her knees. The sirens boomed in the background. The grating noise had invaded her mind as she slept and wove its way into her dreams. But this fact did not comfort her, the nightmare was still fresh in her mind.

She let a few tears roll down her dirty face. She truly missed her home. She missed everything about it. She wondered what had happened while she was away. How did her mother react? Was her father ordering around police officers as they walked around his house? Was Cassandra snickering to herself and mumbling misgivings about her to the group of girls that worshiped the ground she walked on? Was her bag still slumped against that wretched mirror? Was there even an Elwood to go home to? These questions, along with many more, swarmed around her head. And the worst one of all, if there was an Elwood to go back to, would she manage to make it there before getting herself killed? She let out a breath, the sound seeming to shudder in the air as she tried to keep the tears from falling as she lowered herself back to the floor. But she ultimately failed, and the saline water was all that kept her company as she drifted off to sleep.

Arietta woke up to her shoulder being shook. Her alarm sounded in the background, louder than usual. She couldn't imagine why her mother was shaking her so lightly, that was until she opened her eyes and found herself looking at the wrinkled face of an old woman. She jumped a bit, alarmed. That was until she remembered, remembered that she was trapped in the sepia city and living under the roof of Miss Lalita.

"Wake up child, wake up!" the woman urged, giving her one more good shake as Arietta's eyes opened fully. She took in her surroundings slowly. The alarms and sirens were blaring louder than usual, and it was hard to hear what Lalita was saying. The coarse green blanket was drapped over her legs, looking tired and worn out. The old chair still sat in the middle of the room. The only real change was the figure standing in the doorway. Her heart began to pound quickly when she caught sight of Gabriel. Her nightmare still rang through her mind. Also, she hadn't seen him since the first day she had arrived, so this encounter couldn't mean anything good. "Get up dear, up! That's it get up!" Lalita rasped as she pulled Arietta to her feet. She pushed her towards the doorway, and towards Gabriel. "It's time for us to part dear, I do hope you make it." the woman gave her a sad, but warm look before kissing her forehead and ushering her and the guard out into the hallway.

"But what is-"

"Shh! You must go with Gabriel. And trust him dear, he's your only chance now." Lalita said as she pushed the both of them down the stairs. Before they walked out the front door Lalita handed something to the guard. Gabriel tugged the shawl on over Arietta quickly before the two left the rundown house. They wove through back alleys, Arietta keeping the hood of the shawl tightly held against her head. She looked back towards the direction of Lalita's house, not knowing what was going on.

She looked up at Gabriel, who had a tight hold of her arm and was dragging her through the alleys, pass trash cans, abandoned junk, and the few random people huddled against the rundown brick walls. He looked determined, like he knew exactly what he was doing. But in truth, Arietta wasn't sure if he really was. Her feet seemed to move of their own accord, stepping over discarded rubbish and such. "What's going on?" she asked, continuing to look at the guard. He didn't seem to hear her so she spoke up a bit. "What is going on?" Gabriel seemed a bit flustered by her question as if he didn't expect it.

"We're saving your life." and that was all he had to say on the matter.

The Mirror: Chapter Two

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No, this shifting of realities did not occur quickly, snapping into place like a rubber-band might if it were closing around something. For although this change and shift did pass within seconds, time seemed to slow and drag out the process as if it were taking hours. The moment Arietta's fingers grazed the smooth reflective glass surface of the old mirror, her world almost seemed to explode in a way. The light that she so loathed seemed to burst out around her, long tendrils of gold, amber and even burgundy ran through the air, some twisting around her frozen body. A few even wound their way through the faint curls of her blonde locks. Arietta herself was frozen in place, unable to move a single limb. Although, her hair seemed to billow out around her as if she were sinking into the dark black depths of water. For a few more moments the light encompassed her being, holding her hostage to it's bright blaze. The only other thing that she could see, was the mirror. But the bizarre thing about the object, was that her reflection could no longer be seen within the caverns of the glass. Nothing could bee seen in it at all. Only the light which erupted from the surface was all that could be made out.

But after seeming to be stand in her unmoving state for a long time, the light almost seemed to shatter. But not in the way glass or clay might if it were dropped on the ground. The wisps of light seemed to break into small fragments, softly almost as if they were melting, as they gave way to inky onyx-like waves. The midnight colored tendrils seemed to blot the air with their inky substance. And soon the tendrils blotted together until no longer could she see the world around her. Even the faint glimmer of the mirror was lost to the black surroundings. It seemed that everything was devoid of light, nothing was tangible in this state. Nothing that was, aside from the mirror. For although she could not see the glass, she could still feel the cool, smooth plane of it's being. Suddenly all was quiet. She had not noticed it until that very moment, but a loud roaring had sounded throughout the length of this shift. But now, not a single noise could be heard. There was nothing but the darkness, and the silence.

But soon not even that remained. The great roaring returned to her ears and this time it was loud enough for the magnitude of the noise to draw pain from her eardrums. She couldn’t imagine how she had missed it before. But as the roaring quickened and grew more loud with each passing second, the inky onyx began to break away and give way to the bright amber and gold she had experienced earlier. And now her eyes could not stand to gaze upon the brightness that the light presented her with. And now all she could see was the blinding white of light. Her entire body, soul and being seemed to be alive and buzzing with pain. But it was not an intolerable amount of pain, only a small amount. She couldn’t even process what thoughts were rolling through her mind, but many they were in number. Not her life but all her thoughts and ideas seemed to flash across her psyche, even though she could not comprehend what they were, she could feel the significance of each.

And then she fell. It was quite a shock after being held in a frozen state for so long, and it took a moment for her to determine what was happening. But when she came to the conclusion of what had happened, she wasn’t sure how to react. The mirror that had stood before her for so long was nowhere in sight. In fact, neither was the old locker room. And it was not Emerson High that greeted her smoky grey eyes when she looked around. She wasn’t even sure she was still in the small mountain town of Elwood. No, the buildings around her did not resemble the washed out shops and buildings she was familiar with. Everything around her seemed to be bathed in a darker shade of sepia. Even the heavily clouded sky seemed to hold this dark tone. There were spurts of orange flame that licked at the air from randomly placed garbage cans, and even the people that huddled around them seemed content to match their clothing with the uneven tones of sepia. But separating Arietta from the rundown brick buildings was a chain-link fence topped with rolling curves of barbed wire.

Arietta puzzled over this for a bit, until she heard the sirens sound. They almost seemed to be the amplified sound of her alarm. But they were not the sirens of an ambulance, no. They were sirens alerting her presence. At the time Arietta had no knowledge of this, but the sound was enough to make her move. She had no clear idea of the meaning behind the blaring alarms, but a sense of trepidation lurked behind the noise and pushed her feet into a run. It took her a few moments to push her shaky legs up into a standing position, but once she was up she was off. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she knew she had to look for something. For not long after the sirens began, she could hear the pounding of feet, other than her own, off in the distance.

This only made Arietta pick up her pace as she raced along the outside of the fence. Only a few sullen faces from within the fencing turned to look at her, and most found little interest, as if this were a regular thing. She was suddenly thankful for the years of track that she had endured, if she hadn’t have kept in shape she surely wouldn’t have been able to evade the other pounding footsteps behind her for so long. The sky continued to show no signs of change as the clouds masked whatever sun shone on the fenced in city. Arietta was sure that there was a sun, for what else could cast the sepia color across everything? Arietta could hear the footsteps behind her grow ever closer, she didn’t bother turning to look, it would only slow her down.

As she continued to run she spotted a spot in the fencing, just the slightest upturning at the bottom of the chain link. She dashed forward and threw herself to her knees, pulling at the fence. It took a few moments, and anxiety weighed down on her as she heard the pounding of footsteps behind her, but she finally managed to squeeze through the bottom of the links. She glanced back slightly to see a group of men chasing after her, dressed in some sort of uniform. But she didn’t gaze on for long, and soon she was running towards the brick buildings.

She had managed to lose her bag somewhere in her dash. Actually, she may have lost it before she even ended up in… well wherever she was. Perhaps it was still sitting on the ground by that damn mirror in the old, abandoned gymnasium. The streets were paved. She didn’t know if that was something important to note, but she thought it really was. At least she hadn’t traveled back in time or anything. But that brought up another question, what had happened to her? She didn’t have time to think about this though, as she was pushing through a group of people huddled around a fire burning away at the trash in a rusty metal garbage can. They didn’t move out of her way, but they let her shove pass them, not seeming to care either way if the men in uniform caught her or not. She did notice that they were all dressed in ragged clothes, and some seemed to be in their early twenties, others in their late eighties. It was an odd mixture of people.

But again, she didn’t have time to dwell on this, as she was still running. She wasn’t quite sure what it was she was running from, but she had a feeling that if those men did happen to catch up with her, the end result wouldn’t be a good one. So she let her tired feet pound along the small sidewalk as she pushed through another huddled group. The sirens continued to sound at varied volumes depending on where she was running. She had taken a couple of wild turns while she was running and she couldn’t hear the feet hammering behind her. So she turned down a side alley in hopes of eluding the men. She turned her head slightly just to make sure she wasn’t being followed… well followed closely, when she ran into a pair of hands. Before she could try t fight out of them she saw the face of their owner. It was an old woman, perhaps in her nineties. She couldn’t help but think that that was an achievement for this place. The woman nodded her head towards a small worn out wooden door leading into a building. And for some reason, Arietta couldn’t help but feel that the woman was trustworthy. She had grey hair that held a shimmer of it’s former color, and bright eyes that hadn’t lost their spark like she had seen in some of the people.

So she went through the door. The woman didn’t speak, she simply lead her up a flight of stairs and to a back room, opening the door for Arietta. There was really nothing inside. Some old furniture covered with a sheet and a few discarded boards of wood were the only objects that filled the small space. And a tiny boarded up window centered on the far wall let small trickles of sepia light seep into the dusty old room. Arietta looked at the woman.

“Thank you.” the woman merely nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Arietta walked over to the farthest corner and leaned her back against the wall. How had she ended up like this? She let her body slowly slide to the floor, letting out a small sigh as she finally hit the ground. The faint sound of the sirens had finally subsided, giving way to the small crackles of fire and few yells of conversation, though she couldn’t make out the words. She heard a few deep chuckles of laughter but then silence yet again. She couldn’t help but wonder about what would become of her. This wasn’t Narnia, there was no magic lamp that would lead her back to reality. She was stuck here. She heard the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs and inched back further into the shadows of the corner. The sound seemed to loud to belong to the woman who offered her shelter.

And she was correct. When the old door opened, it was a man in uniform who stood in its frame. He had dark, golden blonde hair, and dark onyx eyes. His eyes reminded her of the inky black tendrils that had brought her here. He was tall and well built, though not overly muscular. And he looked to be in his early twenties. He seemed a bit young to be in this situation. But he was staring right at her, and a knife glinted coldly as it dangled from his hand. As he stepped forward slowly Arietta couldn’t help but cower and tremble at his feet. He bent down at his knees and looked straight into her smoky grey eyes.

“If you want to live, don’t leave Lalita’s house. You understand?” his voice was warm, more so than she had expected, and it was all she could do to nod her head. “Good.” he responded, standing up and tucked the knife into his boot. He threw her one more glance before walking out the door, down the stairs, and into the street. Arietta let a small tear slide down her face, she had come so close to dying, she couldn’t really comprehend it. The woman, Lalita, walked in and handed her a blanket and a piece of bread.

“Don’t worry, Gabriel isn’t like the others. He won’t tell them where you are.” the woman rasped, a bit of saliva flew from the few empty gaps where teeth should have been. Arietta nodded and the woman smiled at her before leaving yet again. She looked down at the bread and eagerly tore into it. She ate it down to the last crumb, wondering once more what she had gotten herself into.