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 Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:25 pm
Antony paused as he heard a small whisper hit his ears. He almost got ran into by a lady talking on a cell phone, so he turned into the almost invisible hole in the wall shop. The sign above the door was shaped like a duck, with the words "Fakir's Books and Antiques" written on it.
He didn't notice. He was too busy trying not to sneeze. The dust laid so thick on the rows of books and antiques that it seemed to have a life of its own. To the right was an empty checkout area, to the left were rows and rows of books, and straight ahead of him was a mirror, dusty and tarnished, calling his name.
He cursed inwardly, looking from right to left for a second before stepping up to the mirror and sighing.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:37 pm
Irelia was as common a fixture in the shop as the dust, and she had been covered with a faint dusting of it, sitting in the corner as she was. Too poor to buy the books she wanted, she visited the shop every chance she had, poring over the older tomes, listening to the whispers of writers and artists long gone. It was a heady atmosphere, full of wonder and secrets, though she always came home covered in the grime of the shop. She thought it smelled wonderful. Asher though she smelled like the goat she was.
The shop was barely visible from the outside, and very few customers came in to the shop. Irelia often wondered how the shop stayed in business, but it seemed the tax collectors couldn't find it either. So when the bell on the door rang cheerfully, Irelia poked her head out of her pile of books, wondering who the new customer could be.
The person coming through the door was a familiar face, though she usually saw him with a scowl on his face, or making fun of her.
Intrigued by his interest in the old tarnished mirror, Irelia crouched nearer to him. She might actually find out WHAT he was hiding, because he was definitely hiding things.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:40 pm
"You're wasting your time," he muttered, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping the dust off the mirror. A woman's face looked back at him, beautiful in a distraught sort of way. "I can't send you to the other side."
"I wish to have company," she said, her fingers coming out of the mirror, followed by her hand. "Join me, beautiful boy."
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:47 pm
Irelia's eyes widened as she watched Antony talk to the mirror, and then polish it. How ODD, Irelia had to admit, for someone as uptight as Antony to be speaking to a mirror. Not that he was aware that she was there, which might have made him more cautious.
Irelia tried to lean in closer, to hear better what he was saying.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:49 pm
Her hand wrapped around his wrist, tugging him with surprising strength so that he had trouble keeping his balance. "Let go," he said, getting irritated. "I already told you, I can't send you over."
To anyone else it would look as if he were miming being pulled towards the mirror.
"I don't want the other world," she said. "I want you."
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:54 pm
Irelia's focus was now squarely on Antony, who was acting like the insane hobo that walked down her street. She head him say, "Let go" and "I can't". And now he seemed to be struggling against a force not his own.
This was getting freaky, even to Irelia, but there was nothing...
Oh.
Irelia finally remembered about her book, and she pulled it out of her backpack. She had tried to use it less frequently, as it had started giving her the heebie-jeebies, but these situations kept coming up.
Concentrating on Antony, she willed herself to find out what Antony was hiding, as whatever was happening was definitely not common knowledge. As always, reading Antony was a chore, as he rarely got riled up about anything, which made it harder for her to read anything.
But she did get one thing. Ghost
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:57 pm
"I've always loved beauty," the woman said. "And in the mirror you will be beautiful forever!"
Antony paused, looking thoughtful. "Well," he said after a second. "That IS tempting." The subtle promise of sex didn't get to him NEARLY as much as this one. "Really, though, how did you get stuck in a thing like this?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:06 pm
Ghosts? Was that what Antony was hiding? Irelia was half frightened, half intrigued by the idea that Antony was talking to someone in the mirror, though she would never tell anyone that she was scared.
Crouching down, Irelia tried to get even closer, but her book shield was running out. Her hip brushed the side of the shield, knocking a book from place, hitting the ground with a loud thump.
Whimpering, Irelia flattened herself on to the ground. This looked bad, no matter how you looked at it, but she smiled briefly to herself. She knew something about Antony that she was sure he didn't want ANYONE to know.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:09 pm
He turned, looking in the direction of the fallen book. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said, reaching down and grabbing her wrist, just tight enough that she made a startled sound and let go. "Who's there?" he demanded, heading for where Irelia was hiding.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:12 pm
Irelia pondered her options for a moment. Flee, or stay where she was? Irelia had not reached a decision as Antony started walking towards her, looking less than happy.
Flee.
Irelia popped up out of her hiding place, and tried to race to the door, away from Antony. He was a LOT bigger than her, and she didn't think he would take her intrusion on his supposed privacy well.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:26 pm
"Irelia?" he asked, his relief seeping into his voice. "You don't have to run," he said, running a hand over his face. "It's not as if I don't know who you are."
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:08 pm
Irelia stopped her flight, and turned slowly to look at Antony. He wasn't mad at her, it seemed, though she was sure he wasn't happy to see someone there, even if it was only her.
She couldn't help herself though, she had to bring up what she had seen.
"So... what's in the mirror, anyway?" Irelia asked, walking up to the mirror. It looked normal to her, as all she could see was herself in it.
"Is it a ghost?" Irelia smirked. Sometimes she could be SUCH a jerk.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:09 pm
He snorted. "Do you see a ghost?" he asked, rather than answering the question. In the mirror the ghost woman glared at him for talking to another female right in front of him.
"She's not as beautiful as I am," she complained, tossing her hair.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:17 pm
Irelia shook her head sadly.
"No, unfortunately. I always wanted to, but I've never seen one. I um. I kinda found your secret. You see them, don't you?"
Irelia felt, for lack of a better word, sheepish. It would have been easier if Antony had yelled at her, and she could have yelled back but he was simply too much like a snake to do so.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:19 pm
He looked her straight in the eye, smiled, and lied. "I can't see anything except our reflections," he said simply. "And I suggest you tell people the same, if they ask."
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