Sitting on her bed, she traced the bruises with her fingers. Each set had been from a different hand it seemed, with some having longer or shorter fingers and varying levels of pressure applied. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something moving but when she looked up at the sole mirror in her room, it was just her own reflection looking back at her. She looked tired, it took her a moment to realize she really hadn't been sleeping well either.
Her floor was buried beneath piles of photos and posters she had been designing for class. The semester had been really busy and she had barely noticed how everything had fallen into disarray as the workload picked up and she had been going out more on draining runs near that power plant. She had been staying up late and waking up early to balance everything. Everything seemed to be going well from the outside, this was all within her ability to handle, at least she had thought it was. But now there were these mystery bruises and she kept feeling like something was moving just out of her vision in the mirrors.
Everything in this city was weird but at least most of the time it didn't feel as targeted. This felt... different, in a very uncomfortable way. She felt like she was being watched and as she looked down at the bruises, she was at least being grabbed somehow. Standing up and shuffling carefully through the piles of homework, she stood in front of the mirror quietly. Looking closely at her face in the mirror, she saw bags starting to form under her eyes as well as other various signs of the lack of sleep she was getting. It wasn't too bad but someone would definitely notice soon if she didn't figure something out. Leaning in closer to the mirror, she stared into her own reflection, taking notice of all the little things that had changed since moving into the city and becoming a magical girl.
It had been a big change in a lot of ways but in the end, she was still pretty certain she had made the right choice, and taking it at her own pace was probably the best way as well. Sure there were a lot of powerful people around that could be trouble if she didn't figure out things quickly but, she also had made some friends that she could reach out to for help when it came down to it. Thinking back to Kiuchi, she wondered if he would know anything about this weird feeling she was getting lately. He had mentioned something about the mirror space being potentially dangerous at times but she hadn't had much time to process all that since they had been running away from that bear thing.
She had felt hunted then too, but at least the thing that had been after them was tangible and easily heard. This feeling was unsettling in a whole new way. Powering up, she looked again at the mirror and watched for the things she had seen in the corner of her eye. The mirror just stood there silently like the open portal it was to her when she was powered up. It beckoned her to enter, giving her that weird sentient vibe she had taken notice of as she started to mirror walk more and more. Stepping through carefully, she focused on the rooftop across town where she frequently took photos of the stars. She was more aware this time though, the feeling of hands grasping at her noticeable and a soft voice tickling at the very edge of what she could hear. It was whispering to her but she couldn't make it out and by the time everything was happening, it was over and she popped out at her destination.
Something was very wrong and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she stared back at the mirror she had come through. This time she had caught something rippling across the mirror, it looked like long shadowy arms as they pulled back towards the edge of the mirror and out of sight. That was not something she was going to test out again. She didn't even know where to begin with prep on how to deal with something like that. Trembling slightly, she guided herself down onto the HVAC on the roof and pulled out her phone. She shot off a text to Hybris first because she was worried about him, making sure to send him a photo of the fresh bruises that were showing on her wrist.
Something is going wrong with the mirrors, please be careful if you go through them.
Next, she texted Kiuchi because she really needed to find out more about what was going on. If she had gotten Remarque's number she probably would have called to freak out about it although she probably wasn't as much of a priority as someone who had been around longer.
Can we meet up, something is going on weird with the mirrors. I want to learn more about that space you brought us to and what might be going on. Something grabbed me when I was mirror walking, look what they did to me.
She had sent the photos to him as well before she looked up at the sky. She would find a way to handle all this, she just needed to find out more information. Maybe asking for a buddy when going through the mirrors wouldn't be bad, at least for a little bit. It was a bit embarrassing but she hoped it would help.
Wordcount: 1,021
