Children of the Hidden Moon (IC)

The city was a hustling bustling hive of activity, depravity, hope, despair, love and hate. These emotions extended past the humans and animals, it spread into the very fabric of everyone's life. Buildings grew run down, businesses abandoned, revered places left to weather the elements. Sometimes, like humans at their lowest point, these places became gutted, hollowed out. Sometimes their shells were used as makeshift homes for the transients until the city saw fit to bulldoze them down. No one wanted to buy property in an area filled with empty buildings and little prospect of making a profit. It was a worthless cause, a waste of good money and effort. That was the general consensus of most of the business population, save one.

Caleb Wolfe was 'old money', he inherited it from his father who had received the lump sum of his fortune from his father. He grew up never wanting for anything, and spent his money frivolously. One of these grand investments happened to be a city block filled with run down and crumbling buildings. At the time, he had lofty goals in mind. He'd build a community center and park, it'd be good public relations for his then floundering business.

When the business finally went belly up after a long suffering decline, Caleb started to sell off sections of the block, one lot at a time. There was one corner lot that he could not bear to part with. It was the largest on the block, but what drew his staunch determination to keep it, was the old brick building that somehow managed to withstand the test of time. It was a four-story structure that used to house apartments, but had fallen by the wayside years ago. Caleb had fallen instantly in love with the curved windows, the smaller brick windowsills, the old style charm it just seemed to exude. Once Caleb stepped inside, his gut knew he'd never part with the beautiful piece of architecture.

One could not tell how special it was from the outside, it looked like a normal brick building. Only once inside could the small courtyard in the heart of the building be seen. It was open from the ground floor to the ceiling, with skylights allowing the sun to stream in past the accumulated grime and dust. In his mind's eye, he could see it thriving with small trees and lush grass. It could become a little slice of heaven for those that lived there. Caleb didn't know at the time just how important this building would become to him, but his instinct whispered soft promises of adventure.

Over the next couple of years, Caleb gave the building a heavy renovation, dipping into the last of his reserves to do so. He poured everything he had into the building and to this day, he still refers to it as the best investment of his life. It took one year to discover the old church underground. In the remodeling, he discovered a doorway that had been bricked up previously. Its hinges were rusted from lack of use and condensation caused by the elements seeping through broken window. The door creaked open to reveal a small L-shaped stairwell that led deeper into the ground. It opened up into a brick tunnel with burnt out lights swinging with the momentary breeze brought in from opening the door. The air smelled like settled dust that had been stirred into a fervor with a broom. There were smaller rooms to the left and right of the corridor, but the double wooden doors at the end of it all took his breath away with what lay behind it.

Past the doors that were as strong and beautiful as the day they were handcrafted, past the thick, dark wood lay what used to be a place of worship. Stained glass windows towered above, though the sun's rays never kissed the colored art. Instead the light filtered through bulbs, casting an eerie, but still beautiful prism of color into the church. Pews lined either side and a raised dais stood in front, the podium waiting silently to be useful once more. It didn't have to wait long.

Years later, the surrounding businesses never had a clue what really lay underneath their feet. The area was thriving again, prosperity back where there once was financial ruin. There were restaurants, stores, corporations, and then there was Caleb Wolfe's building. He carefully crossed his T's and dotted his I's, ensuring the place was licensed and labeled as a home for troubled youths. For all intents and purposes, that’s just what it was. Inside it worked much like some college dormitory, several different rooms spanning four floors. Floors two and up had four bedrooms and two full bathrooms each level, one for boys, one for girls. The ground floor contained the dining hall, living room, kitchen and 2 spare rooms that typically served as guest rooms or overflow when they were crowded. Not a usual occurrence. They were still finding the lost ones, the ones that needed their guidance and a place to belong. In time, they would find more than they could handle.

Periodically, they'd have actual guests residing there for a couple of days at a time. Family, friends, people who were 'in the know', kids who had grown up here and moved on into adulthood and their own lives. They were people Caleb trusted and depended upon their discretion. If he had the slightest doubt about a person, they were not invited into the circle. His dedication and diligence had to remain with the children of the home, Children of the Hidden Moon. This would be the foundation of it all. A new beginning, a sense of peace and strength, solace and comfort, companionship and family. A place to belong, a place to heal. More importantly, a place to grow and learn.

Everyone was expected to help and contribute to the family. Real jobs were often not possible until they had a good solid grasp upon their abilities, so they had to improvise. Caleb was basically a modern day 'Fagan'. He instructed the kids how best to use their powers; distractions, reactions, illusions, sleight of hand, or sleight of mind in some cases. They all helped to provide for the others, as a family. If they had to deceive the world outside to do so, so be it, as long as it didn't endanger the family or their home.

Caleb knew the world wasn’t ready to handle children with such gifts. Often their own families failed to nurture and provide properly, usually leaving broken husks of a soul behind in their wake of self-righteousness and prejudice. Now, Caleb Wolf may have his own reasons for wanting to help them out, some might even claim he had his own agenda. Maybe, but overall, he wanted to help those with special abilities learn how to control them and thrive in a world hostile to things and people who were so very, very different from the rest of them. Different and yet, deep down, when you clawed past the flesh and sinew, past the abilities that cursed as much as blessed, they were the same.

It wasn’t right. She wasn’t right, inside, outside. It was all mixed up, turned upside down and then some. Some days she could barely remember what side she was on. If it wasn’t for the visual changes, she wouldn’t be able to tell the two apart. There were other differences, if she lingered too long on the looking glass side. She didn’t want to remember those differences right now. There were other things occupying her thoughts.

She sat, curled up on the floor, knees pressed tightly to her chest. Her body rocked back and forth in the corner, making a solid thump against the wall each time. Arms held her legs as her face was half buried into the crook of her arms. Her mind was twisted and torn with what she saw. She shouldn’t have gone in. She shouldn’t have seen that.

They would do that to her next, if she didn’t get out of here. It was a poor facility, they didn’t even have real security cameras in the rooms, just fake ones to make the abandoned kids think they were always being watched. But she knew. She knew because she had risked it and slipped into the looking glass. She saw. And she knew.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she rocked, unable to make herself move and take action. She had liked Bobby. He knew what she could do. He was so sweet, always singing to her softly, making kissy faces at her when she visited him. And they.. oh god. They .. hurt him so. She had gone to visit only to find he wasn’t alone. No one saw her in the mirror.

No one saw her face turn to abject horror as she watched them hold him down. He was only seventeen, a year older than she, but he had a simpler mind. It worked differently, slower, but it made him all the more special. They didn’t see that. They didn’t see how special he was inside as they spilled his blood on the floor. They, who were supposed to watch over them all, provide for them, give them a safe haven until the day that maybe they’d find a family. They did this. They committed this atrocity on the boy she had come to love, on her Bobby.

Then he saw her, in the last moments of his life. She was going to slip out and try to help, but Bobby knew she’d only get hurt too. He mouthed to her as she watched in the mirror. Go! She hesitated, wanting to help, wanting to stop, yet powerless to know how to achieve that feat. Go. I love you. Go. The life in his eyes died then. He lay there, the last word he mouthed still shaping his soft lips. He wanted her safe, and so she ran. With a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries, she slipped away from his mirror and returned to the one in her own room.

She pushed past the looking glass barrier and crumpled to the floor where her sobs finally found voice. That’s where she lay for the next hour, sobbing until her tears ran out and her body heaved. Her Bobby was gone. She had no one now, no one to visit, no one to sing to her, no one to look out for her. She rocked in the corner, face tear stained and pale. Long into the morning hours, she sat there and rocked, grieving for a loss she never should have experienced. She shouldn’t have seen that. It wasn’t right.

In the light of the day, there was darkness. Shadows that played across her heart and her mind as her body went through the routine of the morning. Breakfast was cereal with slightly off colored milk. Her heart hurt so. Bobby wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be there. She’d not hear him sing a quiet good morning in her ear as he passed her in line. She’d not see the besotted smile he’d get when he was caught watching her. She’d not taste his soft lips upon hers in those stolen special moments when she visited his room. Bobby wasn’t there.

A few others noticed his absence, but no one thought to say or ask anything. They believed what the adults told them to believe. There would be an announcement soon. Alyce knew. She remembered the other announcements and painfully wondered what really happened to those kids. Her vision had been tainted, her belief made fallible. This wasn’t a haven, it was a cage.

It was about that time when the adults stood on their raised dais and called for the attention of those in attendance this fine morning. “We have an announcement to make.” Alyce hung her head, hair falling over her shoulders and barely missing the bowl of picked at cereal. Her eyes closed, those blue eyes that bordered on a shade of aqua, eyes that had seen too much, too soon, they closed as the adults continued to drone on with their oh so pretty lies.

“Bobby found a home. Isn’t that great news? Now, we should all be happy for Bobby.” She started clapping and it was a sign to the other children and teenagers to clap along. There were a few cheers, some even gave heartfelt cries of enthusiasm. "Bobby! Way to go!"She could not join in. Not even for sake of appearances. She couldn’t fake her feelings. She couldn’t lie within the falsehoods wrapped so neatly and tight within a shroud of pretty pretty deceit. Who wouldn’t want to think one of the older ones found a home?

She wished Bobby had. She wished to god Bobby had found a home instead of the brutal death she witnessed first hand with her own eyes. Her eyes. He had loved her eyes so. Would kiss her eyelids closed before they parted in those secret moments stolen. Her eyes. Saw him die. Die.

She started screaming then. Her hands moved up to press against her eyes, still closed so tight, as if that would block out the memory of his blood spilled on the floor. She screamed and screamed. Even when she felt the first adult move in close, feigning concern and care. She wailed in abject misery. They had to drag her from the table, her hands trying to claw out her own eyes. She didn’t want to see, didn’t want to remember. Her Bobby. How he had loved her. How she had loved him.

In the cafeteria, the other children sat a little restless, watching as the cereal bowl toppled over the edge, milk and cheerios falling, tumbling to the ground. It would be cleaned up soon. Three of the adults would be missing from that morning meal, or what was left of it. Three adults who sought to subdue a screaming Alyce in a room far in the back, away from the other kids, far away where sounds couldn’t be heard. Bobby wasn’t there and in the light of the day, there was darkness.

Misery faded into light. The day passed in a blur, drugs had been pushed into her system, sedatives they said, sedatives to help her relax, to get over the loss of Bobby finding a home. They said. She knew. Knew better and she wanted to scream it at them, make them tell her why they had hurt her Bobby. But then they’d know. And they’d hurt her too. Bobby wanted her safe. Bobby wanted her to run. Run she would, she’d break out of the cage, leave them behind. She’d never look back on the bloodstained orphanage that had been her home for too many years to bother counting now.

They left her, in the room, drugged and alone, alone with her fears and her tears. They figured she would be too out of it to cause any trouble. So in the room in the far back, they left her. Like they left Bobby, only she was still alive for now. She could hear him though, she knew what Bobby would have said. Run.

Limbs like lead, she struggled off the mattress. They didn’t restrain her, so certain of their drugs. They didn’t know what she had seen, what she knew. It fueled her determination to escape, to not end up like Bobby. She fell to the floor, but no one was within range to hear the soft thump her thin body made.

The room spun, she wasn’t sure which way was up or down, but she saw the mirror against the wall. It was on the other side of the room, which technically wasn't far, but it felt and looked like a thousand miles away. Her head rubbed along the floor as she began to crawl toward it. She wouldn’t stay here. They'd make her disappear, they'd claim she had ‘found a home’ and no one would be the wiser.

The thought to allow just that to happen had crossed her mind. She’d be with her Bobby then, wherever he was. She’d be with him, but he wouldn’t want that. The last seconds of his life, where those eyes were fixated on her, filled with concern and love, he wouldn’t want this for her. He wanted more. For him, she would fight for her life.

The crawl was slow, but steady. She broke a nail on her right hand, clawing desperately at the floorboards to get closer to the mirror, to her safety and hopefully her freedom. She couldn’t keep her eyes open. Her body was slowly losing strength the longer the drugs sat in her system. She pushed toes into the floor, she used her chin, anything she could do to help propel her toward that silvery surface, she did it, damage to herself be damned.

The doorknob twisted and the hinges creaked. She was still too far, her fingers couldn’t yet touch the mirror. Her heart raced, her body screamed at her to hurry, she prayed to Bobby to help her. Maybe he heard, maybe he had some influence, maybe it was just coincidence. But there was a voice in the hallway, as if calling to the person at the door, and the door halted its progress. They spoke, they talked, she couldn’t comprehend their words, nothing registered in her head save the mirror inches away.

Flesh touched silver, and it was a matter of seconds for the process to complete. The color faded from her skin in a slow wave that started at the contact point of her fingers, and then spread down her arm to encompass her entire form. The world spun and shifted, and within moments, she had been swallowed into the looking glass. The door opened soon after she made her escape, but if they looked, they’d still find her.

Alyce clawed at the floor. It was a strange reverse of the room she just left. Everything was as if someone took a photograph and all she that remained was the negative of what was left. The only light that filtered in was provided by the room on the other side of the looking glass. The farther she moved away from the mirror, the darker it grew until eventually it would be pitch black.

She could see the adults in the room. They were looking at each other, not yet at the mirror. She had time, she was almost into the dark. A little bit more, it was so close. She bit her tongue as she crawled along, her grip slightly slippery from the blood that came from the broken nail. She curled her legs just as they glanced in the direction of the mirror. Her toes slipped out of sight barely in time.

The commotion in the other room as the adults started to search for her faded into a soft dull roar of sound. She continued to crawl away from the mirror despite the cold chill of the darkness that began to seep into her body. Yet even with the cold, her soul felt warm. She made it out of there. She had to find another mirror, one she could slip out of, but she had at least made it out of that room.

The drugs though, were a complication. Her body felt too tired to move any further. Her hands hurt, her head throbbed and she couldn’t crawl any further. Not yet. She had to recover, but she was halfway there. Her Bobby watched over her. She knew it, she felt it. She’d keep running, she just needed a moment, just a moment or two. Run she would, she’d break out of the cage, leave them behind. Misery faded into light.

Dancing in the darkness, time blurred. It didn’t exist, space was infinite. The darkness ate everything, she couldn’t tell which way was up, down, left or right. So confused, so tired, so cold. Her body trembled in the pitch black of the nothingness that was the other side of the looking glass. There was no light, no other side waiting for her to find it, to beckon her. She needed the light, she needed the warmth. She couldn’t die here.

She refused to die here. No one would know. No one would look for her, could look for her. Bobby would not have wanted that. She had to keep moving. With a soft cry that didn’t travel very far, she continued to crawl through the nothingness. It felt like hours, days. Her stomach rumbled, her body ached and her hand hurt. It throbbed its rebellion and its own grief at the loss of a fingernail, two actually, for another had broken off abruptly somewhere along the way. It was gone, embedded somewhere in the nothingness. Forgotten and never found.

She couldn’t meet the same fate, she wouldn’t. Tears coursed down her face as she cried. Several times she stopped and curled into a fetal position, rocking and murmuring incoherently to herself. She tried to find some measure of comfort in sound, any sound. The other side of the looking glass filtered sound, trapped it near the source. She tried to keep up a constant stream of noise, but it ended so fast. Always fast. It died as soon as it was given voice. The nothingness toyed with her, like its puppet, or some used rag doll that had been abandoned in the sandbox of lost memories. She screamed. She cried out and yelled at the darkness. She cried out for her Bobby.

Something answered.

It was a small creak, nothing more, nothing less. But it was there and she didn’t make it. Her heart raced and her breathing stilled for the span of one minute. When she heard something else take a breath, she bolted. Alyce crawled straight ahead on her hands and knees, not caring how much it hurt. Something was there, in the nothingness with her. By her. She didn’t know which way, just that it existed was enough to create fear in her heart.

In all the times she slid through the other side of the looking glass, not once did anything else cross her path. Now, here she was, embedded in oblivion, and something else lived there with her. It could be behind, it could be ahead, but if she sat there debating which way to go, it’d surely find her. She didn’t want to meet it. Not here, not in this place. Who knew what madness dwells in the bowels of the orphanage? Alyce bit her lower lip, muffling her cry, drawing fresh blood.

The something roared.

She screamed, unable to help it, and tried to crawl faster. Then there was light, just ahead, it filtered through the darkness like a lighthouse guiding in wayward ships at sea. It had to be. It was her salvation, but it seemed so far away. Stumbling, she drew herself up to a standing position and ran. She ran for her, ran for her Bobby, ran for the something that she could hear behind her.

It was scuttling. Dear god. It had claws that click-clacked on the floor in her wake. Claws that wanted to rend her flesh and eat her heart. That’s what she sensed, it’s what she knew. Without question, the something behind her meant her harm of the fatal kind. And it was gaining ground.

She lunged with her fingers outstretched, bloodied and bruised as they were. The edge of the mirrored illumination reached and breached, and not a moment too soon. The something had touched her foot, a brief connection. It sent shivers up her spine at the malice it implied. She curled up in that light, breathing labored. It came in great big shuddering gasps of fear and pain. But the something didn’t trespass into the light’s realm, it click-clacked on the edge of it, hidden in the nothingness. It growled. It gnashed its teeth. It promised ill tidings to come, if the light were to disappear. She’d be swallowed whole by the nothingness, by the creature.

Alyce turned her face to the mirror that held her life in its hands. Like a negative photograph, she watched scenery race by. Muted hues merged until it made her head hurt, only to stop abruptly with a jolt that shook the inside of the nothingness. She shrunk into the light, the darkness having inched closer with the motion. Then the world tilted on its axis and she screamed.

Light, bright and brilliant flooded her senses as she tumbled out of the mirror. The moving men dropped the thing in surprise when a girl literally fell out of the silvery surface. It shattered, shards littered the ground and Alyce swore she could hear the thing howl in rage. She was already on her feet, running. Running away before either men could think to grab her.

Hair flew over her shoulders as she raced down the sidewalk and turned the first corner. People stared in startled surprise and some with disdain, but no one stopped her. The hounds of hell were on her heels, but only in her mind, a mind that lingered in the shades of the nothingness. It was there, the something was there. Alyce wanted to be here. It didn’t register for several minutes, that she was indeed here, and safe in the light, in the world. It was only when she reached the dead end of an alley that she found her pathway blocked.

Hands pressed against the red brick, flattening as she pressed against it in vain, as if it would move and show her the way. Shoulders shook as the sobs came. Torn free, like the fingernails of her hand, the sobs wrenched her body to the ground. She hugged herself tight, curled into a protective ball at the base of that brick wall. She was out. She was safe. She was alive. Her mind crumbled and her body gave way to the exhaustion. She heard voices, people, not just a something in the nothingness. They spoke to her, but she didn’t catch all of their words. She was so confused, so tired, so cold. She was dancing in the darkness.

Between earth and sky. Was there such a place? Alyce seemed to linger there, on the edges of the known and unknown. She heard voices around her, a quiet murmur if anything, the words incoherent, unrecognizable. All she could hear were her own imagined voices. Don’t stop running. You’re not safe yet. It was her Bobby. She wasn’t safe yet, she had to keep moving until he thought she was safe. Maybe then, just then, her Bobby would find rest.

Alyce opened her eyes to find a room of white. She had needles and wires attached to her that led to some machine keeping track with an electronic rhythm. She knew hospitals. Had seen a few in her day, but this wasn’t where she was supposed to be. Alyce slowly sat up, remembering, the mirrors, the drugs, the thing in the darkness on the other side of the looking glass. The last was the alley, and the bricks, so cold and unfeeling underneath the palms of her hands.

Someone found her, brought her here. If she was here, they’d be here soon. Alyce didn’t know how much time she had, but it was probably shorter than she realized. Go. I love you. Go. She nodded to no one, slipping her legs over the side of the hospital bed. She’d need her clothes. She couldn’t do anything in a hospital gown.

She had to disconnect the wires first. That would likely draw attention, she wouldn’t have much time at all. Blue eyes swept through the room, trying to find a likely place they’d have her clothes. There was a closet on the other side , not a guarantee, but the most likely place, or so she’d think. Common sense wasn’t at all common anymore though, Alyce had to have faith, just a little faith.

Like one of her favorite commercials, she counted silently in her head. One. Ta-hoo. Three. Three. She peeled the wires off of her, pulled out the needles and lunged for the closet while the electronic contraption screeched in protest of her actions. Her fingers fumbled at the doorknob but it was pulled open and her clothing jerked off the hangers. As a nurse arrived at the door, Alyce whirled with the clothing in her hands. One hanger toppled to the floor, the clanging from the metal hook seemed loud in the sudden silence as nurse and patient stared at each other.

“Hey. You need to get back in bed. Come on now, let me..” Alyce sprinted for the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. There wasn’t a lock, so she pressed her little weight against the surface, blue eyes wide and scared. She couldn’t go back, they’d hurt her like Bobby. Make her like Bobby. Dead.

She could hear the nurse and another, two more then, on the other side of the door. Niceties were tried first. They knocked and tried in their smooth voices to convince the girl to come out. “It’s good to see you awake. We need to check you over. You can get dressed, that’s okay, but can you come out first? Let’s get you back in bed and then we can make sure you’re okay.”

Alyce had precious little time. Soon the manners would give way to demands and then they’d force her, kicking and screaming from the room into the bed that would be the start of her death sentence. They had likely called the orphanage already. Alyce knew how things worked. The orphanage would claim she’s a runaway, don’t let her get away, they’d be here to pick her up. Alyce couldn’t have that.

Blue eyes settled on the bathroom mirror. It was her way out. It was also her nightmare. She knew now that there were other things in the nothingness. Things that meant her harm. As loathe as she may be to meet such creatures, the alternative was certain death. There really wasn’t a choice in the matter.

She darted toward the silver surface and reached out to touch it. Everything moved in slow motion. The doorknob turned, her fingers touched the glass. The door slowly began to open and their voices filtered through the room. The color faded from her flesh and spread down to encompass her form. Nurses stood in the doorway, their gaze sweeping through the bathroom. Alyce turned into muted hues of gray and white, even her eyes lost the aqua blue coloring as her head whipped around, staring at them with an open mouthed expression. A nurse rushed forward, thinking to help the girl. Alyce slipped through the looking glass.

The world changed, colors faded, like a negative of a photograph. She stood in the illumination on the other side, the bathroom mirrored behind her with the nurses staring with mouths agape. On their side, they could see the girl, standing in the mirror, clutching her clothes tightly to her chest. One nurse couldn’t seem to fathom it, and continually glanced behind her as if to put reason to the sight in front of her eyes.

Alyce looked to the nurses over a shoulder while she dropped her clothes and started tugging her jeans on. She didn’t care if they saw her naked backside, she didn’t even think of it that way. Alyce had to get dressed quickly and then brave the darkness of the nothingness until she could find a way out. There were several small lights penetrating the pitch black outside her current sphere of illumination, other mirrors, other reflective surfaces. A hospital would provide many places to escape from. She just had to find the right one. She had to find the one that would get her out of here before they could catch up, before the creature could find her.

As a security guard rushed into the bathroom to see the commotion, Alyce finished getting dressed. The Death Cab For Cutie tee shirt was tugged down, socks were pulled up and she slipped her feet into her worn tennis shoes. With one last look over her shoulder, hair falling down across her back and into her face, Alyce slipped into the darkness of the nothingness and out of mirror’s reflection. She had to keep running. She had to find safety. Maybe then, just then, her Bobby would find rest somewhere between earth and sky.

Bells were ringing. The sound, muted and filtered in the darkness, reached her ears. She had lost track of how long she traveled on the other side of the looking glass. She was always careful, watching out for the unknown entity that lurked in the pitch black depths. She was mindful of showing herself in the reflection of a mirror as she peeked into the light and the room on the other side. It wouldn’t do, not at all, to have someone look in their mirror only to see Alyce staring back at them. It would call the alarms, and people, and them.

This one though, she heard bells. Quiet bells, or quiet on this side. Cautiously, she poked her head past the edge of the illumination and stared into the room on the other side. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the area, just small altars and a raised platform with candles. It looked like a chapel she’d seen once in a storybook. The bells were emanating from the chapel somewhere, calling to her like a sign. This was her way out. She knew it the moment she saw a door along the far corner open and the outside world was glimpsed briefly.

Alyce darted back into the darkness, pulled her head back lest she be seen. She couldn’t be seen, not yet. She was almost there. Mentally, she counted to ten before moving to check the room again. There was one person there, appeared to be of the clergy type, attending the candles and making sure everything was straightened up. Go. Go away. She silent urged the person to make their departure. Otherwise she’d have to...

Something growled.

It was here. It found her. She didn’t feel it near her yet, but it was here. She sensed the malice it wrapped itself in. Alyce didn’t know what it was, or why suddenly it was here when all the times before, all the moments she slipped through the looking glass, there had been nothing but herself. Now there was this.. thing. She knew her time of waiting had passed when the entity gave a roar and she could hear the click-clack of its claws along the ground of the nothingness. Whether or not there was someone to witness it, she had to go. Now.

With a scream barely held in, she turned, pushing herself into the light and against the silvery surface of the mirror. The wide-eyed girl would appear to have simply appeared in the mirror one moment, then literally stepped out of it the next. At first, she was colorless, muted shades of white and gray. When her body ceased all contact with the mirror, the color washed in like a bucket of paint had been tossed over her thin form.

The clergyman was still there, he had dropped the candle as he watched this strange spectacle. Alyce didn’t pause, she ran pell-mell for that door and the freedom behind it. She ran past the man of the cloth and hit the door bar with both hands, only to rebound back several steps when it wouldn’t open. She pushed again and again, it was locked, it wouldn’t open from the inside without.. “Keys..”

She turned, her hair whipping around her shoulders. Blue eyes fell upon the clergyman who didn’t seem like he knew what to do. Her lips parted, her expression begging more than the heartfelt whisper, “Please.. please let me out.” He seemed undecided, hesitant, or just shocked at what had transpired in front of his eyes. “Please..” She was nearly in tears now. Felt like she would never stop crying, so much had happened in such a short time. Her emotions were shattered like the shards of a broken mirror. “Oh please. Help me. Let me out.” She kept pushing against the locked door, as if by some miracle it would just open.

Something perhaps in her tone, or the sheer desperation that lurked in those blue eyes, that expression, something spurred the man of the cloth forward. With uncertain hands, he found the keys he had used earlier and eyed the girl one more time. Before he could question the wisdom of his actions, the key was placed in the lock and turned.

She pushed open the door and daylight blinded her for a few seconds. Then she was running. Alyce ran away from the hospital, the nurses, the wires and electronic screeches. She ran from the looking glass and what lay beyond. She ran from the clergyman as he whispered, “Go with God.” She ran. And like some sign from above, the bells were ringing.

Fractured. She knew she was, inside, maybe outside. She couldn’t stop crying. Even as she ran until her body gave out, exhausted and in pain, she cried. By the time she drew to a stop, she was far away from the orphanage and the hospital. She didn’t know where she was, didn’t care. She missed her Bobby so. She’d give up her freedom if it meant she could go back in time and see him. Maybe she could save him then. Try to pull him through the looking glass before they came, before they hurt him. It seemed like a bad dream, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t.

Alyce couldn’t run anymore, she hurt all over, but her heart seemed the most painful. She slipped into the doorway of some shop, getting away from the small crowd of people making their way home at the end of their day. Bit by bit, she slid down the corner to the ground where she pulled her knees up to her chest. Arms folded on top, her face was buried into the crook formed there.

She had spent years at the orphanage, always too old to be adopted, too old to be cute, never wanted. Never loved, save Bobby. Now she truly had no one and nowhere to go. She felt like she had been cast away into some secret land of shame. Alyce cried in the doorway, unnoticed by those trying to get to their homes. No one ever reached out anymore. They didn’t care about some nameless waif sobbing in the doorway of some little known store. It would have delayed their trip home. It wasn’t worth the time, energy or hassle. She wasn’t worth it.

She felt that way too. Alyce lifted her head, bloodshot blue eyes watched the people passing. Some glanced her way, many pretended not to, though she could see their eyes pass over her, then away. She wanted to yell, scream, tell them all about Bobby and what they did. Make them listen. Make them help. But she knew they wouldn’t.

They’d look at her, just a child in their eyes. Yet she was a child that had seen so much, could do only so much. She didn’t fully understand why she could do what she did, or if there was more to it. Yes, the televisions all talked about mutants and the like, she knew the terminology. Not the reasoning. There had to be reasoning behind it, behind everything. She had to believe that because if there wasn’t, if there truly was no reason to the things that happened in life, then her Bobby died for nothing. There was no reason for his death, for his pain, or hers. She missed her Bobby so. She couldn’t stop crying. In the doorway of some unknown store, haunted, frightened, confused, Alyce Good cried. She was fractured.

Wolf

Caleb Wolfe had a knack for knowing who had a special gift, and who didn’t. The process itself took a little bit of time, a bit of studying. The small motions of the body, the inflection in tone, each small nuance made up a whole picture. It formed brushstroke by brushstroke, until the individual paint daubs finally meshed as a cohesive unit. Then, Wolf just knew and knowing was half the battle.

Wolf had been up and down this block a few times. Occasionally he’d catch the guy plying his magic show, like today. He stood on the other side of the street, a newspaper in his hands as he watched over the edge. The kid was good at his tricks, but how much of it were tricks, and how much something else. It was that -something else- that he was looking for. He lingered as the table was dismantled, removed as the rain opened up and cried over everyone. Paper folded and tucked, hands stuck into pockets, he simply followed.

Caleb hung back as he entered the alley, he watched as the can of pasta popped open in a mess of tomato sauce and more. Saw it slide down the wall and coalesce at the guy’s feet. He gave a bit of a chuckle when attention was turned his way. “Pity? No. No. More like a step up.” More bravado from the alcove, and Caleb moved forward. The light shifted over his features and with another chuckle torn free, he spoke.

Voice was low, quiet, not wanting to have his words carried past the end of the alley’s mouth. “Not here for you to prostitute yourself. No piggy impressions.” That drew a heartier laugh. “Just.. an offer. You need a place to stay. Food that doesn’t.. pop. And maybe..” Caleb paused, taking a moment to ensure others were not nearby. Only then did he continue, “Maybe a way to help you fine-tune those gifts of yours”.

“I’ve helped many like you. You'll have a place of your own, long as you help out with the others. Give you time, space, and resources for your abilities. If you’re interested, here.” He gave the kid one of his cards. Had his name and address written on the front and his cell phone on the back. “Or.. you can come check it now as that’s where I’m heading.” He gave a tip of his head, then started to head out of the alley at a leisurely place, should the kid want to catch up.

---

Alyce

Sometimes goodbye is a second chance. That’s all she wanted, another chance with Bobby, with a home, with a family. In the very least, she wanted a proper goodbye. It wasn’t going to happen. All of her chances were cut down, cut into ribbons, pretty ribbons of blood and flesh. She could feel them wrapping around her. Sliding silken snakes, slithering, strangling, smothering. Fangs bit, piercing flesh and injecting their poison into her system. Alyce cried harder, hands moving up and down her arms, as if that alone would keep the fiends away. Nails grazed flesh, marks left, red, blood welling under the surface.

Her head shook from side to side, violently, manifested madness. It ate at her, chewed at the bottom of her heart and tried to burrow its way deeper, leaving bits of muscle and blood in its wake. Her chest hurt, oh gods, her chest hurt. Alyce pressed her hands to the middle of her chest, pushed hard at the ache and pain that welled there. It wouldn’t go away, she didn’t want it to stay. Where was her Bobby now? She couldn’t hear him, couldn’t see his face in her mind any longer. Was he truly gone?

He was, his death, his blood. She remembered in a fresh wave of emotional agony, hard enough to buckle men under its weight. Gone. Little bird flew away, out of her reach, like a brass ring. He was her brass ring, he was her everything. Now she had nothing. No home, no food, no money, no love. No soul. Did she have a soul? Tears poured still, like the rain wanting to fall up above. It knew. The clouds wanted to weep with her. She needed someone to weep with her.

Alyce heard a voice, someone asking a question. To her, about her, yes, to her. Aqua blue eyes lifted, filled with watery tears, bloodshot from emotion that grew too great and had to overflow. She shook her head, curling up tighter into a ball. All right? No. No. Nothing..”Nothing will be all right. No. I.. gone.. I ..” Gone all of it. “And it hunts. It scuttles.” God it scuttles and howls with “Malice. Malice for Alyce.” She buried her face into the palms of her hands, weeping.

And somewhere, on the sidewalk, a would-be Samaritan pulls out their cell phone and dials 9-1-1. They speak quickly, reporting a public disturbance, someone possibly hurt, it was hard to tell. They gave the address of the shop and chop-chop they had to go. Say goodbye. Sometimes goodbye is a second chance.

Mind like a switchblade. Faces swam in a sea of confusion, voices outside, voices inside. She pressed her hands to the side of her head, pressing, pushing, trying to stop it all. She could hear the scuttling, no, wait. It was the sound of the people on the sidewalk, shuffling. They shuffled past, even the one who had talky-talked on her phone, shuffled past. They had to go, hurry hurry, busy bees trying to take home the honey. Tears still ran down her face, eyes fixated on the girl in front of her, but she wasn’t really seeing. She wasn’t really all there.

Then whispers, whispers came in a voice not her own and not of the something. Play along. Safe she’ll be if she plays along. Play. Hopscotch or go fish, no, not that. Had she ever played hopscotch? Likely not. Still, something in Alyce nodded her head and her right hand reached out and forward, toward the red headed whispering one. Fingers shook and trembled, her hand almost made contact before she pulled it back, fearful without warning,

It could be a trap, she could be from the orphanage, or the hospital. No, it sounded like she wanted to keep her out of the hospital, not of the white rooms and drugs. It was time to have a little faith. Bobby had faith in her, but look at where he ended up. A sob, broken and retrained, crashed against the inside of her ribcage. No, she couldn't think that, not now. She'd never stop crying. Again her hand reached forward, snapping like a snake to latch onto the girl’s sleeve. Her words were plaintive, pleading, pitiful. “Please.. Please.. I. I ..” Play along, cousin. “I got.. lost.”

Alyce did get lost. On the other side of the looking glass, she lost herself along the way. Dissected and separated, parts of her felt as if they were still there, behind, in the mirror. With the something, scuttling, howling, clawing for her. Maybe her soul shattered, spirit nothing more than slivers of silver laying on the other side with her two lost fingernails. She wasn’t whole, and she knew that. Alyce knew that all too well. She’d play along and go where the red headed angel or demon wanted her to go. It was better than here, the stoop of a store, crying, lonely, shattered. She wasn’t right, thoughts fractured, sliced and diced in a mind like a switchblade.

---

Wolfe

The man smiled warmly at the young man when he started to kid about the name Wolf. He chuckled, a good hearty sound that rumbled upward from the confines of his chest. “Well, it didn’t hurt, that’s for certain.” The kid had a good sense of humor and seemed extremely talkative, which usually meant the guy was likely tired of the loneliness the alleyways offered. There wasn’t a lot of companionship to be found on the streets, the city was a hard and unforgiving place to try and call home. However, they couldn’t stand at the mouth of the alley forever, a decision had to be made.

Caleb knew better than to try and force anyone to come along. He wasn’t without his own special means, but he didn’t use them unless the situation truly called for it. He was trying to show the younger ones control and if he couldn’t lead by example, then he wasn’t meant to lead, much less teach. He didn’t believe in that saying, ‘those that can’t, teach’. Forcing someone to go where they didn’t want to, or weren’t really sure, that just lead to accidents and misfortunes left and right.

He was just about to wish the young man well and head on back when the guy seemed to have reached a choice on his own. Caleb smiled, hands in his pockets, his gaze shifted between the one at his side, and the path ahead. He liked the setting of rules, it meant that Bernie, as the man introduced himself as, had a decent head on his shoulders. Grounded, he knew at least some of who he was. That was important as life usually grew more difficult here on out. Maybe that’s why so many of the older generation wished they could be young again.

“Of course, Bernie. No one is held there against their will. You can come and go as you please. However, we do have a few ground rules ourselves. There is no endangering the family or each other. You have a squabble, we’ll settle it together. You protect them, they’ll protect you. You have to earn you keep, no free rides here. Help out, keep to your chores, and the rest will all fall into place. There’s a couple there already, you’ll meet them if they’re home.” Caleb extended his hand, meeting Bernie’s to shake with a good firm handshake. The kind that made deals and didn’t break them, that was Caleb Wolfe.

A hand clapped the boy’s shoulder as the smile widened across his face. “Come on. I’ll take you to the home.”

Alyce

Devour. The fear wanted to do just that, devour her, but she held onto that sleeve like the lifeline it was. It belonged to the red headed one, the nice one, maybe. Maybe nice, she wasn’t sure yet but at least the girl didn’t scuttle. At least she was a tangible thing rather than lurking on the other side of the looking glass. In the nothingness, Alyce wouldn’t play along, not like here, not like now. She was a cousin, lost, but had found her way, a red headed way that was taking her home.

She walked close to the other girl, keeping her head turned away when they passed a reflective pane of glass or a mirror. Didn’t care to see the something in the nothing, she could hear it. Every now and then, there would be a low distant rumbling that haunted her subconscious. It was there and it was waiting. Alyce shivered and worked on focusing on the words the girl said as they climbed the steps of a brick building.

Quiet, serene, it stood upward like a beacon in a storm. Something about the place felt nice, felt right. Alyce relaxed slightly and the fingers finally slipped away, releasing the red headed girl’s sleeve. The lifeline wasn’t far, she could reach it if she had to, but the place, it sang to her. A lullaby, soothing and pretty, it filtered in and out of her senses as she looked at the paintings and furnishings just inside the front door.

The pounding on the door drew her attention with a snap. Then the jolly red giant shrunk to her level, speaking things of food and clothes and a room all her own. Blue eyes widened at that, her fingers flip flopping over each other as they twiddled incessantly in front of her waist. Alyce wasn’t sure how she felt about that, a room of her own. She had one, but it wasn’t safe, would it ever be safe? Anywhere she went, there would be the old memories, the haunting melodies of the nothingness, and the absence of Bobby.

Just thinking of him had tears welling in her eyes all over again. She hugged herself and rocked as she stood in place, waiting for this door to be opened. For the home to welcome her in, for people to feed her, clothe her, help her. She waited for a semblance of normalcy once more. Would she have it again? It felt so far away, just a dream, as if this reality was nothing but a black hole of turmoil. It was a monster unto itself that swirled in the darkest of blacks, waiting all hungry like, ravenous. It had one purpose and one purpose only, devour.

Wolf

Caleb kept heading down the sidewalk, back toward the home. He had to find Zachary and send him on another job later that day. He kept an eye on the young man at his side, as if expecting him to change his mind and stop walking in the same direction. Caleb hoped otherwise, it was important that they try to help those that needed it. Funny though, last week, he had barely any notion of anyone in the vicinity, this week, he had sensed more than a handful. Now it was a matter of tracking them down and making that first contact.

Zachary was good at that, making first contact. The boy’s skills played well into helping contain the scene and keep the subject at ease. Caleb preferred to try and contact them personally, but sometimes, either he was otherwise occupied, or the subject needed someone closer to their age to relate to. That’s where Zach and sometimes Roke came into play. Roke was… well, Roke was Roke.

Caleb chuckled as they arrived at the brick building. Surprisingly, the guy was still next to him, and that earned a smile. “This is it. Plenty of rooms inside for you to pick from.” His head tilted to the side a moment, his gaze on the doorway leading into the building. “I think you’ll meet a couple of our other residents fairly quickly.” And someone else if his senses were accurate. Interesting. “Come on in.” Caleb headed up the stairs and opened the front door, letting Bernie go through first. Already his voice was booming out, "Honey... I'm hooome" in a classic I Love Lucy accent.

---

Alyce

Cake or death. If someone asked that of her now, Alyce wasn’t sure what she’d actually pick. The memories washed through her again, mixing and dancing with things that howled in the nothing. She shivered where she stood, nearly cowering from the outside influences that wanted her to remember. She thought they wanted her to remember. Alyce didn’t want to remember. What would you do, if it was all up to you?

Alyce closed her eyes, her body moving forward then back, rocking by inches at a time. Her arms wrapped tightly around her thin frame in a self hug, for she had no one else to do it for her. A soft humming noise began to emanate from somewhere within, pushing itself to the outside. She hummed, the volume increasing until her body could feel the vibration of the action pulsing through her. It blocked out the memories, it shut out the howling, clacking claws. It kept her safe because Alyce heard Bobby’s gentle, melodious voice singing to her.

Every day, I will wait
'til you're mine again
I will die everyday
'til you're mine again
There's no words to explain
No beginning and no end
I will dream, I will pray
you'll be mine again

The tears stopped, blue eyes the shade of aqua opened slowly, blinking the others back into focus. She ceased her rocking, the humming began to ebb until it was just a faded sound held within, a memory to join another. And another. They piled inside her, held tightly and packed away into a bottomless hope chest, waiting for the day when they would see the light again. Bobby was in there, she knew it. He wasn’t dead, he was just waiting, taking his time, letting her see the world before coming to take her with him. Bobby was in there.

The corners of her mouth quirked, twitching in small stages until a full fledged smile crossed her face. And then she laughed. It bubbled forth, pushed past her grinning lips and spilled into the air. It was a light sound, growing steadily the longer she laughed. Her eyes twinkled with the merriment that filled her and she laughed to the heavens. She laughed at the heavens. Her Bobby was in there, she could hear him asking, Cake or Death?

---