Chapter 11: On the Other Side
“Who’s going through first?” I ask.
“I will” Josh volunteers as he stands walks towards and through the mirror with ease.
“Is it really that simple?” Sam asks.
“No, Not the first time.” I reply. “He’s had practise.”
Sam looks at Laura and they shrug. Laura steps up to the mirror first and places her hand on the glass and pushes. It takes her five minutes but she slips through. Sam follows suit. She’s scared at first but soon crosses.
“My turn” Tish grins as she walks towards the mirror. This time she places both palms and pushes. She goes through a lot quicker than Sam and Laura.
“Go on Tommy” I indicate at the mirror. He smiles encouragingly and follows Tish’s method. He soon slips through. Just me left.
I stick my head outside the shack door in case Joe is around. No sign of him.
I sigh and walk up to the mirror. I stroke the glass and my hand slips through. Josh was right. It does get easier.
Once again I feel like I’m wading through thick soup. The glass is cold to my skin and when I’m halfway through I once again see nothing but sparkling glass and my reflection, many multicoloured images like a kaleidoscope, and then I’m on the other side.
The minute I’m with everyone else I get a sharp shooting pain in my head. I cry out in pain and collapse to the floor. As soon as it appeared it disappears. What the hell? And then I realise, I’m going to die because my reflection is dead. Didn’t I hit her in the head first?
I stand and pretend I’m fine as the others look at me in confusion.
“It was just the telepathic link reinstating” I lie
“But you don’t have a reflection?” Tish asks.
“I know but the link still exists.” I smile flippantly. I then catch Josh looking at me. He knows I’m lying and that I’m dying but he keeps quiet.
I look at our surroundings. Same old shack.
We all walk outside and through the trees. A gasp of horror erupts from all of us. There are nearly no buildings left. Debris clutters everywhere and nearly everyone is a refugee. They have nothing now.
“Come on” I mutter. “We need to hurry.”
We walk briskly seeing more destruction with each street we walk. The air smells of smoke from the fires and people are clutching what little they have in boxes. Nearly everyone is covered in grime, children are crying, everyone looks weary and the weak are left to die. Everyone is now poor and they all stare at us like hungry vultures. To them we look rich. We hastily quicken our pace.
Their protesting has really taken a toll on this world yet the leaders are oblivious. They are still going to kill those on the other side even though killing everyone here would be a mercy.
Tish is softly crying. She has always been kind hearted and seeing this is too much for her. I place a comforting arm around her as we walk. I then get another sharp pain in my head. I groan and clutch my skull but keep walking.
“You ok?” Tommy asks.
I nod. “Getting a migraine” I say through gritted teeth. The pain once again quickly and suddenly fades.
“You have a bruise on your head from before” Josh notes as he stares at me sympathetically.
I sniff dismissively and quicken my pace.
