Chapter 13 Mykel
"what ritual?!"
Frozen in place, my legs felt like they were rooted to the ground, refusing to move no matter how much I willed them.
My chest tightened as panic surged through me, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst.
Every breath was shallow and quick, and a cold sweat broke out across my skin. The world around me blurred, and all I could focus on was the people rushing toward me, helpless and trapped in my own fear.
They were all old people, silver long hairs, silver long beards wearing a black cloak.
Pain shot through my arm as something sharp sliced across my skin.
“Ah!” I hissed, clutching the wound.
Blood trickled down my palm, hitting the mirror floor with a soft pat.
The moment the drops touched the ground, the darkness trembled.
Like something smelled me.
Like something woke up.
The dozens of red eyes widened.
Then hundreds more blinked open.
A low hiss rippled through the void.
“Blood…”
“So warm…”
“So cursed…”
“Give her to us…”
My body shook. My knees buckled. “Stop… stay back!”
But they moved toward me—
, slow at first, then fast, too fast, shadows crawling like spiders across the melting mirror floor.
I lift my legs to run, thankfully it moved this time.
My legs felt like I was running through freezing water. Every step dragged.
“VINC!” I screamed, tears blurring my vision. “VINC WHERE ARE YOU, LETS ESCAPE TOGETHER?!”
“Rain.”
I whipped around.
I saw my brother, not Vinc.
My brother, Ryan was bound, kneeling.
His head lifted slowly.
“No… no…” I whispered, heart breaking.
His eyes… weren’t his normal eyes.
They glowed red like these old people.
“Rain…” his voice echoed, but it wasn’t his voice. “Come to me.”
“Ryan?” I took a step backward.
He smiled. Slowly breaking the chains that tied him.
He stretched his hands to me but someone came in between us, hitting Ryan's hands with a sword.
“That isn’t your brother.” The intruder said.
It was the vampire from the alley. The one who knocked me out and told Annabelle my blood is bitter.
He stepped out of a mirror that hadn’t existed before, boots clicking softly, long black coat brushing the ground, eyes glowing like molten silver.
He grabbed my arm.
“We’re leaving.”
“No no!” I yanked away. “I can’t leave him! I can’t leave Ryan, besides I have to find Vinc!”
“That,” Mykel said, pointing at the chained figure, “isn’t your brother. That is bait.”
The creature wearing Ryan’s face twisted its head 180 degrees and smiled at me upside-down.
“Rain… come play…”
My scream lodged in my throat.
“No time,” Mykel snapped. “Move.”
He grabbed my waist and dragged me backward.
But the shadows surged toward us, crawling, slithering, screeching, tasting my blood in the air.
“Her blood is powerful, I want to have a taste.”
“She’s ours,”
“Her curse feeds us,”
I tripped, falling onto the mirror floor.
Pain detonated across my knees and blood smeared beneath me.
The shadows went feral as something punched into the ground beside me. A black lightning exploding outward.
Mykel bared his fangs, eyes blazing silver.
“Touch her and die.”
The shadows shrieked and recoiled as if burned.
But more came.
Hundreds.
Mykel lifted me effortlessly. “Lets go.”
“I can’t, what about my brother.” I sobbed.
He hissed. “Cry later, but we have to survive now.”
He swept me into his arms and sprinted through the shifting corridors as the mirrored world warped and screamed.
Behind us the creature wearing Ryan’s face screeched:
“SISTER! COME BACK!”
I broke.
Tears streamed violently as Mykel dragged me out of that nightmare, my body shaking.
“I’m not leaving him,” I choked. “Not alone.”
“Rain, listen to me,” Mykel barked, voice slicing the air. “Your brother is not in here. That thing only uses the memory of loved ones to lure cursed children.”
“Cursed…” The word tasted bitter.
“Yes. You.”
Before I could respond, a violent tremor shook the entire mirror realm.
The ground cracked. Shards of reflection burst upward and a portal of blinding gold light tore open ahead.
Mykel shoved me toward it. “GO.”
The shadows lunged for me at the same time.
I screamed.
And then I fell.
OUTSIDE THE MIRROR
ROSEE'S POV
“Rain… Rain!”
I slammed my fists against the mirror again.
The crack had spread across its surface like a spiderweb.
“Fu-k!”
I backed up and sprinted at it, shoulder-first. The mirror didn’t even tremble. It's like it was deliberately avoiding me.
My real power was dead silent inside me.
Sealed and contained.
If I had even a fraction of what I used to be…I would’ve shattered the mirror.
The house, or even the entire town.
But all I had was a pair of useless hands wrapped in leather gloves.
“Rain, answer me!”
Unexpectedly, the mirror flashed gold.
A body burst from it and slammed into me.
We tumbled across the floor.
My breath knocked out.
Rain groaned on top of me, shaking, blood dripping from her arm.
My heart clenched something it never did.
“You...” I began, but froze when a second figure crawled out of the mirror.
Mykel.
My jaw tightened. My fangs descended inwardly.
“You,” I spat. “The parasite from the alley.”
“Miss me, dracula?” He smirked.
My blood went cold.
Before I could respond, a monstrous hand shot through the mirror, grabbing the floor.
Huge terrifying claws with teeth on them.
A creature forcing itself into our world.
Rain screamed.
Mykel stood in front of her instantly. “Stay behind me. I will protect you.”
The shadow creature lunged.
I stepped forward too, instinct overriding everything.
Even without my powers, I would fight with my bare hands.
Mykel threw me a wicked look.
“No power? A shame. Guess I’m babysitting two people tonight.”
“Shut up,” I growled.
The creature attacked fast.
Mykel blurred, dodging.
I tackled it physically, punching with everything I had. It sent me flying backwards across the room.
I hit the wall hard, breath ripping from my lungs.
“ROSEE!” Rain cried out
Mykel grabbed the creature by the throat and slammed it into the ground, fangs flashing.
The monster thrashed and hissed:
“THE CURSED CHILD BELONGS TO US!”
Mykel ripped its head off.
The entire mirror shattered and there was silence.
Rain collapsed onto the floor, sobbing, trembling uncontrollably.
I stood slowly, chest heaving, eyes locked on her.
“Rain…” I stepped toward her, something foreign, worry tightening in my throat. “Are you hurt?”
She looked up at me through tears.
“You didn’t save me…” she whispered. “HE did.”
I stiffened.
Mykel smirked behind her.
“And she’s welcome.”
I turned to him sharply. “Why did you take her?”
Mykel tilted his head, eyes gleaming.
“Because she is not yours, dragon.”
Rain blinked in confusion. “What do you mean dragon?”
“Nothing.” I snapped. “He’s delusional.”
Mykel laughed softly.
“Oh no. I know exactly what you are. And now,” he pointed at Rain,
“they know what she is too.”
I froze.
Rain looked between us, her voice barely audible:
“What am I?”
The question hung in the air.
Right as the broken mirror glowed again, forming new cracks.
Not toward us but toward her.
Like it was calling for her.