Chapter 1
excerpt of
betwixt
-1-
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I gazed between the robust woman and Caleb.
“Then why are you on the dresser?” She folded her arms, and looked steadily at me with her inquisitive eyes. “Look, I’m not playing games here, and I know you’re not insane.”
I knew I had to explain, but I wasn’t going to spill my guts—at least not yet.
“I thought I seen something in the mirror…I…I don’t know what it was,” I said in the best scared and quivering voice I could as I slowly got down. “It looked like a shadow.” I hung onto the corner of the dresser and let my body sway like I was going to faint hoping I wouldn’t have to fall to the floor in some dramatic way.
Caleb on cue came over and guided me to the bed. I knew it was a lame ploy, but effective. I’m glad I didn’t have to put my non-existent acting abilities to use, and drop to the hard floor like I had passed-out.
“It could still be the poison,” Caleb looked back at the woman who gazed down at me with raised eyebrows.
“Maybe, but I think it’s just the bloodline of Pandora at work here.” Her bright lips curled into a thin pink line.
“Pandora?” I shook my head.
“Yes, Pandora,” she said in a soft voice. “You may not know exactly who you are, but I can smell a descendant many miles away. Your blood runs weak with it, but still, it runs through you. And whether you knew the entity in your mirror or not, I know he was here, and,” she walked slowly towards the mirror and stood in front of it. “He’s still here, hiding.” She crossed her arms and swayed back and forth. “Come out little darling.” Her voice was playful, like she was trying to coax a small animal out from under a porch. “I know you’re here.”
I sat straight up as she gazed into the mirror with no response from Loki. She then waved her hand over the mirror making it ripple like silver water. She then turned to me and smiled.
“There, no more entities will bother you. I’ve sealed the mirror.” She brushed her hands together.
“What do you mean seal?” I asked with concern.
“No more entities can pass through this mirror. How do we know what his intentions are? You said you didn’t know what you saw in the mirror. I could sense plainly that it was an entity. What if he was after you?” She slowly stepped closer with her eyes zeroed in on me. “We have to protect ourselves here in Atlantis and we take every precaution to ensure our wellbeing. We want you safe as well, and now that entity is sealed in the mirror—forever.”
I could feel my heart pound in my chest as I sat with gaping mouth. Loki was trapped, and I had no way of getting him out. I tried to contain my fear that boiled hard inside of me. “You can’t do that!” I burst out, and then realized I had said it aloud.
The woman smiled. “Why, don’t you want to be protected from possibly threatening creatures? Or do you want to fight them yourself?” Her voice teased me as she raised her eyebrows.
I sat with quivering mouth as I gazed at her. “I…I,” was all that I could muster in response.
She continued to smile triumphantly at me. “I’m not here to judge or inquisition you. I want to help you Eliza Thorn, descendant of Pandora.” She reached for my hand and gently rubbed her thumb over it. “I know you’ve seen only fragments of the world that you have a very thin thread to, but nonetheless, you belong to. And I know who you were in the company of, and I know one of them was an entity that travels through mirrors.” She motioned with her eyes towards the mirror. “We don’t want to hurt you or any of your companions, Eliza, we want to help you.” Her words sounded sincere.
I curled my legs up towards my chest resting my chin on my knees. The position was comfortable, and found it soothing as I decided if I was going to give them any information. I knew by playing dumb, I was looking suspicious. I had talked to Gabe, and had plans of coming here. They knew I wasn’t totally ignorant of this magical and hidden world. It was a matter of how much do I want to let them know that I have knowledge of.
“I think,” I said slowly. “It was the entity Loki that was in the mirror.” I motioned towards the mirror. “He was at the hotel that Rosie managed. We were separated when we left the Underworld.” Both of their eyes were on me.
“Well, that explains the demon thorn,” Caleb said tapping the woman on the shoulder.
She glanced back at him. “Yes, but what were you doing in the Underworld?” She asked not releasing her questioning eyes from me. This woman was going to get all the information she could out of me, and I had to be careful, at least for now.
“A demon, the one that attacked me, came to the hotel searching for something it thought Rosie had. It took me…and…Rosie…” I began to shake and let tears stream my face, just for dramatics sake, but I really did miss Rosie. I wish she was here right now.
“I think that’s enough questioning right now.” Caleb nudged the woman out of the way and guided me to the pillow, even covering me up. He was right on cue again, and I was glad I didn’t have to cry any more than I did.
The woman gazed down at me with crossed arms and uncertain eyes. “For now,” she said. “I will continue in a few hours.”
“You’ll continue when I have said it’s alright.” Caleb’s words were stern as he motioned towards the door.
The woman shook her head and let out a sigh. “Fine, she’s under your orders, for now” she smiled at me with an arched eyebrow. “Then, she’ll be under mine.”
I watched her leave with a swish of her full skirt and a click of the door. I laid on my side and looked up at Caleb. He was by the mirror pouring something into a glass. I wish he would have left with the woman. I looked anxiously at the mirror wondering how I was going to get Loki out now. I was from the line of Pandora—whatever that meant. Maybe I could undo what she had done.
“Here, drink this.” Caleb handed me a beautiful etched glass with what looked like water in it. I took it, smelled it and gazed at the clear, benign looking liquid. I didn’t want to hesitate too much, and drank it all handing the glass back to Caleb.
“That will make you rest for a few hours.” He smiled as I felt I had just consumed poison.
“What?” I whispered without Caleb hearing me as he took the glass from my numb hand.
The last thing I wanted to do was rest for a few hours. I had to get Loki out of the mirror and leave here. I could feel the blood rush out of my head and my hands tingle.
“I’m sorry that they let her,” he motioned towards the door with his head, “question you so soon. Atlantis is a wonderful place, but I think it lacks grace and etiquette at times.”
I forced a smile as internally I tried to resist the waves of sleep that was forcing my eyes closed.
“You can probably feel that working, and on an empty stomach, it will be a little more effective.”
Great, just what I needed.
“I’ll bring you something to eat when you wake up.”
I closed my eyes and didn’t even hear or remember Caleb leaving when suddenly, loud knocking brought me to my senses.
“Eliza,” I could hear my name repeated desperately over and over again.
I opened my eyes trying to gather my thoughts, and then turned towards the person saying my name. It was Loki inside the mirror.
“Loki,” I threw the covers off and rushed over to him.
I stood in front of the mirror as he motioned for me to step back. “I thought things would never settle down in there.” He reached through the mirror and grasped onto the edge of the dresser. “There’s no time for sleeping, though you do look better than you did before—sleep must be a good thing for humans.” He stepped carefully onto the dresser and then to the floor in one fluid jump.
“You got out of the mirror,” I said amazed as I waved my hand over the glass. It didn’t ripple like before, and
all I could see was my astonished reflection.
Loki glanced between me and the mirror giving me a questioning look. “Tada!” He waved his hands as I continued to examine the mirror. “Really kitten, you’ve seen me do this before, and, you know who I am.” He twirled me around to face him. “Did they give you something? You remember me, don’t you?” He looked gravely concerned.
“The woman said she sealed you in the mirror and she did it with a wave of her hand.”
“I know she did and I got bounced around slightly, but she didn’t seal the mirror. Only someone trained in the magics can do that. And certainly no one from Pandora’s line can do that.”
“She said that is where I come from,” I gazed into the mirror and then at Loki.
“I don’t think it’s possible to come from a mirror.”
“No, Pandora, I come from the line of Pandora. Whatever that means,” I said turning to him as he went to check the door.
“Locked from the outside,” he said to himself. “Eliza, we have to get out of here quickly. This isn’t good.”
For the first time I could see all of Loki’s playful twinkle leave his eyes. Seriousness filled them as he walked over to the mirror waving his hand in front of the glass. “Atlantians make good mirrors, and this one,” he turned to me, “was made with entity specifications.”
“What do you mean entity specifications?”
“It means, entities only club—no humans or anything other than an entity allowed. The results could be disastrous for non-entities.”
“How are we going to get out of here? The door is locked.” I asked as Loki walked to the window.
“And we are a couple of stories up,” he said turning back to me. “Not to mention the grounds are patrolled and I don’t think they supplied us with enough sheets to make a rope.” He went over to the bed rummaging through the covers.
“Loki,” I said his name in a low voice. “What do we do?”
Just then, the door rattled with someone unlocking it. Our eyes shot to it then back at each other.
“No time,” he grabbed onto my wrist walking towards the mirror.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he crawled up on the dresser.
“Taking a chance—it’s the only way.”
He then slowly waved his hand over the mirror as the door opened. A cart with a tray of food complete with a bouquet of flowers was pushed into the room followed by Caleb. He didn’t notice us at first as he turned and shut the door.
Loki began to wave his hand quickly over the mirror turning the clear reflection of us to a blur that swirled into a blend of white, greys, and blacks—almost like storm clouds.
“Eliza, hey,” Caleb said as our eyes met for only a split second. “Release her!”
“Time to go!” Loki yelled as I could feel the wind from the swirling clouds sucking me in.
Caleb drew a small dagger from his belt and charged towards us.
“Sorry, no time to dual for the girl—nice try though,” Loki said as he grabbed my hand and we both jumped into the stormy mirror together.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.M. Gavillet lives in west central Illinois with her husband, two children, one dog, three cats, several ducks and two demanding guinea pigs where she drinks more tea than any sane person should and likes to play in the dirt planting flowers. She has been spinning stories since she was little, but only recently discovered her passion for writing.
You can find out more about M.M. Gavillet and her other novels as well as new releases on her blog at mmgavillet.blogspot.com
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