Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1)

by Clairisa Campbell

  I felt nothing out of the ordinary about our path. I knew the way between the school and my place well very well.

  It was when we got near my apartment and passed it is when I started to get concerned.

  “Loic, what is going on?”

  He held up his free hand. “Just a second.”

  That second turned into minutes of his eyes constantly moving searching each street and corner for something. The dread and silence continued through each scan. About ten minutes of walking, we stopped at what looked like a nightclub. The outside looked bright. The lights were a mix of pink and yellow neon that wrapped around the door and windows. Everything else looked dark, almost pure black, putting all of the available focus on these lights. There was the thump of muted music as well, cushioned by the closed doors. Between the poisoning, lights, the thumping and the tension of passing all the safe havens I had to get here, I was disoriented and confused.

  Loic looked behind us again before pulling me inside.

  The inside of the club was dim. Red and blue lights flashed against the walls, illuminating small seating areas that were full up just outside of the large crowd that surrounded us. Additional strobe lights blinked above us. This did not help how I felt. This was all too much after almost being eaten.

  "Why are we here, Loic?"

  "It's safe here for the time being."

  "Wasn't the bar place?"

  "The bar is supposed to be secret.” He rolled his eyes slightly, most likely not even realizing he had done it. “Didn't want the Formless sniffing around.” His eyes narrowed. “Rakesh doesn't need to find the rest of them. The same goes with your apartment. Once I know the streets are clear, then I can bring you back."

  He gently led me away from the door and we approached the start of the dance floor that was full of people. He looked back towards the door behind us, and his face tensed tighter.

  "Well, seems some of your new bar friends followed us.”

  I turned and saw the group that approached me earlier. The tall, dark-haired man led his mixed group into the club and started looking around. I caught his gaze between the strobe lights as their eyes started to shift colors, almost matching the red lights against the wall.

  Loic cursed. “I was hoping to lose them by going this far. I thought something might be following us, but I never thought it would be them. Odd, I thought they were Originals." Loic pulled me further into the crowd. I looked back at the group and there was something unnerving about them. Their eyes all looked blood red, but I wasn’t sure if that was the case or it was the lights doing. The lead man already had black hair when I first saw him but did all the others? Looking at them now they all looked different now. The previously ethnically diverse group was now looking darker somehow. Muted greyish skin color, black hair and that red stare. That was not how I remembered them looking at all…

  I frowned. “Something’s off about them. They’ve changed…”

  “You're telling me, Princess. I always warned them about letting Originals in the bar.”

  “Why do they?”

  “A few find the entrance while it’s open. Can’t block out everyone.”

  I sighed. figures the one time I’m outside of my apartment this late I nearly die and gain some stalkers, and Juliet wonders why I choose to be a homebody. I knew that was a solid plan even before all of this magical destiny with a sprinkle of risk of death was served to me. Loic held me close. wrapping his arm around me and pulling me under his arm, tight against his body Loic blended into the crowd by swaying and bobbing lightly to the music, simulating dancing.

  "Come on. Dance with me, princess."

  "I-I don't dance." I still felt woozy from earlier. The lights and sound had not been aiding to nullify this fact. What was he thinking?

  "Oh, come on! What do you mean you don't dance?" He said through his teeth. His eyes shifting between me and the crowd.

  "How can you think about that after what just happened?"

  "Yeah, out there. Not in here.” He grinned. “Relax"

  "No, I... something feels wrong.” I swallowed. “I sense something, I think one of them are here."

  “One of…?” he paused waiting for me to answer.

  The feeling of dread concentrated at the entrance. My glance landed to where the strange men were standing. I didn’t feel this the first time I saw them. Why now? Why now did the Formless feelings surface in the forefront of my mind?

  “Formless,” I whispered.

  Loic stopped and spun me around him. I moved from under his arm to being hugged by both of his arms and my hands resting on his pecs. His hands rested on the small of my back and I felt one of his fingers against my skin. There must have been a burn hole in my shirt from the attack earlier. He felt warm, almost calming. he glanced down at me; his eyes narrowed. I wasn’t sure why, but he seemed taller from this angle. Was he really a whole head taller than me or did the sudden spin make my legs cave a bit? Trying to follow Loic’s gaze in the flashing light were nearly impossible. I could only see people in the crowd. He seemed to be seeing past them somehow. Then Loic moved backwards through the crowd, pulling me further into the crowd away from the entrance.

  "Loic, stop it! I told you, I don't dance."

  “Rayne, the last thing we need is a panic.” He added in a muffled tone close to my ear.

  Loic’s playful, sarcastic attitude now disappeared, and his strong intimidating expression returned. Loic hugged me tighter to his chest as we squeezed through the crowd of dancing people. We slipped through easily as we barely took up the space for one person. No one seemed to pay us any mind and let us pass. I looked back at the men from the bar. The tall, dark-haired leader was now cutting through the crowd as we were. I focused on them and a chill ran up my spine. The leader’s smooth, black hair became disheveled and his eyes began to shift into a brighter crimson red that could be seen in the darkness between each light burst. His followers began to shift as well, matching his black hair and red eyes. The closer he got to us the stronger a smell in the air became. A mix of tar and musk. Was that coming from him? Now the man’s eyes were completely blood red, similar to the eyes of Formless.

  “Loic, do you see them?”

  Loic nodded and leaned towards my ear. "Act natural princess, but yes, those men are possessed by Formless."

  "What! Possessed? It can happen that fast?"

  "It must have happened after we left the bar."

  As soon as he said it, I saw that all seven men had a large suffocating shadow around them. I gasped, fighting back the urge to throw up again. Loic turned me to face him.

  He held me close to him, and I felt warm. Was he doing something with his magic? It didn't take long for the nausea to fade. The warmth was almost too comforting like I could melt against him. He must have noticed my grip tightening, and the warm feeling stopped.

  "Ready to fight, milady?"

  I shook my head. "But I can't, Loic. Those are Formless, how can I fight them?"

  He silenced me, covering my lips with two of his fingers. My hands gripped his dress shirt, and I pulled myself closer to him to feel safe. I trembled. Loic sighed and put his hand behind my head. There was a strange feeling coming from his fingers that seemed familiar. The only thing that came to mind was when he showed me that memory on the ferry.

  "How about dancing instead?"

  That's what he meant? How was dancing going to save us? I thought back to his fighting style. His actions seemed to make much more sense now. He danced and fought at the same time.

  My head pounded. He smirked and whistled. The DJ heard him and changed the song.

  "There, the perfect song for you to get loosened up on. And not a bad Capoeira song."

  "Seriously?" Of all songs to be played it was some sort of dance club remix. A semi-annoying pop song that played on a constant loop in every store back home. It was even one my mom started to like, thinking it was cool.

  He rol
led his eyes. "Okay, I know it’s lame.” I was only able to queue what was next on his list, so we have to work with it. Get ready."

  The song started. The pulse of the music pounded through the floor, drowning out the rest of the noise in the room. Only the song remained for a moment. Loic got the men’s attention by gathering aura in his hand raising it over his head. and snapping his fingers. Light flashed, and the Formless instantly turned towards it. The other people in the crowd moved back with murmurs. Loic then lowered his hand and yelled something in Portuguese.

  He shouted at the men, and they only seemed to get angry at us.

  "I didn't know you knew Portuguese," I said.

  "You learn a lot when you look through a mirror. However, I only know a few choice words. Come on, I'm sure they're pissed now. Get ready, princess."

  The men separated the crowd and circled around us. The Formless' smell grew thicker to a point where I couldn't breathe. Loic held me close, putting his index and middle finger on my forehead. I felt a quick shock, and then I suddenly knew as much as Loic did about Capoeira. I felt a tingle flow through my body at that moment. Like some sort of force was making me stronger. I could do this.

  The men approached. The song beat picked up, and my feet began to shift back and forth. Loic smiled and took the lead. He flipped over the men and began kicking them to the beat of the song. Ideas popped into my mind. Things to do with my aura, as Loic did. When the men focused on me, I got into the beat and focused the magic I felt, my aura, in my palms and feet. My aura created small blade like shapes around my limbs. the possessed men surrounded us while blended to the crowd. Six pairs of red eyes could be picked out as I surveyed, leaning back to back with Loic. Loic moved, leg sweeping a man directly in front of him. I turned as he pulled away from me. I watched Loic as he fought. The aura he gathered in his limbs turned into small aura blades, just narrowly missing the men, but hitting the Formless cloud around them, causing damage with each move.

  Then I cartwheeled and kicked a man trying to get behind me.

  Bam! I hit the man with a solid kick to the face in time to the drum beat of the song. My aura cutting through a black smog that began to form around them. The image became clearer as I focused each attack, cutting the smog and avoiding the man’s skin. I saw that they weren’t moving as fast when the smog around them was severed. That was how I could end this. I glanced and saw Loic’s flames cutting through the smog in similar patterns. So that was how you did it. The possessed men had no control over what they were doing now. I wasn’t about to condemn them for that. My own aura seemed to glow brighter to me as the realization hit that I could do this without actually killing anyone.

  Elation filled me. If it wasn't for the fact Formless were trying to kill us, this would have been fun. I followed Loic’s lead and soon he was shouting out hints to join him in his attacks.

  He would gesture and hold out his hand and when I took it, he would spin me around him using the aura in my feet to force the men back before closing the circle by pulling me close to his chest.

  Then there were five.

  He’d let me go and let me kick another of the men who approached after the team kick. Other times We flipped over each other and attacked all sides of us with sweeping low kicks. Then we formed a perfect circle around us while we were back to back, taking down several Formless.

  Four, then three remained standing.

  One charged in. Loic grabbed my arm and pulled me away, using the momentum to kick the Formless with full force. I rebalanced myself and rejoined him as he stood back up. I caught my breath for a moment, leaning against his back. He held himself still giving me that small chance to relax before the remaining men moved again.

  When only two men remained, they got more aggressive and they targeted me more often. The two Formless stood side by side and started swinging large black claws made of smog, formed over the men’s hands. The smell or tar and gasoline was strong, the formless side becoming more prominent, as the swings got close. The hands swiping at me became more claw like and turned black. They both attacked and clipped me several times. Cutting parts of my clothes. The closer they got, the harder it was to keep up my attacks. Soon, I lost my rhythm and fell to the ground, smacking the back of my head against the dance floor.

  The ringing started as intensely as the headache. I blinked to stave off the pain and darkness only to see the leader of the group approaching me.

  The man mocked me in Portuguese as they loomed menacingly over me. His speech was not only in his own language, but it seemed to be echoed by a rough garbled voice that spoke in English. Like a translator speaking for him. “Now you’re mine princess.” Fear immediately twisted my gut into a tangled mess. I tried to slide away from him, but the dancing crowd blocked my escape. I attempted to kick him, but my foot met with no resistance. My head pounded. I’d missed him.

  The man hovered over me and tried to grab me. My vision blurred. Loic ran over and kicked the man, sending the Formless cloud flying, having it turn to dust in mid-air above me. The man fell to the ground hard beside me. His nose was bleeding, and he didn't move. The crowd seemed scared as they watched everything happen, most likely not seeing the magic elements of our battle. The few I saw looked down at the unconscious men and back to us, no longer swaying to the beat of the song.

  “Like hell, she’s yours...” Loic spat. His voice fading in and out along with the music.

  His face was stern and battle ready. But when he met my gaze he softened. His face showing genuine concern and worry. Relief filled me. He was alive. I was alive. The pain from hitting the floor continued to spike.

  Soon sounds started to blur and merge together, the music faded to silence. Loic came over to me and tried to get my attention by tapping my cheek lightly and snapping his fingers above me. He guarded me keeping me still against the dancefloor. Everyone around us faded to darkness first, only he remained in my view. He spoke to me quietly as my awareness faded.

  "I'll meet you on the other side."

  I saw him take the stone with a quick tug it broke free from its string and my neck. if he took it, I wouldn’t be bound here. My world then faded to black. Why was he sending me to Isha’s?

  'Wait, what about you?’ Was he going to fight the rest of them by himself? How many were left? Was it just the one? Were the others really gone? ‘Loic wait…’

  ~

  The water of the in-between greeted me again. The voice of the shadow wasn’t there this time. Instead, there was a light that looked like it was holding me. It was the shape of the woman that I thought I saw during that first attack. I remembered the event; Loic taking Juliet’s mirror, chasing him into the alley then seeing the two huge formless. This woman shape appeared when I had blacked out then to. She turned away from me back then but here she was so close. I still felt groggy, the same as when I hit the floor in the club. The light cradled me and making the dizziness fade.

  I looked to try and see the form more clearly, but I couldn’t turn my head that far without feeling the dizziness return.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  The woman didn’t answer me, but the voice of the shadow man did.

  “I should be asking you that.”

  The woman vanished; I swished my hands around me feeling resistance just like I was in a pool. I moved and forced myself to turn to see the shadow man. I flinched, but he didn’t seem to react. The form didn’t have many features. Just a blank face with two bright red eyes that narrowed and widened as he spoke as if he was trying to squint to see me. he had no nose and no visible mouth. His frame was large and tall, but I couldn’t tell much more.

  I felt the pulse in my heart. My lungs hurt from the instinct to hold my breath; did I really need to here? Or was I holding my breath to keep silent from fear? The shudder I felt in my muscles told me I was afraid, but I needed to face this. I couldn’t linger in silence. I wanted answers. Who was this man? What was this Night Mirror he
mentioned? And why was he looking for it? Loic said it was part of the reflections curse somehow, but he didn’t say more than that. I played around with the idea to just ask. But I needed to know the bounds of this situation.

  “C-can you see me?” I asked, my voice echoing through the seemingly empty space, unhindered by the water.

  “No.” the shadow admitted. “but I can hear your spirit.”

  “Yeah, just a lost spirit.”

  “So, my search brings me here,” the shadow paced. “This is getting nowhere.”

  “You were looking for something called Thgin Rorrim, right? What is that?”

  I avoided saying it unmirrored, just to be safe. The shadow turned to me. “So, you were here. A lost soul that does not know of Thgin Rorrim. You must be from another world. Eno htiw on tsol setag ro syek. Am I correct?”

  “Um, well.” I didn’t want to give anything away. I didn’t know who this shadow really was? If the experiences I’ve had over the last few days had taught me anything, it was that one should be wary of shadows.

  “I…can’t recall.” I finally squeaked.

  The shadow didn’t shift. He seemed to accept my answer. I felt the water squeezing me under its surrounding pressure getting to me now, my held breath tried to sneak out and tension pinched my skin weighing it down. I knew I couldn’t stay long.

  “I know, I can’t stay still long…” the pain squeezed my words against my throat.

  “Ah indeed, neither can I.” The shadow grumbled. “Perhaps our paths will cross again, lost, forgetful spirit.”

  He couldn’t stay long either. Was this shadow partly like me?

  I couldn’t take much more. I reached up above me hoping for something to grab. Hoping to reach up and take someone’s hand, a lifeline, anything. I closed my eyes and managed to grab something. I felt the pressure lessen.