Till Life Do Us Part

After.......

Thursday 21st June, 2012

She was in front of the mirror again. This was always how it started. Her reflection stared back at her. It was her and yet it wasn't. Her reflection was dressed in a sleeveless, deep red satin dress with a hip length slit on both sides that exposed long shapely legs. Her real legs were no way half the length of that. In the mirror, her hair was jet black and cascaded down her back in beautiful, thick waves and her skin was tanned and seemed to glow from within. But her eyes.....her eyes were the same sapphire hue and as she stared into it, she felt a deep sense of recognition and for a minute, she accepted that this was indeed her reflection.

"Why do you keep on denying yourself the truth?" Her reflection asked with a mocking inflection in her tone and a smirk on her full, blood red lips. Her voice was low and sensual and was like nothing she had ever heard. The conversation was always the same and she knew exactly what they were going to say to each other before they even said it. "I am you, Danica, and you are me".

"You lie" She replied even though she sounded so unconvincing even to her own ears. Her reflection chuckled softly and c****d her head to the side arrogantly, gazing down her nose at her, a smirk still on her lips.

"Are you trying to convince me....or yourself, my precious?" She asked with laughter in her voice. She extended her hands and Danica saw that she wore so many c******g, gold jewelry on her wrists and her long fingers were adorned with at least 5 heavily bejeweled rings on each finger. "Take my hand, take my hand now and see the fallacy of your own words".

She tried to hold herself back but found herself extending her own pale hands, which looked even paler in the overly bright lighting of the room. She never stayed asleep enough for their hands to touch but she knew something unwelcome was going to happen once they did. And so she had promised to hold herself back the next time she dreamt of the girl in the mirror again. But just like every other time, she couldn't help the force that lifted her hands and slowly drew them towards her reflection's outstretched ones. It was a good thing she always awoke before they came in contact.

Feeling her hands still moving forward almost as if they had their own will, she closed her eyes and awaited the sensation of falling that always led to her waking up. She waited....and waited.....yet nothing happened. Snapping her eyes open, she noticed that her hands had passed the usual limit and were barely 2 inches away from the reflection's hands now. Her eyes widened in fear and she tried to pull back.

"N....no....no. This can't be happening" Panic rose in her chest as her hands edged even closer. Surely she would wake up now. She always did. "WAKE UP!!!!!!" She screamed to only God knows who even though a deep part of her knew no one could hear her. "No...no....WAKE ME UP!!!!!!!!!!!"

And just at that moment, their hands finally touched on the surface of the mirror that seemed to ripple softly like a veil in a soft breeze. Her eyes widened and she held her breath in anticipation of.....something. She didn't even know what she awaited but.......something. Then the beautiful feeling of numbness came suddenly. It started from her hands and up into every corner of her body it crept and left her feeling so blissful and floaty and.....painfree. She eyed their conjoined hands warily and when nothing else happened, she looked up to meet the reflection's eyes and once again, she was creeped out at the startling knowledge that she was staring back into her own eyes. The reflection smiled softly and whispered.

"See? It's beautiful right?"

The invisible force was just about to make her nod stupidly when she saw the reflection's smile widen and suddenly, she was falling forward. Then she was in so much pain that felt akin to burning and the only sound she could hear was her own voice screaming to hoarseness and her reflection's deep throaty laugh echoing all around her.

••••••••••••••••••

She awoke with a mighty start from the bed but weirdly felt like she was still on fire. She looked down at herself and saw that her practical nightshirt and pants weren't aflame but were definitely soaked in perspiration. She never sweated. Her head felt fuzzy and she tried to comprehend her surroundings. She was in her room in the Police Academy female hostel and she wasn't alone. She quickly darted her gaze around to make sure she hadn't woken anybody up and thankfully, all three of her roommates were still asleep. Reaching for her glasses, she climbed down from the bed, slipped her feet into her flip flops and made her way to the adjoining toilet with no need to turn the lights on. Her roommates had discovered how badly she suffered from nyctophobia in the first week of their enrollment into the Academy and had been kind enough to actually agree to always leave the lights on. It had taken a bit of effort getting Laura to agree but in the end, the lights of their room had never been turned off again.

She made her way into their small restroom and proceeded to splash water on her face at the wash hand basin. She splashed and splashed till she could finally breathe without feeling like she could smell ashes. Slowly, she raised her face to the mirror. Her blonde hair was ruffled and looked like a bird nest hanging down around her face. Through her red rimmed glasses, she stared deep into her own eyes. She wanted to look away but something compelled her to keep looking. Then suddenly, everything hit her and she felt like the air had been knocked out of her.

Falling into the mirror.

Her entire being going aflame.

Laughter ringing out behind her scream.

Snippets of the dreams she had had all her life coming together to form a picture she very well understood.

Seeing faces.....recognizing them subconsciously

Scenarios.....as familiar to her as the palm of her hand.

Hysterical laughter as she felt the heady feeling of being intoxicated.

Power. Authority.

The man......being in his embrace

Losing herself in his green gaze.....feeling loved, betrayed, angry.....

Pain, oh so much pain everywhere in her.

Her eyes.....her stomach......her face contorted in pain

Her own face, in a mirror, in a dress like starlight, eyes sad, mouthing the words "Nothing can be done my Queen".

Bliss....then the fire was there again. And then.....stillness.

Everything was suddenly so still that she thought she could hear faint ringing in her ears. She was clinging onto the enamel basin, breathing heavily, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest. She blinked once...twice....then slowly rose to face the mirror again, still leaning most of her weight on the basin.

She had always felt a deep sense of obscurity that hovered around her, making her wonder exactly who she was aside the perfect daughter of the Parishes. Now looking at her eyes once again in the mirror, she felt the veil of obscurity fall away and in that moment, she knew exactly who she was.