3

The Face in the Mirror: The Betrayed

Pain. That was all she felt. It seared through her body, leaving her paralyzed. She tried to move, but could only cry out in anguish.

"Why? Why did you do this to me? I thought you loved me?" She screamed accusingly into the night. Her face, what was happening to her face? She dragged herself to a mirror, clawing at the floor as she went along. The person who stared back at her was horrid; it looked as if someone had tried ripping her face off.

"My… my face! Gahhhhhh!" Tears pushed their way out of her left eye; alas her right eye was no longer useful for the skin began to droop over it. She closed her tired eyes, practically drowning in her own tears. Hearing footsteps surrounding her, she gazed up at her so-called savior. He just stood there and smiled, by then she had realized it was hopeless and swore a revenge that was darker than the boughs of Hell itself.

~*~

Rei woke with a start, as sweat poured down her face. She gasped for a breath of air, struggling to make sense of what had just happened. She slowly climbed out of her bed, and opened a sliding door that led to the outside of the Hikawa Shrine.

She shivered, even though the warm air tickled her skin. Rubbing her hands on her arms, she attempted to calm herself down. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. She thought to herself. She swept back her raven colored hair and sighed. The dream wasn't unfamiliar; tonight it was just… different. She never had a dream like that before and was worried by the way it had felt so real. She could actually feel the pain shooting through her like a drug, and the anguish that the betrayed woman felt was enough to go insane.

Only one way to calm my nerves, she told herself. Walking as softly as she possibly could, she made her way to where she felt most comfortable… in front of the fire. Slowly breathing in, she calmed her mind and her shaking hands, all the while clearing her buzzing brain. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!"

She opened her eyes to the glowing flames, which dutifully reflected her soul. "N-no! Stop!"

She tore her eyes away, panting, and placed a hand on her chest. Her mind seeped in the images she had just seen; Mamoru walking into the pitch black, as Usagi lay dying, her face changing into a hideous replication of what Rei had seen in her dream. "Usagi! Mamoru!"

She hoped it was all in her head, but she knew the flames never lied. Blocking out this thought, she shook her head. She sighed, and got to her feet. Tip-toeing back to her room, she sat in the center of it pondering what the heck to do. She had almost made up her mind when a beeping noise came from her school bag. Shuffling the contents of her messy bag, she came upon the origin of the annoying beeping noise. It was her communicator.

She saw Makoto's face with a panicked look striking her face, "Rei! Rei?! We… help…wrong… Usagi…! Meet… at… my…."

"Makoto?!" Screaming into the device, she began to struggle to keep her composure. She could barely make out what Makoto was saying to her, and threw her communicator back into her bag. She dashed out of the temple and sprinted towards her tall friend's apartment.

~*~

Trying to climb several steps at one time, Rei tripped a numerous amount of times going up the steps to Makoto's apartment.

"Aghhh," she cried as she scratched her knee, clawing her way up the tortuous staircase. She reached out her hand to knock, but she didn't need to, Minako opened the door with a surprised look on her face. Rei let out a breath of air, and stared at Minako, who was diverting her attention away from Rei's peering eyes. The tension hung in the air between the two friends, Rei sensed something was terribly wrong. "Mina…."

"U… Usagi's… something is wrong with Usagi." Minako started crying. She left the door open and walked back into the apartment, leaving her priestess friend to follow. Rei glanced around the apartment, it was neat, with nothing out of place, but she was not concerned with that at the moment. "Usagi is back here with Makoto and Ami."

Quickly making her way to what apparently was a bedroom, Rei thought back to her dream. Please… please let her be okay. Rei's eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped them away. The atmosphere surrounding the room quickly changed once Rei stepped in. Relief washed over her two friends' faces.

"Rei-chan," Ami started "Thank God you're here. Maybe you can decipher what's wrong with her." Rei was shocked. If her genius friend Ami wasn't able to understand what was happening, how was she supposed to know?

She nodded anyway, "Okay I can take a look." What she saw next, made her yelp. It was like the scene foretold in her precious flames; Usagi didn't look like herself at all, in fact it was hard to even tell if it indeed was Usagi. She whispered to herself, "No…."

"Rei, can you tell what's wrong with her?" Minako placed her hand on Rei's shoulder, which immediately tensed up. Taking a step back, Rei began panicking and dashed to the living room. "Rei!"

Her friends quickly followed her, hoping to learn what kind of horror could cause their princess to look like this.

"I… I honestly have no clue what is wrong with her." Her voice, calling out from the face she buried within her hands. She tried everything she could to erase the images racking her brain, but they didn't seem to want to leave. Suddenly a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, so she glanced up to see Ami.

"You know Rei, anything you know at all, will be of some help." Ami flashed a sweet smile. Rei's eyes were cast downward, and she kept herself from shaking. My only information comes from a dream, they'll think I'm crazy if I tell them what I think has happened, she stated as she consulted with herself. Immediately she stood up and walked back to the bedroom. She gripped Usagi's hand, as she felt the light that once made her friend so unique begin to fade.

"M-Meatball Head?" She panicked as she saw her friend take a final breath, "Don't you leave us?! Don't you dare leave us!"

She placed her head on the bed, sobbing, "You said you would never leave us."

Ami, Makoto, and Minako stood at the door of the room, tears bombarding their face. Makoto walked over to Rei, surveying the final moments of her dear princess.

"What could have caused this… this horrid event?" Makoto cried, as she wiped away the tears that tattooed her face, "What's going to happen to us? To the world? How can we even tell Mamoru, he'll be heartbroken."

"Mamoru!" Rei shouted. My visions… they're coming true! Her friends stepped back from her, as they saw a frantic look in her eyes. She ran out of Makoto's house, making way towards Mamoru's house. She stopped for a moment and yelled over her shoulder, "I'm worried about Mamoru! We need to get there as quickly as we can! Please, hurry up!"

I hope I'm not right.

~*~