Chapter One: The Mirror

Alice Carter currently found herself lying under a tree with little to no breath, the shadows loomed over her like a cloak and the wind brushed past her face icily, this was it she was about to die, the trouble she had been running from had certainly found her but maybe it served her right for getting involved in business that wasn't her own. All she had to do now was to try and survive for the last length of the journey she had ahead, to find the final reason as to why she was brought to here in the first place, the young girl wouldn't give up - she wasn't a quitter especially now she was so close to unravelling the truth. She closed her eyes and led in pain as she tried to divert her mind to wander, trying to figure out how it all began and where it had all gone wrong.

The auburn haired girl had been sorting through some old, worn plastic boxes containing photographs and other memorabilia that had been collected over the years, to keep or throw away, it was an average weekend where her father worked away as a "very important person, in very high power." - at least that's what he told her, however she wished he would tell her the correct term for his job, the twelve year old was grown enough to know what it meant - he was in infact a politician or maybe a lawyer, or a policeman. Alice knew that whatever this career was, it required him to be away from home a lot and that left her with the house keeper, Mrs Mullen's or Margaret as the young girl liked to call her.

Quickly batting her cat's tail from out of her face as she finished the sorting, she placed the remaining things that she was keeping back into the box and sealed it, shuffling it over to the corner of the room with the other three and finally stood, taking a moment to catch her breath from all the heavy work. Finally another task had been done, a task that she had been putting off for weeks.
"Alice, dear. Are you done?" Called a familiar voice from just across the hall, Margaret's infact.
"Yes, Margaret. I'm done. I've just got to put them in the attic later." She responded, poking her head out from the room and giving the older woman a warm smile, only to get an over the glasses stare in return, the woman was far to busy cleaning to really acknowledge the young girl but was grateful for all of things she had done on that morning.
"Brilliant. You didn't throw any of your father's stuff away did you or your mothers for that matter? You know how upset they would both be to find the stuff missing." She reminded. "Not that your mother is around to have any say on the matter." To that statement the young girl simply rolled her eyes and responded with a quick. "No."

Melissa Carter was a public concern, her disappearance had attracted the attention of many tv channels, newspaper companies and other media headlines across the world, it hadn't been like any other missing person, this was odd. One minute she had been seen in a room of her house and the next she had vanished into thin air, becoming only a close memory to her loved ones. Alice was only two when her mother had gone, she didn't recall that much about her but that didn't mean she would cherish the 'memory' deeply by keeping her pictures and letters sealed away.
"I'm not that silly, they're put away in the box with the red tape on it." Alice then added after standing there for a moment. Luckily this earned a smile from Mrs
Mullen's before the woman took haste and moved on elsewhere - to the paddock to see the horse, Magenta, a rather odd name for a horse but with the pink fleckle in her eye it seemed rather fitting and it had certainly stuck. Alice was now left alone with her feline, Coco and had decided to retire to her room to get on with a project that she had been working on for school.

A hour had gone by and after many frustrated and excited outbursts later Alice was leaving her bedroom to trail back to the 'spare room' - the room in which used to be her mother and father's, of course it had all gotten cleared out after Melissa's disappearance and used for storage, after ten years people assumed that she wasn't coming back so it only made sense, no matter how upsetting it had been - they had donated most of the furniture to a children's home figuring out that they may make use of it. And in place of it, had stored several boxes, a computer, a step ladder and other bits, but one thing was left, a thing that her father, John had refused to get rid of. A mirror. The mirror that his wife had cherished, one that had been passed down through her generations and no matter what wasn't allowed to be touched - so there it stood in the right corner of the room, covered in dust and several cobwebs.
Alice however, ignored all of that and stepped into the room and back over to the boxes, she had seen something that would be useful to borrow for her school project. Rolling up her sleeves from her white cardigan, she then set to work at ripping the tape off every single box and rummaging around in them, looking for the thing, a necklace to be exact but it wasn't there, however sure she was at putting it in the keep pile. She then set about rummaging through the bag of rubbish in case it had accidently been put in there but it was no use, it was gone. "How peculiar." She muttered to herself, pushing the boxes aside once more and tying up the bag of rubbish, discarding it aside with ease. "It has to be here somewhere, I know I wouldn't have thrown it away or even left the room with it for that matter, have you seen it Coco?" She questioned towards her furry friend who had found comfort in lying on the window ledge and taking a peek at the neighbours in the garden below. Alice knew it was silly asking a cat who probably had no idea what she was talking about but she got a response at least, a simple one but it was still a response. Coco simply batted her tail from side to side and turned her head, letting out a small 'meow' and continuing to spy on the neighbours. "Oh thank you very much, how helpful of you."

Getting up from the floor and wiping the dust from her knees, Alice left the room, defeated, however she promised herself that she would take another look in a couple of hours or so, maybe she hadn't been looking hard enough but she had to find it, her father, along with Mrs Mullen's would go mad if they found out that may have lost it.

That evening after dinner and moments of thinking Alice had decided to try again, before bed wasn't entirely the best time to look the efforts and stress of the day were in full swing and the concentration wasn't going to be great but she had to try, this was her mother's most precious and favourite necklace. Walking through the arched, cold doorway she stopped and thought for a moment, maybe it would be elsewhere in the room. What if she hadn't seen it in the boxes? That was where she had started, looking all around the room, under and behind things to see if there was any sign of the necklace but there wasn't, sadly. Surely something like this couldn't just vanish but then again it wasn't that surprising since her mother had vanished without warning. It was no use, she would have to leave the room and come back again in a few days, she hoped that Margaret wouldn't have her put the boxes in the attic by then. Turning to leave, she hung her head in disappointment and descended across the hallway. By now it was late and she should have been in bed about three hours ago, but after the searching, time had just flown by, Mrs Mullen's had also popped her head in to say goodnight and had given her a puzzled lecture as to why she was emptying all the boxes again and Alice had made up some excuse that she found something in the keep pile that she wanted to swap for something in the throw away pile. What utter nonsense, but nonsense that kept the nanny unsuspicious and made her retreat to bed with ease.

This is why Alice grew concerned all of a sudden on her journey to her room through the dimly lit hallway, the house was silent but she could've sworn she had heard something or someone, a voice had whispered to her but maybe she was tired and allowing her imagination to get the better of her. Running a hand through her short, auburn locks she shook her head, promising herself quietly that there was nothing there, but after a few seconds it sounded again. There was someone with her and it wasn't Mrs Mullen's.

"Alice! Alice!" It called eerily from the spare room. No, she wouldn't fall under the spell of her imagination and tried to creep back to her room undetected. She was twelve and shouldn't believe in monsters or any of those silly things you think are real when you're younger but she did and it was quite real, actually. "Don't be silly, Alice, it's not real, there's nothing there. You're just tired. You're just.." She yawned. "Tired." then there was a cough, not just any cough, a raspy and rough one for that matter, it almost sounded masculine, did her father sneak in and she wasn't aware of it, but why would he be in that direction when his room was up the hall next door to hers? Still, the curiosity got the better of her and she paced back as fast as her tired legs would let her, back through the arched doorway and into the cold room that now seemed even colder than usual, why on earth had she been in this room so much today? It was only meant to be a simple task of sorting through a few boxes and leaving the room to collect dust for another few years but it seemed like something had wanted her to go there. Something was calling her, she was there for a reason.

Allowing her blue eyes to scan the room, she narrowed them ever so slightly trying to adjust her sight into the darkness and squinting once she reached the window, the light from the street lamp stood outside was blaring through, still at least it made it slightly easier to see. "Hello?" She asked, hearing the raspy cough again, Alice was beginning to grow scared and jumped slightly as she felt something brush past her leg which caused her to spring back in fright. It was only Coco however, it seemed like the cat had heard the noises too. The girl was now convinced that someone was in the house, if a creature that had better hearing than humans could hear it then she definitely wasn't imagining things. "Oh! Goodness, Coco you scared me." She whispered in a hushed tone as the tabby cat meowed in apology and explored further into the room. Soon enough another meow left the feline and she stopped to sit down by the mirror, wagging her tail angrily.
Blinking in confusion, the auburn girl focused her gaze around the room again, setting her eyes on the mirror once her cat had stopped by it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was still dusty, covered in cobwebs and rusted in the corners ever so slightly. Then she saw it, the silhouette of a man leaning on what seemed like a walking stick, beside him were two smaller figures, they were all stood, frozen. Like they were waiting for something.

"Hello, who are you?" Alice called again, this time more forcefully. It was important that she knew who she was dealing with, many other children would run but this curious girl wasn't about to give up easily, she had to find out who these people were her hand moved back to flick on the light switch only to reveal what she thought to be her dreams, a man all dressed in purple with dark eyes and short, black hair and two other shorter men, one with blue hair and the other with red, how odd.
"You finally noticed us then? Hello." The taller man seemed to say, finally moving to lean his other hand that had been resting on his hip to join the other on-top of his cane and taking a step forward and for a second Alice had to catch her breath, the movement made it seem more real, this wasn't her imagination. "We've been waiting here a while, I'm James and -" he then gestured for the other two to move giving a roll of his eyes as he stepped towards them. "I am James Kingsley and these are my two...friends, Caspar and Jasper." He introduced as the two sprung forward and waved to her with bright smiles on their faces causing James to shake his head and push them aside gently with his cane, not wanting any-more of their annoyingly excitable ways to be presented in-front of him. He then adjusted his purple tie with black lining around the outside before clearing his throat and beginning to talk again. "Sorry that we must come into your house at this late hour but we are here for something and I think you can help us."

"Help you? I'm terribly sorry, sir but I don't even know what you're looking for. I don't think I could possibly have anything here. Can I suggest trying somewhere else?" Alice picked up Coco who had been brushing against her legs. By now James had been watching her and gave another shake of his head in response. "No, dear, you can't. You see the thing we have been looking for is very important and irreplaceable. Something very precious and unique.I highly doubt it's in this house, but I really came to ask if you could help. Caspar and Jasper are good friends but they don't have a bit of knowledge between them."
"Sorry, am I hearing this correctly-" She placed Coco down and the cat returned to brushing against her legs. "-You want me to leave here and help you search for this thing? Where exactly will I be going too and how long for? Beside's I can't go with you, you're a stranger." She reminded, noting that they had only just met a couple of minutes ago.

There was no way she was about to leave with someone she had only just met and certainly not to another place other than her home, goodness know's what trouble she could land herself into. She decided to stay, for now. James smile faded as he heard her decline the offer, his dark eyes grew cold and he narrowed them ever so slightly in her direction showing his annoyance but he didn't let it last, with a short inhale of breath he calmed himself and spoke again. "Yes, I understand. You do have a very good point. Going with strangers is never good. However I am an old family friend, I knew your mother you see. A long time ago, way before you born." Alice placed her hand on her chin in a thinking position, almost like a man would do if he was stroking his beard. James seemed like he was telling the truth and he was a very interesting man but she was still hesitant. "Say. If I did go with you, then what about everything here? Mrs Mullen's will be extremely worried and so will my father once he returns from business."

James knew those kind of questions were coming, family questions. Luckily he had a plan that he hoped would work. "Don't worry yourself. Everything is taken care of, now do I have your agreement that you come with me to help find the thing? Xanthia could do with a brain like yours." Alice blinked in confusion. "What is a Xanthia?"

James simply chuckled, extending his arm out to her in a hopes that she would get the hint to go with him. Hesitantly she stepped forward, not before she stared at him for several seconds, of course. James' arm wrapped around her shoulders and gently guided her to the mirror. "That, is Xanthia. My home." By now Alice thought that this man was insane with what he was saying, this wasn't the thing he was claiming it to be! "I hate to be - doubtful and to tell you that you're wrong but that isn't Xanthia, it's just a mirror. One that's been passed down through generations." James face palmed, inhaling the last bit of patience back into his system. "No, no no, not the mirror, the thing inside the mirror."
"The glass?"
"No! Listen to me, Alice. We came to here, from another world. That world is known as Xanthia and it is sat behind the glass of this very valuable object."
With every word he spoke he sounded even more crazy, there was no way that a world could be hidden behind a thing that most people had in their house, this man was completely loopy and she was considering calling the police, what a nutter. "Hang on, so you're telling me that you came through that mirror and landed here in my room?"

"Yes."

"That's just insane and impossible." She disregarded, picking up her cat once more and backing away slightly. Another second couldn't be spent with this stranger, so just as she was about to turn and walk away Casper and Jasper blocked her path to the door and with that she let out a sigh and turned back around to face James. "Fine, say if there was a portal. How does it work?"

"Like how a normal portal works, dear Alice. You simply walk upto it, say the password and go through and it's exactly the same on the way back. Have you changed your mind about coming with us yet? Oh please, oh please." He almost begged, as Caspar and Jasper cheered in unison. "Please, Alice, please."
The young girl let out a soft exasperated sigh having no choice in the matter. If she was to say no then there was only a chance of them coming back again and asking her endlessly, until she gave in beside's she wanted to see if his claims about the portal were true. Shrugging, she gave a nod of her head which caused Caspar and Jasper's cheering to turn into loud excited shrieking. These two really were annoying. "Fine, alright." a quick agreement was made and she hoped that she wasn't going to regret it later on she also hoped that it was going to shut Caspar and Jasper up but that didn't seem likely at that moment in time.

"Brilliant. Now once you get to the other side, you'll find yourself coming out under a white blossom tree, don't go any further and wait for me there. Caspar will be sent along with you." James instructed, adjusting the white glove on his hands as he now stood up fully, allowing his cane to bare all of his weight. "Jasper and I will be along shortly."

Alice stepped upto the mirror with Coco in her arms and eyed the pristine glass that didn't have a mark on it her own reflection was noticed to be staring back at her, almost as if to say that it wasn't a good idea but despite everything her instincts she had agreed. "Wait James?"
"Hmm-?"

"You never told me the real reason as to why I'm being taken into Xanthia." She spoke, reminding him that perhaps he should tell her why he was turning up early in the morning and persuading her to go with him, hopefully the reason was good and that it would make her feel slightly better about going with him. Instead she just got a shrug and a nod to gesture her to go through.
"La Secreta Dentrano." Caspar whispered into the glass causing it to almost shatter away into what looked like clear ripples in the water, a slight whooshing noise was heard from the other end and a cold breeze could be felt. Alice truly had no idea how that had worked but was surprised by it all the same, amazed by what had just happened.

"Don't look at me, go on through. I'm right behind you, don't worry." Caspar ushered, almost like he was pushing her to go in with his bare hands. Coco by now had simply jumped down and made her way through having decided that it looked interesting and wondering if the new area had any mice to eat, typical cat. A meow could be heard faintly from the other side once she had reached it, signalling to Alice that there was no danger and passing through was incredibly easy, this put the redhead in a less stressful mode and with a deep breath she took a step through.

For a moment everything went dark, so dark infact that Alice couldn't see her own hand in-front of her face the kind of darkness that a person would only experience in nightmares. Pushing through what seemed like an invisible wall, the young girl squinted as a bit of light started to blind her - the light that was coming from the other end, Xanthia.
A few more steps were taken before she found herself standing underneath the willow tree just like James had promised and standing right beside her was Coco who seemed to be concentrating on trying to catch this strange looking bug with a black body and purple spots, almost like a ladybird but different.