Chapter 3: Reflection

After what seemed like forever, Dahlia finally reached her house. She opened the door, and then slammed it behind her. Then, she ran up two flights of stairs with her red hair flowing behind her.

By the time Dahlia had reached her room, she was completely out of breath. Her braids were ruined, her eyes were permanently widened from panic, and her soul, if she even had one, was troubled and stressed.

Dahlia sat on her bright pink bed, and reached for the phone on her nightstand. Quickly, she dialed a number, and put the house phone to her ear. Ring after ring passed by, and Dahlia was afraid no one would answer.

Meanwhile, in a mountainous place called Hazakura Temple, where people of all ages studied vigorously to become spirit mediums, the cell phone of Iris Hawthorne started to ring.

Iris Hawthorne was Dahlia's twin sister, but there personalities varied greatly. Iris, unlike her sister, was kind at heart, and cared about many people and their feelings. Iris loved her sister, despite who she was and the things that she had done. She usually did anything she asked; considering Dahlia was the closet person she had to family.

With one glance at the caller I.D, Iris sighed, but didn't dare to ignore the call.

"Hello?" Iris asked into the receiver.

"Iris. It's Dahlia." She said while fiddling with the telephone cord in her hand.

Iris didn't need to ask why Dahlia had called, because it's the same reason every time. She needed a favor.

"Oh… hi, sister. Have you gotten into trouble… again?" Iris asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Drop the attitude Iris. I'm in a foul mood, and you don't want me doing anything I'll regret." Dahlia sounded angry, but there was a mysterious grin that crept upon her face.

"….I'm sorry, sister. I didn't mean that." Iris said in her artificial, sing- song voice. Secretly, she feared her sister, but she loved her with all her heart.

"Iris listen very closely. I need you to come down to California as soon as possible. It's an emergency."

Concerned, Iris asked, "Dahlia, what in the world happened?"

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "As if you don't know. I mean really, Iris. You're smart enough to figure it out. There was incident… Where someone knew way too much. I had to take care of them before it got any worse."

Iris looked down, and sadness washed over her. "I see." She replied. Iris was secretly very upset. Every time her sister asked for a favor, it was because some had passed. Iris had a big heart, so she always prayed for the people who have died.

"So you must come down to she temple by tomorrow at the latest. I need you to come down and pretend to be me, just for a while."

Iris was completely taken aback by this preposition. Pretend to be her? This was ridiculous! She could never pull off such a thing! But of course, she couldn't tell her sister this. "B-but sister! My training! I can't just leave in the middle of-"

"Listen, Iris!" Dahlia snapped, full of rage. "You won't tell me what you can do and you can't do. I'm in charge of that. And forget about your foolish training! It doesn't matter! You can't even channel a single spirit! What kind of a spirit medium are you. All you are is a giant waste of time!"

Iris had no reply. When Dahlia got upset, she learned to take a breath and wait for her to calm down.

After about 10 seconds, Dahlia spoke again. "Iris. I'm begging you. It's just until suspicion of the murder dies down. Iris you're the only one that can do this for me. Please, Iris. Please." Dahlia smiled. This always put Iris in a position in which she couldn't refuse.

Iris hesitated. What to do, she thought. Basically, Dahlia was asking her to take her place, and risk getting arrested so she could be innocent. She didn't want to go through the physical and emotional trouble that went along with accepting the preposition, but she really didn't have a choice. "I'll be there be tonight… I can catch the 5 o clock train."

Dahlia picked at her nail. She knew her sister couldn't refuse. "I knew you couldn't say no. Your job is relatively easy, be me. Also do you remember the necklace Aunt Morgan gave to me as a birthday present?"

"The gold one with the blue bottle? Very much so!" Iris said, not exactly sure where this was going.

"Well it's gone! It's hanging around the neck of some stupid schoolboy. You need to get it back. There's a deadly poison in it. Get it back, or I'll get it back for you. Speaking of which, you should play around with the boy. You two are going to be.. "in love"."

Confused, Iris replied, "…Yes sister… I will be there in a number of hours."

"Right." Dahlia said. "Oh, and one more thing! Change the color of your hair. It has to be as luscious and red as mine. Yours is just… black. Also, ditch the spirit medium clothes. And the dumb glowing thing you where around your neck. If your going to be me, you need to dress like me too."

Before Iris could reply, the line went dead. She put the phone down, and sauntered into the bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror. It is true that she looked like Dahlia, but her long black hair lacked the shine Dahlia's had. She undressed out of her spirit medium clothes, and changed into jeans and a t-shirt, which Dahlia had given her in case of emergencies. As she clutched her Magatama in her hands. She thought Dahlia was right. She was useless. She couldn't even channel a spirit, even though she was only at Hazakura temple to pray for her sister's sins.

Looking at her reflection once more, she tried to picture herself as Dahlia… but it was rather impossible. She wasn't the slightest bit like her sister. But she would have to do.

With one last glimpse of herself, she stepped out of the temple, well aware that she had now become Dahlia Hawthorne.