Chapter 4

Broken

Now that the night had come to an end, the interior of the mansion didn't look that haunting anymore.

Bayley put on her clothes she had put next to her bed earlier that night and took one more look out of the window. Even though the sight was stunning in the light of the sun, it did little to ease her anxiety. She had to face it; everything that was happening now was real. Demons did exist, she was taken to the Demon Realm and Undertaker wanted her to fight along with him to take out Konnor and Viktor.

There was no way to deny this, this was the harsh reality.

With her eyes slightly stinging due to the lack of sleep last night, the ponytailed woman opened the bedroom door and closed it behind her as she exited. She didn't feel the cold; Undertaker wasn't here. Thanks to the sunlight shining through the window at the end of the hallway, Bayley had a better view on her surroundings. Everything here in this mansion was antique, worn down, or a mix between that, making her wonder how old the mansion was. Either way, it did fit the Undertaker somehow; mysterious and a bit frightening. Bayley wondered what else the mansion had to offer her. What was hiding behind the doors of the other rooms in the hallway? The ponytailed woman wasn't sure if she wanted to know that. She walked through the hallway when she finally realized how musty the hallway actually smelled. The frames of the old paintings and a small table with a vase containing a withered flower in it were covered in a thin sheet of dust, as if it hadn't been cleaned in forever. Perhaps cleaning didn't matter much for the Undertaker.

Bayley reached the end of the hallway and went downstairs, the steps creaking while she was descending to the lower floor. It was completely quiet in the old mansion, like she was the only person living here. But Bayley knew for sure she wasn't alone. Somehow she could feel the Undertaker's green eyes following her. It felt like his eyes had burned into her mind ever since their eyes met for the first time before her soul was taken away from her body. Even his eyes were inhuman. Bayley wasn't sure to thank her 'savior' for what he had done. From one side, he had saved her from Konnor and Viktor... but from the other side, he had practically kidnapped her; he had snatched away her soul and taken her to his own world, ripping her away from family and friends. Gratitude or resentment... Bayley didn't know what to choose.

Arriving at the lower floor, the young woman decided to take a little look around the mansion. There were a few doors on her left, east from the front door. What was behind the door that was the closest to the entrance? Bayley decided to give it a shot. She still couldn't feel the cold, meaning that Undertaker still hadn't appeared yet... but why did she still have the feeling she was being watched?

Bayley walked over to that door and opened it. She blinked her eyes in surprise when she peeked in. It was an empty dining room. She got inside and carefully closed the door behind her with a soft click. Even though the dining room looked old and dusty like everything else in the mansion, it sure did look fancy. The dining room was huge, there was a long wooden dinner table with four chairs aligned on the two longest sides. A bowl with fake fruit was on top of the table, covered in a layer of dust. A golden chandelier, almost identical to the one in the hallway, was hanging on the ceiling, waiting for somebody to light up the candles so it could shine with its warmest light one more time.

Suddenly, the air in the dining room turned freezing cold, making every hair on the back of Bayley's head straight up.

He was here.

The Undertaker had appeared out of nowhere once again and was sitting at the head of the table, staring straight at the ponytailed woman.

Bayley managed to suppress a gasp of surprise just in time. But she quickly gathered herself and decided to be as polite as possible. Polite... but on her guards.

'Good morning.' she said, sitting on the opposite side of the table, facing him.

'We're you able to get some sleep?' the demon asked.

'Barely.' Bayley replied curtly. She was convinced Undertaker had been following her all this time somehow.

'I can imagine why. I suppose you are still upset about what happened yesterday.'

'You could say that again...'

Bayley let out a soft sigh. 'This is real, isn't it? I'm really in a different world...'

Undertaker nodded. 'Yes, this is indeed real. However, I must ask you one thing, young lady... What is your name?'

'My name is Bayley.'

'Bayley? Hmm... I see...'

'Is there something wrong with that?'

'No, not at all.'

The young woman stared at the table leaf, twiddling her thumbs as if she was deeply lost within her own thoughts. There was something that was bothering her a lot, it was one of the many things that kept her awake last night. It was Sami's wellbeing. Bayley had no idea whether he was alive or dead, the insecurity was suffocating her. She wanted to know so badly if he was okay; just catching a glimpse of him would be enough. Maybe Undertaker could help her with this...

'Undertaker...' Bayley asked, looking up. 'Can I ask you something?'

'What is it?'

'Is there some kind of way to look in my world? Do you know what I mean? You see, there's somebody I care about with my whole heart out there who was attacked by Viktor and Konnor before you took me here. I just want to know if he's okay, please, it's all I'm asking for!'

'There is a way to look into the Mortal Realm, actually.'

'Wait... there is?' Bayley blinked her eyes in surprise.

'Yes. Follow me.'

Undertaker got up from his seat and gestured to the ponytailed woman to follow him. She was a bit hesitant at first, but decided to go after the mysterious host; if he would try to do anything to her, she would run as fast as she could. Bayley and Undertaker left the dining room and crossed the hallway, walking to another door on the other side of the hallway. For a little moment, Bayley doubted whether Undertaker did exactly have some sort of device to look into the Mortal Realm or not. What if Konnor and Viktor were awaiting her in the other room, or maybe even something or someone even worse than them? It could be the paranoia creeping up again, but who knows what kind of things were awaiting Bayley in this strange world. And even if some supernatural being was ready to pounce at her once she was inside that room, Bayley would fight back and run as fast as she could.

'How... exactly can I look into the Mortal Realm?' the ponytailed woman asked.

'You will see.' the demon replied without turning his head to her.

Undertaker opened the door, allowing Bayley to glance inside the room. This mansion was apparently full of surprises. The entire room was empty, most of the wallpaper had been torn off the walls while the hundreds of pieces of dust looked like they were illuminating in the sunlight that was shining through the only window the room had. The only pieces of furniture were a wooden cabinet with a golden candlestick on top of it and, most interestingly, a mirror.

A mirror that would catch anybody's eye.

It was a large mirror with a silver elegant frame that was attached to the left wall, not far from the window. A person would see his full reflection in it if he wanted to take a good look at himself. The mirror was nearly magical, it was gorgeous; what was it doing in an old mansion like this? Could it be that it was really enchanted?

Undertaker guided the ponytailed woman into the room; after a few steps, they were both standing in front of the mirror.

'What's this?' Bayley asked. 'What am I supposed to do?' In the reflection, she saw Undertaker standing behind her and staring at her. God, she could feel his eyes burning into her, it almost send a shiver up her spine.

'In the Mortal Realm, people use mirrors to gaze upon their vanity. But here, in the Demon Realm, they can be used to look into other worlds.'

'Wow... really?' If she would ever return to her own world again, Bayley would probably never look the same way at mirrors again.

'All you have to do is touch the glass, say who or what you want to see and the mirror will show you what you wish to see.'

Sounded simple enough. But it turned out the mirror was indeed enchanted... for some reason, it didn't make Bayley exactly feel comfortable. Was there a catch? But at the same time, she wanted to see if Sami was alright... Bayley decided to give it a shot. She carefully let her fingertips touch the cold glass of the mirror.

'I want to see my boyfriend Sami.' she said with a clear voice.

She waited to see the face of her beloved redhead... but nothing happened. The reflection of her with the demon remained.

'What's wrong?' the ponytailed woman turned around with a confused look on her face. 'Did I do some-'

'Look.' Undertaker interrupted her, pointing at the mirror.

Bayley looked back to the mirror and gasped in wonder. Dear God... their reflections was slowly fading away, she could clearly see it! She watched as their reflections disappeared and made place for new shapes. It looked kind of hazy, Bayley had to slightly narrow her eyes to get a better view. Slowly the shapes started to become more clear to her. She could see a humanoid shape with what looked like red hair... that had to be Sami! Bayley's heart made a little jump; was he still alive? The shapes took a better form and finally she could make up what she was seeing. Judging by the surroundings, it looked like a hospital room. There was a heart monitor machine, a few empty hospital beds and a window with a faint view on the city. And there was Sami, sitting next to one of the beds. Bayley smiled from ear to ear as tears of happiness welled up in the corners of her eyes.

'Sami!' she exclaimed with a soft voice. Thank God, he was alive! The blood on his face was gone, the wound on his forehead must've been taken care of.

But the smile quickly disappeared from Bayley's face when she took a closer look on her boyfriend's face. The area around his eyes were red, as if he had been crying for hours. His face was so pale... how many hours of sleep did he have last night? He was staring at a person lying in the bed.

The young woman's heart skipped a beat.

Oh God...

It was her who was lying in that bed! It was her body that was left behind when Undertaker had taken her soul with him to the Demon Realm. She was sound asleep, an oxygen mask was attached to her mouth and she was clad in a hospital gown. Undertaker had said that she wasn't dead, so could it be that she was... comatose? Sami was saying something, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. He got up from his seat, leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead. A tear could be seen trickling down his cheek.

'No...' Bayley whispered in horror, shaking her head. 'Sami... I'm here!'

'Don't waste your voice.' Undertaker said. 'Even though you can see him, he can't see nor hear you too.'

'No... no no no, it can't be!' Bayley replied, her voice breaking. He had to hear her, he had to know she was trapped here!

'Sami!' Bayley started to hit the glass with her fists, panicking more and more by the second. 'Help me, I'm here! Help me, Sami!'

'Bayley, stop that!' Undertaker snarled.

But the ponytailed woman was deaf for his words, it was her panic that deafened her. She hit the glass harder as tears ran down her face. 'Sami!' she screamed hysterically at the top of her lungs. 'I'm right here, in the Demon Realm! Can you hear me?! Please say something, Sami! Sami!'

The fragile glass couldn't take the blows any longer.

It took one more pair of hits before the mirror cracked into hundreds of pieces. The vision immediately disappeared. Some pieces of the mirror fell out and hit the ground, breaking into even smaller pieces. A sharp pain traveled through the sides of Bayley's hands; when she looked at them, she noticed to her horror that they were completely covered in bloody cuts. The blood trickled down her arms, traveling to her elbows and dripping to the ground, coloring some of the small pieces of glass red.

'You fool!' Undertaker bellowed furiously. His loud voice made Bayley's cringe. 'Look at what you've done!'

Looking up, the young woman saw what damage she had caused. The mirror was completely shattered, making it impossible to see into other worlds. She had accidently destroyed the only thing that connected her with Sami... oh God, what had she done?!

'Give me your hands!' the infuriated demon snarled. He roughly grabbed Bayley's bloody hands, slightly increasing the pain in the cuts. She felt a little electric jolt in her hands; quickly afterwards, the pain in her hands had miraculously vanished.

While she was sobbing uncontrollably, Bayley didn't know what hurt the most.

The pain in her hands or the fact that Sami was unable to hear or see her.