Chapter Six

Nightmares Pt.1

The Mirrors

A/N

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting recently, the truth of the matter is, I had absolutely no way to connect the next major event to the last one. And having Roman figuratively yeet himself out a window into the abyss made me realize that that's what I should write about for this chapter. So sorry for the short and annoying one last time, hopefully I can make up for it with this chapter where I introduce way too many OCs, a change in scenery, and bust out another confusing twist that doesn't even fully make sense to me at the moment. Bear with me for a bit yeah? Love and affection to all of you.

P.S Flint and Lev were created by ReadingAnimeLover, two of her other OCs will make an appearance in this story and they're actually really important which is something I just decided just now, so… that will be fun… yeah?

Thomas was a metaphorical train wreck. Patton, in a last-ditch effort to try and help, told Thomas to call Joan and Virgil tried his best not to be too agitated by it. Without Roman balancing him out and Logic holding him down, he was having a lot of trouble controlling himself. There was no one to calm him of his fears, nor anyone to convince him they were founded in the wildest reaches of fantasy, and that meant his thoughts were everywhere, and felt much more realistic. He even accidentally blurted out that he thought Joan may be plotting their death based on a single text Thomas received during dinner. He did, however, attempt to ease up when Thomas called them. They told Thomas that if he was having trouble thinking and he was suffering from a total creative block that he might try to go get some fresh air out of town. Virgil immediately panicked and caused Thomas to politely say goodbye and hang up immediately. Patton, however, agreed with them and two days later found them in the front passenger seat of their friend's car heading to a small town to stay in her, to her description, exceedingly eccentric house. Virgil was not pleased, and the farther away from home they got, the more restless he became. The friend they were staying with was named Anya Harbinger, and she lived in a very large, very old house ten miles from the boundary of a very small town called Korowai. Virgil did not want to be that far away from emergency services like the police or EMTs, but accepted it as possibly necessary in order to regain Roman and Logan. Virgil would do anything to get them back to the light domain, even if that meant he had to rejoin the dark sides to do it, so going out of town was no big deal in his opinion. That didn't mean he had to like it. Anya tried to engage Thomas in small talk at the beginning of the ride, but Thomas found he was having trouble paying attention or finding anything to say, so the conversation turned to Anya's house and town and Thomas did his best to listen out of respect for his long-time friend.

-5 Days until Halloween-

"There's a very large cornfield behind my house that I tried to turn into a complex corn maze one year. Didn't work out so well." Here she chuckled a bit. "I also have a large pasture I built that I keep my two horses, three cows, and my little goat in." Thomas perked up slightly at the mention of the animals, a fact that- it seemed- did not go unnoticed by Anya. "There are blackberry bushes taller than me that quail like to hide in around there. If you're quiet enough, sometimes you'll see them hop in and out of the bushes to peck at the seeds and teeny nuts I set out for them." Thomas smiled slightly at the mention of the small birds, he'd always wanted to hold one, maybe he would this week. "There are loads of small animals that come out to the pond. Oh right, I forgot to mention, there's a marshy-bog-forest thing past the pasture and a pond between them. There's mice and squirrels, deer, raccoons, stuff like that. You might even find lizards or a wild turkey, I think I've seen one of them before, at least. Oh yeah, I have a few outdoor cats, I know you're allergic but since they live almost exclusively outside it should be fine. You aren't allergic to dogs though, right? I have a puppy that lives inside. He loves people. Maybe you and I could take him on a walk down one of the more solid trails." By this point, Thomas was already feeling better about his decision. Maybe this trip would do him some good after all.

"Sounds nice." Thomas said honestly. Anya smiled at him.

"Glad to hear." She looked back toward the road and they drove for awhile in companionable silence. After awhile, she frowned, and slowed the car. "What in the actual heck is that?" Thomas, too, looked out the windshield, and felt as though a shock travelled through his entire body. Surely he was imagining things. He was hallucinating because he hadn't been sleeping well. There was absolutely no way that Lucius, his greed side, was lounging on a parked motorcycle on a nearly deserted road mere feet away from where the car finally rolled to a stop. But Anya was rolling down the window, yelling at him to get out of the road and honking her horn a few times. To Thomas's and- evidently- Virgil's horror, Lucius walked up to the car, and leaned toward her window. She pulled herself back in very quickly.

"Forgive me, miss, I seem to be having a bit of trouble with my motor vehicle, you wouldn't mind helping me out would you?" Lucius drawled slowly, a type of charm that felt deadly to Thomas taking over his voice. In that instance, it felt as if Patton too had abandoned him, and all of his senses and actions were dictated by Virgil.

"I'm sorry, we can't help you." He said quickly. "I'll call you a tow truck, but we have to go it's kind of an emergency." He had no clue what Lucius could be planning, but whatever it was couldn't be good. Lucius frowned and straightened up.

"Very well, sir." He said coldly, stepping away.

"Is there another road we can take?" Thomas asked Anya.

"Uhmm, yeah." She responded slowly. She rolled her window back up and began to reverse the car. Lucius stood still and stiff in the same spot, eyes following the car as they backed away and turned the corner. Thomas looked into the mirror outside his window, only to see that Lucius was standing behind the car again. A thrill of fear shot through him, and he turned to face the front. "Thomas, are you in trouble or something?" Anya asked nervously.

"I think I might be." Thomas answered truthfully.

"Why did that guy look so much like you? I've met both of your brothers and he is not one of them." She bit her lip and looked anxiously into the trees lining the canopy road they currently drove on.

"You're right about that." Thomas agreed.

"What was with the crown and horns?" She asked.

"I don't know." Thomas admitted.

"Oh my god, how is he doing that?" Anya demanded, speeding up. Thomas looked into the mirror again and there was Lucius standing stalk still. They quickly left him behind and he faced forward again, breathing hard.

"Something really weird is going on and Thomas, I need you to be real with me for a moment." Anya said harshly. Thomas nodded, swallowing and looking back into the mirror. Lucius was there once again. "Have you been messing around with ouija boards or seances recently?"

"No." Thomas shook his head.

"Have you bought anything old at a garage sale or an antique store?" She continued.

"No." He replied.

"Okay, maybe I should have opened with this one. Did you ever have imaginary friends when you were little?" Anya asked. "Maybe ones that seemed very real and were never around when other people were?" Thomas hesitated. Were the sides considered imaginary friends? He thought they were imaginary until recently, and that seemed to be what Anya was getting at.

"I know what's happening." Thomas finally admitted. "It's never been a problem before and I didn't think anyone would believe me."

"Hold that thought Thomas, I'm going to want specifics and it won't be safe to talk about it until we're over the salt line." she said quickly.

"Salt line?" Thomas repeated.

"Salt line." Anya verified. She slammed on the gas and Thomas gripped the dashboard and the handle of the door in surprise. Trees and rocks were blurring together as one with the speed of the car and Thomas began praying that they wouldn't run into another car until she slowed down considerably. Mere moments later they came to a thick, white line on the road. Anya decreased her speed and when they passed the line she stopped completely and put the car into park. Thomas looked into the mirror again and found that Lucius was still there, but he was standing at the very edge of the white line, looking angry. "We call that line the salt line. It's the boundary that separates the land between the territory of the government and our territory that we own personally."

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked, confused. "Who's we?"

"The town of Korowai is separate from the U.S government, it's like how native tribal lands have their own rules and laws and police. We chose to mark our border. People thought it was a mark of alienating ourselves from the outside world, but what we were trying to cut off was the creatures. I never really believed the stories until now. The border is called the salt line because it's built to keep malicious, non-human entities on the other side." Anya explained to him. It may have been the absence of Logan, but Thomas believed every word she said.

"So he can't get through?" He asked, looking back to the line. Lucius wasn't there any longer, but something was. Thomas hadn't the slightest clue what it was, what it even looked like, but he somehow knew it was there. Something was there. Maybe it was just Virgil being vague again, but somehow, this time, it felt different. Much different.

"Almost." She said, glancing around. "They can't come in unless invited in. Thomas, explain what's happening with you right now. Please."

"Yeah…" Thomas began slowly. Remy leaned forward and nodded toward the back seat, upon which, apparently, he was sitting. Logan. sat on the left of him, Roman- who for some reason was wearing a lot less color than Thomas had remembered- on the right. All of them were enveloped in a faint white glow.

"Wake up Thomas," Logan said. "You have to wake up right now."

"Don't forget what you just saw babes." Remy said. "You might need it later." He winked and clicked his tongue and they sunk out, Roman stayed behind. He smiled widely, the kind of smile that he had been forced to smile when Kohan was trying to "help" him. Thomas's eyes flew open and he found himself still in Anya's car, being gently shaken awake.

"Come on Thomas, we're here." She said softly.

"Oh, thanks." He mumbled, embarrassed.

"Sure thing buddy. I know you haven't been feeling real well, so let's just get you up to your room, okay?" She said gently, her tones reminding Thomas of Patton in a simpler time before he had even known the dark sides existed. When it was just the five of them. When Roman and Logan were still with them. Thomas nodded, slowly getting out of the car and retrieving his bag from the trunk. He nearly pitched forward into the grass at what he saw out of the corner of his eye. Faces. Four of them. In the cornfield that wrapped around the side of his friend's house. He looked again, but they were gone. He tried to ignore the small voice nagging at him- that sounded suspiciously like Virgil's- reminding him of the movie The Children of the Corn.

"Thomas are you okay?" He nearly jumped a mile when Anya's had touched his shoulder.

"Tell her, Sanders!" That voice too belonged to Virgil, and this time it was as clear as day.

"Are there any kids around here?" He asked uncertainly, looking back to the cornfield.

"Just Flint and Lev." She responded. "But they live a few miles away, sometimes they stumble into the maze while they're exploring. They won't give you any trouble, they're sweet kids." She smiled.

"Just… just two then?" He repeated anxiously.

"That I've met yeah." Her brow furrowed. "Why, was someone over there?"

"Yeah- I mean maybe. I don't know. I thought I saw someone. Maybe I was wrong." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Let's get you upstairs Thomas." She said worriedly. "I think you need some more sleep."

"Yeah okay." Thomas agreed, following behind her. The inside of her house was large and spacious, but Thomas could hardly take in more than that. He was exhausted but he was sure he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Anya showed him to a room on the third floor that looked uncannily like Gryffindor dormitories from the Harry Potter movies with a small bathroom directly adjacent to it, the door open ever so slightly.

"I thought you might like the atmosphere of this one. It seems kinda Harry Potterish to me." She smiled a bit. "It was actually mostly like this when I moved in, so I just had to put the red comforters in here." Thomas smiled too, but he knew it probably didn't reach his eyes.

"It's great," He said honestly. "Thank you so much."

"Anything I can do to help you out Thomas?" She asked.

"No, thank you though." He replied.

"Okay, try to get some rest though." She closed the door and Thomas collapsed on the bed, not even taking his shoes off. Though he felt as though Virgil would have kept him up, he was asleep within seconds of closing his eyes and he found himself standing in a wide, open room that was made entirely of black and white checkered squares. In front of him were two, large, ornate mirrors with cracks along the frames. One frame was spiky looking, purple, orange, green and black. The other was dainty like it was spun glass and looked like pastel green vines with flowers in two shades of blue, red, and purple. Looking in to them, he didn't see his face, he saw Roman. At least in one of the he saw Roman. The lighter one framed a face very similar to his just slightly more chiseled and with a noble, brave expression. Roman in the light mirror was looking off into the distance and seemed to be posing in a victorious position, with one hand on his hip, a sword gripped in his other hand, and his knee bent as his right foot seemed to be propped up on something barely out of sight. Behind him, was a small dirt path lined with cherry blossom trees, the delicate petals showering down upon him, a sunset on the horizon. In the darker colored mirror, Thomas saw Remus, facing him but looking to the side. One hand was fiddling with the tip of his mustache, his other was on the handle of the mace slung over his shoulder. His smile was stretched wide, per usual, toothy, and, unfortunately, only one of the creepiest Thomas had seen. A manic gleam had taken over his eyes, which were pointed in the direction of Roman's mirror, but looking up toward the ceiling. Behind him was deep darkness in which only the occasional gnarled tree branch or thicket of thorns was visible. Thomas turned to face the left. There were two different mirrors here. One had a frame of white, wispy something that looked like clouds, and in this mirror was Caesar. He was smiling softly, his eyes closed and arms outspread. His head was hung slightly and his hair looked to be standing up almost, as though he were falling or floating in invisible water. In one hand, he held a tall, white staff with a golden ring around a purple crystal stop it, perched upon his other hand was a small, white dove. Behind him was a vast expanse of blue sky and clouds and the top of a tower could be seen in the distance. A flurry of dove feathers cascaded around him, almost like snow. The mirror next to it was grey, cracked, falling apart. Even the image was grey scale. It was of Thomas's living room, but it was upside down. Roman, however, was right side up, and he was standing underneath the coffee table, wearing an expression so blank it made Logan's occasional raised eyebrow look like a wild and out of control temper tantrum. He had a long rope in one hand, and in the other, some sort of small blade. Turning, again to his left, Thomas saw a small door that lead into a hall made of the same black and white checkered tiles. Four children stood there, two with their backs turned to him. One of the boys facing him had Chestnut colored, neatly combed hair and eyes almost dark enough to be black. He was wearing a white collared shirt and a blue and white sweater vest. His face was arranged into a small, reserved smile. He had narrow rectangle glasses that were colored a sensible black and was carrying a journal with a small, laminated label in the top left corner reading: Flint. The second boy was a bit shorter than the other, and had light brown, messy hair. His eyes were large and glittered with excitement. He had on blue jeans with a small green patch in the shape of a tree on them and a green flannel with a little white heart stitched into the pocket. There was a camera in his hand, held in front of his chest with the name Lev scrawled across the side. He was smiling brightly and his arm was raised as though he were waving. Thomas turned to his left again and saw another doorway. This one lead down a hall shrouded in darkness. Thomas thought he had felt fear before, but the feeling radiating from the door proved him wrong. There were three boards nailed across the entrance. There was evidence to suggest that there had been four, however the one that must have been there before was laying on the ground in two pieces. No less than six grey arms were reaching out of the darkened passage, grasping at the planks, attempting to pry them off the wall. He turned to face the white and grey mirrors. The white was empty. The sky within it had turned red and the clouds black. The tower off in the background seemed to be crumbling apart. They grey mirror, however, was full of faces, to the point where Thomas almost couldn't see the background. Roman, Patton, Virgil, Logan, Remus, Judaes, Lucius, Nate. and Caesar were all standing shoulder to shoulder in three lines of three with identical expressionless faces and cold, dead eyes. Thomas turned to face the first two mirrors. This time, both frames were cracked and breaking, and the one that had previously held Roman was empty. The cherry blossom trees bare and wilting. Remus was missing from the darker mirror now. Instead, there was a side Thomas didn't recognize. He had black and grey eyeshadow that looked like it was dripping down his cheeks. He was wearing an outfit of black, grey, purple, and green that looked like a Greek or Roman tyrant. He was smiling widely, and was looking down at where his feet would have been. Both of his arms were raised slightly above his head, and were full of two, large marionette string controls. The scariest part, however, was that he was wearing two crowns upon his head, one inside the other and Thomas recognized the one on the outside as Lucius's. The reflection in the mirror looked up at him. Thomas stepped closer.

"I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them." The reflection whispered. "Thomas reached out toward the mirror and put his hand on the frame. "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." He locked eyes with the reflection and put his hand upon the glass. "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." Everything went black.

"I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and that was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys to heaven and hell."