CHAPTER TWO

Phoebe groaned and brought her hand to the back of her ear. She yelped when she touched it and grimaced when she opened her eyes and saw the blood on her fingertips. She propped herself up and moaned when a wave of dizziness washed over her. "Misty?" she called out. But there was no answer and she quickly kneeled in order to stand. "This's gonna be worse than a hangover," she muttered as she caught a glimpse of her reflected disheveled state in the mirror.

"Damn right," it muttered.

"What the hell" she gasped as she sat down again. "Must've been hit harder than I thought," she considered as she put a hand back to her wound.

"I'm imagining this," her reflection gasped in return. "You're not really talking to me. II must be dreaming."

Stunned, Phoebe stared into the mirror. "Youyou can hear me?"

"Of course I can," she grumbled, "only you're supposed to be my reflection and you're not saying what I'm saying."

"Or even wearing," Phoebe uttered when she suddenly realized her reflection was dressed differently. "Maybe this mirror is magical. Look at me, us, I mean. My hair, your clothes. I haven't worn your outfit since"

"Since when?" her reflection demanded. "I just bought this outfit and I love it."

"What day is it?" Phoebe half-whispered.

"January twelfth," she replied before she asked suspiciously, "why?"

"Oh, my God," Phoebe uttered, "that was the day that Cole -- was Paige just in an accident?"

"Yeah," she cautiously responded, "earlier this morning. What about Cole?"

"And you stopped off at Misty's to pick something up for Paige," Phoebe recalled, "before heading to the office to face Elise about that potential lawsuit?"

"You make it sound like it happened a long time ago," she inquired, "what's the date by you?"

"April fourteenth," Phoebe whispered in awe. "Almost three months to the day."

"Did something happen to Paige," her reflection fearfully asked. "Is that why you, I mean I, look so sad? Please, I have to know, did I lose another sister? Wait a minute, you mentioned Cole. Did Cole hurt Paige? What'd he do?"

"Cole, he" Phoebe quickly replied before she shook her head, "no, I can't"

"I don't understand," she exclaimed, "if you can help me save Paige"

"It's not Paige," Phoebe corrected, "it's theI can'tDammit, now I know what Old Phoebe was so worried about!"

"What the hell are you talking about? If I can save an innocent, you have to tell me," her reflection demanded.

"She was so concerned about the consequences," Phoebe shook her head, "from knowing the future. Don't you remember how adamant she was about not revealing what choice I'd made in her past about marrying Cole? Now I understand everything she was trying to tell me." She almost laughed when she realized, "I think I owe myself an apology." She touched her ear as if it would help stop the pounding in her head, "What if, somehow, this mirror is showing me my past? What if telling you causes you to change what actually happened. What if -- I can't, I'm sorry."

"And what if you're supposed to tell me," she challenged as she brought her hand to her right ear. "How will you live with yourself if you letwhatever happens, happen? Don't you remember how you felt when Old Phoebe refused? Maybe this is your second chance to correct whatever it is that went wrong."

"I" Phoebe stared into the mirror, made her choice, and urged her refection, "You have to stop Cole. In a little while, he's going to kill the other driver from Paige's accident and Paige will be charged with murder. He's also arranging for P3 to be shut down and to legally take over the lease on the house."

Her reflection paled even further, "Cole wouldn'tWhy would he do something soso evil?"

"He wanted to control the nexus in the basement," Phoebe shook her head with sadness. "He thought if I became evil again, I would go back to him."

Horrified, she insisted, "That's, that's crazy, I would never"

"He's not thinking clearly," Phoebe sadly confirmed, "wasn't for a long time."

Her reflection closed her eyes and thought aloud, "Maybe if we changed the wording of the spell we used to vanquish the Source"

"What?" Phoebe exclaimed. "I didn't mean vanquish Cole. I meant stop him, talk to him. Really talk to him. I never did that and now"

"It's too late?" she guessed. "Exactly what happened with Cole?"

"He's gone," Phoebe informed her. "For good. Paige got caught in an alternate reality he'd created and, without his invincibility, they were able to vanquish him."

"Thank God," she whispered gratefully. "So, maybe if I cooked up a variation of the power-stripping potion and hit him with it first, the spell would then work."

"But that might not be necessary," Phoebe considered. "If you can talk to him and get through to him, he might not do all those terrible things."

"Look," she said in a determined tone, "I thought I was moving on with my life but he keeps drawing me back into his problems. I'm tired of constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering what he's gonna do next. I want him gone. Once and for all."

Phoebe stepped back and immediately brought her hand to her head when the room spun. "I wanted him out of my life. Not dead."

"You're free," her reflection realized with amazement. "You're finally free. I'd give anything to be in your shoes."

"It hasn't been a bed of roses," Phoebe muttered as her phone rang. She fished out her cell from her bag and answered it.

"I'm really sorry," Jason immediately apologized.

"Hey, forget when you were supposed to meet me?" Phoebe complained as she touched the back of her ear again.

"I'm a few blocks away," he announced. "Sorry, business call took longer than I expected."

"Don't bother," she replied, "there's been a little incident here at the store and I'm not very hungry anymore. Soon as I check on Misty, I'll head back to the office."

"Incident?" he asked in concern.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "I just came to and haven't found Misty yet."

"Came to?" he questioned with shock. "What happened? Phoebe, are you all right?"

"I'm not sure," she murmured honestly. "Look, Jason, I gotta go. Talk to you later." Before he could respond she disconnected the call, dropped the phone back in her bag, and turned back to the mirror. She let out a breath, "I wasn't sure you'd still be there."

"Who's Jason?" her reflection wondered with a half-smile.

"Never mind," Phoebe told her as she stood on shaky legs, "I've gotta check on Misty. So do you, I guess. Will you please consider what I've said? You're the one who talked about second chances. Maybe this is yours." The room spun and she quickly reached out for the support of the mirror but, instead of touching the smooth pane, she found herself touchingherself.

"What the hell?" she whispered as she squeezed "her" hand.

They stared at one another for half-a-moment before Phoebe whispered, "How much time do you think we have? Do you think it's safe?"

"Buy the mirror," she decided. "Once it's in my, our, room, we won't have to worry about anyone else finding it. Are you sure you want to do this? From what I see, life turned out just fine for me."

"I have to try," Phoebe whispered.

"All right then," she reluctantly agreed, "let's do it." She reached out for Phoebe's other hand and pulled.

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