Chapter 1
She ran her fingers through her damp, dark hair. The mirror was foggy before her and her movements were disorientated in the reflection. At the ends of her hai, her pale fingers got stuck and she tugged through the snarls. Same fight, different day, she thought, eyes grimacing at the pain. Finally, after what seemed like hours of struggle, her hair was unsnarled and was curling at the ends.
The mirror was still foggy.
She sat on the bathroom counter, sticking her feet into the sink and felt the cold marble bite into her bare legs. She leaned forward, and rested her forhead against the mirror.
Shutting her eyes, she tried to remember things. All that came to her was a smile and a pair of kind eyes and a wisp of perfume. Chanel No. 5. What a cliche, she though, rolling her shoulders. The air in the bathroom was cooling slowly, due to the overhead exhaust fan. She knew she should move, get into action and get ready for school, but she couldn't get her muscles to obey her mind.
"I love you hunny," a voice whispered from nowhere.
Her eyes snapped open, and she let her forehead pull away from the mirror. "Who's there?" Her voice was soft and it seemed to echo in the dim, still, misty room. There was no reply, only the sound of her heart beating loud in her ears and her breath coming in short gasps.
Slowly, her knees shaking, she turned and climbed off the sink, her feet landing on the cool bathroom tiles. No one was in the room with her. Grabbing a towel off the rack, she wrapped it around her slim body and opened the bathroom door.
Her bedroom was still the same from when she had left it earlier that morning. The sun was just starting to peek its head through the half open window and her bed covers were strewn over the side of her bed. Nothing out of sync here, just a normal teenagers room. Well, almost, she thought, glancing at the ancient vanity that sat, full of old world charm, at one end of her room. Gooseflesh raced all along her body as she looked at it. It reminded her of things that had happened, so long ago, but for fear of what they were, and what they meant to her, her mind blocked the memories off and fed her pretty pictures instead.
Still wobbly, she sat on the edge of the large bed. Temptation struck her, to crawl back in bed and not go to school. What's school to an artistic genius anyway? She thought, laying back on the bed and keeping her bare feet on the floor. "It's only a cage," she whispered to the room, feeling sleep running its long nails down her back and head. They were wonderfully gentle, yet strong, urgent. They were blunted, so they wouldn't hurt. Just soothe. Soon she was asleep. The golden eyes that watched from the mirror shut with a sorrow and longing gleaming fiercely in their depths.
The leaves curled on their trees, changing from a flames' hues to dying browns. The wind blew crisply, stirring those looser leaves and knocking them to the ground in a whirl of emotion.
He sat back from the mirror, relaxing in the plush chair that sat before it. He tried to calm his blood, which was raging at the girls words. He shut his eyes, taking deep breaths. Finally, his blood seemed to calm and he let his head hang down, his long silver hair dangling over his shoulders and covering his face.
"Why does she affect me so?" He said softly, his voice rough, but tender. A clawed hand snaked through his hair as he began to reassemble himself. He stood, turning round to walk outside of the Temple of the Phoenix Trees. He paused before leaving, taking in the ancient mirror and its protectors. The trees made a kind of archway over it, protecting it from the seasons. Even when they set their limbs afire, to be reborn from their ashes, their spirits made sure no harm came to the mirror. He stepped out then of the ever silent sanctuary and back into his forest. behind him lay nothing but an old stump, no trace of the ancient sanctuary left behind.