Aw. This is the last chapter I'll publish before school starts for me on Monday. sigh When school comes, I'll try to write as much and whenever I can, and I'll aim to write or publish on weekends. Thank you everyone for the reviews and I hope that you continue to like my stories. Be patient and I will write, I'll even bring a notebook to write new chapters at school. I have written the prologue for P.O.W.E.R., and I should say that I think it will be interesting…can't publish it though until this one is over, and things are going to get good here as well. I have fully finished planning 'Whispers From the Past' and all I have to do is type the rest of the chapters. Now I can truly focus on this story and on P.O.W.E.R. With that said, I hope you like chapter five!(oh boy, here comes a long one.)
Chapter 5: Torn Apart
Irma's POV
"This is way too freaky." Irma said with her eyes open wide with amazement. "What's going on? Do you think that we're in a place where, where we have been made into fictional characters in a book?" Will just bit her lip.
"I don't really know Irma. It looks kind of like that. We should be used to anything and everything by now, but this is beyond weird." Will admitted as she put another book down on the burnt shelf. "How could we have gone to a different world or place, whatever, where we are being publicized in books?" Will questioned. They thought for a moment, before it suddenly came to Irma.
"Hey! What about that mirror you touched? It could have gotten us here. I'm not sure but I think I saw two other girls in front of it, the light was too bright. What do you think Will?"
"Well, that seems to be the only explanation at the moment. There doesn't seem to be any other way we could have gotten, um, here. Where ever we are." She looked around the corner to see if anybody was around. Irma looked around too. It looked like it had just stopped raining. Drops of water were slowly dripping from the roof past the window and there didn't seem to be anyone in sight.
"All I know is that if we are known to people somehow through these books, then we don't want anybody to find us. It could be dangerous. We need to get back to Heatherfield." Will told her. They went back behind the shelf and looked in front of themselves. There stood the mirror, still and quite dull.
"So about this mirror." She continued. "Let's see if the Heart of Candracar will help us get back."
Irma gazed at her and Will in the mirror's crystal reflection. They seemed to be a little, different. She still had her same face, hair, and clothes, but the color here was a little, off she should say. Irma watched Will close her fist. When she opened it, the Heart of Candracar was floating gently in her palm.
"Right, come on Heart of Candracar." She lifted the Heart up to the mirror. Irma gazed hopefully at it. She was glad that they were going back. This would make some story, and Cornelia probably won't be mad at her after the news they would bring back! The Heart of Candracar shimmered with magic, then it turned a shade of scarlet and started going berserk! It started shaking and quivering, until it started banging itself into the mirror as if desperately trying to go back through it.
"Hey!" Will cried out. She grabbed the Heart and when she opened her fist again, it was gone.
"Somehow I'm guessing that the Heart can't help us." Irma sighed mockingly. "I wonder what all of that weird shaking was about."
"I have no idea." Will answered while looking at her hand with a confused expression. Irma just shrugged and walked around the mirror. It seemed to be old fashioned and was oval shaped but kind of fancy. Maybe from the 1800's, 1700's, Irma thought in her head. I don't know. I never pay attention to that stuff. She went around to the back and continued investigating. It had a wooden back to it. Pretty much plain and-
"Wait!" Irma cried standing on her tip toes. "There's something carved in the back of this mirror. Some sort of message or an inscription of some kind. It's kind of like a riddle or something."
"Really? Let me see." Irma moved over a little so that Will could see too.
"Hey, I'm going to write this stuff down so we know what it says. Anything can be a clue so that we can get home, right?" Irma asked looking up. Will didn't say anything, but nodded as she continued to look at the mirror. Irma ran up past tables and chairs and bookshelves. Luckily, nobody seemed to be around. Irma came up to the front desk and started searching. She soon found a black ink pen and a book receipt to write on. She hurried back to Will who was looking at the inscription curiously.
"Hand me the paper and the pen." She said. Irma gave it to her and watched her write. She folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. Irma got up and read what the message said.
I bless my very first daughter,
In some generations to come.
To have this magic mirror,
To find where her secret is from.
Drawn to the mirror,
Where the elements will meet their twin.
They must both pass through different worlds,
To find the ring within.
Use the ring, look in the mirror,
It takes you where you see.
But when evil crosses through the glass,
Then new Chosen Ones there shall be.
A.W.
To
P.W.
"Uh, okay. Now that that's cleared up, we can just walk back through the mirror to Heatherfield." Irma joked.
"Okay, so what does all of this mean? It seems like a prophecy, like it predicted something a long time ago. She sounds like she is blessing a granddaughteror a great-granddaughter, etc. to have this magic mirror that we came through. Um, that's about all I understand." said Will. Irma just rolled her eyes.
"Oh great!" she yelled, throwing her hands up into the air. "What are we supposed to do now? Wait for this mirror to get all magical again? Somebody is bound to find us here, Will. Then what would we do?"
"You keep on asking me these things like I know the answers." Will said frustratedly. "I don't know any more than you do! The only thing we know for sure is that we're not in Heatherfield anymore!"
"Phoebe? Onalia? You guys here?" a girl called out. Will and Irma heard footsteps approaching closer to where they were standing behind the last row of bookshelves.
"What do we do?" Irma asked looking around.
"Hide!" Will whispered. She grabbed Irma's arm and pulled her around the end of the row of bookshelves and hid around the corner. They glanced on each side. Irma couldn't see anything but the windows on the other side. She was just about to step out when she saw two girls looking curiously around the other edge of the bookshelves. The Asian- American girl looked rather annoyed and had a high ponytail of long black hair that went down the length of her long volleyball t-shirt and she had light blue jeans and sneakers. There was another white girl with her who had curly red hair that fell a couple of inches below her shoulders and wide turquoise eyes that seemed to be looking for someone. She was wearing a navy blue sweater and a long flowing navy skirt that was just above her ankles. Irma ducked her head around the corner again when she thought that the redhead girl looked her way. Irma made herself try not to breathe loudly, but she was proving it very difficult. She adjusted herself and started listening.
"Rachel, they're not here. Maybe they went over to Wendy's for a frosty and fries or something. Can we go now?" Irma barely looked past the corner and saw the Asian one with her arms folded and rolling her eyes impatiently.
"No." the redhead named Rachel answered. "I know I heard footsteps over here, Wei."
"You were on the other side of the bookstore! How could you have possibly heard footsteps? Either you have supersonic hearing, or you just heard the rain. Come on, if my dad ever caught me dead in this section, he'd skin me alive."
"All right already." Rachel said now clearly irritated too. "I'm coming, but I know I was right. Hey, aren't those their purses?"
"Just grab them and we'll give them to Phoebe and Ona when we find them. Let's go." Wei told her.
The girls started walking past all of the shelves instead of just walking around the corner, and they were heading straight to where Irma and Will were standing! Irma frantically pushed Will to move as they ran as quietly as they could to the other end. If Irma weren't so scared of being noticed, she would have thought that this was funny. Sneaking around and missing each other as they all- Ahh!
Irma crashed her knee painfully into a table and flipped over a chair where she landed on her back.
"Ow!" Irma cried.
"Irma!" Will moaned. It was only a couple of seconds before Irma heard loud footsteps thumping the floor behind them. The two girls stopped in front of them and looked at both of them and then looked at each other.
"Told you so." Rachel muttered. She walked over to Irma and smiled at her with sympathy.
"You okay?" she asked as she helped Irma to her feet. "Maybe you should put an ice pack on that knee, it might be bruised from as hard as it sounded when you hit the table." she helped Irma into a chair who took it gratefully.
"Thanks." Irma said shyly. Wei looked at Will and Irma and then smiled herself, which looked good compared to her annoyed expression.
"Uh, hi. I'm Wei and this is Rachel." she said pointing to her friend. "Are you new here, because I don't remember you from Cradd Jr. High? You two look around thirteen or fourteen."
"Yeah, somehow you look familiar though..." Rachel paused in thought, but Irma didn't want her to have the chance to recognize them, especially if she had read that whacked up book about them. Apparently, Will was thinking the same thing.
"Uh, no we're new here, but we've really got to go." Will said hurriedly. Rachel looked a little startled.
"Well, um, okay. If you're sure." She said sweetly and then waved back at them as they started to walk away. "I guess we'll see you around then?"
"Yeah, sure." Irma answered not looking up, but focusing on her aching knee. These girls seemed really nice, but Irma knew that they had to try to find a way through that mirror. But she also started to wonder, how could they do it without any help?
"Are you okay Irma?" Will asked as she walked quietly to Irma and sank beside her knee. "That must have hurt."
"Nah, it's not that bad." Irma sighed even though she was wincing with pain. "Nothing broken, just hurting for a while." Irma almost fell out of her seat when she heard those two girls yelling again.
"Where could they be?"
"Their books and stuff were on the table, Rachel. You were right, they have to be here somewhere."
"They aren't in the bathrooms, the music section, or Starbucks. There doesn't seem to be anybody here but those two girls."
"Well come on then."
Irma heard their hurried footsteps again. She started to panic and made a move to get up before Will pushed her back down.
"Don't. They'll think we're running from them. Just don't tell them anything Irma." Irma nodded and watched the girls turn up breathless.
"Do, you know where our friends are?" Rachel asked.
"No, I'm sorry. What friends?" Irma asked bluntly.
"Are you sure you didn't see them? Their school stuff is on a table over here and their purses and flashlights were on the floor by that mirror over there. It was near where you were." Wei asked them with desperation. "Please, we have this bad feeling that something's wrong and we can't find them anywhere." Irma didn't like the desperation in her voice, and she definitely didn't like the fact that their two friends disappeared near that mirror that they had to come out of into this place.
"Um, we don't know where your friends are, but if it's something really bad, maybe we could help." Will said softly. Irma was sure that she was close to saying something else. Irma felt that way too. Rachel looked a little nervous.
"I don't know." She said uncertainly. "I was sick earlier, and I accidentally got our other friend, Eva, sick. She's sneezing a little right now, and I swear that every time she does, her garden outside grows a little larger. It's kind of stupid really, but Phoebe and Ona might like it, and we were about to go get them when we had a feeling that something was about to happen. Something bad I guess. The only other place that they would be is here because they are always over here to study and look at those W.i.t.c.h. books and Harry Potter, and all those other books here. But I guess since you haven't seen them…" she smiled shyly at them both and walked away nervously. Wei looked at them for a moment, and then sighed and walked after her friend.
Words were ringing in Irma's ear. Was everything the way it really sounded? She thought she saw two girls in the mirror, besides Will and herself. They suddenly disappear, and they both appear in this bookstore right next to the mirror. Maybe, just maybe…
"Will. I think those were the two girls in the mirror, the ones that those two were looking for. I think that they somehow switched places with us, that they are in Heatherfield while we are here." Irma told her slowly. Will looked up and nodded.
"I think so too." She said. "That seems to make sense." Irma heard a door swing open and knew that Wei and Rachel were leaving the store. Irma sighed again and massaged her knee. Suddenly, Will's eyes popped open and her mouth dropped.
"What?" asked Irma.
"I was just thinking, she said that her friend sneezed and her garden grew larger. Do you think that it's just a coincidence?"
"I don't know." Irma replied thoughtfully. "Supersonic hearing huh…I think I get what you mean."
"They might have powers or unknown abilities." Will whispered excitedly. "If they do, maybe they can help us." Irma stood up and tried walking. It didn't hurt as much anymore.
"Maybe they can." Irma said with a smile. "Besides, we have to trust somebody." Will smiled and ran ahead to catch them while Irma sort of half ran behind. Could it be possible? Could they really? Irma walked over to them and saw Will just begin to start the conversation.
"Hi, I'm Will and that over there is Irma." She told them quickly. "We're not from around here and we think we know what might be happening. But we need to explain it, and we need your help." They both looked confused for a moment but then Rachel began to laugh.
"Oh that was clever!" she giggled. "Your parents named you the same names as those W.i.t.c.h. girls! They must have been big fans. You look a lot like them too!"
"That's because we are them." Irma explained as she walked up to the group. "And I still don't understand about that whole book thing. I wonder how we got in that?"
"Excuse me." Wei said, now catching on to the humor. "Enough with the joke. I understand that you two must really like those kind of books like Phoebe and Ona, but that stuff is nonsense so don't go around telling people that kind of stuff. They might think that you're crazy. I can tell that you don't seem to be but-"
"Show us." Rachel said.
"Rachel! You're buying it?" Wei exclaimed with shock.
"I don't know." She replied. "I've read the first three books because Phoebe and Ona really wanted me to. They always believed to know that anything can happen. So, prove it." Her voice was full of curiosity and challenge. Will looked at Irma and they both took a deep breath and nodded. Will opened her fist and the Heart of Candracar came out shining once more. Wei screamed and Rachel looked on with amazement. The Heart of Candracar was shining an even more bright pink then it had ever before. Then, it turned scarlet again and started quivering. Will brought it back into her and apologized weakly.
"I'm sorry, it keeps doing that in your world."
"This is not happening." Wei muttered. "Fictional books can't be real, it isn't possible…" she kept mumbling under her breath while Rachel still looked shocked. She then turned to Irma and had an unreadable expression plastered on her face.
"Um, if you're really Irma, could you-" Irma raised her hands and all of the rain water in the street began to swirl around their feet. Will winked at her. And Rachel was between being scared and astonishment.
"Oh my!" Rachel called, as she started feeling the water with her hand. Wei looked like she was about to faint.
"Stop!" Wei cried suddenly. Irma lowered her hands and the last of the water fell back to the street with a light drop. The girls looked freaked out. Rachel was still showing amazement as well, but Wei just started to get angry.
"Stupid little magic tricks! Just stop it! I can't hear anymore of this! I'm not allowed to hear anymore of this!" Wei stomped off seething. Irma turned to Rachel hopefully. Rachel gave them a shy quivering smile in return.
"So, you really are the Guardians from the books?" she squeaked. Will and Irma looked at each other and shrugged and then kind of nodded their heads.
"We're still not so sure of these so called books." Irma admitted. "We don't understand-"
"I don't totally understand this either." Rachel told her. "Let's go to Eva's place. We can talk there."
"So, you actually believe us?" Will asked hopefully. Rachel smiled sheepishly and swung her arms a little.
"Well, you give me no reason for me not too. It's still kind of hard for me to believe that you guys have- magic. But let's go. It looks like the clouds haven't spilled all the rain that they could have." She looked back at them and started heading down the street. Will followed her. Irma felt the breath leave her. Somebody had actually believed them, and in the world where they seemed to be popular in books. There was something very strange going on and Irma had no clue how they were going to figure it out. Her thoughts went back to the other Guardians in Heatherfield. What would happen to them without two of the other Guardians? Would something bad happen to them without the Heart of Candracar there to save them? They were torn apart, and when that happened, good things never followed. Irma started thinking again and she felt the cold wind whip back her clothes and hair. What was that strange inscription on the mirror? How were they going to ever get back home. And then there was the question that Irma had been thinking the most out of everything: 'Why?'
"Are you coming Irma?" Will called out after they stopped at the end of the street.
"Yeah, sorry."
Irma walked on ahead to catch up. They had left their world behind. They had left the mirror which they think they had come through behind. Irma sighed as she walked on. Now if only she could leave her troubling thoughts behind too.
Well, school starts tomorrow. I'm kind of happy, but that might mean that I won't be able to get on the computer as often and type my chapters. I'll write at school and type when I can here. I hope you all liked this chapter, please review, and the next chap will come sometime soon!