Tim stepped back and looked at the now shattered mirror. He had done it; he had destroyed the evil thing and kept his promise. Tim heard the buzz of the lights coming back on.
"Patrick!" Tim called. "Patrick, I broke it! I killed the mirror!"
"Tim?" Patrick said. "The spirits are gone."
"Yeah, I know. I destroyed the mirror; it can't hurt anyone anymore," Tim said. "Come look."
"Oh, geez," Patrick said as he walked into the room. "You really did break it."
"Course I did," Tim said. "It's hurt people for too long."
Patrick bent down to touch one of the shattered pieces of glass.
"Don't touch it!" Tim exclaimed. "Even though I shattered it, I don't want to test our luck."
"Right," Patrick said and backed away from the glass. "So, what now? We did what we came here to do."
"Now we leave. We let the house become abandoned… I have too many memories here to keep it," Tim said.
"That's it? We just leave it here?" Patrick said. "What about Luke's body?"
"We'll let the authorities know that someone died. We just won't tell them how he died. They'll take care of Luke's body," Tim told Patrick.
Tim started towards the large, oak door. He was ready to leave the house once and for all. He had done what he came to do and had no reason to stay.
"Tim," Patrick called out shakily. "You might want to see this."
"What?" Tim questioned as he turned on his heel. "There's nothing else we can do."
Tim walked into the room and saw what Patrick was staring at. Luke was walking out of the mirror's frame – no flashing eyes, no blood. When he had fully climbed out of the mirror he collapsed on the floor.
"H-he was dead," Tim said in awe. "How can he be alive?"
Tim bent down on the floor, checking to see if Luke was, indeed, breathing.
"You said the mirror captured souls, right? You destroyed it… so what if it gives the souls back?" Patrick said.
"That's impossible," Tim said. "People from centuries ago would walk the earth again and their bodies are long gone."
"Look," Patrick pointed to the broken mirror again.
Tim couldn't believe what he saw; Kaylie was walking towards him, smiling as if nothing had happened. It's like she had a brand-new body… he looked for the mark of impalement, but her skin was smooth and healed.
"Kaylie," Tim breathed.
Tim reached out his hand, seeing if she was there. Kaylie took his hand and Tim pulled her into the real world. She, too, lost consciousness as she was pulled back to reality, but Tim caught her as she fainted. Tim's eyes flooded with tears of joy. He had his sister back, and the rest of his family was yet to come.
"The next person is coming," Patrick said. It snapped Tim out of his thoughts. He carefully laid Kaylie down on the other side of the room, then went to help Patrick catch the next person.
Michael Dumont, Kaylie's fiancée walked toward them now. As he stepped out and fell unconscious, Patrick and Tim each caught one arm over their shoulders and laid him down next to Luke.
Tim's father, Allen Russel, came out after Michael. ThenTim's mother, Marie Russel.. Tim laid her next to his father and Kaylie and moved on to catch the next person.
They were moving onto the earlier years of the mirror now. Marisol was next, whom Patrick caught and laid on the far end of the room. Then Alice Carnan, a young girl, maybe in her teens. He caught her as he had his mother and sister and laid her by Marisol. Mary O'Connor, Robert Clancy, and Philip Lesser came out last Tim remembered all of them from Kaylie's video. How he remembered them after ten years, he had no idea.
"Dude," Patrick said, breathless. "That was insane."
"I agree," Tim said as he looked around the now filled room. "I had no idea we'd get the souls back by destroying that thing."
Tim knelt by his family, who he thought he'd lost forever. Somehow, after all those years, they were back – unconscious, but all alive.
"Shouldn't we call 911?" Patrick asked. "We should probably get these people medical attention."
"Right," Tim agreed, tossing Patrick his phone. "I'm not leaving my family's side, though."
"Course you aren't," Patrick said as he dialed the number.
Tim nodded at Patrick and turned his attention back to his family. They had been dead for so many years. How was it possible for them to be back? Tim couldn't think of an answer. As he looked over his family, he saw no sign of their wounds; they had all healed.
It wasn't long after that that Tim heard the sirens of the ambulances and police cars. He was thankful that this time it wasn't to lock him away.
"What happened here?" a paramedic said as he walked into the house and saw the room filled with people. "We're going to need backup," he said into his earpiece.
"These are all the people that this mirror has claimed over the centuries," Tim explained. "On this side of the room," he motioned to his parents and sister, "is my family. Over here," he pointed to the side where Patrick was, "is my friend Luke and Michael… and there," he pointed to the row of people at the paramedics feet, "are the people from centuries ago – the first victims"
"And you managed to do this... how?" the paramedic asked.
"We destroyed the mirror," Patrick said proudly.
"Right then," the paramedic said. "I suppose the mirror is the least of our worries. Are they all alive?"
"As far as we can tell," Tim said.
More people started walking into the house. Some were paramedics wheeling gurneys, others were police officers, taking notes of the scene.
"We'll start here," the paramedic motioned to the people directly in front of him, "and work our way to the corners of the room."
"Got it, Jason," one of the paramedics said. Tim watched as the one called Jason carefully picked up Marisol and placed her on the gurney. Two other paramedics each took a side of the stretcher and rushed her out of the house.
They carried several people out that way, then knelt by Tim's mother.
"I'll take her now, son," Jason said.
"Right, sorry," Tim said and moved out of the way. "Where's Patrick?"
"One of the cops took him home. Big night for a young man. He looked pretty traumatized," Jason said as he picked up Marie. Jason barked at two of the other officers to get Tim's father, then once they had gotten him safely on a stretcher Jason came back for Kaylie.
"No," Tim said. "I have her."
"Let the medical professionals handle her," Jason said as he stooped down again.
"No," Tim said as he, too, stooped down. "I thought I'd lost her. I've been grieving over her for ten years. I'll let you do your work, just let me carry her to the stretcher, please."
"As long as you let us do our work," Jason sighed.
"Course, sir," Tim said.
Tim placed one hand under Kaylie's knees, and the other around her shoulders. He carefully lifted her up, her head resting on his chest. Tim laid her down on the last gurney that sat waiting for her.
"I can stay with her, right?" Tim asked.
"Sure," Jason said.
As Tim stepped outside the house, he saw the chaos that was erupting. He was glad Patrick wasn't still here to see it. The front lawn was swarmed with the people who had escaped from the mirror. Each gurney that held a person had a whole medical team around them.
"Why aren't they in ambulances?" Tim asked Jason.
"There aren't enough yet. More are coming," Jason assured Tim.
Tim saw his mother and father on the left side of the lawn, where they were taking Kaylie, as well. The paramedics seemed to have separated the people, the ones from centuries ago were getting the most medical attention in the front. Luke and Michael were on the right side, also getting treatment. Tim didn't know why they needed a whole team around them; they were alive. Maybe they were checking to see if they had any injuries.
The sound of more sirens filled the street. Tim realized that he had stopped walking by Kaylie's side to look around the lawn. He hurried back to her, he never wanted to let her go again.
"We're loading them up," Jason called to his co-workers.
Tim kept a hand on his sister's gurney, as to not get sidetracked again, as he watched his mother and father get put into an ambulance.
When Kaylie's ambulance pulled up, Tim climbed in to sit in the back with her. He took Kaylie's hand in his own and she didn't even stir.
"Why is she still asleep?" Tim asked.
"We don't know," the paramedic said. "Every one of the people here tonight are a mystery."
"She's alive, though, right?" Tim asked.
"They're all alive," the paramedic confirmed.
Tim nodded and continued the ride in silence. The paramedic hooked numerous things up to Kaylie, and Tim assumed that more was to come at the hospital.
When the long ride was over and they had arrived at the hospital, a team of doctors were awaiting their arrival. They immediately sprang into action; all the ambulances seemed to have arrived at the same time and it became chaotic. Tim stayed with Kaylie throughout it all, however. He was surprised that the doctors let him into the emergency room to stay with her, but they did.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Patrick said as he walked up behind Tim.
"What are you doing here? I thought a police officer brought you home," Tim said.
"I had my father drive me back. I wanted to see what was happening," Patrick said. "Looks pretty interesting."
"It's chaos," Tim sighed. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep; I need to know what happens."
"Tim, go sleep," Patrick ordered. "You've been up half the night; I'll stay with your family and alert you if anything happens."
"You promise?" Tim asked.
"I promise," Patrick said.
Tim took one last glance at his family, who were all still unconscious. Why weren't they waking up?
"Take care of them," Tim said to Patrick before walking off.
He went back to the waiting room and took a seat. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so instead he tried to capture his thoughts. Eventually his thoughts drifted away, however, and exhaustion stole over him, and Tim fell fast asleep.