Overture For A New World - The Books Of Beginning AU

8. Giggles Of Girls

"Can I ask you something kinda weird?"

"Sure," Sydney chirped happily, "ask away! I'm an open book!"

The two teenagers were once again having their breakfast together in Kate's room, but now that the scrambled eggs had been consumed, Kate had something to figure out as soon as possible.

"I know it's a long shot, but do you have any idea where that mirror came from?" Kate inquired, pointing at the intricate, antique glass that was home to something half innocent child and half terrifying creature. Not that Sydney knew the truth about what lurked inside, of course. 

Sydney laughed a bit, "actually, I think I have a good guess. When I first arrived here and was helping unload supplies for the kitchens with a few other wizards that Mr. Driscoll put on the job,  a couple of them were gossiping, typical young men trying to scare each other type stuff. They were talking about the building next door, a large house that's been abandoned since 1991. Apparently the Dire Magnus's forces are now putting it to use and storing people and supplies there. But the boys also said that furniture got moved between the two buildings and they ended up bringing a bunch of chairs and some fancy mirrors over from there. So that's probably where it came from."

Kate frowned, "why's the building been abandoned for so long?"

"Oh that's what they were mostly talking about," Sydney answered, "apparently there was a fire there in '91, but it didn't destroy the house, just messed up the downstairs rooms. Then this wealthy herbalist bought the property three years later and was planning on making it into a small specialized school for herbalist magicians. Only his plans fell through after he started gambling and made some bad money choices, at least that's what the others said. He's old now and never did anything with it, which is why we're utilizing it - it's convienent."

"Aside from the fire, I don't see why the boys were trying to scare each other by talking about the house," Kate commented.

Sydney shuddered, "that's where they got into rumormongering. Apparently people who've lived in the magical quarter here since before the place was abandoned think it's got a creepy history. The last owner before the fire was really into cult stuff and weird research, they claim. They even say that he was experimenting on others but died in the fire along with any of those experiments. The bodies were burned beyond recognition or even proper burial, they were turning to ash when the authorities tried to touch them, people say. It's not pleasant stuff to think about. Reminds me why I don't watch horror movies - well, okay, it's not like my dad would let me watch them anyways, but the point still stands."

Kate's eyes were wide, her heart and mind racing. Cults, strange, dark research, and potential experiments conducted on other humans. Was that what happened to the girl in the mirror? Had she been an experiment by this man who used to own the house next door? How had she ended up in that situation? Was she related to the man? Had he taken her specifically to conduct experiments on? How did she get to be like she was now? And the fire, the disintegrating bodies, was that the near death fate the girl had spoken of escaping? Was she the only survivor of the events that took place in 1991?

Kate had many theories, but no proof. 

"Are you okay?" Sydney tilted her head in confusion.

No. "Yeah," Kate said, "you're just right that it's not a pleasant topic."

"Let's talk about something else then," Sydney agreed, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her palm, "like... what do you like to do for fun?"

Kate froze. Fun... she couldn't remember the last time she did something for her own enjoyment. Well actually, that was a lie. She could remember inviting Rafe into a smoky Chinese restaurant, laughing over noodles, shoulders and hips pressed together. There had been no greater purpose then, only two young people falling for each other as they devoured delicious food. But other than that, she had always been carrying her responsibilities. She was raising Michael and Emma, searching for the books and their parents, dealing with time travel, fighting for the fate of the world, surviving orphanages, or any other variety of tasks on her infinite checklist.