The Slipper & The Magic Mirror (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 16

Stepping through the mirror they returned to the dressing room where it all began, Nicole pausing to look one last time in the long mirror as Jeremy tried the door. "Still locked," he said, checking the time on his phone. "Eleven twenty three, so we're within the time limit. Anybody there? We completed the quest before midnight."

They heard the click of the lock, Jeremy trying the doorknob again, the door opening. Robin clapped his hands together. "We so did this. Go team, go team. Tee shirts for everyone."

Nicole was the last to leave the room. About to follow the others she heard the voice of the man who had set them the challenge of rescuing Waverly. Her eyes immediately returned to the mirror, his face staring back full of rage, full of darkness. "This is not over Nicole Rayleigh Haught. This is not over. She is mine. Forever."

Something stopped her booting his ugly face, perhaps the superstition her mother had told her of it being bad luck if a mirror smashed and her image was the final thing it reflected, having to endure seven long years of misfortune before the curse ended and good luck was renewed. Or maybe it was the thought of never being able to enter the magical land behind the mirror. A strange thought, given all that it contained and all that it had thrown at them.

Deciding to leave the mirror intact she simply smiled, offered the wizard a one-finger salute, closing the door behind her. The theatre was empty as they made their way along the corridors to the stage door, opening it onto a magical scene of New York life. A festival of lights, Christmas decorations, music and people still milling around at that time of night. Waverly gasped at the sight before her. "It's...it's beautiful. To think this was here, outside the theatre all this time."

"You've been outside?" Nicole asked, admiring Waverly's childlike wonder at the world before her eyes. "You've been beyond the theatre."

Waverly shook her head. "I've only ever been inside the theatre. The slippers kept me from leaving."

"So this is your first time seeing the city? There's so much to show you. Perhaps not all in one night, although this time of year the night time is the right time."

Robin gasped in faux shock. "Did you just use a rhyming song lyric? That's so Riddle Me Do."

Nicole winked. "I'm tempted to rhyme whenever I'm able. Even if you might think me a little unstable."

"Very good," Robin replied. "Now do orange."

The four could be heard laughing at Robin's request, Nicole hailing a cab, the boys hugging them, Jeremy saying he was going to buy Robin his burger and fries, possibly a slice of apple pie. They promised to meet up the next day to chat about their weird night, Nicole offering to buy them lunch as a thank you. As the cab sped through the city Waverly sat wide-eyed gazing out the window at the passing scene. "If only I'd known all this was out here," she said. "Where are we going?"

"Err, my place. It's a little cramped, but it's tidy. I couldn't think where else to go. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Waverly replied. "I'll have to get used to being in your world. Oh look, they decorate trees here. It's so, so pretty."

Nicole took Waverly's hand, her thumb gently rubbing against the back, turning it over to trace circles on her palm. "What you did, you doing this to me, kept me going. Got me out of the locked room too. Honestly thought I would drown."

"Our minds are powerful tools," Waverly said, removing her gaze from the outside world to focus on Nicole's soft touch. "I may have helped you a little more than the others."

"Really?" Nicole asked. "And, why is that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I wanted it to be you."

"And not the hundreds who came before me."