Mirrors & Shadows

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝐗𝐈𝐗

յօ 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯~ t𝔥𝔢 T𝔦𝔪𝔢 W𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔯

The room was bubbling with conversations as the students slowly filed out of the classroom. Though Luna did not look at Edmond, she could feel his presence near her. The events from the night before replayed in her mind. She had indeed freaked out on him in front of the other guests but his reaction, she realized, was laughable. He had stood calmly while she had yelled accusations at him, watching somewhat nonchalantly as his glass splintered in his very hands.
    "You could have told me you carried a knife around. It's not exactly a common practice." she reprimanded before turning to look up at him. "I'm sorry for calling you a stalker." she apologized sincerely nevertheless, still embarrassed at having totally lost it in front of everybody.
    "I'm sorry for being one." he offered a weak smile.
    "Does that mean I'm still on your team?"
    "Luna," his eyes glinted in amusement, "you are the most qualified physicist for the job. So it's not a question if I want you on the team." He grew serious. "But I'd understand if you wouldn't want to work with us...Considering what we are."
His gaze delved patiently into hers. She could tell he was ready for her to refuse. Her usual self would have immediately accepted just to see the surprised look on his face, to prove that she wasn't weak. But something told her this wasn't a decision to be taken lightly. It felt like her answer, the simple 'yes' would transport her into that upturned world, tear her away from the surface, toward unknown depths and she would not be able to turn back. Would she drown on the other side? Would the darkness of what lies ahead render her blind? But those weren't the real questions were they? The real question was: did she even belong in the normal world anymore? The world of humans, the world she thought was the only one? The mark on her neck would say otherwise. She looked back into De Revel's strange eyes. In that moment they seemed even more otherworldly, inviting her into their own universe.
    "I want to be part of the project." She finally agreed firmly. Edmond nodded with a slight smile. A smile that was hard to decipher, that ignited a light in the mist of his eyes. It was only then that she realized the room was empty. They were alone. The university's benches seemed to hold an invisible audience whose attentiveness could be heard in the silence that settled on the walls like dust. All characters in the elaborate Sorbonne paintings seemed to have stopped their activities to watch them. Interrupting the uneasy silence, he asked her if she had a class that afternoon then offered they go straight to the lab, explaining that they had gotten new CT scans that might reveal more information about their research.

The awkward silence between them seemed to follow them outside of the university's gates. The way toward the lab was familiar now. They glided through the crowd of busy people who were too absorbed in their own thoughts and worries.

As people bustled along, she let their visions brush past her. Hearing their last whispers soothe her mind. Their pains piercing her skin, her heart, her head like shards of glass. Maybe it was shards of glass from her adoptive mother's car window shattering. Or the splinters of broken lives in a whirlwind. When she opened her eyes, she saw anguished faces, worlds fading. She felt her chest constricting with their last breaths. She felt her sense of balance spinning. In the visions, she fell, she lay, she turned. But in reality, she was still walking alongside Edmond. He didn't say anything but he was observing her with subtle curiosity as if trying to imagine what she saw.

    "Edmond, did you ever meet people that are now in history books?" she asked.
    "Do you have someone in mind?"
    "Did Nicolas Flamel exist?"
    "Yes. I never met him but he existed."
    "Is he a vampire?"
    "I don't know. I guess there is a slim possibility that someone changed him but I highly doubt it. Why?"
She took out the odd instrument out of her pocket with Flamel's name on it.
    "My mother left this for me. Do you know what it is?"
Edmond watched the engraved letters gleam silver under the sun.
    "Where did you find it?"
She told him about the pen and the secret message written in lemon juice. He listened attentively.
    "It looks like a whistle."
    "That's what I thought at first but it makes no sound."
    "That's because it's an ultrasound whistle. Your mother was clever. Although vampires are more sensitive to lower sound frequencies which enables us to hear heartbeats, we can not hear ultrasounds. Whereas shifters, even though you have normal human hearing, you can sense vibration in matter. Therefore, whenever the wind blows into it, you feel it although no one else might hear it. I'm guessing your mother was hoping it would draw your attention solely to the message in question. Which it did."
    "What would she want me to know about Nicolas Flamel?"
What was so important that her mother would go out of her way to hide through enigmas and secret messages?
    "Wasn't he known for being a famous alchemist that worked on the philosopher's stone?"
    "Indeed." Edmond replied pensively.
    "But that's just a myth right? Plus, my mother most likely knew that vampires could turn you immortal. Why would she be interested in some dumb stone that has the same effect?"
    "The changing ritual does not always guarantee immortal life." Edmond answered calmly. "Most often it results in the fledgling's death...from blood loss or the mass mutations increasing the risk for cancer. I think," Edmond paused, "that she may have been referring to the place rather than the person. Nicolas Flamel's house is the oldest house in Paris."