Shattered Mirrors ⇁ Carlos Madrigal

three

|Chapter Three|

The town had a library, in a sense that they had a collection of books sealed inside a small building, it wasn't much, if counted might make up a hundred or so, it was an assembly of books that have been salvaged by the villagers as they fled in the thousand days war, while some were brought over from the city.

Carlos perched his elbow against the table as he flipped over another page, his eyes scanning what was written, a groan escaping his lips.

In the span of six hours, he had gone through several books, all detailing superstitions, myths, about ghosts and creatures that roamed through the villages of Colombia -- all in all, nothing ever mentioned "a glowing person in a mirror".

On a positive note, he might be the first person to discover something like this, on the other hand, he was absolutely no closer to figuring out whatever's happening to him.

He gripped the spine of the book, before shutting it close, resisting the urge to throw something out a window in pure frustration. A name flashed in his mind, a story about a man --the world's greatest detective - a book his mother told him about, one she fondly remembers reading.

"Sherlock Holmes, I am not." Carlos groaned, setting the book aside as he pressed his face against the wooden table, which was a bit dustier than he originally thought. He stayed there for a moment, unmoving, that is until he felt a set of eyes on him.

He pushed himself off the table, looking around, before his eyes settled on someone, hidden behind a shelf, peeking through several books.

"-- staring is rude, ya know?"

The person flinched, seemingly surprised that he caught them, as if their hiding spot was anything less than obvious, regardless, they ducked down slightly, eyes hidden, but hair still peeking out. "Lo siento." They muttered. "I didn't mean to, it's just, not a lot of people come here."

Carlos raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Do -- what are you looking for? Maybe I can help you. I've been here a long time." A laugh. "I've probably read most everything."

He hesitated, but ultimately shrugged. Wouldn't hurt to try. He thought. "Hmm, ever read about a person appearing in mirrors?" Carlos didn't even bother hiding the fact that what he was searching for might have been odd from an outside view, after everything, he wasn't concerned with what the townspeople thought about him.

His image has been sullied long ago.

There's a pause, then a moment later, the stranger stepped out, their eyes meeting. A girl. She smiled, taking a step forward. "That's -- that's a pretty weird thing to look for. Can I ask the reason why you're searching for it?"

Carlos chuckled. "You can ask."

She leaned forward, interested. "So, what's it for?"

Her question was met with utter silence. Carlos watched as her face twisted into confusion, staring at him, as the pause stretched on.

His smile tightened, then shrugged as he looked away from her. "I never said I'd actually answer, right?"

The stranger's face fell, but just when he thought he'd get some sort of angry rebuttal, she laughed, lively and warm. Her lips pulled back into a smile. "You have a point there."

Carlos blinked, people rarely ever tolerated his teasing, that is if they weren't already avoiding him.

"Oh, about what you're looking for." She continued. "I'm not sure if I've read anything as. . . specific as that. But if you're looking for, uh, myths, maybe you should go through the townspeople's journals, see if they mention something similar to it?"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if what she said could be true, what if he wasn't the only one to experience something like this before -- but if he wasn't, wouldn't an experience like this already be a famous tale around the town? Afterall, people here weren't exactly known for keeping things to themselves.

"That's, um, I'll consider that." Carlos muttered, nodding absentmindedly. He looked back at her with hesitance. ". . . Thank you."

Her smile brightened as she nodded. "You're welcome!" She said, her eyes widened as she peered towards the opened window. "Oh, it's getting late." She looked back at him. "I'll be heading off now, but, um, it was nice seeing you, Carlos!" - and with that, she was off running.

Carlos blinked, before a smile appeared on his lips. It's been a while since he's had a somewhat normal conversation with someone that wasn't his relative. It felt. . . nice.

I didn't get her name.

He shook his head. Her name wasn't important. He abruptly stood up as he slid off the chair, eyes scanning through the shelves.

"Now, where are those journals?"

- he had a mystery to solve afterall.