Mirror // Van McCann

37. Better Than I Expected

I walked the short distance over to the Fuller's house. There was a slight drizzle outside and I hated it. There was enough moisture to bother me but not enough for me to wear my hood. I quickly walked to their front porch and unlocked the door. As I opened the door, I saw Amy and Van on the couch. They both turned to look at me and I tried to read their expression to figure out how Amy's conversation with Adam went. Their expressions were neutral so I didn't know what to expect.

"I'm guessing your conversation didn't go well?" Amy questioned.

"What gave it away?" I asked.

"Your face."

I was slightly taken aback. How did my face look? Did I look upset? But she's right anyway.

"Were you able to find Adam?" I asked Amy.

"Yes, surprisingly. Our conversation went well, I think, but it's hard knowing for sure since it's Adam we're dealing with," Amy answered.

I nodded my head and dropped my bag before walking into the kitchen to wash the dishes. There weren't too many dishes today so I managed to finish washing them before Ryan came home. We heard him put the key into the lock. He stepped in and kicked his shoes off before sitting on the couch.

"Alright, let's hear it. Who wants to start?" Ryan asked, looking at Amy and I.

"I'll go first," I said. I'd rather they hear the bad news first before hearing the good news. "I went to eat lunch with Nathan and he told me some interesting things about Adam. Adam was bullied a lot in school but kind of took it. Then one day, someone said something that really bothered him. They said that no girl would ever love him and he wondered if it was true. He asked several girls out and got rejected many times. There were rumors that he didn't take rejection well but there was a girl that finally said yes to him. They went out for a few weeks before she broke things off with him saying he was clingy and overbearing. He didn't take it well and it made his depression even worse. He disappeared for a couple months and when Nathan was able to reach out to him again, he became a totally different person. He was more negative and didn't trust anyone, but at the time he wasn't taking his medicine. His dad eventually gave him an ultimatum and he got better but I guess he still had his demons. So that's what I found out about him. It's not something we want to hear but it totally lines up with what happened that day, so I would say that we should take Adam's threat seriously. I believe he will try to figure out what we're hiding." I realized what I said made it seem like Adam was a horrible person when he really wasn't. "I want you all to know that Adam is a sweet person when he's doing okay mentally. He's struggling and needs help but he would never intentionally hurt someone," I added. When I was done talking, I looked at everyone. They were still digesting what I said.

"Thanks Jess. Let's hear how your encounter went, Amy," Ryan spoke.

"I went to his house and was surprised he actually answered. He didn't want to but he was curious what I had to say. I tried to explain to him that everything was a misunderstanding. He initially thought Jess was hiding from him and that Van was helping her by telling her to run. But I somehow managed to confuse him even more. I said that he had it all wrong. That when he asked Van if he knew where Jess was, Van happened to see her in the crowd and was surprised. I tried to tell him that Jess was running from Van, not him. I'm not sure if he's a hundred percent convinced but it made him think and now he's just even more confused. He honestly didn't think of it that way and now that I explained it to him, he can see that as a possibility. At the end of our encounter, I asked if we were good and he said yes and that he was sorry so I believe we're on good terms now. Oh, and there's another thing that might be interesting. As I waited for him to give me water, I took a look around the house. I saw tons of books on death and the afterlife—like this guy was obsessed with learning anything and everything about this world. It kind of reminded me of Ryan and his fascination with death." Amy glanced at Ryan. "I don't know if it means anything but doing research was how Ryan discovered the mirror and I'm afraid that he might learn about the mirror as well."