A Trip to Fablehaven

Magic Mirror In The Woods

-Demmi POV-

I listened as Suzanna told me a crazy story about fairies and magical creatures and preserves for these creatures. I shook my head, she was absolutely insane.

"What did you eat?" I joked, remembering the time she ate a mushroom and went on this entire mind trip.

"Actually, I drank something." She said, obviously proud of what she did. "I drank milk."

"Milk?" I questioned, "and not some random drug that made you hallucinate?" She looked at me all offended and stuff.

"I'll prove it!" She cried, running to her room. Yeah, she's insane. Now I noticed how quiet it was. Where was mom and dad? I woke up and they were gone, so I just assumed they went to the store or the gym. It's been about 4 or 5 hours now. Where are they? I walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"Suz! Where's mom and dad?" I called up.

"I don't know!" Was her response. I sighed, they're probably stuck in traffic or something. I walked back to the couch and sat down, the thought of faires and magical creatures sounded absolutely amazing, but it was fake, old children stories meant to make me fall asleep with good dreams. Nothing but a good dream.

I heard Suzanna open her door, she was holding a hand held mirror, and a nice one.

"Mom won't like you breaking that mirror," I told her, "it costs more than your life." I teased.

"Ha. Ha." She said, not amused. "I'm not breaking it, we're gonna go to the woods."

"The woods?" I questioned. "Why the woods?" Then I gasped. "Are we going to do a ritual where we summon some demon creature?"

"No!" Cried Suzanna, obviously terrified at the idea. "I'm going to show you how the butterflies and birds are actually fairies in disguise." She smiled. I rolled my eyes.

"I've outgrown those stories, they're fake and childish." I grumbled, not wanting to leave the air-conditioned house.

"Just come on." Said Suzanna, already out the door. I had no choice but to follow.

We walked to where we first saw the fence, strange signs and all. I saw Suzanna climb the fence.

"moms gonna get mad at you for climbing the fence." I said surprised, she never broke rules, and climbing fences are technically breaking some rule about trespassing.

Suzanna hopped down and landed on her feet. She beckoned me to follow, so I complied. She began walking to where lots of birds and butterflies were. I was growing impatient and tired.

"Can we please just go back home?" I begged, itching at a newly formed mosquito bite. "I'm going to get sick."

"Stop your belly-aching and watch" Suzanna grumbled, setting the mirror on the forest floor near the animals. I watched as the butterflies and birds began to crowd the mirror, making it impossible for me to see the glass. Suzanna looked at me excited.

"It's just something they do around glass," I shrugged, "I'm sure the moths at home can do that too." Suzanna rolled her eyes and grabbed the mirror, causing the flying creatures to dart away. I watched as she flipped the mirror over, glass side down. She walked back to me.

"Watch."

I watched as the bugs slowly came back, studying the mirror on the floor. Then, one by one each of the butterflies seemed to help flip the mirror back over, glass side up. Again, they all began to surround the mirror, as if admiring their reflections. I saw Suzanna smirk. I couldn't explain that as just the bugs behavior.

"They're fairies." She smiled. I shook my head.

"Theres no such thing." I mumbled. I sat there thinking of what could possibly make the bugs do what they were doing right at that very moment with the mirror. They purposefully lifted it up to look at the reflection. Do they like the light? Or reflection of the light? That could make sense but then bugs would be flocking to every car on the street. It didn't make any sense.

"Fine," I mumbled softly. "Tell me everything."

~Suzanna POV~

After explaining almost everything I knew to her, she seemed to shut me out.

"Look, I don't know what you have been doing but I'm getting cold. And it's getting dark," she said impatiently. I shook my head.

"I haven't been doing anything, I've seen wondrous things in world that is absolutely real!" I was truly passionate about this new magic, and I wanted my sister to know and to feel the same excitement I did. Something was wrong, all this time she's been looking on google about fairies and gnomes and suddenly she wants nothing to do with it?

"I'm tired and I want to see if mom and dad are back yet," Demmi said shortly and began walking to the house.

We hopped the fence and headed to the backdoor. It was dark, and I felt an ominous presence watching. I paused and turned back to the fence, looking for anything that could possibly disguise itself into something less sinister.

"Come on!" I heard Demmi whine, she's a little baby sometimes.

We walked in the back door. It was really cold. I turned to the switched and turned it on. Still dark. Then I heard a blood curdling scream. I panicked ran to my screaming sister who was staring at a dark figure in the center of the room. I ran to the wall phone and as I did, the creature lurched outside, breaking the window. I tried calling 911 before I realized that there was no monotonous note. Silence. I looked and saw the wire had been cut. I dropped the phone and backed into the center of the room where the creature had been. I heard a tinkling and looked down to see glass strewn about the room. Demmi was still screaming.

I walked carefully to her, and held her close. I didn't know what to do. Mom and dad were gone, there was no electricity and the phone was tampered with. There was a strange thing in our house even though Kendra had said there's no possible way of a creature from the preserve leaving it's sanctuary. I didn't know what to do, except hold my sister and let her cry.

There was only one place to protect us now.