The scolding was not as bad as she'd imagined. The aunt had too felt the chills of first love and clearly understood her. Even Matilda stopped her bickering. Victoria chose to drink just a cup of tea that evening. Not because it was late, but the day was far too emotional to leave any room for food.

She kissed her aunt goodnight and went to her room with a pacing heart. She covered the mirror with a bed sheet without even glimpsing at her milky surface. And she went fast asleep, thinking of the moon, the fireflies and the blue-eyed boy.

⃰

She was awaked by a crisp breeze. She got up and saw the curtains fluttering in the window. She was sure she'd closed it. Outside, the scenery was as heartless as the night before. She couldn't even hear the clock ticking. She tried desperately not to look in the mirror, but an unseen force pushed her into doing it. The bed sheet had fallen off and the mirror was clearer than ever. She looked at it and touched her auburn locks. The same locks that had touched Paul's cheek. She smiled, thinking that in just a couple of hours they would see each other again. But her smile transformed in a grin that wasn't hers. And, to her dismay, her head tilted and her eyes watched her with greed.

'Come, Victoria, come...' whispered the girl in the mirror.

For a second, Victoria thought she was dreaming. Perhaps the old lady was really crazy and put weird potions in their tea, making them delirious. She pinched herself hard until her nails bruised her skin. But nothing happened. The being in the mirror was still staring at her, with a predatory look on her face. It then stretched its hand out and touched the surface that now looked like a sheet of water. The hand stretched out from the other side, touching her cheek. Victoria pulled back in terror. She had never been more frightened in her life. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Everything around her was incredibly still, like a painted canvas.

'Don't be afraid,' said the voice in the mirror. 'You know you want to come... Come...'

Victoria tried to fight back. Was she dreaming? She wanted to pour herself a glass of water, but her hand was shaky and she dropped the water jug on the floor, breaking it in thousands of pieces. And, dreadfully, the drop made no sound whatsoever. And something stronger than herself pushed her towards the mirror. A deep, unbreakable yearning to touch it. That's all... Just touch it. What could go wrong?

She felt like she was floating in a dream, going towards an alluring light. A dream you wish you could get out of, but can't, even though you know it's just a dream. She also stretched her hand towards the milky surface. Her hand went through to the other side and grew pleasantly numb. She felt tingles on her entire arm. The objects around her started spinning faster and faster. Her head was whooshing and a hum took over her mind, making her unable to think. She was slowly fainting...

⃰

She woke up in a daze. Her aunt had called her, but it wasn't clear to her what she wanted. Her head still hurt and her sight was foggy.

'Get up, lazy bones,' said the aunt, shaking her violently. 'It's passed six!'

When she came round, she saw the aunt pulling the curtains away. She was dressed funny, in a puffy drab dress and a blouse buttoned all the way up, with the collar reaching her neck and a disgraceful goiter hanging above it. She had a bonnet on her head; it was once white, but now it was dirty and yellowish.

'What happened?' asked Victoria baffled. When she came through, she noticed her room changed overnight. Shabby and ragged, with old, drab furniture. The only pieces of furniture were the bed, a chair and a chest of drawers with an old porcelain doll on it, which seemed familiar. The floor was dirty and unpolished and the walls were covered with wallpaper that had long lost its pattern and its grip. The only thing she truly remembered was the mirror. It was the same one, but the colors on the decorations looked more vivid, the wood seemed newer and the images reflecting in it were much clearer.

'Hurry up!' said Aunt Alice with a harsh voice that wasn't hers. 'You have to make breakfast.'

She noticed that her aunt looked different. Besides from her weird and drag clothes, her whole look was different. Gray locks came down from under her droopy bonnet and her face was covered in wrinkles. The corners of her mouth were dragging like it was pouring sadness on her face all day long. Victoria was still shocked. She must be still dreaming...

'Come on, already!' yelled the aunt. 'You're uncle's been waiting for half an hour.'

What? What could she mean by that?

'But, aunt Alice, uncle's been dead for decades...' mumbled the girl.

'What?!!! How dare you talk about your uncle like that, you ungrateful child?!!! After we put a roof over your head and fed you from the little we had... now you want him dead?!! What would you have done without us after you parents died?'

Her aunt's words struck like thunder. Her eyes filled with tears:

'My parents are dead?'

The aunt gave her a cold look:

'They've been dead for more than a decade. I don't know what has gotten into you today, but you'd better snap out of it. Get dressed and hurry down. I'm not going to keep a bum in this house.' And with that, she closed the door behind her with a thud.

The house was the same, but everything looked different. It had never been shabbier and untidier. She went down to the kitchen where she found walls blackened by smoke and a short man flumped in a chair reading a newspaper and lacking any sign of excitement.

'Boy, you're slow today, aren't you?' he said without looking at her. 'I lost at least a quarter of my clients today because of you.'

'I thought Matilda was taking care of breakfast...'

'Who's Matilda?' asked the man, staring at her with deviant, rat-like eyes.

'The cook...' dared Victoria.

The man trembled in a nervous laughter.

'Have you lost your mind? We barely afford to buy a piece of bread and you want someone else to do your job? Perhaps you want a servant for each of your chores. Be grateful we're not throwing you in the street and share the little grub we have with you. Now go and make me breakfast! I don't have time for your nonsense.'

Victoria grabbed some bacon and eggs from the pantry, put the kettle on and started on the toast. Unfortunately, nothing she made pleased her uncle. The eggs were too hard, the bacon and toast too burnt, the tea unsweetened. And he left the room berating her.

The whole day, the girl worked around the house like a slave, trying to understand what was happening to her. Who were those strangers? Where was she? Where were her parents? But the chores soon took her mind away from those thoughts. She made dinner, polished the floors, did the laundry, pulled the weeds from the garden, washed the windows and when she had a little time to catch her breath, knitted wool socks for the winter.

At the end of the day, she went back to her room and ate a slice of bread with cheese. Her tears were dripping in the molasses-sweetened tea. She fell fast asleep, dreaming she was happy with her parents and her aunt. And with Paul.

⃰

'Hey, wait!' Paul yelled, almost out of breath. He'd seen Victoria in the market, walking firmly and with her head down.

The girl turned to him like it was the first time she'd seen him. After she studied him from head to toes, then she gave him a disgusted sneer. Her eyes were spitting fire. Where have the kind eyes gone?

'What do you want?'

Paul looked at her suspiciously. 'We were supposed to meet this morning to give the mirror back. Remember?'

She seemed to have forgotten.

'I remember,' she finally said swiftly. 'But my aunt absolutely forbade me to take it out of the house. The mirror stays where it is.'

Paul joined her, trying to keep up.

'I hope they didn't give you too much of a hard time last night,' he added. 'I can always take the blame, you know,' he said, smiling with all his heart and stretching his hand out to touch her hair.

But before he could do that, the girl grabbed his hand and brutally pushed it away. The boy stood still, in awe of her strength.

'Stop following me!' she muttered. 'I have something important to do and have no time for you! Besides, a young lady like me should never be seen with a bum like you,' she said, walking away.

Paul was baffled.

Girls... They're like the weather, you never know what they are going to do next... he thought, kicking the first rock he saw, into oblivion. He took the pain in his leg as a sign not to follow her.

Well, things are going pretty weird for poor Victoria! Now she is trapped beyond. Let me hear your thoughts about this chapter! And, of course, votes are very much appreciated, too :)