Beyond the mirror, Victoria got up at dawn. After being yelled at for being lazy and inept, and after she'd finished her morning chores, she found the perfect excuse to leave that hostile place she could never call home. She told her aunt she needed flour and butter from the grocery shop and left in a hurry, taking with her a wicker basket.

She slowly started to understand what was happening to her. She was certain the mirror had thrown her into another world, a strange world, as the old woman envisioned. She figured that if doubles exist for each person, then there must be a Paul and a woman in black. She went to all the places he might be, asked every merchant that might have had him as an apprentice, but nobody knew anything about him.

The world she entered seemed the same, yet different. The people were grumpy, minding their own business. Those appeared to be older times, at least a century before her time. Poverty and disease crawled at the corner of every street. The romantic feel of the village was gone. Even the sun was weaker, hiding behind heavy clouds.

Her uncle had a little hat shop that could barely provide for their daily necessities. She saw him standing proudly in front of his stand, like a nabob in front of his palaces. She carefully avoided the shop and went on a side street.

Steady paced and head down, Victoria went through the sad little streets and reached the end of the village. The gray house was high on top of the hill, as expected. She went up the hill hastily, not caring about tearing her drab clothes or scratching her knees and elbows until blood started to slowly drip. When she got to the house, thick clouds gathered above her and the wind, like a bad omen, started to blow, carrying around echoes and cracks from the trees that looked like anguished people. Victoria knocked on the door as determined as ever; she got no answer, so she pushed it open. The house was empty. The old woman's welcoming saloon was completely different. The old furniture was covered in sheets, a clear sign that no one had been inside for years. Cobwebs took over every corner and pigeons made the attic into their home, flying all around and inside the house. The floor was covered in dust, bird droppings and feathers, and her footsteps gave a sad echo.

Victoria called out for somebody, anybody that could be living in the house, but to no avail. Outside, the storm was well on its way. Thunders lightened up the room, bringing forth flashbacks from just a couple of days ago, when the house was wonderfully welcoming. When the weird and kind granny was happy to have her grandchildren over. When Paul looked at her the way he did. When she had her aunt, Matilda and her parents, whom she would never see again if she stayed in this strange and cold world. Sadness overwhelmed her. She gave out a great sigh, like the one a child would give after losing his mother's warm and protective touch. She cuddled in a corner and fell asleep.

When the storm was over, Victoria realized in terror that she had been gone for hours. She started running, not caring she bumped into the people of that sad world. As she arrived at the aunt's shabby house, she entered, and, to her horror, she found both of them waiting for her.

'Where have you been, you good for nothing child?' said the aunt in a swish.

'I had to take cover from the rain, aunt,' said the poor girl in a soft voice.

'Liar!' said the uncle, banging his fist on the table. 'You were seen rummaging around the abandoned house on the hill. What were you doing there?'

'I'm sorry,' stuttered Victoria. 'I was looking for mushrooms around the house. I thought a mushroom stew would have been great...'

'What stew?' the aunt yelled. 'Thanks to you we have nothing for dinner tonight. I had so many things on my mind that I couldn't even cook. We had to settle for leftovers. That was your job! But you, lazy and ungrateful as you are, dally about... Mushrooms, she says... Instead of appreciating our concern, you only family's concern...'

Victoria couldn't take it anymore. Her reply rained down like thunder:

'You're not my family!' she said, grinding her teeth.

'What?!!!' they yelled in unison.

'You're not my family!!!' Victoria yelled. 'My parents are still alive and I'm going to get back to them, even if it takes my whole life to do it.'

Her uncle got rather neurotic, her aunt began to lament. 'What are we going to do with her? She's completely lost it!'

It was the uncle's turn to start shooting hard words:

'Girl, I think you're not in your right mind,' he spat out. 'As punishment, you'll never leave the house again! Ever!!! Now go to your room! No food for you tonight! Go on, I don't want to see your insolent face again for the rest of the night!'

And the poor girl got locked in her room that same night. Her begging, pleading and promises that she would never go around their word were to no avail. The key turned in the knob and the footsteps went away. What was she to do? How could she go back home?

She tried knocking down the door, but it was too heavy. The only window had thick bars and there was no other way out of the dark room. She stood by the window, watching the rain drop like the tears in her eyes. But something still bothered her. What if her uncle was right? What if she had lost her mind? What if her whole life was nothing but an illusion, a hoax imagined by a sick mind? As the dark thoughts unraveled her, she soon felt out of breath. She pushed her hands on her beating chest and thought that any minute she would give into fainting. And then, her moist hands felt it. Her beloved pendant. She opened it and there they were: her parents' loving smiles. And the blue flower Paul gave her that day when the world was theirs.

⃰

The other Victoria was trying to read on the swing under the old nut tree. How much had her life had changed! She didn't have to do anything. All it took was for her to open her mouth, and those silly women would fulfill even her smallest wish. Sleeping late in the morning, food as much as she could eat, walking around without answering to anybody... She could get used to living like this. And, boy, did it suit her! But she had other plans. The aunt asked her to keep her company. And there was nothing she hated more. She found it so boring. Soon, the poetry book became overwhelming and she threw it away. The aunt raised her head from the tapestry she was working on and looked at her from underneath her glasses.

'Is something wrong, dear?'

'No, auntie, nothing's wrong,' she said, trying to stop that nervous twitch in her leg. 'It's just that it's so hot... Too hot for me to stay in one place.'

'We could ask Matilda to make us some lemonade...'.

'I'm afraid no bloody lemonade can drive away this fainting sensation I have.'

Aunt Alice looked at her, surprised. She had never heard her talking like that. And she had never seen her so bitter.

'Maybe if we take a walk... I'm sure the forest is chillier.'

Victoria gave out a nervous laughter. 'Are you serious? Walk and what else? Listening to you talking over and over again about your long lost youth and the husband that died before getting to really know him? Seriously, auntie, you can be quite a bore sometimes.'

The aunt was speechless. She almost fell to tears. She let her eyes down on her work, piercing the cloth with shaky hands.

'Very well,' the poor woman finally said. 'Do as you please... I won't stop you.'

That's all the girl needed to hear. She grabbed her hat and bolted through the gate without looking back. She didn't even noticed Paul, who was eagerly waiting for her to come out. She headed to a place only she knew. Suspicious as she was, she kept looking back only to find that the boy was following her. She stopped and the twitch in her leg started again.

'What do you want from me?' she yelled at the approaching boy.

Paul was pinned down. What could have happened to the kind and gentle girl he knew? Could she have been faking it all this time? And why?

'I want to get rid of that mirror, once and for all,' he said. As long as it is near you, you're in danger. Like the old woman said, the gate could open anytime and pull you in. You yourself said strange things happen around it.'

The girl got to thinking. So, except for that flimsy girl who took her place, there were two other people who knew about that damn mirror. And they were two too many, now that she managed to pull off what she had planned for years. The gate's power couldn't reach her as long as she was as far away from it as possible. And she had to get away from that pesky village before the first solstice. But there was one more thing she had to do before that.

'Try to understand that my aunt has forbid me to take it out of the house,' she said, trying to appear as sympathetic as she could. 'What could I do?'

'For starters, you could explain all this to her.'

The girl burst into laughing. It was a nervous, forced laugh, very unlike her.

'And what makes you think she would understand that maggot? Ultimately, everything I saw in that mirror could have been a dream. Or the fantasies of an over imaginative mind. That's how we, girls, are at this age,' she added, winking at him. 'I'm starting to doubt that what I saw in that mirror was ever real.'

And with that, she wanted to leave. But Paul stopped her in her way:

'You know very well that's not true. Too many weird things have happened to you to be this careless. I wouldn't want anything bad happen to you,' he said blushing.

The fake Victoria could barely stop from laughing. So, that bum was in love with her. Well, not her per se, the real Victoria. She could use this to her advantage. But no, this would complicate things. She could only trust herself. So she said to him, a mean look in her eyes:

'Listen here, boy! You're getting a little rude, you know? Don't forget where you belong! Be grateful that a girl like me even speaks to you. And, please, keep away from me! I don't want to become the main gossip in this shabby village.' And with that, she pushed him away and went on her way.

Paul was struck down, swearing that he would never speak to her again.

What do you think about the fake Victoria? She's quite something, isn't she? I hope you liked this chapter! So please comment, vote, and show your support for this story! It means a lot!