"So where are we exactly?" I ask, pulling a leaf out of my hair. Daniel and I came through a mirror that was propped against a tree in the middle of what would appear to be a classic English forest. Not that I've ever seen many English forests, but it hold a resemblance of what I've seen on TV and movies.

"Can't tell you that," he says. "Don't take this personally but I don't really want you to know where I live..."

I frown and look at him dubiously. "You do realize how messed up that is right? The fact that you know exactly where I live and I can't even know where we are?"

"You're in England," he says like a smart ass and then he turns more seriously. "I'm sorry, but for now it's just the way it is."

"Fine," I lift my hands in a shrug. "Whatever. This day can't really get any weirder so I should be surprised by anything else that happens. I still don't understand why we had to come out of a mirror that's in the middle of the woods..." I look over my shoulder where the mirror sits against a tree. It's oddly eerie.

"It's the first rule," Daniel says, offering me a hand to step over a few moss covered rocks.

"Rule?"

He nods. "Yeah, there are a handful of rules that come with the responsibility of the watch. First rule is no traveling inside the house."

"Why?" I ask.

"My grandfather can explain it," he says. "It's a superstition that follows the story of the watch and no one is willing to test the theory."

"Oook," I say, now feeling a little creeped out.

We step out of the woods and my mouth drops open with surprise. I had a suspicion that Daniel was a rich boy, but I didn't know he was 'daddy I want another pony' kind of rich. It's a mansion, there's no other way to describe it. We stand on the edge of a very trimmed and proper English garden, hedges, fountains, footpaths and all. The back of the house has a stone patio and large glass doors are propped open to let in the fresh air.

The house itself is stone and ivy is growing up its walls. It's two stories but stretches out in both directions and there are more windows than I can count in the matter of seconds that we are standing there. "The back is nicer than the front," Daniel comments. "Or at least I think so."

"This is your house?" I demand. "As in you actually live here?"

"Yes, that's usually what houses are used for. It's the family estate, just another thing that's been passed down," he shrugs.

"So you'll someday inherit this property?" I ask.

"Probably," Daniel says.

I look down at my grey t-shirt and jeans. I felt slightly undressed before walking around with Daniel, but now I just straight up feel like a peasant. "Can I please go home and change my rags for slightly nicer rags?" I ask.

Daniel bursts out laughing and places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it Marley, my grandfather is the most down to earth old man you will ever meet. Now, if my father were here on the other hand..." again I note the slight hint of bitterness in his voice. "Come on."

He walks through the garden and into the back doors of the house. There is nothing modern about the place from the inside either. Everything looks like it's an antique and I have the growing suspicion that they actually are antiques. "So you're grandfather lives with you?" I ask. Daniel just nods. We pass by three cleaning ladies who are dusting a long hallway.

"You have maids?" I ask, my voice squeaks slightly.

"Yeah, it's a big place," he shrugs. "It's not like they are slaves. They are paid a handsome wage."

"Do you have cooks and butlers as well?"

"Just one cook and one butler," he says, completely serious. Daniel leads me to the front foyer where a staircase splits on either side of the room and lead up to the next level. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling, which I notice, is made of stained glass. I stand in the middle of the front room and stare.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Daniel asks.

"Gorgeous," I saw in awe.

"It's the original glass too," Daniel says looking up. "It's been here since the early nineteen hundreds."

"Incredible." I notice that Daniel has moved to the stairs and I hurry to follow him.

"Young Master Ross," someone calls and we both turn to see a man wearing a black suit walk across the foyer.

"Wonderful," Daniel mutters under his breath so only I can hear.

"I thought you had left for the day already," he says.

"I came back to see my grandfather, Sebastian," he says to the man.

"And who's this lovely young lady?" he asks, looking at me with sharp eyes. Is this the butler?

"Marley," I introduce myself. "I'm a friend of Daniel's from America."

"Oh I see," Sebastian says. "And will the young lady be staying?"

"No," Daniel says. "She's going back to America today."

"Well I won't keep you," Sebastian says. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you," I say. "You too."

"Come on," Daniel leads me up the stairs and down another long hallway. There are painting and portraits and statues and even suits of armor.

"I feel like I'm at the professor's house in the Chronicles of Narnia," I tell him.

"Yeah, don't touch anything," he says. "It's better if you think of this place like a museum, trust me. Sebastian will know if anything is out of place." It really is like the professor's house.

I press my finger against the wall as I walk. "What, like this?"

"Rebel," he shakes his head. "It's my ass on the line if you break something I hope you know."

I return my hand to my side. "I won't break anything," I tell him. "Promise."

"Here we are," he says and stops at the end of the hall in front of a dark wooden door. The handle is an old brass knob with carvings on it. Daniel knocks on the door loudly three times. After a few seconds a man's voice answers.

"Come in," he says.

Daniel flashes me an eager yet nervous grin and opens the door. He holds the door open for me and I step into the room. Daniel closes it behind me and immediately I pick out the smell of cigar smoke, at least now I know where that smell comes from. Now I just need to figure out what kind of cologne Daniel wears and I'll have his secret figured out.

"Grandfather?" Daniel calls looking around the room. There's a large four poster bed fit for king against the left wall. Straight ahead large windows stretch up to the ceiling. They curtains are pulled back to let the light in and are open to let in the fresh air in as well. To the right there is a fireplace and a couple of chairs. I also notice a large desk in the far corner and there's a door on either side of the fireplace. One of them is open.

"Just a moment," the voice comes from the open door.

"I've brought you a guest, grandfather," Daniel calls. I half suspect it's to warn him that there's company so he doesn't come out naked or half dressed.

"Did you say a guest?" his grandfather appears, buttoning a vest.

"Yes," Daniel says.

His grandfather is exactly how I would imagine an English grandfather to look like. I'm not sure what makes English grandparents different than anyone else's, but he's the picture of an old Englishman if I ever did imagine one. He has a cane hanging from the crook of his arm. He's wearing a suit much like Daniel's, only his is a double breasted suit and he's not wearing a neck tie of any kind. His hair his stark white, his skin is pale and wrinkly, and his bear is trimmed neatly and at a short length. When he smiles I notice that his teeth are crooked, but not so crooked that it takes away from his appearance.

"Well," his grandfather exclaims enthusiastically. "You didn't say she was a female guest." His grandfather holds out his hand and I give it to him. Instead of shaking it however he kisses it and I blush madly from the unexpected gesture. "My name is William Ross the second," he says introducing himself. "But you may call me William or Grandfather."

"Um," I say. "Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Marley," I tell him. "Marley Fields...the first."

William laughs at my joke. "Oh I like her very much already," he tells Daniel. "It's a pleasure to meet you young lady."

"Stop flirting grandfather," Daniel says and rolls his eyes, but there's a hint of a smile on his lips. His grandfather releases my hand.

"Please, won't you sit down?" William motions to the chairs.

"Were you about to go out?" Daniel asks him, nodding to his cane and clothes.

"Just for a stroll, you aren't keeping me," his grandfather says and motions to the chairs by the empty fireplace. "So where are you from Marley?" his grandfather asks.

"America," I tell him with a smile.

"Oh really?" he asks. "What brings you over the pond to our little country?"

"I brought her," Daniel speaks up so I don't have to answer.

"You brought her?" his grandfather looks at Daniel. A look passes between them and I get they are speaking without actually speaking. Then William glances at the chain of the pocket watch in Daniel's vest and then he looks at me. He leans back in his chair his demeanor suddenly subdued and then pulls out a cigar from the pocket of his vest, along with a lighter.

"I was saving this for my walk, do you mind?" he asks me.

"No, not at all, I quite like the smell of cigars actually," I tell him. His grandfather takes a moment to light his cigar. Daniel fidgets nervously in his chair beside me. Finally his grandfather takes a long breath and releases the smoke.

"Don't be mad," Daniel says to William.

"Mad?" William asks. "Why should I be mad, Daniel? Have you done something wrong?" Daniel swallows and seems to shrink in his chair, nervous from his grandfather's stare. Suddenly I don't feel so confident about being here. I pick at the skin around my thumbnail nervously. William smokes and Daniel doesn't have the guts to look at his grandfather again.

I finally break. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No," William says to me. "You've done nothing wrong. It's my grandson that's been foolish I'm afraid."

"Oh," I say, feeling small in my chair like Daniel.

"I didn't—" Daniel starts.

"—didn't what?" William cuts him off. For an old man he's quite frightening and not at all frail like I expected him to be. "What excuse could you possibly have to justify this?"

Daniel finally takes a breath and gains the courage to meet his grandfather's stare straight on. "You always tell me that everything happens for a reason," he says. "I met Marley for a reason."

His grandfather looks at me for a moment and then looks at Daniel. "You're eighteen, what could you possibly know about that?"

Daniel shakes his head. "I'm not a child. You made that very clear the day you gave me the watch."

"Humph," his grandfather concedes. "So you think that just because you ran into this girl that it means you can spill our secrets?"

"I didn't come here to be yelled at," Daniel tells him. "Or lectured."

"Why did you come then?" William asks.

"He wanted you to tell me the story behind the watch," I cut in for Daniel. I've never liked people talking on my behalf and if Daniel trusted me enough to share as much with me as he has, the least I can do is speak up.

"This is more complicated than it looks," Daniel assures his grandfather. He looks and me and pulls the cigarette from behind his ear and stuffs it into his mouth. Despite the stressful situation he still doesn't actually light it. There's a part of me that wonders if he even realizes that he's not actually smoking it.

"It didn't just run into her." He turns back to his grandfather then. "I was being chased, in the place between reflections, someone—something, was after me. The openings weren't open, grandfather. They were dimmed, as though the color had been taken from the world and whenever I tried to escape I couldn't get through, it was like they were blocked off. I started to panic and then I heard singing. It was a girl's voice, it was Marley's voice. I followed it to an opening and jumped through without a second thought to my own safety or consequences. She saved my life, knowingly or not."

I stare at Daniel with shock. I hadn't told me the details of what had brought him to my mirror that day. He told me had been chased, but I never thought about what truly meant. Does something actually exist in that grey world between reflections?

Daniel doesn't look at me even though he must feel my eyes on him. I take in his features again, his sharp nose and chin, the scar on his cheek that appears when he frowns. He's handsome, but now all I see now is a scared young man. He hid it well before with his accent and charm, but now I see that something is truly frightening him. Surprisingly I find that I want to help in any way that I can.

His grandfather takes a few puffs of his cigar and stares and the cold fireplace. Much like Daniel he zones out while his might whirls with thoughts and information. I see it in his eyes that something heavy is weighing on his mind. Daniel fidgets with his lighter and cigarette and I focus my attention to the pattern on rug under my feet.

"Marley," William says and I look up at him.

"Sir?" I ask.

"Can you keep a secret?" he asks. "I do not ask you this because we have things to hide, I ask you because if you cannot you will not only be putting your own life in danger, but my family as well."

"Yes sir," I nod my head.

Williams sighs. "Very well," he says. "What do you know about fairy tales?"

"Are we talking Brothers Grimm or Disney?" I ask with a small smile.

"More like mythology in general," he says, waving a hand.

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not an expert," I tell him. "I grew up watching Disney movies and I took a Greek mythology courses and I've heard and accumulation of stories throughout my life randomly and through movies."

"Do you believe them?" William asks. I glance at Daniel from the corner of my eye. He's still fidgeting with the lighter.

"If you asked me two weeks ago I would have said absolutely not," I say seriously. "But after what I've seen, now I'm not so sure. I think some things could be true and I think others are exactly what we call them, myths."

William nods. "Very wise," he says. "I don't have an answer to my own question, but much like you I believe the same. I think there are things that happen in this world that we cannot explain so we make up stories about them. Then there are stories we are told that we have a hard time believing." I nod my head in agreement.

"Daniel, may I see the watch?" His grandfather holds out his hand and Daniel frees the watch from his vest and places it in his grandfather open palm. His grandfather pops it open and looks at it as if he's seeing an old friend. "With this watch, there is a story that has been passed down from generation to generation in our family. No one is sure what about the story is true or fake. And as with all things that are spoken, we aren't sure what about the story has changed since its original telling.

"From what experts can gather by dating the watch, it all began sometime in the sixteen hundreds. The original owner of the watch was Nathaniel Ross," Williams says. "If you look closely there is a small engraving with his initials on the back. William flips the watch over and I lean forward to see the N.R that is engraved delicately on the back. "Nathaniel went to read before dinner, as he did every evening before his wife called him home.

"In the woods behind this very house many years ago Nathaniel encountered a strange being. The creature, from what we've researched an understand, was Fae or what is better known as a Fairy. It spoke like a woman, walked like a woman, even looked like a woman, but her voice was magic. She invited him to come away with her.

"The magic took hold of Nathaniel and the creature had her within her grasp when out of habit Nathaniel clicked open his watch. The creature screamed as though it were being burnt alive. It covered its face and cursed a thousand curses at Nathaniel." William took a long puff from his cigar and let the smoke out slowly.

"Her magic had been broken by the watch," he said. "We're not sure why exactly, but when the creature saw its own face reflected in the watch, the spell of its glamour was broken. The beautiful woman turned into a beast. It had sharp teeth, its hair and eyes were green and her skin was nearly white like snow."

"A Fae?" I ask, astonished.

William nodded. "Our family has been obsessed with the research of Fae ever since. We've unturned every story, novel, and myth about the creatures and anything related to them. We've tried to figure out what exactly happened that fateful day. But the story that has been passed down tells us that the creature made a deal with Nathaniel.

"In return for her glamour, which had somehow been trapped inside the watch, she would give him an extraordinary power. It is said that the very look of the watch changed when her glamour was trapped inside. These ruins are not in any human history, no one knows what they say. From there the details of the story are murky at best. My father told me that his grandfather had been told various endings by his father and so on. As best as we can piece together the creature placed a charm on the watch. We don't know how it works, we don't know the rules of its magic, but over the years the Ross family has created its own boundaries and rules through trial and error."

"Have you ever seen one?" I ask. "A fairy I mean."

William shakes his head. "No," he says. "That is why we don't know if the story is truly real or not. There is clearly magic within the watch, but where it truly comes from is anyone's guess. This watch has never need to be mended or wound or polished."

"So that's it? That's all you know?" As amazing and unbelievable as the story might be it's a surprisingly little amount of information to go along with such an extraordinary watch and ability.

"It's speculation from there," William says. "We have theories and no one is willing to break the rules...well most of them anyway." William looks at Daniel pointedly.

"I promise I won't say anything," I assure him.

"It's not your mouth I'm worried about," William says. "It's your safety that I worry about. Daniel did a very foolish and risky thing bringing you with him through the reflections as he did. He should not have done it."

"Why?"

William takes a puff of his cigar. "You tell her," he says to Daniel. "You're the watches bearer now, you're going to have to get used to telling its weight eventually and you're the one who brought her here."

Daniel sighs and places the cigarette behind his ear. "I went against one of the rules," he tells me. "We don't take passengers with us when we travel with the watches power."

"Why?" I ask again.

Daniel looks at his grandfather, pleading. I can tell he doesn't want to be the one to tell me but his grandfather only looks at him coolly. Finally he sighs and says, "Because, it's how my grandmother died."