Wyatt was not at all pleased with the fact that I was leaving. After being hit by a plastic rake, a piggy bank, and a deck of Uno cards, you get the message.

"What do you mean you're leaving!" he screamed. "NO ONE ELSE PLAYS WITH ME!!!!"

I was crying softly this entire time, so it was hard to calm him down.

"Please," I said quietly, "Wyatt..."

"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE!"

I sobbed harder. He wasn't making this easy.

My mother came up behind him. "Wyatt, please," she said softly. But tears were running down her cheeks too.

We were in front of my house, Ms. Catalona ready to dive me away. My family was saying their last goodbyes. Mom was crying, Wyatt was screaming, and Dad and Patrick just looked stoic.

I went up to Dad and hugged him as tight as I could. He patted my back. "I love you," he said, his voice cracking a little. I just hugged him tighter.

I finally broke away, and went to mom. She threw herself on me, sobbing. "It's too soon, I can't give you away just yet..." I squeezed her. "I'll be okay," I managed to whisper.

Wyatt just clung to my legs. I patted him on the head. "You can't go Sia! I WON'T LET YOU!" I had to pry him away.

I looked at Patrick. He looked distraught. "Do you have to go?" he whispered. I hugged him. "Yeah man. I do. Play with Wyatt for me, okay?" A tear trickled down his cheek. "Yeah, I'll try." I gave him a final squeeze.

I turned to Ms. Catalona. "Okay, I'm ready." She opened the car door for me and then walked around to the other side. Suddenly I remembered something. "Wait!" I said, rushing into the house. I came out a moment later. I handed an envelope to my mom. "Give this to Olivia, okay?" I had decided it would be too hard to tell her in person.

I turned to Ms. Catalona. I took a deep breath. "Now I'm ready." She smiled sadly. I got into the car...closed the door...

I closed my eyes tight. I couldn't take it. Suddenly, the car started pulling away. I turned around and my seat and began waving. I didn't stop until I couldn't see them anymore. Mom...Dad...Patrick...Wyatt...

I collapsed against the seat in front of me and sobbed.

"I know sweetie," Ms. Catalona said softly, "I know." She handed me a piece of chocolate, which I gladly accepted. Warmth spread through. My chest stopped heaving. My eyes dried. Everything is going to be okay.

We rode in silence for a little while, until Ms. Catalona turned on some quiet classical music. I leaned my head against the window. I was overflowing with emotion, it was burning me, clenching me, overwhelming me with grief. I was exhausted. Soon, I fell asleep.

There was the mirror again. I looked, and suddenly flames burst into view. I watched as they moved side to side, jumped and swayed. It was like a dancer in perfect time with the rhythm of life. Then something emerged from the fire, burning with new passion.

I only saw the dark black eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sierra? Sierra, we're here." I groggily opened my eyes. We were where?

I looked out the window. We were at the airport. I stretched and opened the door. Ms. Catalona led me up to the building. I didn't have any luggage. All of our things were to be provided. I was only allowed to keep what clothes I was wearing. I had chosen a light yellow dress, and the crop jacket I had been wearing yesterday. I also had in an orange butterfly clip Olivia gave me for my last birthday. It was made of four feathers, and meant the world to me. I usually didn't wear it because it was so delicate, but I made an exception for this.

We walked in, and she found the gate for me. We were early, but I got to come on board anyway because I was a minor. She gave me a quick hug goodbye. Apparently she wasn't going with me, her job was to help more people get to the institution.

I got a seat in the very back, where it was a single so no one sat next to me. I waited for a long time while everyone filed in. I unfolded the piece of paper Ms. Catalona had given me before she left. It said,

When you get off, look for a blonde woman in a red suit with an hourglass looking symbol sewn on. That's the school insignia. She'll take you from there.

I refolded it and sighed. I was hoping that Ms. Catalona could have stayed with me. She was so...understanding.

The plane eventually took off. I had nothing to do, so I simply looked out the window. Takeoff was the hardest. I had to watch my hometown slowly disappear.

There was the huge park we used to play in all the time, but didn't much anymore. There was the museum where Patrick begged us to spend hours in, happy to just be learning. There was Fisher Middle School, where I went. I thought of Olivia inside, wondering where I was.

A tear trickled down my cheek. I wiped it away and turned from the window. I had already cried enough today.

I wished I could have fallen asleep, but I had already slept in the car, so I was wide awake. For the first few minutes, I looked away, and thought of other things to occupy my mind. It was hard. Every subject I could think of had something to do with home.

So I decided to think about the images I had...felt. What were they? I repeated the idea I had before. Freedom, Purity, Strength, Hope, Joy. They were all virtues. Well except freedom. Hm.

I thought about the first one, with the river. Raging, splashing, cool, metallic, roaring, giggling, flowing. Nothing held it back. Freedom was definitely there. But there was another undertone as well. It was...calming.

Could that be it? Peace? The virtue for the river? Well, maybe it can have more than one. For example, when I felt powerful that could be strength, and...bravery? Yes. That was it.

Pleased with myself, I looked out the window again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plane finally landed, and I got to get off first because I was a minor. I had to hold back a grin. I felt a little bad about it, but it was kind of funny to see some people's annoyed faces.

When I got off, I saw her right away. I mean, her bright red suit was really hard to miss. I saw a small golden hourglass looking thing on her jacket. It obviously had words or other symbols but I wasn't close enough to examine it. She had curly blonde hair that went to her shoulders. I walked up a little hesitantly. "Um, hi, I'm Sierra and--"

The lady smiled hugely and began gushing. "Oh I KNOW sweetie, Jennifer has told me all ABOUT you, you are a gorgeous little thing, you know that right? Ah, we are going to have such fun I just know it!" She patted my head. "Come on! I'll show you where the next plane is!"

I blinked once, then followed her, having to speed walk to keep up. I pitied her older sister, because I had a feeling that this lady was just like Wyatt. By Jennifer she must have meant Ms. Catalona.

Suddenly she spun around. I almost ran into her but stopped myself just in time. "I almost forgot sweetie, my name is Ms. McCarty. Mariah McCarty." Then she turned around and began walking again, if you can call her pace walking.

We finally got to another gate, and it didn't appear like anyone was there. But Ms. McCarty led me on, and there were already a few people dotted around. It was a small plane, maybe 8 rows of seats. There was one girl in the back who had a wheelchair. She must have gotten on a lot earlier.

I turned around. Ms. McCarty was gone. Not sure what to do, I sat next to the window in the first row.

More people began filing in. I didn't pay much attention, until a girl came and sat next to me.

I turned to look at her. She had orange hair in a braid, and a slightly darker orange tank top. She wore short jean shorts, and orange converses that went up to almost her knees. She also had black biker gloves. She sat with her arms and legs crossed and a scowl on her face. One look at this girl, and I knew I would never cross her.

She saw me staring. "What?" she demanded.

"Uh, it's nothing," I said stumbling over my words. I  gestured to her feet. "I like your shoes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."

I turned to look out the window again, but the girl wasn't done. "My name is Audrey. And you?"

I turned and shook her outstretched hand. "Sierra."

"Well it's nice to meet you Sierra."

"Same to you."

She sighed. "I doubt it,"she muttered.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

She turned her head to look in the aisle. "It's nothing."

I didn't believe her in the slightest, but decided to let it go. It was her business to tell me or not.

The plane took off. I didn't talk to Audrey for a while, just stared out the window. Then she said, "If I told you, you'd probably want to change seats." Now I was intrigued. "I promise, I won't do anything like that." She turned and looked me straight in the eye. Her gaze was piercing. Finally she conceded. "If I'm going to tell anyone, you look the nicest. So here goes." She took a breath. "I'm insane."

I blinked. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes," she said, squeezing her eyes shut. "See I told you you wouldn't want to sit next to me. I don't feel insane but crazy people probably don't. So there it is. My brain is all jacked up."

"No, it's not that!" I exclaimed. "It's just, me too!"

She turned her head and opened her eyes quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I was diagnosed with insanity too!" I exclaimed. "Yesterday!" She looked at me disbelieving. "So," she said, shifting in her seat, "you've been seeing strange things too?"

I nodded emphatically. "Well not so much seeing as....feeling."

She was nodding slowly, then got faster. "Yeah that's exactly it!" she turned to me, smiling. Then it faded, and she slumped back in her chair. "Don't know why we're excited by this. I guess misery loves company."

I guess that was true. I was just happy I could talk to someone about it. I was so confused.

"Well...yeah. The only miserable part was the pain. The images were...wonderful."

Audrey nodded. "Yeah. It felt...more right than real life."

"Yeah. Exactly."

She snorted. "We are definitely crazy."

I grinned. "Well yeah, but maybe that's not such a bad thing." She looked at me and grinned back. I could tell we were going to be friends.

I shared my theory about virtues. She agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah. I especially like the strength-bravery one. It made me feel--" She stopped. "Wait...did we see the same things?"

"I guess so," I said. Then it hit me. "Wait what? How is that even possible?"

Audrey looked thoughtful. "You know, I have no idea."

It didn't make sense. Craziness is supposed to be inside your head right? So how could we have seen the same things?

"Well, I'm tired of thinking. I haven't been sleeping well recently," she grimaced, "and I want to see if I can catch a few z's now."

Soon, I was asleep too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was smoke in the mirror. I couldn't see anything, just watched it dance and swirl around. Then, something disturbed the mist. I looked closer, and soon I could just make it out.

It shone so white it was hard to look.