"I dare you!" he cried.
Eirisse glanced at him, his evil smirk making her antsy and tense. He gave her a small push towards the door in front of them. She looked at the door with fear. He was insane if he thought she was going to go down there. Their parents warned them to never cross that door and she was not planning to disobey them.
Flashback
"Eirisse, it's your turn. Truth…or dare?" Alex asked in a challenging manner.
Emma and William, the twins, were sitting on either side of the two siblings. They were sitting in a circle on the cold, mosaic marble floor. Their parents were not home, they had gone out to buy dinner. The young adults decided then to play a game until the parents came back, they did this every weekend, The twins always visited their home as the close friends they were.
Emma was your average 21-year-old with a cute baby-doll face, natural blond curls, a beautifully built, petite body, and of course that secure, cheerful personality that always brightened up Eirisse's day. They had been friends since middle school and couldn't imagine her life without Emma. They were like sisters and did almost everything together. Emma was the rock that brought Eirisse down to her senses whenever she was about to cause trouble or she got blinded by rage. In simpler words, Emma was the yang to her yin. There's a saying that opposite poles attract and they were the best example of this.
Emma's brother, Will, was also kind, and unlike his sister, he was more of an introvert. They both shared the same emerald green eyes and curly blond hair. Will was one of the most respected boys in college, both by students and teachers, because of his good looks and outstanding grades. Despite his shyness, he plays on the football team because of his height, six feet and 8 inches, and his great potential. He has brought the team to victory quite many times and each and every one of us is so proud of him.
It is truly surprising that he has rejected every girl who has confessed to him up until now. Eirisse remembers to have asked him quite many times about why he doesn't have a girlfriend but he always says the same thing: he has a crush on someone but she doesn't even notice him. He should make a move or someone else might win her first. He doesn't mind waiting for a little more, he says. I disagree.
Eirisse admired them both for their pleasant sister-brother relationship. They were seldomly seen bickering and it was impressive to her. Her bond with her brother was…good. Eh, sure, they had their fights every now and then, and they got almost all the time on each other's nerves, but they loved each other no matter what. They were as thick as thieves.
Her brother, Alexander, was tall, just like Will, with six feet and seven inches, unlike Eirisse, who was five feet tall. He had icy blue eyes but they weren't cold, he always had a cheerful eye smile and full, heart-shaped lips, and flawless olive skin; his cute dimples make many of the girls fall for him at school but when some got to know that he was a player, his charms didn't help him much in the end. He was utterly handsome, not even his sister could deny that but she felt sorry for him at times.
Eirisse also has blue eyes, indigo, to be exact, quite rare; she does not have dimples, of course. Her hair is rather thin, and originally a sandy-smokey ash color; originally, because she had been dyeing it black for a few years now. It flows straight to her hips. Her brother's hair is a burgundy color, just like his parents. Even if they do not look alike, they love each other and will always be there for each other.
Eirisse smirked and looked up at Alex, taken out of her trance, to meet his icy blue eyes that were full of mischief. At that moment, Alex and his sister were in an I-will-not-lose-to-you situation. With a smirk forming on his lips as well, they both answered at the same time, as if reading her thoughts.
"Dare."
End of flashback
"Go on," Alexander commanded. She gulped loudly as she turned to face the door again. The door was not creepy at all. It was very showy as if pulling you towards it, with its shiny, golden doorknob and smooth, wooden texture. It was simple, it did not have any design, except for a small sign that read "Ø Prohibited". It somehow made her have goosebumps all over her body with excitement. She slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind. 'I shouldn't disobey my parents,' she thought, but she was interested in what was inside. Why so much secrecy over a room in the basement? She wanted to know.
"I can't," she answered. "Going inside means crossing our parents' line." She reasoned.
She opened her eyes and turned to look at the three young adults staring back at her with an eager desire to find out what she would do. Eirisse glanced at each of them to see their expressions briefly. William was nervous, he shook his head softly so only she would notice, he disapproved of the dare. On the other hand, Emma seemed excited. Her eyes gleamed with this sparkle that only meant one thing, she would be proud if her best friend defied her brother and her parents at the same time. She knew that even if Eirisse was scared, her pride was first when Alex was around. She was biting her lower lip, and Eirisse could tell she wanted to smile so bad from the enticement. She gave her friend a small reassuring nod, making a smirk appear on Eirisse's face. God, she was so influential with just a simple smile.
Eirisse finally looked at her brother. He took two steps forward, making her stare at his chest rather than his face. He was taller than her by an entire head and some inches. He had his arms crossed over his chest, causing his biceps to bulge out of his sleeves, making him look more dominant. He was not the football captain for nothing. Her sister's body looked small and weak beside his. Don't get them wrong, they both trained together at the gym. Eirisse liked working out and had taken personal defense classes as well as yoga, and had just started fencing.
Her brother wanted them to go to the countryside when summer vacation time came so they could go horseback riding, one of their favorite hobbies back at their uncle's ranch in the U.S.A. They used to go more often when they were children but not so much anymore due to college and their parents' work.
Eirisse looked up into his cold blue eyes, which were already looking at her every move, waiting. He raised an eyebrow, lowering his face towards hers, narrowing his eyes; he was challenging her, again. She did not feel intimidated by him as she was already used to his dark looks. Why was he such a troublemaker?! That is one of the things that made them connect more though, they were both rebellious; which also gets on their nerves.
The smirk on her face grew and he nodded, a glint of pleasure on his expression. He leaned closer towards the door, his breath on her ear, and turned the knob slowly, making it creak. A soft wind blew from inside towards her as she turned and took a step towards it; her smile faded as she was welcomed by pure darkness. Eirisse could not take her eyes away from it, the door was alluring as if it were telling her to go inside.
"You have to go down there," Alex pointed down the staircase with his eyes still on his sister, his voice next to her ear, "and when you come up again, you must tell us what you saw so we can down too" he paused. They looked at each other and she furrowed her eyebrows, fear visible in her eyes. He looked at her deeply, "every single detail you see… Understood?" He demanded, making pauses between each word.
Eirisse looked away from his hellacious gaze. 'I can't lie, he is creepier than I am sometimes' she thought to herself. She nodded quickly, trying to hide her fear. While turning her hands into fists, she took a slow, deep breath and gave one last glance at the twins before heading down the stairs.
"Hey," Alex took her upper arm and made his sister look at him. He handed her a small flashlight before letting go of her arm. She nodded in thanks and they shared a small smile. Their parents once told them that there was no light in that room, scaring them both more as they thought about ghosts haunting the room. Not anymore though.
"I hate you; you know that, right?" Eirisse asked as she descended the squeaky, wooden staircase, not once looking back at him. There was silence, then his deep voice came like an echo from above, "love you too, sis". Alex closed the door after a minute, leaving her completely alone down there.
She was not scared of the darkness, but rather of what may be down there that made their parents prohibit them from entering. What if it was haunted? Or what if it was not stable for anyone to be walking on? Will it be full of old furniture and boxes? Eirisse took the last step before surprising herself with what she found down there.
It was empty. Almost. She gasped.
The temperature dropped a whole lot down here. There was something against the wall in front of her that was being covered with a piece of black fabric. It looked kind of ragged from the edges making her wonder how long it had been there. At a slow pace, she walked towards it, eyeing the room carefully. It was a huge foggy room, painted in a slate color. The ceiling had a circular design with the same intricate pattern going on throughout the ceiling. She didn't know if it was the dust floating in the air, or if it was actual fog, but it gave the room an eerie look. It was kind of impossible for there to be fog though. As she stood in front of whatever was under the sheet, she realized she was suddenly freezing. She could see her own breaths as she exhaled; she shivered involuntarily as the temperature kept decreasing.
She slowly raised her hand and stopped midair, afraid of what may be under there, she hovered her hand over the object for a few seconds. She sucked in her nervousness and with courage in a quick move removed the sheet. She stared at it, it was about ten feet tall and five or six feet wide. What was a beautiful mirror as this one doing down here?
While examining it meticulously, she traced her delicate fingers over the dewy edges of the mirror, coating her tips with dust. Don't know where the humidity came from, since the room looked dry, except for the fog. The mirror was beautiful, even if it was covered with small pieces of seaweed on the silver border. Eirisse noticed it had black writing on one side, but it was partially hidden by seaweed. She took the flashlight in a firm grip and with her other hand, she started rubbing the slimy seaweed off. The writing seemed to be crafted down in a different language, maybe Latin or Greek, one of the oldest languages. Eirisse traced her index and middle finger over the moist carving of the only sentence written on the mirror's border. Noticing that her finger was dusty, she wiped it clean and cleaned the writing again. As she traced every word with her fingers in an elegant manner, she read it out loud, "Accipite me," she paused, trying to read the next words while stuttering because of the freezing temperature, "u-ut anima mea" (Take me home). 'Did I say them right?' she asked herself, she believed it was Latin, but she wasn't sure since she had never studied it.
She let go of the flashlight as the floor started shaking out of a sudden. Eirisse looked around to hold on to something, but what? She fell on her back and the earthquake suddenly stopped. Eirisse was agitated and bewildered as she saw the mirror start to crack. She knew she was in so much trouble. Her eyes widened as a small shimmer of light started to come out from one corner of the mirror. It kept on cracking but she could not move. A small breeze came and went around her. It was as if the mirror were alive.
She slowly stood up and took a small step away from the mirror. Perplexed, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks, and just in a blink of an eye, everything went black. Eirisse stumbled backward, looking around, dumbfounded about what just happened. Her flashlight suddenly turned on, catching her full attention. She picked it up quickly, not really knowing when it had gone off. She gave the mirror one last glance before turning around to leave. The people upstairs probably felt the earthquake too and would not believe her unless they saw it themselves.
A sudden vacuuming sound came from inside the mirror. She paused in her tracks, her eyes wanting to look behind. She gulped, sweat trickling down her forehead while having trouble breathing properly. She turned her head slowly and saw that the mirror, in a bat of an eye, broke into a million pieces. She fell to the floor with a loud thud as the pieces entered different parts of her body. She closed her eyes tight shut and covered her head when the vacuuming sound came out again. But this time, it came out not like wind, but a vacuum itself. Her eyes almost popped out as she felt herself being lifted off of the floor by the vacuum mirror.
She tried to fight the force pulling her in but failed miserably. The flashlight fell out of her hand and she started calling for help.
"Alex!" She cried with all her strength. "Alex! Emma! William!" She kept on crying their names over and over with despair, her blood felt like leaving her body from the horror. She could hear her brother calling her name but she was being pulled into the mirror so fast she could barely hear them through the sounds of the mirror. It muddled out everything else as if her ears were going deaf.
"Risie!" Alex cried in a worried tone before their bodies appeared at the bottom of the stairs. It had been a while since he had called her that and it terrified her more now. What was happening to her? Where was she going?
She could no longer feel her body as the mirror engulfed her like a tornado. She felt herself drifting into darkness even before half of her body got into the mirror. Everything sounded so far away. She felt moisty, all of a sudden; she could feel water droplets everywhere around her, but she couldn't see. There came a moment where she felt nothing.
.
Alexander saw his sister being pulled into a freaking void full of water. All three of them were nonplussed, frozen on their spot.
"Risie!" he cried with all his might. But it was useless, she could not hear him anymore. They were all on the edge of tears, calling her name over and over again. Her small body disappeared before his eyes. She was unconscious as she was carried into the mirror by a strong water force.
William ran towards the mirror, but it pushed him away with great power, throwing him into the wall behind us. Emma went towards him to help him up, but he was unconscious. Once Eirisse's body disappeared into the mirror completely, a bright light overwhelmed the entire room, blinding us completely. Alex shielded his eyes from it, but just as it came, it went. Everything was dark again. He opened his eyes to find themselves in a room full of old, dusty boxes and torn furniture. The mirror was long gone. Her sister had gone inside of it.
Eirisse had been adopted by his parents after she was found on the doorstep of their house on a cold, winter night. She was a cute little doll when his parents took her, she was crying, and Alex's heart felt as if it were being squished when he heard her cry. He was four years old back then, he was the one who opened the door when the doorbell rang repeatedly, only to find the baby a crying mess on their doorstep.
He remembered being excited about her, he kept telling his parents he was going to make a little devil out of her. His parents took it as a joke, but as they grew up together, they stopped taking it as a joke and kept on punishing the siblings when they misbehaved, which was very often.
Alex smiled faintly as tears finally began falling from his eyes silently. He realized that he may not have been a great brother, but they did have great times together.
'I hope I get to see you again and get in trouble some more together,' I thought. No. 'We will get you back. No matter what.' He felt rage out of a sudden and promised himself to see his sister again.