Beyond Reflections (In Writing)

Yeah, that's so true. That's why I can't wait for Terminator SCC to come on again. That show is my life. XP

Here's chapter 8.

Chapter 8 – The Prophecy

The shapeshifters once lived in a world where they could do whatever they please. There was no work, and no shapeshifter was required to have a socius. They had no idea that there was another world other than theirs, much like hardly any humans know of the many dimensions outside their own.

“Wait, a socius?” Bane asked, “And what do shapeshifters have to do with anything?”

Penny elbowed him in the ribs.

“Be patient, my child,” Mrs. Rocus told Bane, “Let me read this text and all will be explained; I promise. But if you interrupt me again, I will not continue.”

He sighed and apologized before the woman began to start reading again.

But those times were long ago, and now the fates of the shapeshifters are heavily intertwined with those of the humans. The only thing separating the two dimensions is what they call The Line. It’s an invisible barrier between both worlds that can only be crossed through the many holes situated within. These holes are what the humans call “mirrors”. To them they appear to be solid objects that cast their reflections, but to the race of the shapeshifters, they are simply gaps that they must block the humans from entering. How they do this is by forming together to make a solid wall through the open space, but shapeshifting into whatever is in front of them. They’re also assigned a specific human partner to follow everywhere while blocking openings in The Line. These partners are called a “socius,” and they act as their own personal reflection. The shapeshifters share special connections with their socius, such as telepathy. They can read their thoughts, therefore being able to know the next move they’ll have to copy. Shapeshifters also have a certain level of foresight to help them predict their partner’s actions, and some of the more royal shapeshifters even have telepathy, which means that they can move objects with their mind. All of these talents are acquired when shapeshifters finish their training to receive a socius, which brings us to our next topic.

Penny and Bane stared at her, dumbfounded. Even if they were allowed to interrupt, they doubted that they could find anything to say. It was all so confusing… Penny deeply hoped it was all a joke.

When all shapeshifters are born, they must go through treacherous training in order to receive their socius. And if after they receive them they break any of the rules of shapeshifters, they could end up having to start their training all over again. One of the rules of shapeshifting is to never speak of their training sessions; therefore I cannot tell you what goes on there because I don’t know myself. Here are their six rules:

1. Never speak of what goes on during your training.
2. Never speak to the humans through thought or speech.
3. Never make a mistake when copying your socius.
4. Never cross The Line.
5. Never lose track of your socius.
6. Always obey the orders of the king.

Breaking any of their rules could result in restarting your training, exile or even death depending on how bad the case.

Among all of the shapeshifters, there is a prophecy. It is as old as the race itself, and no one knows its origin. They say when the prophecy is fulfilled, there will be no more training, no more sociuses, and most important of all, there will be no more Line or restraints between them and the humans. The king doesn’t at all like the prophecy, for it goes against all rules, so it is very difficult to find a copy of the entire thing. Though this may not be the exact wording of it, this is it…

Mrs. Rocus stopped there, her gold-tinted eyes wide on the two of them. Penny was still listening alertly, but Bane was absent mindedly observing the walls. It was surprising to her that a book-lover like himself wouldn’t find this interesting, but he was more into zombies and vampires. This probably wasn’t scary or gory enough for him.

“You must pay close attention to this part,” Mrs. Rocus told them with a lowered voice, “For this is where you two come in.”

Penny’s stomach knotted up in worry. She didn’t want anything to do with this. The woman they were talking to was crazy; pure and simple. But after what happened the night before, this world of fantasy seemed more believable than it would have been 24 hours ago.

Mrs. Rocus started up again when Bane payed attention.

Blue blooded is she who crossed The Line
Only to return with the hooded earth-walker
Rule shatterer is she who will turn him
Into one of our kind
Red crowned is she who will bear his child
The son of warm and cold.

I can’t make out the prophecy myself, for I’m not as wise as I seem. All I know is that shapeshifters do not call their land earth, thus by earth-walker they could mean a human. The rest is for you, my readers, to decipher.

“What does that have to do with Penny and I?” Bane blurted out, before bringing a hand to his mouth.

“Bane!” Penny whined. She had been very interested in the book so far, and he has just ruined her chance of hearing more.

Mrs. Rocus chuckled, “Ah, I think that’s all I’m going to read to you for now, anyway,” she told them, eyes shimmering, “Come back tomorrow. You should try to figure this out for yourselves, in the mean time.”



They both nodded and quietly made their way to the exit of the house, winding through a narrow hallway. Penny stopped halfway through, irritably brushing her hair off of her forehead. Bane stopped beside her, confused.

“Mrs. Rocus?” she called behind her.

“Yes?”

“Do you have a mirror that I could look at?”

Penny could hear her chuckle behind her, muttering something that sounded like “Despite what I just read to her…”

“Of course, dearie! Once you reach the entrance, it’s just to the left.”

“Thank you!” Penny replied gratefully, continuing on her way.

Her friend rolled his eyes as she swept past the cages to her right, which belonged to Gydan, she assumed, and went to the mirror. It was a full body length mirror, stretching from the ceiling to the floor. It was about an inch or two wider than Bane and Penny put together. It had floral etching running along the edges, creating a pretty border.

She examined her face close up, tucking the stray strands of red hair behind her ears. Once she was satisfied, Bane wrapped his arms around her waist and they both looked into the shiny metal in front of them.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, murmuring with a chuckle, “Hey, we look kind of matchy-matchy.”

He cracked a smile, “Like a king and queen,” Bane agreed.

“Yeah, all we need is the crowns!” she giggled, bending down to fix a ruffle in her dress. She heard a shocked gasp beside her.

“Um, Penny… Look at the freaking mirror,” he stammered, stunned.

She froze, but didn’t bother asking why, doubting she could speak over the sound of her heart beating. She slowly lifted her gaze to the mirror.

The reflection facing her wasn’t a woman crouching down to fix her dress, but instead a replica of what she had seen only seconds ago… For whatever reason, her reflection was frozen.

Penny just stared, heart pounding in her chest even louder now; the sound so deafening that she was sure Bane could hear. She didn’t know what to think or how to react.

After a split second of perplexity, she blinked and her mirror image was normal again. She even stretched out her hand to touch the mirror and everything was working like usual. It continued to copy her when she stood up to face Bane, too.

“What…” she began, but she was cut off by a voice in her head.

You didn’t see anything… You didn’t see anything at all, Penelope Falls. Speak of this to no one... Or I will kill them. I want to be your friend, not your enemy, It whispered to her in a low, chocolaty voice.

Okay… She agreed, not knowing what else she could do, But Bane saw… Can’t I talk to him about it? She replied, conscious of his concerned gaze.

I’ll take care of him. Don't you worry, darling… it snickered before Penny felt the presence inside her head leave.

Penny whimpered, looking up at Bane. “I think I’m crazy…” she murmured, tears shining at the corners of her emerald eyes.

Bane shook his head, holding her closer. “No… I saw it too. It’s just that book getting to us,” he assured her, taking her hand and guiding her out of the house. Little did he know that she wasn’t only seeing weird things in the mirror, but she was hearing voices in her head too.

Before they departed, Penny yelled a weak and quick thank you to Mrs. Rocus. She was glad that she and Bane didn’t have work or school today, because otherwise they would be in huge trouble.

They strolled through town in silence, not exactly sure about where they were going. Neither one of them said anything, for Penny was scared to talk about it and Bane was waiting for her to bring it up first.

It wasn’t long before they reached Bane’s apartment. He opened the door tiredly, gesturing for Penny to go inside first.

“Oh, hey Penny!” she was greeted cheerfully by Bane’s best friend, Jordan. Most people called him Razz, that being his last name.

He had classic boyish looks with naturally black, curly hair. He put a streak of red in it on the right side, but it wasn’t always noticeable because he normally had it slicked back. His eyes were icy green, outlined in black eyeliner. He also had black lipstick and what Penny expected to be white foundation because there was no way someone could naturally be that pale. He has his ears pierced all along the edges and his eyebrow was pierced, as well.

For clothing, he normally dressed in skinny jeans and a dark coloured shirt, along with a wrist band of some sort. Right now his ripped jeans were white and his T-shirt was red with a black and grey print of some sort of band ironed to the front. On his wrist he has a spiked, black leather bracelet. He was also sporting his favourite black converse.

It’s not like he was depressed or anything; he just had a different style. Some girls quite liked that, but Penny was more into clean-cut guys… Like Bane. She actually used to have a huge crush on Razz in middle school before he changed his style.

“Hi,” she returned the greeting with a quick wave.

Bane popped out from behind the door, spotting his friend. “Hey man!”

They ran over to one another, high-fiving then grasping each other with a one-armed hug.

Once he backed away from Bane, Razz cringed when he saw the bandages on both of their necks. “What happened to you two?” he wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows.

“Just some trouble with the poltergeist,” Bane explained without hesitation, shrugging.

It’s not like him to lie to Jordan, Penny observed. Did the voice warn him too?

“Oh, what happened?” His brows creased in concern.

Bane shook his head, changing the subject. “I have a better question,” he insisted, “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Toronto.”

The man grinned mischievously. “I came back yesterday. Is it okay if I throw a party tonight?” he begged, adding more when Bane was about to object, “My brother’s bringing his friends. There’ll be chicks…”He nudged Bane in the shoulder, his expression teasing.

Jealousy ate at Penny when she thought about Bane being with other girls. She glared at Razz.

Bane’s friend chuckled playfully, running a hand down Penny’s side. “Don’t worry, you can spend the night with me,” he whispered in her ear softly, winking at her impishly.

A look of disgust swept over her face as she pushed him away from her, rolling her eyes. “You wish,” she snorted; he missed his chance in middle school.

He just snickered and shook his head, looking like he was going to make a smart comment to Bane. However, when he saw the expression on his friend’s face, Razz stopped laughing immediately.

The glare Bane gave Razz was colder than the iceberg that destroyed Titanic. It instantly made him back away.

“Sorry, man,” he apologized, realization flooding over him. “I guess I can have the girls, and you get Penny?”

“Just get out,” Bane snarled. Penny knew he wasn’t actually mad; he’d get over it in a minute or two.

“Aw... Come on, dude. I didn’t know you two were… You know.” He shrugged innocently.

“Just no, Razz. You’ll make too much noise, anyway,” Bane insisted stubbornly. “Just leave.”

“But I live with you!” he whined, “Besides, we can try to be quiet. I know that an old lady lives next door.”

Bane sighed, giving in to his friend’s puppy eyes like Penny had predicted he would. “Fine. Whatever.”

Razz smirked, patting his friend on the back. “I knew you’d come around. Well, I’m going to gather more people up!” He pointed two fingers at the couple, “See ya there!” And with that, he was out the door.

“God, he’s annoying.” Penny grumbled.

“Just wait until the party,” he groaned.

It was going to be one heck of a night. Penny just hoped it was better than the evening before.

Awwwwwesome!

Haha, thank you, Ratty!

Thanks! Your vote for Featureds really motivated me to write more. XP

Oh, that sounds really cool!

Aw, thank you!

Nah, because they aren't really the same. They both involve mirrors but the plots are different. Besides, I wouldn't ever report you for plagiarism 'cause I know you wouldn't do that on purpose XP

Wow, that sure sucks. It's a good think she had a lot of fans to back her up, though!

I don't know. XP It depends on how far I go with it. I'm super lazy so I will probably end up just stopping when school starts. But I can always try.

Ah, probably not. Twilight's just getting too much attention so of course someone has to claim there's something wrong with it.

Lol, don't worry. XP I'll try my best not to be lazy. Unless my social life somehow picks up and I'm actually busy... But that's unlikely. XP

That was awesome, Mo.

Thank you!

LOVE THIS!! I love how this is all tying in!! U must continue this story!!

Haha, I will! Thanks so much, WCL!

Oh... Sucks to be her. XP

YAAYYY!!

I added the rest of Chapter 8. XP It's after Mira and Miro on page 16, post 3.
One of my favourite characters is coming in here, that's why I'm excited.

And may I remind you that pictures of everyone are on page 10, post 10.

Cool! Something went wrong with her assigned-reflection-shapeshifter-thingy. XD

Perhaps.

OMG. xP I hate that person in the mirror. Now they're like gonna try to kill Bane, I bet, and THAT is why. Bane is dang awesome!!

Really? You think so? Aww, yay. Bane has a fan.

Good prediction. I can't tell you if it's true or not, though.