CHAPTER TWO - MIRROR MIRROR (1/3)

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

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"Alice! Alice!" A voice beckoned on Alice while she slept. The voice sounded distant but yet it pierced through her subconscious. She tossed and turned. Her room began to vibrate violently. She felt uneasy, trying as much as she could to stay asleep but the voice persisted, piercing through her final defenses, barging into her head. Resistance was futile. Awake against her wishes, she decided to see what the fuss was all about. It had better be worth it, because she was feeling pretty sour. But to her astonishment, she was in more trouble than she realized.

"They're all going to burn because of you!" The voice scorned in an ominous tone. And right there and then, she realized what was going on. A fire was what. She panicked just as she noticed she was holding something. Her matchbox was still in her hand and she had used a matchstick on her bed. Had she accidentally started a fire? There was a loud bang on her door. At first it was just once, but then it persisted and she could hear her foster mum and her dad scream her name.

"Alice! Alice! Open up!" She could hear the pain in their voices as they beckoned on her and she felt somehow it was her fault.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Alice cried. Everything was happening so fast and she didn't know what to do. She fretted as she trembled on her bed. Unable to move, hoping someone would save her, she cursed her very existence. She wished she hadn't been born at all, maybe that would have saved everyone the trouble she causes.

Her dad kicked down the door in an attempt to rescue his daughter. He had heard her screams from his room and dashed towards the scene, like any doting father would. But it was only on occasions like these, that he actually showed care. For whether he liked it or not, he was bound to be caught up in her 'accidents'. In fear that she might be in harm's way, or be the 'harm's way' herself, he barged into the room audaciously, only to meet her turning violently on her bed. He was a bit perplexed as to what all the fuss was about, as was his wife. Alice continued to murmur, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,"

"Wake up, Alice! It's just a dream!" He shook her violently in an attempt to wake her but to no avail. She was far gone in her sleep. It almost seemed as though she was possessed.

Amidst her turmoil, she suddenly felt relief, as the voice spoke to her again. "You can help them. You have the power to," The voice whispered as Alice stared at the matchbox in her hand. She took out a matchstick and lit it.

Her father noticed as she lit a matchstick. "Alice, what are you doing?" He asked, perplexed at the incidents that unfolded in front of him. But his hesitation was the defining moment.

"I'm going to save you all," Alice said as she drew her golden circle. Her green eyes glinted with determination.

"Honey, what is that?" Her foster mum was flabbergasted. But before her dad could respond, a whirlpool appeared in the middle of the room and spread out to flood the house. He rushed forward to save his daughter.

But the current was too strong and it threw them all the way down the house. They'd have drowned had the water not forced the doors open.

Mr. Robertson, Alice's father startled as he forced himself up, throwing up water as he rushed towards his family. From a distance, the emergency units arrived as he had called 911 when he heard Alice's scream prior to checking up on her. "Alice! Alice! Are you alright? He said as she awoken. His wife, Miriam barely got up as she coughed up water.

"Is she okay?" Miriam asked as water leaked from her nose and mouth.

"I think she is," Mr. Robertson assured.

"The mirror," Alice slurred as she lost consciousness.