Before Mandy had even opened her eyes the light pierced her lids like blades. Her head felt about twice the size it should be, and some kind of dead animal seemed to have crawled into her mouth and taken up residence where her tongue should have been. She seemed to be on the lounge, clearly she hadn't gotten to bed last night. She couldn't hear noise. She tried opening one eye, but decided against it and squeezed it shut again. SHe contemplated getting up, but decided against it too. It just seemed too difficult right now. She tried to work out what day it was, and decided that it could be Friday. That would be OK, she had the day off for ... something. Something was happening. She would work it out, she guessed. The house seemed still. She guessed everyone was out already, or still in bed. She couldn't tell how early (or late) it was. Just that it was daylight.
--
Surprisingly enough, Belle was feeling fantastic, despite the events of the night before, and despite lying awake thinking about it in the early hours. It was though the worry dolls had sapped the strength from her last night, but when she had slept it off, she had gotten it back with interest. She felt fantastic, alive, energised. Even Rudolph could hardly keep up with her as she danced around getting ready for school.
When she made her way out of the bedroom to get breakfast, the house was quiet. Jamie had already left for the surgery, and her mother, oddly, was passed out on the couch. She could smell the cheap wine from last night surrounding ehr in a noxious cloud and, although it surprised her a little, she decided to leave her be. Perhaps she was taking this whole situation a little hard, Belle thought. It was a bit strange, though. After all, it wasn't Mandy who couldn't pick up a worry doll without finding out what worries they held, and in a rather too personal way sometimes.
--
It was some time later when Mandy became conscious again. The thumping in her head was still there, and the light still hurt her eyes. She needed a drink quite badly. She realised she was going to have to get up to get it, or die of thirst. With effort, and her eyes cracked open to mere slits, she swung her legs down on to the floor and braced herself against the arm of the couch. She stood, slowly, her head complaining, and tottered into the kitchen to find a glass of water.
Leaning over the sink, her head drooping, water still dripping from her lips and hands where she had scooped water into her parched mouth, she began to think. What had happened? Gradually, the details started to come back to her - the Monopoly game that had never gotten started, listening to Belle, then Jamie talk about the worry dolls, holding the dice and shaking, shaking (always the dolls), listening to the stories of what they had seen in the dressing table mirror, sharing her own (oh god had she ... ?) story from the mirror. She looked down at her hand, and realised she had poured herself a glass of sherry from the pantry. She shrugged, drank it down. The headache started to fade, and she began to smile instead.
--
Alyssa half opened one eye, and decided to close it again. She wasn't getting up yet.
--
Jamie was at work, but his mind was focussed on a mirror. He had seen things in the dressing table mirror last night that not only did he think he would never see but, more to the point, things he didn't think he would ever believe that he had seen. The strange thing was not even that though. The strangest part was that he wasn't even quite sure what it was that he had seen. He knew that it had started off like smoke - as though someone had blown a great lungful of cigarette smoke at the glass, but from the wrong side. Then, the smoke had started to boil and shimmer, and images started to apepar in it. What, exactly, those images were, he couldn't see. Faces certainly, but what else. Hands? Maybe. Animals? There could have been. It was as though he hadn't seen them with his eyes, but with his mind. He guessed maybe that was what had actually happened. Perhaps these things hadn't happened in the mirror, but in his own head. But what had Alyssa seen? She had started to describe it, she was acting as Belle's eyes, just as Belle had asked too, and her description had been close to what Jamie had seen, although her words hadn't been able to convey the sense of muted horror that the images had seeemed to contain. But what had she seen after that? Was it the same as what he had seen? But what had he seen? Did Alyssa know what she had seen. And then came the thought he had been trying not to think - what had Belle seen?
--
Alyssa had located her phone, gone to the toilet, and crawled back to bed. Hiding under the doona, she quickly tapped in a text message and sent it to Luke. She droped the phone on the floor and was just dozing off again when the soft double beep of an incoming message woke her. She snaked a hand out and retrieved the phone, "Im on my way xx" it read. She smiled and dropped the phone again. Then pulled the doona up over her head and dropped back into a snooze.
When Luke arrived less than half an hour later, Alyssa was dead to the world. He snuck into the room, stepped out of his jeans, and lifted a corner of the doona to sneak in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and she moaned slightly in her sleep, and snuggled her sleep warm body into the curve of his.
--
Friday afternoon, and Belle and Kayla arrived, laughing over a story that Belle was telling about one of the boys in school. Belle stopped outside to unleash Rudolph, and then went to unlock the front door and let them both in. She frowned when the key turned easily in the lock, and pushed open. Surely neither Jamie nor her mother would be home yet. She walked in, cautious, and called out for her mum. Kayla trailed along behind her. Belle heard noise coming from the direction of the dining table, and called out "Who is it?" before they could get too close. She jumped when a voice responded, "Belle. It's me, Jamie." and then realised who it was and smiled instead.
"Jamie! I thought you were at work! You gave me a fright."
"Sorry, Belle."
Belle paused, and then asked, "What's wrong?"
There was silence while Jamie gathered his thoughts, "It's weird how you do that Belle."
Belle shrugged, she had been told it many times, and although Jamie had become a member of the family now, he still sometimes remarked on somehting that the rest of the family just took in their stride. She waited for him to go on.
Eventually, realising Belle wasn't going to let him off the hook, he gave a bit of a sigh, "How about you sit down and I'll make you a cup of coffee?"
Kayla realised what was going on, and went to make a gracious exit. Belle, who hadn't told Kayla anything about worry dolls or visions apearing in dressing table mirrors, let her go. She wanted to hear what Jamie had to say, she had a feeling it was important, but she didn't want to drag Kayla into the situation. She told her to call her in the morning, and they would go shopping, or to the beach or something. Kayla said she would, but Belle caught the scent of a lie. She was thinking that Belle was having some serious kind of family trouble, she guessed, and Belle decided that she would make sure to go out tomorrow to make it up to her, and explain that everything was okay, although she doubted she would tell her the whole story.
By the time Kayla had left to walk the few blocks to her own house, Jamie had set a cup of steaming coffee in front of Belle, and sat down at the table across from her. Belle realised that they were sitting in the same positions as they had been the night before. The Monopoly board lay on the table, the pieces packed away but the box remaining as a reminder. Belle pulled it towards her and wordlessly started setting up a game, as Jamie began to talk.
--
"We were supposed to be leaving on our holiday today." he started, bluntly and Belle realised that she had forgotten all about it. There had been too much happen in between the time she had been told, and the time it was to happen. She waited for him to go on. "Anyway, Mandy was going to take todsay off, to pack ands tuff I guess. I was goign to work this morning, and then come home at lunch time. We were going to leave around," he checked his watch, "around an hour ago. But we. Well, we haven't. Obviously." he took a deep breath, and rubbed his face vigorously with his hands. By the time he looked up, Belle had finished setting up the board. Without discussion, he picked up a dice, threw it, and Belle did the same time. She touched the raised faces of the dices and smiled, then picked up both of them, and rolled them together, moved her piece. "Bought" she said softly, and they exchanged cash and a title deed card. The game continued almost ritualistically as Jamie continued, "Anyway, I got home around one or so, and Mandy was ... she was ... Bought." A quick exchange of cash again, and Jamie picked up the narrative, "Mandy was passed out on the couch. She's been drinking. There's an empty gin bottle in the bin."
"Bought."
"I didn't want to look, it feels like I'm spying on her, but ... I had to, Belle. I had to know. You owe me fifty dollars for opera tickets."
Belle handed the cash over, "Where is she now? She's not on the couch."
"Thanks. No, she's not." Jamie added the cash to the pile in front of him, and Belle picked up the dice, rolled, "I moved her into the bedroom."
"Bought."
"I didn't know what else to do, but I didn't want to leave her on the couch. She didn't even wake up. Bought. She's not catatonic or anything, she doesn't need to go to the hospital, but she's had a ..."
"That'll cost you fourteen dollars."
Jamie picked out a ten and four one dollar notes, and handed them over, "She's had an awful lot to drink. I guess she'll sleep it off and it'll all be okay." He paused, watching Belle count out a roll of eight. She picked up a card, and returned it to the pile, moved her piece around the board, and collected two hundred dollars salary. She didn't speak.
"I just, well, I've cancelled the weekend away. I can't very well just bundle her into the car like ..." he waved his hand in the direction of the bedroom, "well, like that." Jamie picked up the dice and paused, holding them cupped in front of him, "Do you think it's because of the shock?"
Belle didn't say anything, but she was thinking hard, and not about the game.
"Bought." Jamie said, then "I mean the shock of the, of seeing the ... stuff ... in the mirror. Maybe seeing you last night when you were holding the ... that was, well that was pretty scary for her, I think.
"Scary for her, you think?" Belle muttered sarcastically, and Jamie had the good grace to blush, even though Belle couldn't see it. She picked up the dice, rolled, and landed on one of Jamie's properties.
"Twenty three dollars." he stated, and she handed it over. "I don't know what else could have ... could have, brought it on, I guess."
There was silence, and the game progressed with as little conversation as required. Belle achieved a full set, and started building on them. It was when Jamie landed on the set and didn't have the cash that she decided to speak, "I want to look in the mirror again."
Jamie looked up from mortgaging properties, "You ... want to do that again?" he was shocked, he certainly had no desire to repeat last night's experience. But then, the more he thought about it, the more the idea was strangely attractive. Maybe it would provide an answer, maybe he could work out what he had seen the first time, if only he could look again.
"Yes." Belle said, finally, "But without Alyssa. I want you to be my eyes this time."
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