nothing lasts forever but we always try
Astraeia had been in Singapore, dealing out double vengeance on the behalf of twin brothers who'd been scorned by twin sisters-- not something one saw every day. Her heart hadn't really been in it; she'd been off for the past several days. Edgy and snappy and unsettled. Something had her senses stirred up, but she had no way of knowing what it was. And when the screaming started, her first instinct was to drop what she was doing and 'port back home, which she did.
The Bar & Grill was completely empty, and the kitchen had been looted. She stood in the semi-darkness, looking at the disarray of the shelves that Willy took such pride in keeping neat. A bag of flour had split, and the bottom two were limned in ghostly white, with footprints tracked through it on the floor. The door to the stockroom hung open, and when she walked over to look in, she saw that every last drop of liquor had been taken. All around her was nothing but silence.
Astra 'ported upstairs, landing in the bedroom, which was in perfect order save the rumpled sheets and blanket; Willy never seemed to get around to making the bed when he got up last. "Willy?" she whispered, although she already knew he wasn't here. She had no idea what she should do. Her first impulse was to find her husband, but she didn't know where to start looking. Gazing wildly around, she caught sight of something odd. The cheval glass she'd bought a few weeks ago, in the corner... it almost looked like there was something on the other side of it. Behind the mirror.
In the almost complete darkness of the bedroom, she approached it. It was like viewing a photo negative... the mirror seemed to be full of shadowy forms that she couldn't quite make out. Movement. What looked like a faint red light, deep down inside it. "...what in the world?" she muttered.
Something darted into her line of sight and stopped, looking out at her from inside the reflective glass. She couldn't tell if it was human, or demonic, or... other. Puzzled, she stepped closer to the cheval glass, putting her hands on it, palms down, trying to see more clearly.
Light flashed, bluish-white in color and intensely bright. In that strobe-like illumination, Astra vanished. The surface of the mirror roiled briefly, as if liquid, then solidified into an unbroken shiny surface again. And everything was silent.
The Bar & Grill was completely empty, and the kitchen had been looted. She stood in the semi-darkness, looking at the disarray of the shelves that Willy took such pride in keeping neat. A bag of flour had split, and the bottom two were limned in ghostly white, with footprints tracked through it on the floor. The door to the stockroom hung open, and when she walked over to look in, she saw that every last drop of liquor had been taken. All around her was nothing but silence.
Astra 'ported upstairs, landing in the bedroom, which was in perfect order save the rumpled sheets and blanket; Willy never seemed to get around to making the bed when he got up last. "Willy?" she whispered, although she already knew he wasn't here. She had no idea what she should do. Her first impulse was to find her husband, but she didn't know where to start looking. Gazing wildly around, she caught sight of something odd. The cheval glass she'd bought a few weeks ago, in the corner... it almost looked like there was something on the other side of it. Behind the mirror.
In the almost complete darkness of the bedroom, she approached it. It was like viewing a photo negative... the mirror seemed to be full of shadowy forms that she couldn't quite make out. Movement. What looked like a faint red light, deep down inside it. "...what in the world?" she muttered.
Something darted into her line of sight and stopped, looking out at her from inside the reflective glass. She couldn't tell if it was human, or demonic, or... other. Puzzled, she stepped closer to the cheval glass, putting her hands on it, palms down, trying to see more clearly.
Light flashed, bluish-white in color and intensely bright. In that strobe-like illumination, Astra vanished. The surface of the mirror roiled briefly, as if liquid, then solidified into an unbroken shiny surface again. And everything was silent.