Page 32 of Demonic Cage
I stare ahead in bewilderment. Each statue depicts Lizander or Nárs. Some are frozen in a scream, others proudly hold their hand fans towards the sky, their broad chests thrust out.
“Did you carve these yourself?” I ask the demon standing behind me.
“Oh, no!” Nárs’s purple lips twitch, his sun-kissed face showing both lust and hunger at the same time. I gulp audibly and look around.
Rows of mirrors hide among rocks and vines, each reflecting me differently. In one, I wave happily with a graduation cap on my head.
“The Mirror of The Old Life,” Nárs says behind me. “It shows the false desires.”
I bite my lip. It doesn’t feel true. I always wanted to graduate. Makeup interested me more, though.
I move on to the next mirror, where I see myself and Darya, so lifelike that, for a moment, I glance behind, checking if he’s really standing there. But only Nárs is grinning back at me.
By the time I return to the mirror, my reflection is already half-naked. Darya’s lips cling to my neck, and I hear my betrayed moans.
“This shows the future.”
“No!” I shout, vigorously shaking my head. Nárs bursts into laughter.
“Just kidding, Lily Girl!” He wipes away a tear. “It shows the current desire of your body. I wonder who you saw in it. I see blue, muscular arms…”
I decisively step forward when he starts caressing himself. He must be lying. I know Darya is handsome. It’s like I can once again feel him dragging his claw down my spine, just like he did while sat on the throne. It should have scared me, but instead, I only felt warmth. The way he looked at me flashes before me. Like no one else has. But he’s a demon. I should keep that in mind.
The mirrors continue. I’d bet they would talk to me as though they’re alive. Rather than my brain, my heart or something deep inside responds.
In the next image, I’m in bed with Nathan. According to Nárs, it represents my past physical desire. In another, I am stronger; more muscular, more stable, as if I’m a sportswoman. With narrowed eyes, I read the writing on the frame. The mirror of the desire for possibilities. Could I really be as strong as Darya said?
I pause at the next one, where I sit by my parents’ graves, laughing. Nárs whispers in my ear, and I recoil.
“The desire of your anger.”
There are so many mirrors, I couldn’t go through them all in a week.
I see myself everywhere – it’s getting too much. Nárs puts his hand on my shoulder.
“Look into this one,” he whispers, turning towards a mirror surrounded by vines. All I see is mist, rippling as if contemplating. I step closer, and a sense of peace takes hold of me, making me feel like I want to cooperate with the mirror. I close my eyes, and my life, with all its good and bad moments, unfolds before me. I blink, then study the glass again.Two massive iron doors stare back at me. Identical, with no difference between them. I reach towards the mirror, touching the space between the two doors.
“What do you see?” Nárs asks.
“Two identical doors.”
The man raises his eyebrows.
“Are you sure there’s no difference?”
I take a closer look at the simple patterns adorning each one. Even the small punctuation marks seem identical.
“Nothing,” I reply, and Nárs genuinely ponders.
“Hmm. Strange.”
“What is the mirror for?”
“It’s for destiny.”
The word sounds so serious, and yet the doors appear so meaningless. I furrow my brow.
“And how does it fit in here?”
