Page 33 of Demonic Cage
Nárs snarls at me.
“Every mirror is a Mirror of Desire. It shows your fate. Actually, the desire of your fate. Tricky mirrors.”
I roll my eyes, looking towards the next mirror. I tilt my head. I can’t see myself in it and only smoke billows behind the glass. Hazy, just like my thoughts.
“The Mirror of The Desire for Knowledge,” Nárs says from directly behind my ear, and I jump back with a curse, to which he laughs. “In those mirrors that you are not ready for, you cannot see. And you cannot be a part of them until you believe in them.”
“What do you mean, I cannot be a part of them?”
The demon doesn’t answer, and I continue to watch the foggy mirror. I desperately need information about the world and what is happening to me. That’s all I can do here, and I need the Mirror of the Desire for Knowledge to show me…
A figure moves in one of the mirrors just a few steps away from me. My heart pounds so hard in my chest that I feel it skip a beat.
The messy, blond hair is familiar.
My body moves on its own; I don’t command it. I step over the vines covering the ground. When I reach the mirror, I cover my mouth with my hands.
Bengt. My brother stands in front of me as a child. He smiles, calling me by name. I touch the mirror. His honey-colored hair is darker than my original blonde, and his face is reminiscent of the well-being before the illness.
“What’s up, Lolo?” my brother asks, and my knees tremble. Grief and astonishment sweep over me at the same time. I can’t speak. When Nárs reveals the name of the mirror, I feel like I already knew the answer.
“The Mirror of Dead Desires, or, in other words, the Mirror of Impossible Wishes,” he whispers, before his voice becomes even more serious. “Dangerous amusement. That’s why we keep it hidden here among the vines. It can drive you insane.”
He looks meaningfully at me. I haven’t seen Bengt in ten years, only in pictures. It’s been ten years since he stretched out his hand to me and begged me to go with him. That snub nose. Those bulging eyes. I take a step closer. Then another. I hear Nárs’s warning words too late.
The surface of the mirror turns into water, and I plunge into it. With a deep exhale, I resurface. I stand there, hand in hand with my brother. Everything around us is white, as if we’re in a cloud. His touch momentarily stops my heartbeat. I am as tall as him, as though Bengt is a few years older than when he died. Yet he looks so small. I can’t figure out what’s happening. Without thinking, I hug him.
“Bengt…” I cling to him. My consciousness darkens as grief shuts out the outside world. I will never leave this place.
My brother pushes me away so I can see him.
“What’s up, Lolo?” The smile on his face is wide, but his eyes don’t smile.
“I… you’re here. I ended up in a cave full of demons. My God, Bengt.” I’m trembling. “I missed you so much!”
My brother smiles.
“Will you stay with me?” I nod first, then look at him more closely. His eyes are glassy and he is an adult now. He can’t be an adult. Blinking through the black mist, I see my brother’s gaze pulling me back to reality. I move away from him.
“I can’t stay here,” I admit to myself. “You’re already… I can’t be here with you.”
“Please!” he says, but his voice sounds mechanical. It clarifies the image in front of me even more. “Don’t leave me alone again! I don’t want to be alone again.” He looks at me intently, and in the blue of his eyes, I see my own.
“You owe me.”
The knife that was already in my heart now digs even deeper.
“No…” I whisper. “Don’t say that, Bengt, please. I didn’t want—”
“It’s your fault. You could have known that—”
“Enough!” My voice breaks. I have to step away from him. He’s not here. As much as I want to keep him in my arms, he’s not here. I have to escape.
I look around. I don’t know where the vine-covered park is, and Bengt is still in front of me. His eyes fade, and his face becomes pale. His gaze is now sad for the first time, and I feel an old, healed wound in my soul reopening and spreading.
“So, you’re leaving me stranded again?”
“No…” I say, shaking my head. “No, Bengt, I…”
