A ghost story (The Mistress and Aigilas)

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"Of course, right away."
Alvin obediently hurried inside. Just his luck... And he almost had some answers. But at least now he knew it would be worth asking the teacher some more about that. Carefully, of course.
He found himself an empty desk, though it had an empty terrarium on top of it. For now he just slid it aside to make space for his notebook. Indeed, no sooner was he seated than the bell rang. He didn't mind at all that he had no time left to meet his new classmates; he was never very good around more than two people at once, and even that was difficult. Either he payed attention someone, or he didn't, he had trouble splitting it.
And now he was most definitely going to pay attention to the teacher. He still hadn't figured out what was so disconcerting about her.
 
The teacher watches him walk in before following him in herself and walks to the front of the class setting down her papers with a smile as she looks around the room a bit, "Welcome to another year of school! We have a new student with us but before he introduces himself, I'll be telling you who I am if you don't already know. It is a small town after all," she smiles turning toward the board, beginning to write a name on it with elegant handwriting, "My name's Anna-Claire Bethian. You can call me ms B if you wish." The witch turns and smiles perfectly. "We'll all have a lot of fun I'm sure."
 
Anna-Claire Bethian. Wasn't that the name Elizabeth had mentioned? Alvin was positive that it was.
So that was what he found so eerie about her. Small wonder she knew much about the house... she was part of the history of the house.
That said, Alvin understood completely that somebody who looks like this would want to keep looking like this. And she carried herself with such poise. It was hard not to look, especially knowing that she was the one he was looking for. But he found himself averting his eyes whenever she happened to glance in his direction, afraid that she would guess his thoughts.
Still, disconcerting as it was, it was something of a relief that the witch was so close, so... approachable. Who would find anything suspicious about a new pupil wanting to talk with his teacher? Indeed, it was to be expected, because he had to find out whether he was behind in anything. So talk he would, just as soon as the lessons end for the day. He didn't want to try in the break, this was too important to interrupt by the bell.
How best to go about it, though? He was not in a good position, Ms. B held power over him on two accounts: her authority as his teacher and her magic that knowing what she had done earlier he couldn't doubt. What's more, she was older now, and that would probably mean she is also even stronger. But at least here, at school, he would be somewhat safe. She might not horribly curse him if there were eyewitnesses; all he had to make sure of was that they were out of hearing range. Because if he revealed her secret, that might not make her more benevolent towards him.
Well, he had a little time to pluck up courage until classes end.
 
Oddly enough, the witch didn't seem that evil. Just intimidating. Very intimidating. It was like her power rolled off her in waves. She smiles and begins the lesson, brushing strands of light blonde hair out of her face every so often. She seemed like she was very much into history. Which was understandable, seeing as she had been there for all of it more or less.

Anna-Claire smiles throughout the entire day and had an overall friendly feel, an almost captivating way of speaking. But then again it could always be an act...Although, it seemed more sincere than anything. As the final bell rings, she claps her hands together happily, "Alright, don't forget to turn in the assignment I've given you tomorrow! Dismissed!"
 
Alvin took a deep breath to calm his nerves. As the day's end drew near he grew more and more agitated, and by now he felt as if ants were running over every part of his body. Then he sprung up, shoving his notebooks into his bag unceremoniously, slung the bag over his shoulder and hastened forward. He couldn't let Ms. B go home before they had a chance to talk. In fact he didn't like calling her Ms. B. Her full name seemed much more elegant, and she deserved that elegance. He wanted to use her full family name at least when addressing her.
He succeeded in reaching her before she could leave, although he was sure that if she wanted to, she would be out the door in a flash. He remembered how fast she moved when picking up the papers earlier. Was she maybe waiting for him? Did she know?
"Excuse me, Ms. Bethian... May I have a few moments of your time?"
 
The witch did know he wished to speak with her; however, she didn't dig too deep to figure out why before hand. You needed a few surprises sometimes when you were decades old. It caught her interest and she looks up a bit as she hears his voice. He called her by her last name...how pleasantly polite. She looks at him with a genuine smile, reaching up taking off her glasses.

"Of course you may, please sit down," she picks up a few papers walking over to a table pulling over another chair for him and sitting down in her own. Surprise me with your questions, please...! She'd become so bored recently, everything was too easy or too predictable.
 
Alvin decided it was best to be frank. Here was someone who would easily see through him if he had tried to dissemble. He decided that if there was one way he could earn some of her respect, it was by being courageous and honest.
"The girl you spoke of, Elizabeth, who disappeared - I know what happened to her, we have met. And" - he added after a moment's thought - "I would like to help her."
 
The witch was slightly stunned by his request. She stares at him before she starts to laugh. A light, amused laugh, not a bad one. "So, that pretty little thing is still trapped in my mirror! You'd think she'd have gotten out by now." She wipes a few tears of laughter away from her eyes. "I commend you for coming out with it. You did surprise me, which is good. I haven't been in quite a while, so I thank you." She gives a slight chuckle and lowers her hands into her lap, looking at him, studying his expression and features. "Might you have a small crush on her? To go to such lengths and risks to ask me about her, I'm sure you must've been afraid. After all, if I was as bitter as I used to be, you'd be in a mirror of your own."
 
Colour rose in Alvin's cheeks, and he lowered his eyes for a moment. Well, maybe he did have a bit of a crush on her. So what? She was lovely, she was sweet, fresh and innocent, there was nothing wrong with liking her.
He was, however, also relieved by the witch's answer. So she wasn't as bitter anymore, and wasn't going to put him into a mirror. Or, hopefully, anything else. In fact it seemed like she didn't mind at all. But the part of her answer that made him the most hopeful was that she thought Elizabeth would have escaped already - that is, escape was not only possible, it must be near at hand.
"Maybe," he admitted. "And thank you for not being angry. Does that mean there is a way out?"
 
The witch holds back another laugh at the blush coloring the boys cheeks and slowly sits back in her chair fiddling with a pen in her hand. "Mmmm....of course. Why would I trap such beauty permanently? It was a lesson to her family, although leave it up to them to be too stupid to figure out how to get her out." The woman giggles slightly at the thought and sets her pen to the side, weaving her hands together in front of her. "However, I won't give you a straight answer, that'd be no fun. I need a bit of entertainment in my eternal life don't I?" She smiles prettily. "I'll simply say, it's something no one had the guts to do. You need bravery and the ability to take a risk, even with a loved ones life. It was SUPPOSED to teach a lesson to her blasted spineless parents, but apparently, they didn't have the brains." she scoffs slightly.
 
Take a risk with a loved one's life... These words frightened Alvin. He might think of the wrong answer and destroy Elizabeth instead of saving her. How would he live with the thought of having killed someone so innocent? Even so, the witch didn't seem as hostile as he had feared. So he was confident he could figure out her riddle, since it seemed it was a riddle meant to be figured out. But he wanted to be careful. He would act decisively, but only once he'll have decided what to do; rash decisions would only bring danger to both of them. So he asked one last question.
"Is that all the information I need to know to save her?"
 
The witch smiles and stands up, gathering her papers as she does, walking towards the door. She pauses as she reaches it and turns slightly, "The reflection of one's innocence must be shattered one day, Alvin. Remember that..." She slowly slides her glasses back on with one last smile before she disappears out the door. Perhaps, just maybe, he'd be intelligent to pick up on her last hint. It would be interesting to see the turn out.

Anna-Claire walks down the hall with a smile still decorating her features. Oh this would be fun... She vaguely wondered if the young girl would be as pretty as she used to be. Of course she would be. The witch had preserved her as she had always been, like if she put a pretty little creature in amber. Only, she'd kept this one alive. "Good luck, Alvin." She murmures as she leaves the school.
 
Alvin repeated the witch's last words to himself in his mind. The reflection of one's innocence must be shattered. He was certain she didn't just wax poetical for no reason.
Well, Elizabeth was innocent... and her reflection was in the mirror. Did she want him to break the mirror? Won't that kill the poor girl? Though Ms. Bethian did say he would have to take a risk with a loved one's life. So he must do something that will sound like it might kill her, except it will save her, won't it? He hoped that it would. It would take a very twisted sense of humour to say that and actually mean that it will get her out of the mirror and into the underworld. Which is still a form of getting out... But can he really put that past Ms. Bethian? He really didn't presume to understand how her mind works.
He will just have to tell Elizabeth.
But before going home he quickly visited the very limited school library. It did carry a book on optics. That may come in handy yet.

After a short walk, he was home again. Shouting a hurried "hello" in the general direction of his parents, he went straight to Elizabeth. The assignment would have to wait, and he was fairly sure he could write one page on the industrial revolution even half-asleep. History was one of his favourite subjects, even though he didn't like the classes in his previous school; he read so much just for pleasure that he barely had to study for it.
He stood in front of the mirror, touching the frame lightly.
"I'm back, Elizabeth. And I think I found the witch."
 
Elizabeth jumps slightly from napping when her reflection comes into view and she stands up quickly straightening her dress and hair, "O-oh hi-- wait, you did?" Her eyes brighten quickly as she looks at him happily. "And you're ok! So, is she in a good mood? What'd she say? Did you ask?" Her questions come out in an excited stream despite herself. She just couldn't contain her excitement.
 
Alvin's heart felt a little heavier this time as he saw Elizabeth's excitement. What they were doing was dangerous, and yet he didn't want to let her down. He smiled back somewhat nervously, then sat cross-legged in front of the mirror so as to talk more comfortably.
And he told Elizabeth everything. Of course he left out the remark about having a crush on her, as he already felt sufficiently embarrassed when she didn't even hear it, but otherwise his account was faithful. When he came to the part where he thought about breaking the mirror, he looked down at his hands - he couldn't bear to look up at her while saying they may have to endanger her.
"I don't want anything bad to happen to you. And we don't have to do it if you don't think it will work. I still don't know what to make of all this, and I thought maybe you'd understand it differently, and if not... well, you have a right to decide whether we should try it or not."
 
Elizabeth blinks and slowly sinks to a sitting position in the mirror across from him. Oddly, she didn't look upset or scared... She had more of a thoughtful expression as she folds her hands in her lap. She carefully deliberated about her answer to the answer he'd given her.

Minutes pass in silence before she sighs with a small smile and opens her eyes looking at him, "Alvin...Thank you for doing that for me...And I know it's risky to break the mirror, but listen...I've lived in here as the world evolved around me and I wasn't even there to experience it. I can't feel anything. I can't smell anything...It's not living. You can't lose something you don't have so...Please break it." She bites her lip as she says the last phrase, her green eyes slightly pleading.
 
Alvin slowly nodded. "I understand." But then something occurred to him and he shook his head. "We can't rush into this. If you do get out of the mirror, well... you'll need a place to live, and this is technically your home, and it would be very good to have you here, but I can't go to my parents saying a girl appeared from nowhere and she lives here from now on. They would think I'm crazy. They would call the police if they saw you in here. They would think you are an intruder." He thought a little while. "I know they will freak out if they see you in the mirror. They might think they have gone crazy. Or most probably that I made up some elaborate prank with optics I newly study. But that's the only chance we have to make them believe us."
 
She bites her lip a bit, "I suppose we could try that..." He had a good point. She knew nothing of the new world and she couldn't just enter it without knowing anything. She looks at him, "So, should you get them now?" Now that there was a possible way to get out and her hope had been rekindled it was hard to be patient. Too excited, not even paying attention to the fear someone would usually feel. The fear didn't matter anymore.
 
"Yes, I'll call them now. Wait a minute."
Alvin felt strangely worried. This should be nothing after successfully talking to a witch and not getting cursed. But, well... he liked his parents. And he was about to admit to a lie, and ask them to believe something unbelievable. That didn't make him anxious to get to it.
But what was there to wait for? He stood up, dusted the bottom of his trousers (just to gain one more second), and went off to look for them both.
He found his father on one of the balconies, fiddling with the new satellite dish. Mr. Winter gave him a strange, concerned look when he said he wanted to talk to them both, but didn't say anything.
His mother however - weeding the garden - flew into a perfect frenzy of worry.
"What's wrong? Why do you speak that way? Are you ill? Did you get yourself kicked out of school on the first day? You didn't get a girl pregnant, did you? Is it the police? Are you in trouble with the police? You aren't doing drugs, are you? I always warned you they were dangerous! You aren't suicidal, right? We both love you very much."
He barely managed to convince her to compose herself, promising that none of these was the case; still, he wasn't sure what place on her scale of worries the actual situation would occupy.
Soon, however, they were all in his room, and the air was so thick with disquiet that it could be cut with a knife.
"I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry, Dad... I didn't mean to lie to you, I just didn't know how to say the truth. I'm not really studying optics. Meet Elizabeth."
 
Elizabeth was a bit nervous about revealing herself...but then again, what was the worst that could happen? They could break the mirror, which would be what would've happened anyway. So, once they'd all gathered in the room, Elizabeth forced herself to fade shyly into view.

The mirror makes her look like some beautiful painting done by a master artist as she nervously curtsies slightly. Of course, that was a sign of formality and politeness in her time but what about now? She quickly stops and stands up again, folding her hands in front of her, biting at her lip.

"H-hello. I'm Elizabeth Merian. Ah...It's a pleasure to meet you," she says with a calm tone, although the accent and way of speaking shining through from her days.
 
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