Piercing My Heart

83

Francesca and I were strolling through the forest. She forced me to wear sunglasses to not attract as much attention. I think her tactic proved moot when students would simply stop and stare. Francesca would respond by dragging me around faster. Some of the aristocratic vampires, who recognized me, would stare at me dumbfounded. I'd simply smirk, so Francesca would warn them to keep their mouths shut.

"Why are we so deep in the forest?"

"I'm bringing you to a mirror portal that's charmed."

"Charmed? How?" I wondered.

"We don't have any official mirror portals that are for public use. The students normally cross through whatever borders their realm. And then they will make their ways to Croatia. However,I'm not that naïve to be unaware of the unofficial/ hidden mirror portal the students tend to use."

"They use it to sneak off campus." I smirked as Francesca nodded. "That's humorous."

"Yes, they believe us to be stupid and unaware of it." Francesca had us turn left. "But, that's typically how children think. They believe they have one over the adults.. Francesca stopped and pointed. "There."

I nodded and we walked closer to the portal. Several students were drinking as they loitered around the mirror. When they spotted us, they gulped. Francesca snapped and dismissed them. The students sprinted away and dropped their alcoholic beverages. I didn't see the point in allowing a perfectly good bottle of wine to go to waste.

"Okay, let's see if this one works. It's basically been rigged to work through any situation." She traced the sides.

"Like jailbroken."

"What?" Francesca whipped around in confusion.

"Jailbreak. It's removing software restrictions that are intentionally put in place by the device manufacturer. It's a programming thing." I shrugged and drank the wine.

"Sure." Francesca focused back on the mirror. "Alright, so see the problem?" She traced the border designs. "It's lighting up, but flickering and I can't establish a proper connection to the vampire realm."

"Ya, I see the issue." I placed the bottle down. "And I assume you're experiencing the same problem with your private mirror portal in your office."

"Exactly." Francesca confirmed. "Lara, we need to enter the vampire realm. Our own portals refuse to allow us inter dimensional travel between the realms. There is only one portal that is immune to any magical restraints. It's in the Dark Room-"

"NO!" My eyes turned pitch black. "Never again."

"Lara-"

"I said NEVER AGAIN!" I roared.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Nothing and no one is that important to me that I would ever step foot in that place! I'd willingly watch someone I love and care about die before I ever relive that trauma. Do you hear me?!"

"Yes." Francesca spoke.

"Let me try something." I shifted the conversation.

I moved in front of her and raised my hand. I slowly swiped it over the mirror. The mirror spazzed out before providing a proper connection. However, it only lasted a few seconds before blanking again. I stared at my reflection in confusion.

"There's magic at work here." Francesca stated. "The magic was fighting against yours."

"Ya, but not ordinary magic. It's a strong spell." I muttered.