Through the Mirror

Chapter One

A thief in the night

Beep beep beep! "Man the lasers! Positions everyone! We're under attack!" shouted Lumia running up and down the isles of her ship. BEEP! "And will somebody PLEASE turn that alarm off?" she added with a hint of aggression in her voice, " The alarm won't GO off Lumia, somebody must've tampered with it," said Lumia's best friend Lucy. "Lucy, do I have to do everything myself? " Lumia muttered, grabbing her friend's hand and dragged her off to the control room. The first thing Lumia noticed when she came is was a large steal beam hanging directly above her head. The second thing she noticed when she came in was her other best friend, Victoria, up in the metal rafters, chopping away at the chains supporting the beam. "Congratulations (uuggg) Lumia, you have just won an all-expense-paid –trip to (rrrrgggg) eternity!" Sandra gave one last chop at the metal rope. "You'd better start running, Lumia" mocked Lucy as the beam came down, Lumia tried to do just that but her legs were frozen with terror. The beam was coming down faster and faster, Lucy and Victoria were laughing, and the alarm was blaring: BEEP BEEP BEEP! "Nooooo!" screamed Lumia

Beep beep beep! "Lumia Sara Lomille! Turn that alarm clock off and get dressed for goodness sake!" her mother's voice drifted up the stairs, along with the smells of breakfast. "Yes your majesty," grumbled Lumia as she got out of bed and preformed a fake bow. Lumia did as she was told, and was about to go down stairs to breakfast, when her mother added, "and wake Joey up, he'll be late for basketball practice." Basketball, that gave Lumia an idea. She ran into her room and grabbed her nerf basketball then tiptoed into her brother's room. She snickered as she almost silently, as not to wake her brother yet, gave the commentary for a basketball game: "and the number one player on the team Lumia Lomille dribbles up to the basket." She aimed the soft; round object she was holding at the small basketball hoop above her brother's sleeping head. "She shoots," Lumia tossed the ball into the hoop without it hitting the rim; "she scores!" She smiled as the foam-rubber ball landed on her10-year-old brother's exposed stomach. He awoke with a loud "oof" and grunted "I'll get you for that," "yeah, but you'll have to catch me first," Lumia responded and went whizzing down the stairs.

* * *

Skyport #7, Raelia

"To soumple ria plama susi remia" chanted Algori, "ro seema talla mooe siiria." Algori's chants seemed to bring a certain presence to the blank room and when he stopped, it seemed to hang heavy in the air. There was a girl standing in the room with Algori, she had dirty white hair, a slim face, was wearing a once-elegant silver-white dress, and had twinkling blue eyes. Algori, on the other hand, looked to be the exact opposite of the girl, with a kind, serious face under a mop of dark red hair. His hands were firm and callused, and his face was rough and whiskey, but his voice was like music, especially when he was chanting. The only real similarity between the two was that they both had golden wings, which were very pretty to look at, despite the fact that they were not real.

"There," Algori stated, "you may now cross from our world into the Other World, consider that gift a great honor, Eeareia." "Indeed I will sir," responded the girl, whom Algori called Eeareia, "but when shall I be privileged enough to make my journey across our world's borders?" Algori chuckled very deeply and said, "I'm proud of you Eeareia, you are really starting to act, and speak like a Eellite." This, apparently, was a great complement; for Eeareia was flattered by Algori's saying this. "Why Algori, you act as if I had been a Eellite for years, I've never once heard you give even an experienced elder such a compliment! Oh please take back your words for I do not deserve them," Eeariea, of course did not mean this, but she figured it would have the right impression on Algori if she said it. Algori was used to Eeariea doing this, so he immediately saw through her little scheme for more praise.

But Algori chose to ignore this little comment, despite the fact that any other young follower who was assigned to Algori's rank would have received a scolding for seeking more approval. But Eeareia was special, even if she was the smallest and youngest Eellite in their group. That was why she was chosen to be the one who crossed into the Other World, also known as Earth. Algori sighed, and went into a short reverie that lasted only a few minutes, but was enough to make Eeareia impatient. She was just about to say something to Algori, hoping to break his trance, when Algori spoke: "take my hand, child," he murmured.

This brought on one of Eeareia's little quarrels; "oh but Algori," she stressed her leader's name a bit defiantly, " you know how much I hate dematerializing! Couldn't we just take my sky-boat? Or even–um—fly?" she asked the second question with a great hint of hopefulness, they were, as you may have guessed, in the air. And flying was one of the most fun experiences you could have, and Algori knew how. Algori smiled and solemnly but firmly said, "no Eeareia we can't right now, I just preformed a hard spell and I'm a bit weary from it. No, I wouldn't want to get weaker than I already am and crash—uh—again." Algori winced and rubbed his bare shoulder, uncovered by his long white garment, where Eeareia could see a pink faded scar, just barley visible. The girl forced herself not to laugh or smile, and, without enthusiasm, put her soft hand into Algori's rough one. Algori then put on hie chant-like voice and chanted, "hace thor reenia too goi Thoeena." Algori nudged the girl and she reluctantly chanted in the same voice: "soe ah thoo ah," and, suddenly, they disappeared.

* * *

Lumia laughed and stuck her tongue out at Joey as the family (excluding the parents and their baby brother, John) sat down at the breakfast table. Joey scowled at Lumia and slouched in his seat next to his identical twin brother Joel. "Wassup Joey?" Joel greeted his unhappy brother and then, seeing Joey's face added, "what's the matter?" " What's the matter? I'll tell you what's the matter. Our sister woke me up by throwing a nerf basketball at my head!" "Actually I was aiming for your head, Joey, but I missed; the nerf ball hit you on your stomach, not your head," Lumia corrected. Everyone, even Myla, their fourteen-year-old "cool" sister who almost never even giggled, laughed at this, save the angry Joey, whose face was turning red with rage.

"You'd better start wearing you soccer gear to bed, Joey, unless you want a nerf ball to be your alarm clock everyday until summer," commented their mom, Matilda, coming in from the kitchen. "What's to stop me from doing that in summer, mom?" Lumia wanted to know. "Because you don't wake up until noon in summer," Joey said triumphantly. This time it was Lumia's turn to stay silent during the laughter, while Joey laughed loudest. Lumia rolled her eyes and retorted "you just wait, I'll bet you and Joel won't even wake up at two o' clock p.m. now that you have no curfew during summer. You'll probably only wake up in time for the nightly news."

Both boys opened their mouths to respond when a voice yelling "Terk" sounding from behind interrupted them. The two twins grinned, "John's awake," they said together, momentarily forgetting how angry they were. It was true, just then, the family's youngest member; baby John crawled into the dining room, a wearing his blue one-piece pajamas and a big smile. Matilda dropped the laundry basket she was holding and ran to hug baby John who wriggled out of her arms and crawled over to Lumia and tugged the hem of her jeans. Lumia looked down at him, smiling, as he raised both his hands in an obvious pick me up' gesture. Lumia laughed and reached down to pick him up and ruffle his small quantity of black hair.

Lumia gulped down her two slices of bacon, two pieces of toast, glass of milk, and glass of orange juice. As she watched and listened to the twins' daily fight ending in both of them declaring war on each other for the rest of the day. They had almost finished writing their long, boring speeches in the "boring contest," that would take place later that day, when Lumia's mother spoke: " it's almost quarter after, Lumia, you should get going." Lumia used to be home schooled, but had stopped, ever since the twins had began first grade. She was three grade levels above them, after all, Matilda and their father, Jerry, couldn't handle teaching the twins grade levels and Lumia's at the same time. Lumia sighed, "The twins are so lucky!" she thought to herself but to her mother said only "yes mom, I love you," and went out the door.

There were still a few pink streaks arching across the light blue sky along with the billowing purple clouds behind them. Lumia gazed at all the splendor and beauty of the sunrise and was just beginning to think of a poem saluting it, when she came to the crosswalk, and the thought was driven from her creative mind. As she crossed, she peered down the street to see if the bus was coming. The flashing yellow and orange lights in the distance told her it was, but it was far pretty far away, and going slowly, so she calculated she could walk the rest of the block down to the bus stop without rushing. She arrived at the bus stop precisely when she wanted to, just as the bus was pulling up.

There were not many kids on the bus yet, but there were never many anyway, so Lumia could choose her own seat. She always sat in the same place, up front, next to the driver's seat. Lumia sat here not because it was an assigned seat, but because the bus driver, Jeb, was her friend. Jeb had dark brown hair, which lay matted and messy on his head and course and rough on his chin. Lumia was the last of the eight kids at her stop to get on, so, as soon as she found a seat, the bus pulled away from the curb and sped on to the last stop. Lumia, who was still dazzled by the beauty of the sunrise, was looking intently out the window so she didn't hear when Jeb said "so how ya doing, Lumia?" Since Lumia failed to respond quickly, Jeb repeated his question again, and again, and agai—this time Lumia heard him. She quickly turned to face him and said, "Oh, um, I'm fine, thanks." Some of the kids on the bus had been listening and giggled at Lumia's awkward response. Eventually, Lumia laughed with them.

"Oh yer a good sport Lumia, tisn't easy upsettin' ya," Jeb said after a minute, when the bus had quieted down a bit. Lumia smiled, "thanks Jeb, oh, uh, I've been writing a new story, a novel this time. I've got the first chapter here, would you like to hear some of it?" Lumia asked. " I'd ope to hear the ole story Lumia, when ya finish," Jeb answered. "But for now, read me what ya ave," "alright," Lumia answered, and began:

"In the world of Raelia, approximately seventeen light years from our galaxy, there lived an evil sorcerer whose name was Domranin. Domranin, along with his assistant, Anglatov, had no other intention than to create a race, consisting of beings made of pure evil. With this vile race they would move from galaxy to galaxy, conquering all the planets and making more wretched beings to add to their evil army. After a long time of this they would finally be grand overlords of the universe. Domranin had a theory that every person from every galaxy had a seed of evil in his or her heart. Why else would they start wars, fight, and kill each other? Domranin called this theory the Dominating And Rotten Corrupt Seeds, or the theory of the DARCS. Using the theory of the DARCS, the sinister duo would create a device that would cause the seed of evil to sprout and grow. One day they had come upon a formula that proved the theory of the DARCS true because it made a victim evil. So they decided to call it: the Sprouting Spore Formula or SSF.

One grim day (although every day was grim in Gripen, where the evil twosome lived.) Domranin and Anglatov sat at a hard, stone table in the middle of their cave, debating about what device they should use to carry out their plan involving the theory of the DARCS and the SSF. Anglatov said that they should use something like a ray gun to shoot at their victims and the rays would immediately make the seed of evil take the victim over, and transform them into an evil being and their slave. Domranin, on the other hand, thought that they should create a mist that would have the SSF mixed in it and release the gas into a town. All who breathed in the fumes would be at their mercy. "We could wipe out whole villages that way," Domranin cackled after stating his idea.

"I agree," Anglatov said, in his hoarse voice, "but how are we to make the mist? We have great powers, as you are a sorcerer and I a magician, but we would need the help of a weather conjurer to create such a thing. Even with our powers put together, I doubt we, let alone just you, could do it. I suggest we make a gas. That's easier, quicker, and we couldn't make a mistake. Besides, it takes great cleverness to make something as complicated as a mist, why; it took three years for even the Weather Defender to figure out mists. " " You think I'm not powerful enough!" cried Domranin in rage, flinging out his arms and making the walls of the cave rattle. "I'll show you what a real sorcerer can do, you'll be sorry you ever insulted me! Now, get out of my cave! And I never want to see your miserable face around my house ever again! NOW GET OUT!" There was nothing Anglatov could do but leave before Domranin's wrath multiplied, as anyone knew it was liable to do unless his orders were promptly obeyed.

By this time the bus ride, which only lasted twenty minutes, was at the Lumia's middle school, and all the children were clambering off the bus. " I'll finish the rest later," Lumia called to a crestfallen Jeb as she hopped off the bus. Lumia's day at school was pretty normal as far as any seventh grader's day at "Luke Moonrise Middle School" (or LMMS) would go. Lumia got three tests handed back: she got an A' on her math test (as usual) and a B+' on her social studies test (as usual). The only thing that wasn't normal during the school day was that she got a C+' on her science test. "Oh! Mom is gonna kill me!" she thought, as she hurried to her next class and her best: language arts.

Lumia stepped into language arts, panting from her long run up the steps, just as the bell for the start of class started to ring. The language arts teacher, Mrs. Syntacks, was not in the room yet, so the class was as noisy as ever. Of course, there was a watchman, or in this case watch women, posted at the door, to see if a teacher or anyone else was coming. Lumia's best friend Victoria, or just Vicky, was the watch woman for today, and she greeted the breathless Lumia as she scrambled through the door. "How's it goin' Lumia?" Vicky asked, peering out the window. "I got a C+ on my biology test," Lumia responded gloomily, her mood didn't improve even when she saw Vicky. "How are ya supposed to remember all that stuff anyway?" Vicky asked, turning to look at her friend for a quick moment, and then gluing her eyes on the window again. Lumia was about to speak when Vicky's voice interrupted her: "Mrs. S's comin'" Vicky shouted, "get in your seats! Ms. S's comin'!" Everyone, including Lumia and Vicky ran to their seats and sat down just as Mrs. W. Syntacks entered the room.

Mrs. Syntacks, or simply Mrs. S, was one of the nicest teachers in the seventh grade. She had a wise, wrinkled face under her blonde hair, glasses over kind blue eyes and a smooth, calm voice, unchanged by time. Mrs. S had never had to give out an F' in her life. When there were disputes about who got the least homework, a person in Mrs. Syntacks' class could win the argument my saying: oh yeah? Well I'm in Mrs. Syntacks' class.' This particular afternoon she came striding into her classroom wearing a sky blue dress, white stockings, a dark blue sweater, and the usual kind smile. She walked over to Lumia, fixed her with a stern stare, and dropped a note on her desk. Lumia opened the note with great curiosity and read it. It said simply: see me after class.

Lumia thought for a second that Mrs. Syntacks somehow knew that she was late for class. But then she realized that this was impossible, as Mrs. S hadn't been in the room when Lumia arrived, and since Lumia hadn't passed or seen Mrs. S in the hall, it must be something else. "Hmmm." Lumia thought, "What could I have done wrong that she could've found out about besides being late for class?" Try as she might, she couldn't think of a single thing, but then she realized that it could be something good too. She was just starting to think of the good things she had done when Mrs. Syntacks cleared her throat and began to talk about the unit's most recent topic; Adjectives. Lumia wasn't particularly fond of learning about something so dull, but if any teacher could make descriptive words interesting, Mrs. Syntacks could. Absolutely no one ever got bored in Mrs. Syntacks' class. It was said, she could take a brick and make it interesting.

When the bell in the hall sounded signaling the end of eighth period, everyone except Lumia grabbed their books and hurriedly left the room, on their way back to their homerooms for team time. When the last person had left the Mrs. S's room, Lumia walked up to Mrs. Syntacks' desk and cleared her throat. Mrs. Syntacks had been correcting a paper, but looked up from her work and smiled at Lumia. "Glad to see you got my note. Now, the students in my homeroom will be coming in soon, so I'll keep this short." She looked a bit worried as she said this, Lumia was instantly puzzled, and she knew Mrs. S was never worried. She sighed, and went on; "Lumia, I know you want to be a writer, and the material you've given me to read previously was absolutely wonderful, but the story you wrote two weeks ago and gave me yesterday, it's missing something. I couldn't figure it out. Your usual intellectual spirit wasn't there. It was as though someone had taken it right from the story. I'm sorry, Lumia, but I think you're losing your touch." Mrs. S sighed again, waved her hand dismissively, and went back to work. Lumia was about to say something in her defense, but at that moment, the first few kids began to trickle into the room. Lumia left quickly, well aware of the mass crowd that would follow.

Lumia stood outside Mrs. Syntacks' room in utter shock. "Mrs. Syntacks the nicest, most forgiving teacher in the school not like my writing? "Lumia thought, "How could this have happened? What did she mean there's something missing?" Just then, however, Lumia's thoughts were interrupted by her homeroom and math teacher, Mrs. Calculite, saying "hey Lumia, you'd better get your stuff from your locker, the bell's about to ring." "Oh, uh, thanks Mrs. Calculite," Lumia responded, "I won't be late," and then she dashed off to her locker and grabbed her books.

Team Time was the last period of the day where all the students returned to their homerooms to do homework before going home. People that had Chorus, Band, or Orchestra went to different rooms on certain days. People who needed to get a project done in another class (such as Art, Music, Technology, etc.) or make up a test in a core class (like Social Studies, Language Arts, Math, or Science,) got a pass to go to one of those classes during Team Time. Lumia sat down in her homeroom just as the bell was ringing and just as Mrs. Calculite entered, carrying a stack of test papers that were to be graded by the next day. As soon as Mrs. Calculite had finished taking roll call, she turned her head to the massive stack of tests Lumia was in Chorus, but, as it wasn't a Chorus day, she did her homework. She didn't have much homework, just s little science and to study for and upcoming Language Arts exam that would start on Wednesday of the next week. As it was Friday, she wanted to get all her homework done so she wouldn't have to do it over the weekend. She finished her Science fifteen minutes later, leaving her a half an hour to study for the exam, on adjectives. When she had gone over everything on adjectives in her textbook and on her handouts three times, she still had ten minutes left to do what she wanted. She had a book, Dune, but she had already read it twice, and besides, she didn't really feel like reading right now. That left only one other option; she took out her yellow notebook and flipped through its pages crammed with writing, until she found the page she was looking for. Unlike many of the other pages in the notebook, it was only half filled with writing instead of packed with words else or blank. With enthusiasm, she seized a pencil and began to write. Ideas chased each other around Lumia's imaginative brain, and poured out onto the paper until it was time to go.

Lumia's mom picked her up from school that day, so Jeb would have to wait until Monday to hear the rest of the chapter in her book. In the meantime, though, she would need a second opinion that her story was missing something. As Matilda drove Lumia home, Lumia thought as hard as she could about who would give her an honest opinion about the story Mrs. Syntacks had denounced. Not her Joey or Joel, they criticized any story she wrote (unless it had violence in it), something missing or not. Not her parents either, although they both loved her stories and encouraged her to become a writer; they might be a little too forgiving, her mom especially. Jeb would give her an honest opinion, but she wouldn't she him until Monday, and she didn't want to wait that long. Vicky? No, she would only say "Lumia any story you write is good enough to be published anyway, so why bother fixing a mistake you don't even know how to fix?" Then she would start talking about boys or nail polish or something "a bit more interesting." Not her other best friend, Lucy either. Her reaction would be different but just as unsupportive as Vicky's: she would say something like "oh I'm not a writer, I can't judge someone's creative mistakes. So how should I know if your story lacks style or not? Besides, I'm not one to give creative advice." "Hmm," Lumia thought, "who besides Mrs. S and Jeb would give me and honest opinion on whether my story is 'missing something' or not?" Lumia pondered this question all the way home. Just as she was getting out of her mom's golden Saturn, the answer to her question hit her head on in the face. "Of course!" she exclaimed to herself as she went into the house, "I'll go see Sander! He'll give me the true answer!"

Every kid in the village knew Sander Topins for three of his unforgettable features: The Welcome, The Coca, and Cori. The Welcome was a tradition celebrated throughout the village because of Sander. When the first new neighbor moved in, Sander threw a "Welcome to Glenwood Party." The new neighbor was showered with so many practical gifts (the children in town usually made homemade gifts) that she had to have a yard sale the next week to get rid of some of the other things she didn't need. Another time "The Welcome" took place was when a new baby was born anywhere in the village. As soon as the baby came home from the hospital, Sander came over and congratulated the parents with almost everything they would need to take care of the baby. Whenever any living thing came into Glenwood, it was treated like Sander's new best friend. Sander even welcomed the birds back from "winter vacation" when the first robin of spring appeared in town.

The Coca was a special treat given to anyone, child or adult, that appeared in any season, spring or winter. The Coca was the best hot chocolate anyone in the village had ever tasted, and Sander was the only one who knew how to make it. "It's a family secret," he said in his squeaky voice to anyone who asked for the recipe. Every year, Sander entered the annual "Christmastime Bake-off" and every year, he got first prize for in the "Best Christmas Beverage" competition. If anyone, kid or adult, had a bad day and nothing could cheer him or her up, they would go over to Sander's house for a cup of his famous hot Coca and to talk. As soon as they came home, it would be as if the he or she had never had a bad day in their whole life.

As for Cori, he was Sander's son, who was in Lumia's grade, was Lumia's age, and had pretty much the same interests as Lumia. Like Lumia, he loved to write, like Lumia, he was also on the track team, and like Lumia, loved to act. In fact, they both played leading roles in the school musical, "Bye Bye Birdie." He usually got solos in chorus, as Lumia did, and once they did a duet together. Lumia liked Cori, he was her friend, but every other girl in town had a crush on him. Lumia liked Cori as a friend would, but never really had a crush on him, but some people mocked them for their friendship. Sometimes Cori let Lumia read the things he wrote, he loved writing short stories, and Lumia revised them. In turn, Lumia occasionally let him have a taste of her novels, but no more than a chapter or two at a time. When Lumia needed an idea for a story, she would either call Sander (who was a writer by trade), or Cori to help her think, but usually these "jumpstarts" as Lumia called them, became conversations that lasted for hours. Once in a while Lumia would walk the five blocks down to Sander and Cori's house to talk and, of course, have some famous hot coca.

At dinner she decided to address her parents: "uh mom?" she said after filling her plate with mashed potatoes and turkey. "Yes," her mother replied, dipping a spoon into a jar of creamed broccoli for John, "well uh, I want to go over to Sander and Cori's, I have a great new chapter I want them to revise for me. I'd like to write over the weekend, since we aren't doing anything." "Except for my basketball game" Joey and Joel said together. Lumia rolled her eyes, "yeah excepted the twin's game," she added. "Well, I suppose it's okay, as long as you're home by ten, and call me to pick you up, I don't want you walking back by yourself in the dark," Matilda said after a minute's pause to think it over. "Yesssss! Thanks mom!" Lumia could conceal her glee no longer; she jumped up and hugged her mother. "N-no problem Lumia," responded her mother, taken by surprise by Lumia's out break. Lumia herself was thrilled, in a few minutes she could solve this sudden and puzzling mystery, or so she thought.

This was one of those rare occasions when she would walk over to Sander and Cori's instead of calling to talk; she needed some famous coca to cheer her up. Lumia ate her dinner as fast as possible, she wanted to get there before dark. She had just grabbed her coat when she realized something: she'd left the story in her locker! So frustrated she could barely stand it, she stomped back to her seat at the table and sat down heavily.

"Aren't you going to go to your boyfriend's?" Myla asked leeringly. "He's not my boyfriend!" Lumia snapped back as Matilda and Lumia's father, Jerry gave Myla a warning look. "What's wrong sweetie? Did you forget something?" Jerry asked comfortingly, "yes" Lumia said back staring down at her empty place at the table, refusing to look at her family. " What did you forget this time, your shoes?" Joey asked with the same bitterness as Myla, he was obviously still a bit put out because of the joke Lumia played on him that morning to wake him up. Lumia tried to hold back her tears at this remark, but one tear escaped from her eyes anyway, rolled down her cheek, and splattered on the table. She managed to surpress a sob, but could do nothing to control the whimper that emerged from her mouth.

The family's parents were horrified at Myla and Joey's behavior so the punishments were stiff; "Joey, Myla, you are excused from the table and from dessert as soon as you apologize to your sister." Matilda said sternly " Myla, we are canceling your phone line until further notice, and Joey your television and computer privileges have expired." Jerry added. "Oh, harsh!" exclaimed Joel, shaking his head, "I will finally be watching my favorite show without a certain someone," he glared at Joey, "changing the channel. I will also enjoy the chocolate cake mother so generously prepared for us, your favorite I believe," He continued to look gloatingly at Joey. "We really aren't in the mood for your antics Joel, so just for that snide remark, your television and computer privileges have also been suspended." Said their mother. "Now, all of you apologize to Lumia and march right up to your room before we march you up there ourselves." She continued in a strict tone. "And complaints will only extend your punishments," Jerry added in a voice equally as strict when he saw the three children's' mouths opening undoubtedly to protest. After this remark, however, the three children decided not to protest and trudged unhappily up to their rooms, leaving Lumia to talk to her parents in peace.

Lumia sniffed and blew her nose on a tissue her father had handed her before going into the kitchen to wash the dirty dishes. "Now, what's wrong dearest?" her mother asked soothingly, as she stroked Lumia's hair. They were on the couch in the living room where Lumia had sat down after the twins and Myla had gone up to their rooms and dinner and dessert were over. John had fallen asleep in his high chair by the end of dinner, grown somnolent by the long conversation that had included the twins and Myla's punishments. And had to be put to bed before anything else. "I-I can't go over to Sander's house because I l-left my story in my locker at school." Lumia explained between sobs. "Mrs. Syntacks read over the first draft of the chapter and said that there was something missing, but she didn't know what. I was going to read the draft over myself, but I had to finish my homework during Team Time. Now I can't because I don't have it with me, and I didn't type it up on the computer. So my only hope is Sander or Cori, and I can't show them a draft that I don't have. Besides, even if I could get my hands on it by tomorrow, both of them will be out of town, Cori told me at school that he was going to New Jersey to visit his cousins over the weekend. I don't want to wait a whole weekend either, I was hoping to solve the mystery as soon as possible, and Jeb is expecting a second chapter by Monday," She finished.

"Couldn't you go over to Sander's now and tell them the draft verbally?" Lumia's father offered as he came in, wiping his hands on a dishrag. "That won't do any good," Lumia answered glumly, "if I tell them the draft, I'll tell it as I know it not word for word. Unless they see the draft, they won't know whether there's something missing or not." "Hmm. you're right," said Jerry, frowning and biting his lower lip as he sat down on the couch next to Lumia and Matilda. "What if you were to type up a new draft tonight, print it out, show it to Sander and Cori early tomorrow, and have them compare both the drafts when you pick up the first draft from school on Monday? And if both of them have something missing' you can also show them something you wrote previously and see if they can help you then?" Matilda suggested. "That's a great idea! Thanks mom!" Lumia exclaimed, every trace of regret she had felt beforehand now seemed to vanish completely.

"It was nothing," said her mother, smiling "you go ahead and type up that draft, I've got to go to work in a few minutes." Lumia's mother worked the night shift as a nurse at Hope Hospital sometimes so it wasn't surprising that she had to go to work at eight o' clock. Jerry yawned and said, " It's been a long week, so I'm gonna go upstairs and crash." He winked before continuing, "Lumia, if you don't mind use the computer in your room to type up your next draft, light from downstairs might wake up John, and you know how he can get." "All too well, dad," Lumia answered, remembering the time a tiny sliver of light found its way into John's room, waking him up and causing what Myla called " the uproar of the century." While the twins swore they heard revolutionary war ghosts complaining at the noise after they awoke from century sleep. "Don't worry dad, I'll use the computer in my room, hopefully the glow from the screen won't cause another on of John's, ah, shall we say tantrums?" Lumia promised "Tantrum is an understatement," Matilda said as she pulled on her coat. She kissed Lumia on the forehead, hugged Jerry, and said "I love you, and get some rest tonight, you can stay up as late as you want writing, Lumia, but at least get some sleep." With that, Lumia's mother walked out the door and drove to work.

"Well, I'm going to go check on the twins and Myla, and see how well they're taking the whole grounding thing," Lumia felt a pang of guilt as Jerry headed upstairs towards Myla's room. After all, hadn't it been her fault that all of her siblings (except for John) had been grounded? "No." Lumia thought to herself, "No, I won't think of that, it wasn't my fault. If they hadn't made those stupid offensive remarks" but she forced herself not to think of these things, even if her siblings would be angry with her, she could handle it. The silent treatment would be a nice change, at least the twins wouldn't annoy her and Myla wouldn't bother her telling her to get off the phone or to be quiet. Best of all, no one could interrupt her while she was writing, so her concentration wouldn't break while she focused on her new draft. Excitement flooded her body at the thought of peace and quiet while she was creating with words. "Nothing can stop me now!" Lumia said to herself and raced upstairs to her room. She slammed the door behind her and waited a few seconds for Myla to shout "don't slam the doors" in her annoying, bossy voice like she usually did, but nothing happened. Lumia smiled bigger at the thought of not having to hear Myla interrupt her all the time, and ran to her computer and turned it on. The computer was semi-old; with no Internet icon and no CD-ROM drive, but with a printer equipped with lots of paper. She turned on the computer, clicked on the icon for Microsoft Word and began to type.

Two hours later, after several breaks to get some water, change into her pajamas, and brush her teeth, Lumia struck the period key for the last time that evening. She had finally completed her second, and probably final, draft for the first chapter of her story! She felt very cheerful as she saved her draft and printed it out. She took the seventeen pages of her second draft and placed them carefully on the nightstand beside her bed after the ink dried. Feeling victorious, she turned back the covers of her bed and snuggled down into the cool sheets after turning out the light. Lumia fell asleep almost instantly though it was only ten o' clock, she was incredibly tired. She had just written an entire draft in two hours, something she had never done before. So she had a right to be tired, being that creative can take a lot out of you. But just because Lumia had fallen asleep, didn't mean the night's events were over, what would happen next would change Lumia's life forever.

Bong! The grandfather clock in the hall struck one in the morning. Usually, this wouldn't have disturbed Lumia one bit, as she had slept with the clock outside her room ever since she was an infant. But tonight, for some strange reason, Lumia did wake up at the sound of the clock, feeling chilled. She sat up, shivering in bed, and noticed that the air seemed very cold compared to how it had been when she was typing up her draft. She looked, curiously at the windows, but none of them were open. Strange, she knew that there was a breeze blowing from somewhere. Abruptly, she realized that the wind was blowing directly at her, but it was coming from something on the opposite wall. But the only thing that was there besides the shelf that was nailed down near the top of the wall was her mirror.

She glanced at the mirror, expecting to see it, as it always was, an ordinary, full-length mirror with its plain, brown sides. But when she did look at it, her eyes widened in horror and shock. For in the center of her plain, ordinary mirror, was a ripple. A small, shimmering, unsteady circle like one you might see on the surface of a pond or lake if you threw a stone into it was in the center of her mirror. Of a sudden, the small ripple became two ripples, one slightly bigger than the other one. Then those ripples became bigger and bigger as well until they touched very edges of the mirror. Without warning, the mirror began to shimmer and vibrate like the ripples on a pond after a stone is tossed in, making the ripples quake. Lumia watched in awe and utter shock then gasped and pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She felt the nerves in her skin reacting to the pinch, she wasn't dreaming. But she had to be! This was not possible, never in a thousand years! But the most amazing was yet to come. Lumia gasped and gaped, it couldn't be, but there was a cloaked figure emerging from her mirror!

Okay, I won't be able to add on to this in a VERY long time as I have three other fics to work on, but I promise I won't forget about this. This is supposed to be a novel later, but I dunno about thatanyway, PLEASE read and review, I really need to get feedback on this story in particular. Also, sorry the chapters are so long, I'll try to make them shorter.