"I know. But I'm not Clarissa, and I want to know why I... why I took her place now."
“You're the only one.”
"What?"
The only one? The only one what? She closes her eyes, and suddenly, extends her hand against the mirror's surface. It's confusing, I feel like I could touch it. I raise my hand above it, and hesitate.
“Don't worry,” she whispers. “I'll show you…”
I still hesitate. I can tell by instinct something's about to happen. I raise my eyes to look at Liam.
"If anything happens again, erase the circle," I say.
"O-okay..."
He exchanges a glance with Nora, visibly confused. I don't know if they can hear the other Mara, but from their lost expressions, I would say they can't. I turn to her again and put my hand on the surface, against hers.
Her fingers slide out of the mirror to grip mine, and before I can say a thing, I'm suddenly pulled to the other side.
It's a strange sensation, like a terrible cold taking over my body, or some ice being poured on me. For a second, I want to scream because the pain is so intense, but just as I'm about to, it's gone.
"Mara! Mara, are you alright?"
I try to look around me, but I'm in a circular room, very dark, with only one window at the end. I frown. Where is the other Mara? What happened? My body feels so strange. It's like swimming and being drunk at the same time; every movement is hard to make. I feel very strange...
"Are you hurt? Is it over already?"
Where the heck is Liam? I keep hearing his voice and Nora's, but from far away; what's going on? I glance back at the window, and suddenly, a fear grows in my heart. Oh, no, no...
I run toward it, with that growing feeling that there's something wrong, something very wrong. I run. Behind the window, I recognize Nora's garden, or a glimpse of it. I run faster.
"I'm alright, I think it just... didn't work like I expected."
I run faster. Was that my voice? How can it be my voice?! I arrive at the window, and I'm not in Nora's garden, I'm under it. I look up, and my own face is there, smiling at me. My heart sinks. Liam puts an arm around her, helping her up. I bang against the glass.
"Liam! Liam! Liam, I'm here! Liam Black, you damn idiot!"
I keep banging like an idiot against that glass, against that... window. Nora shakes her head.
"Let's get back inside and treat your wound, Mara."
The other Mara nods, holding her injured hand, and glances at me once more.
"Mara! Mara, stop!" I yell.
I know that bitch can hear me! I keep banging on the mirror, hoping one of them will notice, but both Liam and Nora look like they can't hear me. They barely glance at the mirror! My eyes meet the other Mara's. She's really... in my body. I see her wink, a glimpse of blue in her iris, and she bends down, grabbing the knife. Oh, Moon Goddess, no, no...
"Mara! Mara, fucking stop!" I yell, banging against the mirror, as loud as I can. "Stop! Stop, please! Don't hurt them! Leave them alone! Leave them and come back here, you damn ghost bitch!"
I start crying uncontrollably as she follows them inside.
I can't believe it. This is fucking nightmare! I keep crying, helpless, but nothing else happens, they're gone. They're gone and I'm fucking trapped in this mirror! What went wrong? Why, why did she suddenly turn like that? It can't be! The Mara Clarissa talked about in her diary was good. I know it. I didn't feel any evil from her until now, so what, what happened? I can't get out of my mind that spark of blue in her eyes at the last minute. ...Was that even really Mara?
More importantly, what the hell do I do now? How do I get out of here? Will they even realize there's something wrong before it's too late? She's not me, she just has my body. Won't they realize that? Even Liam, his bond is with me, not whoever is in that body!
...Or is that all there is? A physical relationship, some chemical reaction between us? Something damn... artificial. That can be changed with some damn body swapping witchery.
No, no, no, Mara, don't start being negative now. Your friends need you.
