The Girl in the Mirror by Jennifer L. Rowlands

Author:Jennifer L. Rowlands
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novella, speculative, kidnapped girl, mystery ghost
Publisher: Jennifer L. Rowlands

• • • • •

I awake with fervor. Lunches are made for everyone in the household before they have even pulled themselves out of their beds, or pulled on the clothes I’ve set out for them. When they are all where they need to be for the day, I find myself on the school grounds, just outside the fence where Annie had taken me last night.

I’ve spent my time wisely while researching the disappearance of Anhela Landy. There are a number of paths the children who walk home after school take at the end of the day. This was Annie’s. After the dream, I’m sure of it. I head down the alleyway, taking quick note of the loading docks on the back of the buildings. Relief finds me when I stretch out my arms and find the alley is too wide to touch both walls of brick at once. About fifteen feet down, I come across a door. It’s about six feet tall, four feet wide, and white. The gold colored door knob is dull with age. I see a keyhole at the knob’s center and test it out. Locked.

Following the brick wall that is home to the mysterious white door, I make my way to the sidewalk that runs along Main Street. When I reach the front, I stare at the sign of Mark’s Hunt and Bait Shoppe. It could be a coincidence. It could be the perfect lead. My blood races, though it’s unsure whether the urgency is out of fear or excitement.

I walk through the glass door, a bell rings as it swings open. My nostrils are immediately met with the mingling scents of metal, fleece, and worms.

“Hi, can I help you find anything?” A young girl in khakis and a green polo greets me, but keeps her focus on the pile of shirts she’s folding. Obviously, she doesn’t expect that I’ll actually need help. She probably thinks I’m lost.

“Just looking around, thanks.” She continues with her work without a response. No one else is in the store, as far as I can see. I pretend to scan various items, reaching out and touching one now and then, as I make my way to the back of the store. I come to the checkout counter, one of the only barriers that stand between myself and the back rooms. The other is a door behind the counter that holds an ‘Employees Only’ sign that dangles crooked, begging to be straightened.

I look back at the girl. She’s still intently folding the shirts. I wonder if she even knows I’m still in here. I hope she doesn’t. I move around the counter and into the sacred zone customers are not permitted to enter. The doorknob tumbles quietly under my control. I push the door open slightly, peering through the small gap, ensuring I’m alone.

As I push the door open further, I jump and a yelp escapes me at the unexpected appearance of a man.

“What are you doing back here?” he says, in a shirt matching girl’s up front.

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