Nicolas was staring at the mirror.
He blinked.
The dusty clock tower was gone. It looked as if it had just been built yesterday.
Instead—
Warm sunlight brushed against his face.
He moved his hand towards his eyes to see. and listen to what was happening around him.
birds were chirping. Children were laughing. There was sound of church bells. The chatter of people.
Nicolas thought to himself
What the...? I remember I saw Arcadia in the mirror a moment ago in the clock tower. So, where I am now?
Sierra slowly turns around.
She couldn't say anything herself. She was trying to understand what just happened, and what was going on !?
Then, she mumbled quietly.
"Nicolas..."
He answered with a question of his own.
"What?"
She directed his gaze towards the bottom of the tower and replied .
"See"
It was not the town they were trying to escape anymore.
It was so colourful from above, as if a festival was taking place.
Nicolas thought to himself and said.
"Let's go down first and see for ourselves"
Even the stairs that had broken beneath Sierra earlier were now perfectly intact.
They reached the ground level.
Nicolas stared at the road beneath his feet. Yesterday it had been cracked and swallowed by weeds. Now every stone laid perfectly in place, as if centuries have never passed.
The colourful flowers were layered on every window-shill. The rows of white stone houses along the streets, their walls seemingly untouched by cracks or decay.
Wooden stalls lined both sides of the road. Merchants were happy and vendors were arranging the baskets of fruit, bread, and handmade and homemade goods.
Neighbors were greeting each other with warm smiles, stopping to exchange a few cheerful words before continuing on their way. A group of children were playing on the street. They were laughing as one boy tried to catch the other and failed to do so, their laughter echoing between the houses.
Nicolas asked with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Isn't it too peaceful?"
"Yeah"
Then. Suddenly they heard a voice echo.
A clear sound of bell rang from the church tower, its sound drifting across the town. Vendors continued calling for customers while children laughed and ran through the streets.
Nicolas said.
"Let's roam around the city."
They drifted around the town going everywhere and anywhere .
They saw a baker giving a loaf of bread to a child.
They heard the child ask.
"How much is it, uncle?"
The Baker replies while patting his head.
"Grow up first, then pay me later when you earn."
An old woman was struggling to carry the vegetables.
Two kids rush over.
"Give us the bags grandma. We will carry it for you."
"Thanks for helping children."
They simply helped
The birds were chirping. Some people were singing all together at a restaurant.
Nicolas looked around and said in awe.
"Why does this town look so perfect? As if all the perfection around the world came here." Nicolas said teasingly "I guess we are dead and this is heaven"
"Don't talk nonsense."
While they were chatting a strange thing occurred.
"I am not talking—"
A carriage passed through Nicolas.
"Nicolas!!"
"Yeah..."
The carriage couldn't touch him. It simply passed through him.
Nicolas said with confusion on his face."How did that happen?"
"Oh my gosh! I thought the carriage—"
"No... I am fine." He continues "Also did you notice another thing. That no one paid attention to us till now."
"I guess this is just an illusion created by mirror."
"Yeah." Nicolas continues "But I wouldn't feel bad if I have to stay here like this forever."
They went to the church. It was full of candles and prayers. The cross was not inverted like before , anymore. Strange things were not written there.
"Sierra, I can't understand why someone cursed a place like this."
She replied.
"There are always people who like to destroy good things and can't stand them."
Nicolas didn't say anything else.
They go around the town a bit more. Then they reached towards the entrance.
There, children were playing with a ball.
The ball goes through the main gate.
"Martha. Get the ball back!"
Suddenly birds' voices that were throughout the town felt silent. The wind has stopped. The horses started to behave abnormally. As if something bad is going to happen.
She ran towards the gate and fell flat on the ground.
"Sierra, the girl fell."
"The girl isn't the only one that fell. See."
Sierra points back at the girl. The people who were there all fell on the ground.
Nicolas noticed the people were falling on the ground one by one as the crowd was suddenly falling flat on the ground.
The bright sun was gone. The weather became dark as night. Winds started to move again.
Tap... Tap... Tap...
But there was a man with black clothes there still standing somehow.
For a brief moment, the feeling seemed strangely familiar.
He was walking in the middle of the fallen crowd. His walk was slow. Body was calm as if nothing is wrong with this situation.
A horn blew in the town for alerting and alarming everyone.
The people came outside from their houses and started running away from the town.
All were shouting.
"Run. Run. The calamity has arrived."
"Run"
A Mother to her son.
"Son— run as fast as possible. Even if I get left behind, don't stop."
The son replied with his teary eyes.
"Momm. Noooo!!!"
Then Nicolas asks Sierra.
"What is happening here?"
Sierra says with a look that says how would I know we both are in the same situation .
"I don't know what is going on here either, but it is nothing good."
They couldn't do anything. They were mere spectators that were just watching what the mirror wanted to show them.
The man turned right.
"Where is this man going?"
Nicolas and Sierra followed the man.
He was going towards the church.
The town that was already silent went ominous.
Only the footsteps of the man who was walking towards the church were echoing.
No uproar of the crowd. No hustle or bustle of the birds.
The crowd that fell on the market was not there anymore. There was no one in the town to see.
He reached towards the church. And stopped at the gate of the church.
The gate was shut down as soon as he touched the gate it turned into ashes.
He started moving inward.
A voice came.
"He's here."
Suddenly Church priests started chanting with a cross in their hands. There were some people taking other people in shelter.
They were behind the priests.
"Exorcizo te, omnis immundus spiritus, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Iesu Christi Filii eius(I exorcise you, every unclean spirit, in the name of God the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ His Son,)"
Candle flames began to die out.
The voices of priests grew louder at each and every sentence they chanted.
The divine light coming from the Cross grew brighter and brighter.
The people began to hope that they might survive.
"Domini et Iudicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti, ut deascedas ab hoc(our Lord and Judge, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you depart from this temple of God, which is consecrated to the Most High.)"
All lights went out, A priest who was in the middle of chanting noticed.
"templo Dei, quod est consecratum Altissimo."
Only his voice is echoed in the church. All stopped chanting.
He turned back
Aaahhhhhhhh
he screams.
All the priests who were chanting with him and all the people who took refuge in the church were lying there... lifeless. Their corpses were decomposed.
The Priest was terrified of the situation, that his feet wouldn't move .
The priest cried ....
"Please don't kill—"
He found himself falling. It was his head that fell on the ground.
Nicolas and Sierra were so shocked by this situation.
The man moved towards the Cross room.
A white light suddenly blinded Nicolas and Sierra's eyes.
They found themselves in the old, dusty clock tower again.
It was evening.
Nicolas asked with confusion on his face.
"What just happened? It was so peaceful just a few moments ago. And something like that happened out of the blue."
Then he noticed.
The mirror that had been shining amid the dust was now broken, its frame had become rusty.
"Sierra— The mirror has broken down."
Sierra replied.
"Yeah, I noticed. Let's talk while moving towards the house. We can get there prior to night if we move fast."
"Okk."
They started moving.
They got down from the bell tower.
And started going towards the house.***