Poison'd Virtues

Jessica

The rain poured down on the car and the thunder roared overhead. The headlights cut through the fog to reveal a sharp bend in the road. Jessica turned up the hill and continued on towards the little town. She needed a break, she needed time off, and she needed to get away from the city and her home. All packed and planning on staying at a motel up in the mountains for the weekend, Jessica took a relieved sigh that she would finally have some time to herself. Too many things had happened to her in the span of a week for her to deal with. Her father's death last Tuesday had hit her harder then she had originally thought.

The Meaning of Love

The room was dark, the apartment empty, and the waxing moon glittered through the window. A woman sat on the end of the bed staring blankly at the city below. The lights moving and the people carrying on with their lives, while she stayed still. The apartment door latch let go and she heard her husband let himself in. The clock flashed 4 am and she heard him slide under the covers behind her. Neither spoke a word.

The next morning, the same as every morning for many years, the husband a business man, left early. Not a word spoken, barely a glance between them. The woman sat there, stiff, staring into her coffee cup. No real spark of life behind her still young eyes. She went to the cupboard to get something and realising it was nearly empty she knew she had to leave the apartment.

Head down the woman slid through the crowds quietly to the downtown market. She started to fill her bag with items she needed when a man brushed past her. She looked up to have his eyes meet hers. Only for a moment. Then he was gone. Lost in the crowd.

That night the husband came home for dinner. A first in a very long time. The door slammed open and the woman looked up. The husband stormed over and pulled the woman up from her chair by the hair. She stifled a shriek as he pulled her closer to him.

"You went out today," he growled in her ear, "and you didn’t tell me."

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am so sorry," she gasped and held onto her hair.

"You know how I feel about you leaving the apartment!"

"Yes, yes, I know, it was a mistake, I’m sorry."

"I don’t think you’re sorry." He tugged a little harder.

"I promise I will ask next time," she gasped at last, her eye’s watering.

"Better." The husband grumbled, as he let go of her hair and shoved her away.

The woman collapsed to the floor and sat there with her head down. She heard the doorbell.

"I’m going out. You’re staying here." The husband said pointedly as he opened the door to reveal another woman. He put his arm around her and started out the door.

The woman on the floor nodded numbly and the door slammed shut. It was dark, she was alone. Again.

The next morning the woman cooked for the husband. The husband looked up angrily from his food when she asked to leave to go shopping, but he nodded his head.

Later the woman was at the same market, filling her bag once again. A lot of things in her life were repetitive like this, but she tried not to remember that.

Someone swept past her and she looked up. It was a man. The man from the day before. His eye’s met hers again, and this time she took a whole breath before he disappeared into the crowd.

It was evening again and the husband left as he did every night. It was dark and the woman was alone.

There was a knock.

Slowly without thinking the woman opened the door. The man stood there. His eye’s held her still and she could not think. He pushed past slowly her into the room. The man turned and shut the door, his eye’s never leaving hers. She was enthralled. Couldn’t move, couldn’t think and time stood still. He brushed a hand across the woman’s face and led her to the bedroom.

The man bed her that night and the woman felt more alive then she had in eight years.

Morning. The man was gone and the husband was home. She asked to leave again but he said no.

Night. Not alone anymore. The man came again. They slept together again, and for five more nights that week. The woman wasn’t quiet or obedient, a prisoner in her own home anymore. She was a phoenix, reborn; she felt love and every night before she fell asleep the man whispered something in her ear.

Morning again. The husband was angry after a long night. The woman smiled at him. She hadn’t smiled in so long she forgot what it felt like.

On the seventh night, no one knew why, but the husband came home early. The man was there but the husband didn’t know. The woman left her bed and walked over to the husband. She took the revolver from behind her back and held it to his chest. He looked down at her slowly, confused. The woman looked back at the man and he nodded. She pulled the trigger before the husband could react. He lay dead at her feet. The woman turned, leisurely, numbly, and looked to the man. He smiled, and his eyes lit up in the moon light. He nodded slowly again. The woman smiled, a relieved smile, and mouthed the words, "thank you." She knew love again. It was enough. She brought the gun to her own head and shot herself.

The woman and the husband lay on the floor together, undisturbed, and her with a smile on her face. The man was gone.

Morning. The man walked through the market, sliding past people unnoticed, looking for a woman who looked like she forgot how to smile.

He found her and caught her eye.

Hey Jenny

"Hey Jenny..." Tim whispered across the aisle. The teacher's back was turned so he risked leaning a little farther in his seat. He poked Jenny in her side.

"What?" she hissed back, "Mr. Robberts is going to hear you."

"I have to show you something later -- it's a secret," he replied, a sudden air of mystery to his voice. "I found it in the basement of the school."

Curiosity suddenly piqued, Jenny leaned in closer to hear him. Their heads were only inches away from each other now. "Why were you down there in the first place? What did you find?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Tim said, leaning away from her and sitting up straight in his desk. He had a smug look on his face, confident that he had impressed his friend.

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The school bell rang signaling the end of the day. Tim took his time in the back closet packing his bag. He nudged Jenny and told her to wait with him.

"You almost ready to go Timothy?" Mr. Robberts, the grade six teacher, called from the door of the classroom.

"I'll be out in a sec, Mr. Robberts," Tim said.

"I'm heading out now, just shut the door when you leave okay?" he said as he disappeared around the corner.

"Okay we're good to go now," Tim said to Jenny in a hushed tone, "Ready? You have to be sneaky."

The two kids shut the classroom door behind them and crept quietly down the deserted hallway. They walked casually past the office, and smiled at the secretary. She didn't even glance up from her computer. Once past the office they ran down the stairwell. They jogged all the way down to the basement. The basement housed the boiler room and a few janitor and supply closets. The children made sure that the janitor wasn't in the hallway before they continued forward. It looked like the janitor had already gone upstairs to start cleaning the classrooms so they were free to roam around.

"It’s back here," Tim whispered to Jenny.

"Why are we still whispering?"

"Oh." Tim stopped. "Good point."

Tim led Jenny to door at the far end of the basement. The door stuck a little when he tried to open it so he gave it a hard yank. The metal doorframe screeched in protest, the sound echoing off the walls. Both kids stopped dead and listened, worried someone might have heard. The room was silent. The two kids crept into the dark little room. Tim pulled out a flashlight from his backpack and shone it at the far wall. Jenny held her breath, hoping for something amazing and worth the suspense.

"A mirror?" she said, a note of sarcasm in her voice.

"No no wait, look," Tim walked up to the dark mirror. He waved his hand in front of it. Nothing reflected. He shone the flashlight directly at it. Nothing reflected back. The light went through the mirror like it was glass.

"Okay, I don't get it." Jenny said after closer inspection.

"Watch this," Tim said, excitement creeping into his voice. He held his hand in front of the mirror. "Ready?" He shoved his hand toward the mirror like he was about to punch it.

Jenny closed her eyes sure that the mirror was going to break. No sound. She opened her eyes and half of Tim's arm was missing. She stifled a shriek and her hands flew up to her mouth. "Where. Is. Your. Hand!?" She enunciate each word like it was it’s own sentence.

Tim's face erupted into a bright smile having thoroughly impressed his friend. He pulled his arm back out of the mirror, and his hand slowly appeared back in the room. "See, perfectly fine. Come on, want to go through? We can come right back."

"What?! Go through that thing! Are you crazy?"

"I am not crazy. I'll be fun!"

"No"

"Please"

"Ugh fine. But I have to be back for supper."

Tim grabbed Jenny's arm and dragged her through the mirror.

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It was night. That was why the mirror had been dark in the little room. The moon shone in the sky, casting a white glow over the landscape. They were standing on a grassy hill. A town was far below them. Tim and Jenny stared open mouthed at their surroundings. Only in their wildest dreams could they have managed something like this. A low rumble started at the base of the hill they were on. Jenny and Tim looked at each other unsure of what they were hearing. The rumble was getting louder, closer. They stepped closer to each other, afraid. A large group of men, with long dark hair came into view over the crest of the hill. Their chests were naked and they each had a bow at the ready in their arms. The rumble was coming from the horse bodies that they all possessed. The hooves pounded in the ground as they came closer to the children. It was a large group of centaurs.

What looked to be the leader stepped forward from the large group. He shook his long mane of hair and spoke to the children with an air of authority.

"Who are you younglings and why have you come through the doorway?"

"Uh...I’m Tim...and this....this is Jenny," Tim stammered, unsure of what else to do.

"Do you know what you have done!?" Another centaur shouted from the ranks. This one was darker then the leader, his hair a glossy black.

The leader held his arm up in a sign for silence. The black centaur quieted, though his eyes still held their fire. "I am Stronos, I am High Lord of my pack. You have done a terrible thing by coming here. Each time one from your world crosses through the doorway, it allows one from ours entry to yours. The High King of our world is an evil man. Cruel and vindictive, he wishes nothing more then to extend his reach to another world. You have allowed him that access. You must go back to your world now and fix what had been done. He will stay near the doorway for a few days until he is sure of his power, then he will move on. You must find him and destroy him. He is vulnerable in your world and you have a chance to save both of ours."

Tim stared at Stronos wide eyed and opened mouthed. "What can we do? We’re just kids. Can’t you come and stop him yourself?"

Strono’s voice was angry before it calmed, "Do you think my people can walk amongst yours and blend in? We would be caged and put on show like animals! I would not wish the cruelty of your world on my greatest foe. You younglings are the only ones who know of this. You alone must stop him."

Stronos held out his hand and gently led Tim and Jenny back to the mirror. It was strange to see the mirror from this side of it. It appeared to be a normal full length mirror, ornate in design, stuck in the middle of a field. Through the mirror the two children could see a light on in the next room. The janitor was back.

The centaur laid a hand on both Jenny and Tim’s shoulder. "Remember this," he said gravely, "the High King cannot step into the sunlight. It is utterly lethal to him. Use must use this as your opportunity to win. May the Gods be with you on your quest. Fare thee well.

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Tim and Jenny sat waiting in the closet for the janitor to go home. He was fiddling around with some papers in his office and was blocking their escape.

"What are we going to do?" Tim wailed in Jenny’s ear.

"What do you think? It’s our fault – well your fault actually – that we messed this up. We’re going to have to fix this. Tomorrow morning we will meet outside the school and go in together. Okay? Then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do."

Tim nodded in agreement. The light went off in the janitors office and the janitor’s keys jingled as he left the basement. Tim and Jenny took their opportunity to escape their hiding place and go home.

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The next morning the cloudless sky shone down on the playground and put all the children in a good mood. All except two. Tim and Jenny stared anxiously up at the school building that hadn’t looked so ominous the morning before. Jenny took hold of Tim’s hand and led him inside with the swarm of kids. As the classes filed in the front door all the students had to walk past the office. Jenny looked up as she past by the main window. A tall, pale man stood in a shadow in the office. He had dark hair and very angular features. His black eyes followed the students as they walked by. His eyes locked onto Jenny before she could look away. She immediately looked at her shoes, the wall, anywhere except those bottomless eyes.

When they reached Mr. Robberts’s classroom, Jenny hissed in Tim’s ear, "I saw him! I think he’s the principal."

"But where’s our principal?" Tim asked in horror.

"I don’t know but we have to get into the office," Jenny said. A sparkle came into her eye, "Wait till recess, I have an idea."

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The bell finally rang and all the student’s rushed outside for their fifteen minute reprieve. As soon as Jenny and Tim got outside, while they were still in the teacher’s view, Jenny turned Tim to face her. She wound up, pulling her arm back and swung at his face, punching him squarely in the nose.

"Ow!" Tim shouted, grabbing at his bruised nose, "Why did you do that!?"

"I’m getting the both of us sent to the office, stupid. Pull my hair."

Tim grabbed a fistful of Jenny’s long thick hair and tugged. She let out a shriek and hit him again.

It only took a minute of hitting, pulling, and scratching to draw a teachers attention and have them pulled apart.

"Both of you! To the office. Now!" One of the teachers shouted at them. A teacher holding on to each of them, Jenny and Tim were dragged off to the office.

The teachers brought the two directly into the principal’s office. Jenny stopped short in the doorway. Sitting behind the finely polished wood desk was not the kindly man that usually held that spot, but the pale man Jenny had seen earlier. The man sat with his hands folded in front of him. His hair fell over his face, hiding most of it, but leaving his eyes clear to glare at the children. Glare with the same bottomless eyes that Jenny had avoided earlier.

Tim glared back brashly, but Jenny avoided looking up. The teachers deposited them on two hard chairs on the opposite side of the room, almost the way a judge faces a defendant. Tim noticed that all the heavy curtains in the room were drawn, keeping out all sunlight and leaving the room in a dark gloom.

The pale man stood up and loomed over them. He slowly walked around his desk. "And what do I owe the privilege of having you two younglings, er, children in my office today? I doubt that your parents would approve of such violence." Every step he took brought him closer to the chairs that they sat in. The pale man turned in his step and moved towards Jenny, who still hadn’t looked up. He leaned his lithe body down and put one finger under her chin, lifting it so she was forced to meet his gaze.

Tim starred in horror before realizing the opportunity this granted him. With the pale man’s attention focused on Jenny, Tim leapt from his chair over to the heavy curtains. He grabbed a handful of material and yanked them open. The pale man turned and only had a short moment to realize what Tim was doing before sunlight burst through the window and filled the room. The pale man went up in flames and burst into ashes. Ash rained down on the room and into Jenny’s lap, where he had been standing over a moment ago. Jenny sat wide mouthed, and Tim was breathing heavily from the adrenalin rush that was slowly subsiding.

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After leaving the office, Tim and Jenny immediately ran downstairs and snuck back into the janitor’s closet to see the mirror again. Unsure of how to let Stronos and the centaurs know what had happened, and not wanting to risk going through and letting someone else out, they thought hard.

Jenny had an idea and pulled a small notepad out of her pocket. She wrote down a quick note and handed the paper to Tim. They weren’t sure if the centaurs could even read but it was worth a try. Tim pushed the paper through the mirror and they could see it float away with the breeze along the hill. The children sat back and waited.

About an hour later Jenny and Tim were passed out against the wall from sheer exhaustion, their heads resting on each other’s shoulders. Unbeknownst to them, something small and green was pushed through the mirror and fluttered to the floor.

Tim stirred a few minutes later and rubbed his eyes. Jenny shifted and stretched, waking up. They looked at each other embarrassed at falling asleep. They awkwardly shifted further away from each other.

Tim spotted the leaf first. He reached over and picked up the light green leaf from the floor. He turned it over in his hand. There was flowy red script along the back. It was hard to read so Tim passed it to Jenny.

"The Gods have smiled upon you, I give thanks for your bravery. Please feel free to journey through the mirror when you are ready. You have earned a place at our table. - Stronos," she read.

The two looked at each other and grinned. They knew they would be journeying through the mirror again. One adventure just wasn’t enough.

To Come of Age

The sun sat high in the cloudless sky, burning down on the fenced patch of land. Bursts of shrieks and laughter echoed from the school’s enclosure. Brannen sat with the older children on the far side of the yard, behind the baseball diamond. Having outgrown the play set years ago, he had matured to the point that chatting with his friends was enough entertainment for the full fifteen minute recess.

At thirteen, Brannen was an intelligent but awkward new teen. His love for books overshadowed his love for sports, but he played on school teams just the same. He was a well rounded boy, enjoying the company of many different circles of friends. His best friend was Sarah. She was a year younger, but had grown up in the house next door to him.

The two kids biked home together from school every day and this day was no different. Saying goodbye to her at the end of the driveway, Brannen dropped his bike on the lawn and jogged inside. His mom was waiting in the kitchen for him and gave him a quick hug before returning to her dinner preparations. She had left an after-school snack on the counter. Brannen took half the snack and dropped it on the living room table on his way through. His younger twin brothers were completely engrossed in their violent video game and only looked up for a second before returning to their raiding, pillaging, and burning of a medieval village.

Just before reaching the solace of his room upstairs, Brannen looked in on his baby brother. Gus was sitting up in his crib, actively cooing and gurgling. The baby smiled up at Brannen before drool started running down his chin and he went back to his stuffed toy. Brannen gave him a little wave before leaving for the comfort of his own space. He had always been amused that his family consisted entirely of boys, except of course for his mother. Maybe that’s why he enjoyed the company of Sarah so much. She was a change from the rough and tumble nature of the twins. They were only six years old and more rambunctious than Brannen could ever imagine being. He only hoped his baby brother would turn out to be a little calmer.

Lying face first in the soft down of his plaid comforter, Brannen let himself drift away. He could feel the warmth from the setting sun against the back of his neck. Hear the wind rustling the leaves of the tree outside his second story window. Finally relaxed and comfortable in the warm spot his body had created on the bed, he heard his mother holler for him to come down for dinner. He begrudgingly pulled himself off his pillows and headed downstairs.

Dinner was loud and comparable to a circus as usual. Brannen’s father, recently home from the office, was always tired and wasn’t ready to put up with any antics from the twins. Jeremy and Aaron were always excited after a full round of video games and brimming with stories from school that needed to be told. This demanded much of their father’s attention. Their mother was busy trying to get the baby fed and couldn’t spare a second to save her husband. Brannen sat quietly as he always did and tried to finish his meal quickly. The twins were anxious to play with their new toy, an old radio they had found in the basement. Their father promised to find them the special square battery they needed to run it. He said he would just steal one from the smoke detector or the baby monitor until he could go to the hardware store and buy a new one. Content that his brothers would be occupied for the remainder of the night, Brannen snuck upstairs to indulge in a quiet night with his new book.

Waking, Brannen’s senses were overwhelmed with information and his brain couldn’t make sense of his surroundings. Smoke? In the house? Shoving the abandoned book off his chest he leapt from his bed. Smoke was filtering quickly in through the crack under his door. Eyes wide his body comprehended what this meant even if the rest of him didn’t catch on right away. His brain went into auto pilot. Brannen ran to the bedroom door and grabbed the handle. It wasn’t hot to the touch so he wrenched it open. His eyes watered when the cloud of smoke smashed against his face and into his lungs. He dropped to the ground. No fire yet. He heard screaming from the room at the end of the hall. Jeremy and Aaron must have woken up, he told himself as he started for their room. Brannen half crawled and half ran to their door.

The twins were huddled together on one bed, clutching each other’s Batman pajama shirts desperately. Brannen rushed over to them and they wailed louder at the sight of him. Grabbing two discarded t-shirts he handed them to the boys.

"Please take these!" he shouted, focussing their attention on him. "Hold them over your mouth and breath through them, ok?" he said more calmly. Two faces of fear stared up at him, but they nodded and grabbed the shirts.

Brannen grabbed the free hand of each boy and pulled them towards the hallway. Letting go of a hand for only a moment he tugged the neck of his shirt over his nose. Gripping both hands securely he led the twins half crouched towards the stairs. Staring down into where the living room should have been, there was only black smoke. Orange flames licked up along the far wall, adding a flickering glow to the ominous cloud. The upstairs floor boards groaned against the torment they were being put through. The weight of the house on the charred cross beams was almost too much.

Brannen pulled his siblings down the stairs and into the cloud. By memory he led them towards the front door. Their parents met them at the front door, having just emerged from their bedroom to be witness to the horror. A part of the ceiling gave way and crashed down on where the TV should have been. Fire consumed the collection of video games and continued towards the stairs. Their father tried to shove everyone out the door towards the front lawn but their mother fought him back.

"Gus!" she screamed before racing back into the blaze. Their father turned on his heels and took off after her. The three boys looked on in horror as both parents vanished into the smoke.

Brannen pulled the boys away from the quickly crumbling house and across the yard to Sarah’s house. He banged on the door with every ounce of strength he had left. Realizing that he hadn’t heard the smoke detector go off to wake anyone, he knew he had to get to a phone and call for help. Sarah’s mother answered the door in her house coat.

He could only imagine what she saw. Three terrified boys with out a parent in sight, covered in ash, on her doorstep, at three o’clock in the morning.

"Please Mrs. Mahoney, our house is on fire, we need to use your phone," he choked out before succumbing to a coughing fit.

"Dear God," she said, ushering them inside. "Francis!" she screamed in the general direction of her bedroom to trying to wake her husband. He emerged at her shout, still half asleep and muddled his way into the front room.

"Francis, call 911, the Taylor’s house is on fire. We have to get out." Sarah’s father immediately snapped into attention and went after the kitchen phone.

"Boys, I’m just going to go wake Sarah, wait here I’ll be right back." Mrs. Mahoney said, before leaving up the stairs.

Brannen had realized that the Mahoney’s house was at risk of catching fire as well, being barely fifty feet away from his own. Ignoring Mrs. Mahoney’s wishes he took his brother’s immediately back outside and over to the edge of the street. This was about as far as he could get from the houses. Brannen turned to face the house that he had grown up in. He watched in horror as the house was now completely engulfed. The blaze was a bright beacon against the starry night sky. Brannen could feel the press of his brother’s against each leg. They were holding onto him like one would hold onto a rock in a storm. Their soft whimpering sounded loud against the dead of the night.

The Mahoney’s joined the boys on the curb. Sarah ran up to Brannen and threw her arms around his neck.

"I’m so sorry," she said quietly, the sound muffled against his chest. "Where are your parents?" She looked up at him, just realizing that his parents where nowhere to be found.

The soot covering his shirt rubbed off against the pink fleece of Sarah’s pajama top. He wiped his face and more soot smeared against his hand. He was covered in it.

"They’re still inside," he whispered to her finally.

Other families started to file out of their homes and onto the street.

"I called a few other houses in the neighbour hood," Mr. Mahoney announced, "I thought they should be warned."

Finally sirens could be heard cutting the quiet once more. The trucks and cars screeched to a halt in front of the house. The blue and red lights from the police cars reflected in a circle off the houses on the street. Men in large suits filed out of the trucks, immediately beginning the jobs that they were trained to do. One police officer, who looked important enough to be in charge approached the Mahoney’s.

"Who’s house is this and where is the family?" he asked to no one in particular.

Mr. Mahoney opened his mouth to speak, but Brannen had already untangled himself from the arms surrounding him and stepped towards the officer. He spoke first.

"This is my house." he announced, mustering all the importance he could in his still developing body. "My brothers and I got out. My parents went back in to get our baby brother," he paused, "they’re still in there." A serious look was burned onto Brandon’s face. A face that was far from looking like it would as an adult. It was now a face of one who had to grow up before his time. There would be no going back to the play set now.

When the police officer looked down, he didn’t see a boy. He saw the beginnings of a man. He spoke to Brannen directly, without coddling him with a lie.

"It doesn’t look good son, there’s a lot of smoke and there’s a lot of fire. I can promise you we will do everything in our power to get the rest of your family out of there."

Even as the police officer spoke, the second story floor let go and half of the house crashed down onto the lawn. Window glass smashing everywhere, everyone on the street jumped back. The bare skeleton of the house was all that was left and the smoke continued to curl up into the night.

Epilogue: Two months later Brannen’s father was released from the intensive care unit at the local hospital. Suffering from massive burns and smoke inhalation the doctors told him he was lucky to have survived at all. The funeral for their mother and baby brother was held off until after their father was released, so he could attend. Brannen, Jeremy and Aaron were offered a place in the Mahoney’s home until they could find another place to live. Brannen and Sarah laps into silence every time they bike past the charred foundation of Brannen’s former home. Out of respect for his mother, Brannen continues to live his life. He continues to bike to school with Sarah everyday. In following old routines he has found his own way to grieve. Brannen plans on joining the fire department when he graduates.