Hidden Magic

Seventeen years. That’s how long I’ve been stuck in this cold, isolated castle. No one to talk to but the servants and my father, the king.

Have I tried leaving? Yes, many times. Have I succeeded? Nope, not at all.

My father doesn’t believe me, but I think that there is a magic force barricading us inside. Every time someone tries to leave, a catastrophe happens.

Once, as soon as my feet hit the grass, rain started pouring, and lightning flashed a few feet away from me.

Another time, a fire started.

The last time, my brother passed.

Since then, I have never dared to even attempt to leave. My family can not risk another loss. Especially after my mother and my grandma.

It’s been three years since their disappearance, and they have been deemed dead.

I believe otherwise.

There is one room in this entire castle that stays locked, no matter the circumstance.

And I am determined to see what secrets are hidden behind the door.

~~~

There it is again. The door.

I'm just walking back to my room after dinner, and I always pass through this hallway.

But something is different about it this time.

As I pass it, a chill runs through my body. Since when did that happen?

I stop by the door and look at it. The air is colder here than the whole entire hallway.

My curiosity overtakes me, and I try the door.

Locked.

As always.

Then, an idea hits me.

I pull a bobby pin out of my hair and jam it in the lock, wiggling it around.

A good minute of that passes, and I'm about to give up, when…

Click.

Yes!

I don’t stand around to celebrate. I push the door open without hesitation and glance around the dimly lit room.

I flick the light on, and the first thing that catches my eye is a painting.

I step in front of it, and my eyes widen.

It's my grandmother.

The painting is black and white but very well made.

So well made that I can tell it’s her, though I’d barely known her.

I step closer and touch the painting, planning on tracing the outline of the beautiful, old woman. But what happens shocks me.

A white light shines out of the right side, bottom, and top from behind the painting.

That shouldn't happen. Isn’t it attached to the wall?

…

Apparently not.

I run my hand along the edge of the right side and find that there is, indeed, space between the painting and the wall.

I lightly pull on the painting, and it slides open to the side, revealing a mirror.

I tilt my head to the side and look at the mirror.

It seems normal. Why would it be hidden?

Then, I see exactly why.

My grandma and mother. They're right behind me in the mirror.

I spin around and look around the room, but there's no one there.

How…?

I shake my head and close my eyes.

There’s no one there. I’m imagining things. I have to be.

I open my eyes and, shocking enough, the figures are still there. I’m not imagining it.

I reach out to gently touch the mirror…but my hand falls through. I grasp at nothing.

Magic.

Hidden magic.

Disguised as a mirror behind a painting, in a locked room.

I try to pull my hand back, but then an invisible force pulls me fully through the mirror. I am blinded for a moment before I open my eyes and see darkness.

What just happened?

I take a deep breath, trying not to panic.

Instead, I feel that frantic feeling rise as I hear a voice ring through the empty chasm.

“Sweetie.”

“G-grandma?” I whisper. That was kind of creepy.

“Yes, dearie,” the voice speaks again.

I stay silent, not knowing what to say. Should I be happy? Scared? Confused?

I slowly step towards the direction that the sound seems to be coming from, trying to locate the source of the voice.

“You should not be here, little one.” This time, the voice still sounds sweet, but there’s also a hint of distortion.

“...Why?” I ask quietly.

“Because. It’s not safe. Nothing’s safe.” The voice gets a bit louder and closer.

“Agh!”

A bright light flashes and I am temporarily blinded.

When I open my eyes again and glance around, what I see shocks me.

Blood.

All around.

I gasp and let out a shaky breath, my eyes widening.

The room is white, or at least most of it used to be, before the blood stained the walls and the floor a dark red.

There’s another mirror on the wall across from me. And I’m almost too scared to even look at it.

Almost.

I step to the mirror and look at myself. So far it seems normal. But, the same thing happened with the last one. And look how that turned out.

They’re there again. My grandma and my mother.

Though, something’s different.

This time, their clothes are torn and their eyes are pitch black.

“Don’t get trapped here too. Run,” says the voice from earlier, coming from that woman in the mirror. How does a sweet old lady turn to this? But at least she’s trying to help me.

“H-how?” I ask desperately.

“The same way you got here.”

The mirror.

I hesitate. What if it doesn't work? What if I'm already stuck?

I guess it's worth a short.

I push a hand at the mirror and, luckily, it shoves through.

I don't wait to jump all the way through the mirror.

Everything goes black again.

“Jane? Jane, wake up! Please tell me you're alright!” A wavering voice says, as my shoulders get shaken.

I slowly blink my eyes open to find that I am in the room again. The original one. A girl, my old friend, Claire, is standing above me and shaking my shoulders.

I slowly sit up and glance around the room.

The mirror and painting are gone.

“Oh my, Jane. You scared me.” Claire takes a deep breath and sits back on her heels.

“C-Claire. It's been forever. I thought I'd never see you again after you'd left,” I say quietly, looking at her.

“Me too. You know that barrier you talk about, though? The “magic” one? It fell. I was able to walk in for a visit. I checked all the halls and I couldn’t find you, but then I saw this door open and I decided to look inside. I found you just lying on the ground here,” she says with concern.

“You did? Huh…weird,” I reply.

“What happened?” she asks curiously.

I spend the next few minutes telling her exactly what happened, how I got there, and what I saw.

“That’s terrifying,” she whispers, horror written on her face.

“But, it’s over. The mirror’s gone. I’m fine. Let’s forget about it. No one needs to know. And the barrier’s gone. We…can hang out, now,” I counter, standing up and offering a hand to help her up.

“I guess you’re right.” She takes my hand and also stands up. “Your father said it’s time for bed anyways.”

“Then, let’s go hang out and you can stay the night.” We walk out of the room.

Everyday after that, when I walk past my room, I am reminded of what happened that night.

I finally discovered what happened to my mother and grandma and I can’t do anything about it. I just keep trying to forget. But, something like that…never leaves one's mind.