Mirrors chapter 1 part 2

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“Mr…” Neurin stopped himself, startled. Mr Evesham sat at the table assembling notebooks, files and an assortment of what may have been personal items. I do believe we may have a better outlook, Mr Evesham. Neurin shook himself awake. “I’m sorry. Here is your tea, Mr Evesham. I see you are serious about your response to my letter.”

          “Yes, I was and am very serious about it. Although…you were not clear about what you needed assistance with Neurin. I am a spiritualist. I do not concern myself with scientific aspects. Not even within my own beliefs.”

          “I am aware of your beliefs and of your line of work Mr Evesham. There have been many scientists and doctors through here. They have taken blood and set up experiments. They have had no luck with my issue. I had hoped that a less traditional approach may prove some worth. I hope you are not adverse to a little unusual happenings.”

          Mr Evesham barely hid a quick smile beneath his well-kept beard. “I will be the judge of that, Mr Lothian.”

          “Yes,” Neurin slowly replied. He extended the tea within his hand and, as soon as Mr Evesham held it, he sat himself down at the table.

          “To get us started, Neurin, what is it that you require assistance with?”

          Neurin stared into Mr Evesham’s soft blue eyes. They held something within them. Neurin began to feel as though he trusted this Mr Evesham implicitly with his information. Captured, lured. His breaths began to escape him and all at once every breath was deep effort and chased. A frown caught him. It raised one brow slowly then he found himself to be blinking. Whatever the ‘spell’ was, became lost and he blinked again, rubbing his eyes.

          Neurin sat back in his chair. Mr Evesham was still looking at him. He was watching him. You are studying, not watching. Neurin brought his hand to his chin and made eye contact again. He kept his frown. “There is something about you, Mr Evesham. I do not know whether I should trust you or not.”

          Mr Evesham set his hands on the edge of the table apart. He brought them down and onto the arms of the chair he sat in. “That is for you to decide of course,” he said in a hint of a smile. “Are you alright?”

          “I am quite alright, thank you.” Neurin shifted in his seat and brought his coffee to his lips looking passed this Mr Evesham. He caught something in his eye beyond in the dark. Round, small. Yes, he considered. Bringing his sight back in line with his guest Neurin leant against his hand. He gestured with a finger to the unseen object, ready to tell his story yet again. “My family has had a history with this house. It has been in the name of Lothian for quite a number of generations now…though the house has been empty for a large number of those until my grandfather took over its ownership.” Neurin took another sip of coffee I wonder why he decided to live here when none before my great grandfather had. I wonder… coughing brought him sharply back to his present. He took Mr Evesham in once more. “I apologise. My mind wanders frequently,” he explained straightening up.

          “I see. Where does it wander to?”

          He was concentrating on a notebook, writing with an inkpen and had at some point put glasses onto his face. They added some wisdom to his features and brought a more serious light to him. You stand out more with those glasses, Mr Evesham. “It wanders into the past.”

          “Where most of the answers to your problem may lie I suspect.”

          “Most of your experiences lead you to that conclusion?”

          “Yes, they do. Please, continue with your account.”

          Neurin dropped the hand propping up his head onto the arm of the chair. “As far as I can discover the problem has been occurring from that point onwards. It is the same for every male in the family line. On the day of the twenty-fifth birthday something appears to happen and continues to occur thereafter.” He adjusted his position in his seat. “I noticed it when I was shaving in the upstairs bathroom, that was the first happening for myself. I looked into the mirror and when my reflection looked back the mirror cracked. Lines snaked out from the centre. It appeared as though the mirror had been hit.”

          The sound of the ink pen slowed down, presumably as Mr Evesham finished writing down his final word before they began talking to each other again.

          “And was that the first time you knew of the problem?”

          “Yes. My father kept his affliction well hidden from me.”

          “How did you find out about it?”

          The pen had begun writing once again. Very thorough. “The journals of my family are all here in this library.”

          “How far back do they go, Neurin?” Mr Evesham sat waiting, a serious look on his face…almost as though he suspected something already.

          “I am uncertain. The journals have been scattered across the entirety of the room. I have been locating them for the past six years.”

          “You have not found all of them?” Mr Evesham supposed.

          “Some of my father’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s I have. None other.” Neurin focused on the shelves. Where are they all? Is it all linked…

          “…with why your grandfather can not remember who the portraits are of?”

          Neurin found himself staring through suspicion into Mr Evesham’s soft blue eyes again. “Are you a mind reader as well as a spiritualist, Mr Evesham?”

          Mr Evesham issued him a suspicious smile as though he were holding something back from Neurin. As though he knew something and he was not going to share it. “I am not. Your were speaking aloud. I merely made the connection.”

          I am not certain that I was speaking aloud. Neurin rested his chin upon his fist and took up a study of his guest. He would not say any more tonight. “We should retire for the night and come to this again in the morning. We may move to the garden and discuss the case further. It will lend some light to our discussion both literally and figuratively.” Neurin heaved himself up on his legs. They stubbornly responded to his request and scuffed the chair back over his wooden floorboards. “There is a room for though on the second floor. It is the last door on the left before the corner turns.” He paused. The silence of the house should have been apparent to Mr Evesham in that moment. “If you need anything in the night do not hesitate to call upon me. Do not go into the room across the hall or open its door.”

          Neurin noted Mr Evesham’s eyes turn irresistibly in the door’s direction. Neurin narrowed his eyes at the gentleman in the moment and studied the man further behind the glasses. Curiosity, eagerness and… Neurin smiled satisfied. Perhaps I am not mad after all. “I will be in here for the night, Mr Evesham. Up the stairs. Goodnight to you, I will see you in the morning.”

Mirrors Chapter 1 part 1

Chapter 1: Alex Evesham

“Mr Lothian?”

          “Yes?” Neurin held the door open at length sheltered in the shadows around him.

          “Alex Evesham at your service. I believe this is the correct address for Mr N. Lothian?”

          “Yes. Come in. You can call me Neurin until it comes to payment or if we discover you are unable to assist me.”

          “Thank you. Most of my clients call me Alex.”

          Neurin looked Mr Evesham over. A little shorter than the average man maybe, brown hair, he wasn’t the fittest man either by the look of his physique. Not like the thin doctors or the heavier scientists I’ve met. Average and easily forgettable, at least in his details. I wouldn’t be able to describe you to someone shortly after meeting you at any rate. Neurin ran his hand down his chin and shook his head. I’m getting judgemental. Give him a chance Neurin, you fool. Returning to the company he had he nodded toward the door on their left. “Would you like a seat in the library?”

          “Please. It would seem an appropriate place to begin our meeting.”

          Neurin opened the door for Mr Evesham. The room wasn’t vast, small in comparison to many other libraries they both might have seen before. There was space on the shelves for more books to keep the others company. It was, perhaps, a little old in its style. A globe sat in a wooden cradle not far from the stairs leading to a second floor. There were two armchairs sat either side a table and another two tables set apart from that one. Only one of those tables had chairs beside it. That was the one Neurin directed the gentleman to. The chairs were hardbacked, suited for more business like affairs.

          “Would you like a drink, tea, coffee or perhaps something a little stronger?”

          “Tea would be very kind, thank you very much.”

          “Make yourself at home. Feel free to have a look around the library if you wish.” Neurin turned toward the door and muttered darkly on his way out, “everyone else did…without invitation.” He closed the door behind him and moved toward the stairs heading upward into the second floor of the house where his small kitchen lay. There was a second on the floor below but he didn’t use that one. Instead he had gone to the expense of having one installed above.

          The lower floor. Neurin mentally stopped himself from turning to the entrance to the room and looking.

          The kettle sat boiling on the hob. His coffee was brewing behind it. How many others had he seen? Five over the years, maybe even more. He smiled with derision and blew the emotion out through his nostrils. No it was more along the lines of seven, possibly even eight. Give this one a chance. He isn’t like the others. A different branch entirely Neurin. Neurin brought his mug over to the brewing coffee pot and poured the bitter velvety liquid within. He flavoured his coffee with a little bourbon. As he stirred Neurin thought of his past, his past with this house and of before he lived within its walls. Visually a few memories played themselves out. Most of them were of himself buried in his ancestors journals. Others he steered away from, aware that sending shivers up his spine wasn’t something he wished to entertain.

          He brought his coffee to his lips and took a sip. He looked at the dark liquid inside the mug slightly confused. A frown caught his features and held there. Mr Evesham. Somehow the man had slipped his mind. The gentleman wasn’t that forgettable.

          Neurin came out of the kitchen with both drinks in his hands. He made for the stairs and at the top he drew still. Pins crept into his muscles and pointed to the ceiling pulling him upright to his full height. Neurin directed his gaze forward and steadied his breaths. A cold swept over him, around him, it blew against his spine softly reminding him of breath against his skin. The hairs on the back of his neck raised up. Neurin resisted the urge to turn around despite a strange sensation that someone’s hand was guiding him that way. Then he swallowed and licked his lips. The sensation was gone but the cold was still there with him. Neurin looked down to the hot drinks in his hands. They were still steaming.

Mirrors - Beginning

The house was old, creaking and full of memories, a past long forgotten. It still is. I can’t remember many of the portrait subjects. Their names escape me and I can’t place any of the faces. I haven’t seen any evidence of them either. I’m sure they’re part of the family. The house was left to the family name of Lothian. I am part of that line, as is my son. He will inherit the house one day. Maybe he will know where these faces come from. Grandfather wasn’t much of a historian. None of us are.

          Neurin placed the book back onto the shelf. The candlelight cast itself onto the bookcases and sent eerie shadows playing across the room. Neurin couldn’t really say he was perturbed by any of it. Maybe years ago when I was young. He ran his finger down the spine of his great grandfather’s journal turning around. A picture lying on the table caught his eye a moment and he stared at it. He frowned at it next and as he looked closer it dawned on him. No glass. You’re tired Neurin, go to bed for darkness’ sake.

Mirrors

He started up the hallway concentrating down on the floor at his feet. The lights were turned down low, he noticed, up until the corner he headed toward. Similarly the lights behind appeared to light themselves gradually after he had passed. X tried to recall why he had begun on this path but nothing came to mind that made sense. Lights reflected off of some surface upahead and X brought himself a stop examining the way the light reflected. It seemed to bounce in his direction and refract, becoming brighter. X concentrated upon it twisting his head sideways. Not a mirror...definitely not a mirror. Excellent. X carried on soon coming to the corner. Behind him the lighting of the way quickened. He turned on his feet and watched the light coming for him and realised too late what lay upon the walls. Moments after cracking sounded and he noted a snaking line spreading throughout the glass until it reached the centre and splintered. X looked at himself, his broken reflection parting and breaking his face. He caught something in his vision. X found an eye looking back at him, slightly slanted by the crack it sat on.