Raven tried moving too, but her feet
grew roots.
She stared at the woman in the mirror.
“How is this possible?”
“You’re in danger. Be suspicious of
everyone’s motives. Trust no one, especially family.” The musical tones of the
woman’s voice wove a hypnotic spell around the edges of Raven’s brain. “Even I
am a danger to you.”
Thunder roared from somewhere above the
school. The mirror rattled in response. Raven shook her head clear of the fuzzy
cobwebs created by the woman’s voice. ‘Who are you?” whispered Raven.
The woman’s smile grew bigger and warmer.
“I am your—” she sighed. “Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is your
safety. Your survival. Without you, we are all doomed. I wish there was another
way, but the Fates dictated the path you must follow a long time ago. And I’ve
had to accept it, just as you will have to accept your destiny.”
The woman glanced behind her. For a
split second Raven could have sworn she had seen several snakes in the woman’s
hair. When the woman turned back around, her smile was gone.
“Be careful who you trust. Your life
depends on it. You and you alone hold the key codes to Atlantis. Be strong.
There are some who will try to use you to get Atlantis and some, like Zeus, who
will do absolutely anything, even kill you, to get it. Protect yourself, but
make sure no one—absolutely no one—gets access to Atlantis. Zeus is desperate.
With it, he will be invincible and he will destroy us all.”
Atlantis? Zeus? Those were just myths.
Stories. Raven shook her head. How can a myth hurt me? Her mind reeled. Who was
this woman? How was she talking through the mirror? The questions dipped and
twisted until Raven felt like she was going to throw up. The hairs on her arms
stood up and the air felt heavy with electricity. The individual strands on her
head moved with the electricity as if they were alive. A thunderous crash
vibrated through the room and through Raven. The lights flickered again.
“Remember my warning. Protect yourself.
Protect Atlantis. And remember, I have always loved you and always will my
precious daughter.” The lights went out. The woman’s voice faded away into the
inky void and Raven was left alone in the pitch black with only the sounds of
her ragged breath and the ferocious pounding of her heart.