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This book is not a stand-alone novel and is the first book of a 3 part series. Graphic sex, violence, and some foul language contained in this novel.
There is a dark secret that lurks in the shadows of the small town of Leon’s Crossing, Washington.
The town of Leon’s Crossing is nestled in between jagged mountains, and thick forests outside of Seattle, Washington. Jessica Winters is out enjoying her daily nature walk when she stumbles upon that dark secret.
Jessica is a shy, socially awkward 17-year-old. Bullied all her life, and feeling tremendous pressure from her parents, she stumbles upon a mysterious mirror deep in the forest. Thinking nothing of it, she admires its stunning detail until it swirls and morphs into a beautiful spirit before her eyes. At first, she runs away in terror, but later finds she is drawn to the mirror. The figure appears in front of her. He tells her he's her guardian angel, and he appeared to help her realizes her hopes and dreams. Those hopes and dreams come at a price…
As Jessica falls further into The Spirit of the Mirror’s clutches, she finds it more difficult to resist his temptations.
The Sheriff of Leon’s Crossing, Mark McKenzie, has a promising future in law enforcement. Despite his young age, he is well liked, and well respected by the residents of the small mountain town. Mark investigates when unexplained events happen while learning of the town’s dark past.
As Jessica and Mark’s lives intertwine, Mark soon becomes suspicious that all the strange occurrences are pointing right back to Jessica.
Will Jessica’s involvement with the mysterious mirror drive a wedge between them, or even worse, destroy both of their lives?
If you are looking for a pulse-pounding, page-turning, exciting first book in the trilogy then this book is for you.
Chapter 3
"Are you sure it was over here?” Jessica’s friend Tessa, short for Contessa, asked.
It was two days later, and Tessa left her house to see her best friend.
Jessica’s parents hadn’t lectured her too much about going into the forest by herself that late in the day. They blew it off and were more concerned with her getting in trouble with the Sheriff. Jessica told them she did nothing wrong, she was startled by something she couldn’t see, referring to the imaginary bear. Her parents seemed fine with it and told her to be more careful next time.
Her best friend, Tessa, was short, and very thin. Sometimes she looked anorexic and pale. Jessica always told her she needed to move to California after high school to develop a good tan.
Tessa was diabetic, the reason for constantly looking sickly.
She was shy but extremely smart. Tessa wanted to be a doctor and find the cure for her diabetes and treat people like her.
Her little brothers always made fun of her, and Tessa may have been shy in school, but she was tough when she wanted to be, and could kick her brother's asses.
Jessica often wondered where that strength came from in admiration of her best friend.
Jessica was no fighter and knew her siblings would bully her if she had any, and thankful she didn’t have to put up with that. Being the only child of Donald and Mary Winters was hard enough.
“It had to be here,” Jessica said.
“I don’t see anything,” Tessa answered.
Jessica was confused. She knew she had spotted the fire and the mirror around here somewhere.
Where could it have gone?
This was the right path, but she saw nothing except green and brown forest ahead with moss covering most of the trees and ferns all over the ground.
She saw none of the damage or any proof that there had been an explosion and a fire. It looked like it always did, untouched and pristine.
Jessica frowned, and Tessa stood there just waiting for her to say something.
Then Tessa cocked her head in thought. “I remember listening to the police scanner, and the reports about the fire.”
“See? I wasn’t the only one,” Jessica said.
“I know I believe you, but you must have been in another area or you’re smoking something and not sharing,” Tessa said, laughing at her own joke.
Jessica laughed and the two girls turned around deciding to head back to their usual spot at the lake after finding nothing out of the ordinary. Jessica had to admit, she was disappointed the mysterious mirror disappeared.
Jessica turned to gaze deep into the forest one more time and thought she saw a glint in the distance.
“Did you see that?” She asked, turning to her friend.
Tessa looked at her confused. “No, what?”
Jessica turned and walked down the path again with Tessa following close behind.
Nothing. Again.
Jessica sighed and told Tessa it was a false alarm, and they headed back to their usual spot.
Jessica and Tessa spent the rest of the afternoon talking about their latest crushes in the music business, and Jessica flipped through some teen magazines.
Finally, Tessa said she needed to go home and eat something before her blood sugar got too low.
Jessica offered to drive her home since her mom would let her borrow her car, but Tessa insisted she was good, and two blocks away.
Jessica decided not to go back into the house. Her mom was still sleeping for her night shift, and Jessica found herself bored again.
She actually looked forward to the school year, not only to cure her boredom, but also to graduate, and begin life outside of this small mountain town.
Jessica sat on the porch still reading a magazine when the sheriff popped into her mind.
She felt a little nervous, and her imagination took off as she thought of him coming back to arrest her for lying about the fire.
Well, it’s been two days and no sign of him or the fire, so she figured she was safe from going to jail.
He had the deepest blue eyes she’d ever seen and a rugged face. He was about six feet tall and built like a rock. A small scar ran across his chin. It had faded over the years, but not enough to not be noticeable. His jaw was almost perfectly square, with thinner lips. His uniform hugged his muscles around his arms and legs.
He was handsome. Much better looking than most rock stars in her magazines.
Jessica sat up and tried to shake her thoughts of the sheriff and felt like she needed to take a walk into the forest once again.
She put down her magazines and took off walking down the trail again behind her house. She wondered if she had been imagining it all along, but her logical mind said that someone else had spotted the fire because the fire department showed up.
Jessica walked around the lake like she was on a mission. She was determined to prove to Tessa that the mirror had been there, and there had been a fire around it.
Jessica stepped onto the secluded path, swallowing hard, and wondering if she was doing the right thing.
Her anxiety heightened as she moved closer to the area where she first spotted the mirror. She cursed her fears because she had known these woods since she was a young child and never feared them before.
Taking tentative steps she looked around, but all was quiet except birds chirping in the trees above her, with the occasional squirrel rustling leaves somewhere in the woods.
Then, something caught her eye. The sun had flashed off of something in the distance.
Pushing through the brush Jessica walked into the opening of the path. There were no signs of the fire from days before making her even more confused.
Jessica then set her gaze on the source of her confusion.
The mirror was there!
Cautiously, she approached it. She remembered the figure that appeared from it and almost turn to run out of the woods again.
This time, no figure, and the mirror sat quietly against the tree. So out of place this deep in the forest. She thought maybe dehydration had her hallucinating the other day.
She wondered who put it there, and when, and why.
She was now close enough to see her reflection in it and found it was not damaged or warped.
She peered closer at the markings on the frame, remembering them from a few days ago, and admired the artistry once more.
Jessica ran her fingers over the carvings again, wishing she could create something so spectacular.
As Jessica continued to gaze on the artwork, the mirror shook in place.
Jessica cried out and took a few steps back.
The mirror warped, and twisted inside the frame forming the illusion of a spiral.
Jessica breathed heavily as panic took over, and she backed away wondering if she should just run or keep doing what she was doing.
There was no noise as the mirror twisted one way and turned another except the light scraping behind it on the tree.
Jessica turned to run away, thinking that her life may be in danger, and she better get out of there in case this thing was evil and wanted to hurt her.
“Hello again, Jessica Winters,” it said in a cheerful voice.
Jessica cried out in astonishment. Again, her feet were frozen in place. She couldn’t will her brain to do what she wanted to do, which was to run away. She stood there watching the glass twist and turn inside of the frame.
“I knew you’d come back,” it said.
The voice was a deep male voice, and it sounded almost like an echo, but musical in Jessica’s ears.
All she could think of was a smoother version of Darth Vader.
“Who… are you? Is someone playing a joke on me?” She asked as her voice shook in fear, but her feet refused to move.
Like molten lava, the glass poured onto the ground, and Jessica could only watch in amazement.
If this was a joke, it was a damn good one, she thought.
The glass of the mirror took on a shape.
She was mesmerized as a figure formed before her.
The shape then became a human-like figure and towered over her. Then eyes, a mouth, and nose formed on its face.
She was standing there staring at a human shaped mirror!
His eyes glowed a soft white, like sparklers on Fourth of July.
The figured stared down at her and then smiled.
“Is this better?” He—er—it asked.
Jessica screamed with every ounce of strength she could muster, and a white flash came from the figure’s eyes.
Jessica was temporarily blinded, and the force of the white flash sent her flying back.
Jessica fell on her behind and grunted in pain when her right hip landed on a tree root. She gathered herself and felt around the ground trying to regain her eyesight.
Her surroundings focused again after a few moments, with white dots dancing in front of her eyes. The reflective figure was still there looking at her with slight concern. She was amazed she could see the emotion on its face.
“Do not fear me Jessica Winters. I am here to help you,” The mirrored figure said in a soothing voice.
Jessica could not stand up out of panic. She tried to crawl away, but she was held in place by an unknown force.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she begged.
“I am not here to hurt you. Can you stand?” It asked.
Jessica nodded, never taking her eyes off of the figure as she gathered the courage to stand again.
“What are you?” She asked, trying to be brave at what was standing over her.
The glass figure laughed. “You can say I am your guardian angel.”
“I don’t believe in that kind of thing. Are you real or is this a joke?” She was trying to be brave, but her body shook everywhere. She looked around for help, but no one was coming.
The figure laughed again, and said, “This is not a joke, child. You wished for something to happen and here I am. I don’t grant wishes for just anyone, only those that are special.”
Jessica shook her head; this had to be a joke. “I didn’t wish for anything. At least, I don’t remember doing that.”
“You’ve been having thoughts that maybe it is time to please your parents. Am I correct?” It asked.
“Yes, but that wasn’t a wish,” she answered.
That was the truth. Lately, Jessica thought if she participated in more school activities, perhaps going to a dance here and there, then her parents would lay off her.
However, Jessica knew deep down that her shyness kept her from having the life her parents wanted for her.
“I am here to help you become what your parents want you to be,” he said smiling.
“You mean a different person?” She asked, confused by his offer.
The figure shook his head in amusement. “No, child. Just a better version of you.”
“I don’t know how you could help me accomplish that,” she said, her voice still shaking.
She couldn’t believe that she was standing in the middle of the forest in Washington speaking to a figure out of a mirror. Either she was going insane, or this was some kind of movie she was starring in and hadn’t been told yet.
“I know you still doubt your own eyes Jessica, but let me explain,” he said to her.
The figure took his hand and made it into a fist. He opened it to show a caterpillar in his palm. Jessica stared in awe as the caterpillar crawled around the figure’s reflective hand.
Then the figure closed his fist again. He then opened his fist and out came a monarch butterfly making Jessica gasp in amazement as it flew past her and into the woods.
“All of us have a beauty inside, that if given a chance, can shine onto the world. Sometimes one needs a little help to find that inner beauty, and sometimes one needs help to show it,” he explained.
He gazed over at her and cocked his mirrored head a little.
“You are special, Jessica Winters. You are a special girl with lots of dreams, but your doubts and fears hold you back from your full potential in life. I am here to show you how to reach that potential,” he continued in his soft voice.
The figure moved aside so Jessica could see her reflection in the mirror.
Just as Jessica caught her reflection the figure appeared behind her shoulder almost making Jessica run, but she stayed in place.
“You are so much more than this, and I am here to help you find your inner beauty,” he whispered in her ear.
He then pulled away, and he was in front of her again.
“That’s if…”
“If what?” She asked, curious.
“If you want what I am offering,” he answered.
He moved away again and let Jessica once again peer at her reflection.
Every memory of school she had was not a pleasant one and that is why she had become a loner. From the time she was small, she was bullied for one thing or another. She had considered so many things from suicide to running away and beginning a new life by herself to make it stop. Yet, she had stuck it out and had only one more year to go.
She had always felt she was a disappointment to her parents for not listening to them when they gave her advice. She was bitter they never cared about how well she did academically, no, they cared more about her social life.
Yes, her father mentioned her grades all the time, but then he would push her to go to a dance or join a club in the same sentence.
It was a hard expectation to live up to, and Jessica didn’t care to live up to it, but then there was a secret yearning within her to not only please her parents but to become what they had expected of her.
After thinking it over, she was what she was, and being seventeen, it might be too late for her to change to please them this late in her high school career.
The glass figure stood patiently as Jessica’s emotions played around in her head as memories flooded her brain over years past.
She looked up at him and said, “I appreciate your offer to help, but I think I am just fine how I am…”
The figure nodded. “If that is your wish.”
With more confidence, Jessica nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, though,” she said backing away. “Will I ever see you again?”
The figure raised a reflective finger to his chin in thought. “Jessica, I think you’ll change your mind, and come back soon.”
Jessica shook her head in disagreement. Though she had her doubts.
“No, I don’t think so. I’m happy with who I am,” she said, trying to sound confident in her words, but deep down she knew she was failing miserably.
The figure nodded and said, “Well, I will be here if you need me.”
“I doubt it, but thanks. What can I call you, just in case?”
The figure smiled and said, “I am just a spirit who lives inside of the mirror.”
Jessica kept backing away and turned to leave the forest.
Her eyes darted around to make sure the thing she met that came from a mirror wasn’t following her.
She got back to her house and collapsed onto her bed.
She had doubts she’d made the right decision.
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