Own the Night (Part Two)

CHAPTER ONE [THE AWAKENING]     

Leila’s eyes opened, for it was midnight, and she was alive again.

She shook out her long, pitch-black hair. It reached down to her ankles. This was not very surprising, seeing how she had never gotten her hair cut. Not many barber shops were open at this time of night.

   Leila looked around the room. It wasn’t the happiest place ever, she had never really had time to decorate it. The four small walls were gray and dusty. The bed was too small, and it sagged whenever she sat on it. Her one room house was on the edge of town, or more like in the middle of the forest. It blended nicely with the trees, so anyone would have had to look hard to see it. The house was suspended 30 feet off the ground in the branches of a grove of tall pine trees. You see, she had been living there all her life. She had distant memories of food appearing on her table overnight, but those times were long gone.

   Leila wasn’t exactly the most cheerful- or lucky-  girl on the planet. She knew she had had parents at one time, at least she had a mother- she didn’t remember her dad-  but she had no idea where they were now. All she remembered of her life before the curse was a small, bright room. Her mother was holding her, and everything was happy, at least until the hooded figure came. Leila was the only one who could see him. He said a few words- ominous, chilling words- and after 57 minutes, Leila died.

At least, that’s what it seemed like. She didn’t die exactly- just disappeared. Off of the face of the planet. Never to be seen again. But she didn’t die. Ceased to exist, she preferred.

    Leila sighed. She’d better get down to business. She grabbed a brush off the windowsill and proceeded to brush her thick, dark hair. As she brushed, she hummed a simple tune. She had previously made up words, but she could never remember them, except for a couple words. She set down the brush and sang the few words she remembered. “And when you wish upon a shining star...” she continued humming. She rummaged around in the dark closet for anything to tie her hair up. There it was- her lucky pink ribbon. She had no idea where it had come from. She tied up her long black hair and wished she had a mirror.

A dark, sneaky thought entered her head. She could simply walk down the street, crack open the window, and...

   No. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t! That would be stealing. It wasn’t that important, anyways...

   Again she thought of the mirror. It should be about eight inches long, with a silver handle to match her eyes. There was a loud cracking sound. Leila gasped and whirled around. There, on the floor, sat the mirror she had been thinking of. She gasped again and scooped the mirror up off the floor, or at least tried to. The handle was searing hot.

   Leila pulled her hand away and stared at it. A long, thin burn was growing across the top of her palm.

“It’ll take a minute to cool.” said a voice. Leila looked around the room. There was nobody there.

“Hello?” she asked. There was no answer. She leaned down to pick up the mirror. The handle was cold now.