Young Writers Society

James watched as Queenie tucked the child under her arm and hurried up towards the man who had to be Jay's father or brother - they looked too alike for it to be a coincidence, but James didn't know if this was a memory from Adam's past or the near-present.

He glanced over at Kira before deciding to watch and wait to see what was going to happen. His initial gut feeling had been not to disturb the scene, so he wasn't sure how things would play out now that Queenie had artificially inserted herself into the story.

Kira wanted answers, but she knew that she wasn't going to get them by asking questions. Maybe she could get those answers later, but, for now, the best thing she could do was observe.

She felt as uncomfortable as she always did when she was in what had to be the realm of the living. She was never sure she was fitting in enough. Rex had been better at all of this; he always knew what to do when they had done assignments together. Even when they hadn't gone to the living realm for assignments - when they had just gone for fun little day trips - Rex had been the one to guide her. As long as he was there at her side, she knew she wouldn't stand out.

Rex wasn't here right now.

He hadn't been here for a long time.

She nervously fingered her necklace again.

"You're in Sacagewa Park," Jay said. "In Livingston. I think there's a phone by the parking lot."

Adam watched as his father flashed a smile at the girl and the boy. He wasn't too sure what they were doing, since they'd both been in the room of mirrors with him and weren't a part of this scene.

"Jay," Adam said. "I would love to meet your family." He swallowed before he said what he was going to say next. "If you want to spend some time with your wife, um, I could throw a ball with your son."

The moment before Jay replied seemed like an eternity. Adam knew what a strange request that was, and if they were in the real world he rightly would have been told to go away. But this apparently wasn't real, and Jay agreed, telling him he'd introduce him after they got ice cream.

James was relieved when Queenie's question was met with a casual answer and nothing seemed to be disturbed, but the more he looked at the scene the more he tried to piece together what was happening. The man, who Adam said was Jay, didn't quite seem like Adam's brother. Yes, there was a resemblance, but Jay's son held an uncanny resemblance to Adam, despite being decades apart. That, and seeing Jay's wife as well put it all together.

The little boy Adam was asking to play with was himself.

James didn't understand why they were thrown into Adam's memory, but he could only imagine how unsettling and strange it could be to see yourself as a child.

James hesitantly approached Adam, tapping his shoulder from behind.

"This... is that man your father?" he asked in a whisper.

Queenie gave a pleasant nod and walked a few steps away. Her and Bobby's outfits had changed, her in a summery floral dress and Bobby in clothes that made him look almost not-homeless, save for the hair. Gods, the hair. Queenie didn't even know how one got a haircut that bad. It was almost impressive, really.

Kira watched as Queenie and her little brother's outfits changed, fascinated and confused by the show of magic. Neither one of them had done anything to cause the change; Kira knew enough about human magic to understand that. The new outfits made them look like they fit more into the 1960s.

Her outfit hadn't changed yet. Maybe it was because she was currently content just lingering on the sidelines - unsure of how she was supposed to relate to people who weren't supposed to be dead. Or maybe it was just because she had a habit of slipping into the background unnoticed, even when she was supposed to be fully noticeable to the dead and the living.

Adam nodded to James. "Yes," he mouthed, not wanting to draw attention to it. Then, he turned back to his father. After they both got ice cream, Jay took all of it and said he'd put it in the cooler for latter. Then, he led him to his family and introduced him to Adam. To himself.

"Hey. My name is Adam too," he said, trying to play it cool. "Want to throw a ball?"

"Sure," four-year-old Adam replied, taking his mitt from the picnic blanket and the ball.

Just then, present Adam kneeled down to meet his eye line. "Hey," he said. "I just want to tell you..." He trailed off, tears forming in his eyes. "This is a great time life for you, okay? Enjoy it. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up."

Four-year-old Adam looked at him like he was speaking another language. Then, he spoke. "It's your fault Esther's dead," he said.

Adam took a minute to process. What? Then, his father turned to him. "Everyone still sees you as my son, and they always will."

"Amy and Tara don't like you," his mother said. "They think you try too hard to be perfect."

"When your children find out who their grandfather is, they're going to have a terrible life," added Jay.

Adam's whole world was spinning. It had been so nice at first, but it had to be some kind of a trick. He collapsed into the grass and buried his face in his hands, beginning for it to stop.

The words stung, even though Kira wasn't meant to be the receiving.

Giving Adam's family a look, she went over to his side and hesitantly put a hand on his back to comfort him. Rex had always been better at comforting people; he knew just the right thing to say and do. She felt like she was still struggling to pick up the right social cues.

But she had always felt better when Rex did that, so maybe it would make Adam feel better, too.

Kira glanced back up at the people that hadn't been in the room full of mirrors. Something was wrong here. It hadn't made sense before, but now it had become sinister. She had to do what she had avoided doing earlier when she thought that maybe, just maybe, these strangers were regular humans.

She checked their souls.

No matter where she looked, only the people who had been with her from the start had souls.

Her eyes widened; darkness threatened to break free from the image she had so carefully composed. She wasn't sure she was supposed to share what she learned loud enough for the soulless people to hear her. She could tell the others - James, Queenie and her little brother - later. For now, she would just stick to telling Adam.

She crouched down a little closer to him, hand fingering her necklace as she tried to fight against the darkness. "I know this probably won't make any sense to you," she whispered, "but every person, living or dead, has a soul. I can see it. And the people who weren't in the room don't have souls."

(She was too distracted to notice that her outfit had changed the moment she started talking to Adam.)

The moment James had spoken to Adam, his outfit changed into a colorful sweater and different pants - James didn't care so much at this point. He was only glad that he was covered, but he was annoyed that his clothes were gone.

James took in a deep breath. Things seemed to be going okay until Adam started to speak to his younger self.

Without knowing the context, James knew the things they were saying weren't right. This didn't seem to be a memory anymore. It was changing, and turning on Adam.

James watched as Kira hurried to Adam, and whispered something in his ear.

He approached them, but as he did the lights and the colors of the scene began to change. The sun wasn't something that could flicker, but for a split second, there was total darkness. The temperature in the air lowered and a faint gust of wind brought a chill.

He looked back at where they'd come in. The door, or the mirror, was still there - propped open ever so slightly. He stopped and turned on his heels towards the door. He didn't think the room of mirrors was a "safe" place by any means, but if things were going sour in this vision, or memory, or dream, or whatever it was - they needed to get back.

Running, he skidded to a stop. The door started to close with a gust of wing and James barely stuck his hand in the opening before it shut. It did not slam gently.

James winced and pushed the door open.

"Come on!" he shouted, his voice calm and steady. "Let's get out of here."

It took every bit of might that Adam had to stand up and leave this window into his past, whatever it was. He didn't look back as he walked through the door, back to the room of mirrors. He thought about what Kira said, that these people had no souls. That it was all a trick. Still, being momentarily back in his past and then have his family, or illusions of his family, say all of those things, was disturbing.

Once the were back in the room of mirrors, Adam was back in his own clothes. And someone was there.

His father. Except his hair was longer, greasier, and he had a beard. He wore torn bellbottom jeans and a loose-fitting blue button down. His clothes looked dirty, and he seemed out of sorts. He was the same age Adam was now.

"Is it really you?"

"It's really me," Jay replied. "Where am I? And who are you?"

"I'm your son," Adam said. "We're in some kind of time warp. Which explains why we're the same age."

"Uh huh," said Jay. "Take me back."

"To who? Your teenage concubines?"

Jay's face fell. He was clearly offended, but he didn't have a retort. "Who are you?"

"I am your son."

It was awkward knowing everyone else was watching them, and Adam waited for someone else to say something.

Queenie's clothing returned to normal when she went back into the room of mirrors and, unfortunately, so did Bobby's. She was taking that kid shopping at some point, good gods.

Her grip loosened on Bobby, and she nearly stepped away, when her eyes landed on the man. Well, isn't this wonderful? If that stupid Librarian lady was involved in this, Queenie was going to slaughter everyone in this room, just to fuck with the bitch.

She showed no sign of this train of thought on her face, or in her posture. She did, however, tighten her grip. Bobby gave her a worried look and she inclined her head toward a corner a little ways away from the group. Bobby got the hint, and they stepped just out of easy earshot of the others. Jay, in particular.

"Stay away from that guy," Queenie muttered to Bobby as they skirted the edge of the group, out of notice as all eyes lingered on the newcomer.

Bobby gave a small nod and Queenie gave him a little, hopefully comforting, smile.

With that, she turned fully to Jay, watching him for signs of recognition as she listened to everyone else's reactions.

Teenage concubines. She wouldn't have described it that way.

Even before Adam revealed that he was the man's son, Kira could guess it. They looked similar in the same kind of way she knew most parents and children were supposed to look similar - like how she was an almost too-perfect copy of her mother.

She glanced towards the mirror that they had all just come rushing through. The world they had just escaped from - the little pocket of reality - had acted like it was at the whim of a ghost, but Kira hadn't ever heard of a ghost that could block out the light from the sun.

She clung to her feather necklace.

Then she made the mistake of staring at the mirror too long. Rex was there again. His clothes were more modern now - a slightly unbuttoned white top, black dress pants, and brown loafers - but his black hair was as long as it had been the day she last saw him centuries ago.

And he was holding his hand out towards the glass like he had been before.

She took a hesitant step towards the mirror.

"You don't have to believe Adam," Kira softly said, "but it's probably easier if you do."

James was relieved when everyone was back in the room, but the relief was short-lived. Adam's father had somehow escaped the memory, even though he didn't remember seeing him run out - and this didn't seem like an illusion. Adam's father was really there, only he wasn't at an age that made sense for him and Adam to look face to face and say he was his father.

Apparently time had no limitations here.

He listened as Adam and his father went back and forth in confusion and disbelief, but his eyes wandered to Kira, who was entranced by a picture of a man in the mirror. James reached out and put a hand firmly on her shoulder as a warning.

"Let's not open any more doors yet. If every picture, or memory, or whatever ends like that one, we should wait a moment."

He looked over at Queenie and the boy, then Adam, and then his father.

"What's your name?" he asked the man in the button-down.

Jay took a deep breath. "I'm Jay." Then turned to Adam. "Why don't you prove you're my son, hm?"

"Susan," Adam said immediately. "My sister Susan."

Jay's face fell. "No one knows about Susan," he said quietly.

"No one except you, mom, and me."

In response, Jay walked closer to Adam and looked closely into his eyes. It didn't make any sense, but this was his son. Jay pursed his lips. This moment defied words. He wasn't sure what the others were talking about about waiting to go through the doors, but it seemed sketchy. This whole thing was off.

But sometimes, the only way out was through. If someone didn't say or do something soon, he was about to go through one of the doors himself.

Bobby watched the exchange between Adam and Jay - father and son. They seemed almost as strained as...

He glanced at Queenie. He knew she could sense it. Every time anyone thought about her, she knew it.

Despite Queenie's warnings, though, he was curious about Jay, and Queenie was here. If anyone wanted to hurt him, she would do to them what she did to the people who threatened Bobby back in the city.

So Bobby went up to him. "Are you really his dad?" he asked. He couldn't keep eye contact, but he wanted to know. Jay looked too young to have a son Adam's age, maybe he was altered?