Sabrina hadn’t ever thought much about them before. She used one every day, helping her with choosing an outfit each morning as she twirled in front of it, putting together different looks until she finally settled on something for the day. They could be a form of communication, an easy way to pass a message along to one of her family. A simple, everyday object that had never caused her to sit in the middle of her class, frozen as she stared at the one they’d been using for a reflection spell.
On some level she could hear her professor going over the task they were supposed to do, the others beginning to move around to start the spell that usually would have come easily enough to Sabrina. Instead she quickly rose, knocking the offending object off the table in her haste, barely registering it smashing into pieces as it hit the ground while she ran from the room.
Another mirror kept coming to mind, another one shattered so that Sabrina Morningstar would never be able to come back through it. Headed into a different world, some sort of mirror of their own--though whether it was a good version or bad one hadn’t been known. Sabrina had been able to hold onto it maybe being like her Vallo at first, a place where her other self could learn to live again, have a chance at some new life with another version of their world. Her ability to believe in that had slowly chipped away with every passing moment in the darker Vallo, as every piece of it was revealed to her, highlighting the horrors that her friends had endured for two months without reprieve.
It shriveled into nothing as she sank down onto a couch in one of the alcoves of the school, working to breathe slowly in and out. What were the chances her other self had managed to go somewhere good when even the Vallo that Sabrina had slowly accepted as her new home was wrapped up in its own horrors? People came and went without reprieve, no warning at all when someone suddenly disappeared and even their reappearance could mean more pain for those who’d known them. Friendships and relationships so easily torn apart in the blink of an eye, no rhyme or reason for any of it.
And there was absolutely nothing she could do about any of it. No way for her to ensure Sabrina Morningstar was somewhere better, that her other self was happy and getting a chance at a life.
She dug her nails into her palms as she pressed further back into the alcove, not wanting to deal with any questions, half-contemplating hiding out in Pandemonium for the rest of the day and shielding her mind from anyone reaching out. But there were orders to make sure were being delivered to Cerberus that afternoon and she knew Dan would worry if she tried blocking him from her head.
Plus there was Nick and Roz.
Was she doing enough to help them adjust to Vallo?
Was she doing too much?
Was what she was doing even what they needed?
Having them there meant the world to her, but half the time she wondered if she was smothering them. The other half wondered if she was giving them too much space.
Was she introducing them to enough people? Too many people?
She wouldn’t know until she asked them, but should she do that? Would doing so only add to the stress of trying to figure out this new world they were in?
The urge to leave was strong, pushing at her to teleport to the place that always seemed to call her back to it, but Sabrina pulled out her phone instead and scrolled to the phone number that had become all too familiar the last few months.
Maybe her therapist could squeeze her in for a session that afternoon.
And if not, maybe Dan would be up for a milkshake.