In A Dark Mirror

Two

After Aifric had unpacked her belongings, she went downstairs to look around the rest of the house, and to find out more about it’s routines. On the way down, she bumped into a girl of maybe 10 years. She was frail and skinny, and she had her jet black hair tied in plaits. The dark hair made her skin look paler than she was, and she had dark circles around her eyes.

“I’m sorry” the girl whispered almost inaudibly.

“It’s OK.” Aifric heard herself say. She almost walked past the girl, but then remembered her manners.

“Hi. I’m Aifric. I’m new here.”

The girl didn’t answer, instead she kept staring at her shoes.

“Do you have a name?” Aifric asked. The girl nodded, but didn’t answer.

“But you don’t wanna tell me.” Aifric stated. The girl shook her head.

“Oi!” Heather darted up the stairs. “Leave her alone!” She shouted at Aifric.

Aifric took a step back. “I just said ’Hi’!” She said defensively.

Heather didn’t respond to that, but put an arm around the young girls shoulders.

“Come on, Mary-Jade” she said. “No worries.”

She led the girl upstairs without looking at Aifric once more.

After she had walked around the house for a while, she saw all the other girls move towards the dining-hall, and suspected that it was dinner time. She didn’t feel very hungry, although it had been hours since she had her last meal.

She followed the other girls into the dining-hall, and looked around. Everyone was staring at her, as she entered, but none of the girls said a word. She felt the cold gaze of Sister Immaculata on her, and shivered.

“Sit!” Immaculata commanded.

Aifric took a seat, as far away from Immaculata as possible. Heather was sitting opposite to her, and stared aggressively. The black-haired girl Mary-Jade sat next to her, still not looking at anyone.

That strange feeling of unreality, that had accompanied her since the accident was stronger than ever, like in a nightmare in which she knew she was dreaming, but couldn’t wake up. It made her want to run away, but where could she run to?

As if to stress the nightmarish surreality of the scene, a girl entered the hall, who looked completely out of place. She was fair haired, with bright blue eyes and freckles, and wore a smile that belied the grimness of the place. The girl pulled a trolley, with two bowls of stew, which she then handed to the two girls who had entered after her. The two were the youngest of the girls here, maybe about eight years old, both ash-blond and looked like sisters. The bowls where placed on the table, and the girls sat down. The freckled girl took the free seat next to Aifric. “Hi!” She reached out her hand.

“I’m Mercedes!”

Aifric took her hand, and felt the girl violently shake it. “So, you’re Magdalena? Nice to meet you!”

Aifric still felt she was being watched by Sister Immaculata, and did not dare to correct the girl. So she only said: “Likewise.”

“Now,” Sister Immaculata boomed. “Let us say grace!”

It had been so long since Aifric said grace at the dinner table, that she could hardly remember it. Mamó used to pray before she went bonkers, so they did when she was there, but at their usual family table, they never did. She simply folded her hands and pretended to pray, instead looking at the other girls through half closed eyelids. Sister Immaculata intoned:

Bless O Lord, this food to our use, And us to thy loving service; And make us ever mindful of the needs of others, For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Aifric watched Heather who only moved her lips in silence, and she was pretty sure, the ginger girl mouthed Fuck You! instead of Amen at the end.

When the grace was done, everyone was permitted to eat, and Mercedes took the opportunity to tell the story of her life to Aifric, whether she wanted to or not. Mercedes was twelve and had become an orphan when she was very little, and could hardly remember her parents. Her mam had died when she was still a baby, and her daid had been at sea, and never returned, so she was brought up by her grandparents. When her grandfather went sick, they couldn’t care for her any longer, so she had come here. The only thing, she explained, that made her sad, was that her gran did not return her letters anymore.

“She’s got grandfather to look after,” she said. “She has no time to write,”

“But,” Mercedes shared her wisdom, “there is no need to give up! You always need to cheer, otherwise you get wrinkly!”

It went on like this for the rest of the dinner. Why had the only person in this place, to talk to her be a rocket-mouthed, precocious twelve year old?

Aifric stirred her stew.

She sat up straight in her bed, panting hard. It was night, and she needed a while to remember where she was. Hands laid on her shoulder, and gently pressed her back into her pillows.

“Shh” a soft voice whispered. She looked around and saw Heather sitting on her bedside.

“Oh, great! Just what I need now.” Aifric thought.

But Heather was completely different from what she had been this afternoon. All of the attitude was gone, instead the girl looked concerned. Earlier, at dinner, Heather had been sitting opposite to her, ostentatiously far away, and glaring threateningly.

“You should try not to scream.” She explained. “If the sisters hear you, they gonna punish you.”

“I’m sorry.” Aifric began. “I had a bad dream.”

Heather gently ran her fingers through Aifric’s hair. “I know. We all have them.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m really sorry.”

“No big deal. I don’t sleep much anyway.”

Aifric looked around. In the near complete darkness of the room, she could only make out silhouettes, but the only other girl she shared a room with was Mercedes, and she seemed to be sound asleep. In the dim light, she could see Heather smile.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“About what?” Aifric was confused.

“The dreams, stupid!” Heather replied. “Maybe it helps.”

“I don’t know if I can. I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK. Just an offer.” Heather didn’t seem to be offended. “If you need someone to talk, I’ll be here.”

“Thanks, that’s sweet of you.” Aifric said.

Heather changed the subject. “What’s your name? I mean, your parents surely weren’t so cruel to call you Magdalena, so this must be Agatha’s idea of christening or something.”

Aifric suddenly felt more comfortable, with this girl around. “Aifric.” She answered. “Aifric Lyons.”

“That’s what I call a good Irish name!” Heather winked. “I’m Heather Whelan.”

“Why does she do that? Give you another name?” Aifric asked.

“She thinks you go to hell or something, if you don’t have a proper Christian name. Some of the girls have gotten new names. I’d prefer to call you Aifric though, if you want that.”

“I do.” Aifric said. “Is Heather your real name? Or did she rename you too?”

“No, she didn’t. I was born Heather.” Heather shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a biblical name. But you never know what’s going on in the old penguins head.”

She smiled. “Before I got here, they called me Faolchú.”

“The wolf?” Aifric translated. “You liked that, didn’t you?”

“Never tell Mother Agatha. She’s quick with the cane, when you use Gaeilge in here.”

“Does she really spank us?”

Aifric could hardly belief that. The thought alone filled her with terror. She had never been spanked in her entire life, and the idea deeply frightened her. Heather seemed to be more pragmatic about it.

“Normally it’s only the cane.” She shrugged. “I can handle that.”

“Only?” Aifric asked. “That sounds bad enough for me!”

“I’ve had worse. Ask my mom. She knows how to beat the living shit out of you!” Heather looked disgusted. “Enough of that. I think you should try and get some sleep.” She got up and turned to leave, but Aifric put a hand on her wrists.

“Thank you.” She said. “To be honest, I thought you were the local bully around here at first. Guess I was wrong.”

Heather smiled. “Don’t tell anyone. I have a bad arse reputation to protect.”

“I won’t. My lips are sealed.” Aifric promised. “And thank you.”

“No problem. I know how harsh nightmares can be.” Heather grinned sheepishly. “Plus you’re kinda cute!”

Aifric didn’t know what to say, so left it with a whispered “Good night!” And curled up in her sheets, feeling a little bewildered.

 Previous chapter

Next chapter