Chapter 12

12

            Jordan had stayed up late waiting for Stacey to IM her back; Impatiently Jordan had IM’ed twice, but received no response. In the meantime, Jordan listed all the possibilities including the local theaters and the local playgrounds. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and her head was pounding. She really had no idea. It could be one of those McDonald Playlands for all she knew! Sighing, she added that to her list as well.

Pushing the keyboard away, Jordan pulled her Ipod from the desk drawer with the intention of chilling out while waiting for Stacey to come online. She pulled her jeans off and slid into a comfy pair of sweatpants. After putting on a floppy t-shirt, Jordan stretched out on the bed, put her headphones on and kicked back to listen to some tunes.

That was the last thing Jordan recalled. She was awakened by the usual morning bustle, mother doing chores and… vacuuming already? What time is it? Jordan panicked as her eyes flew to her bedside alarm clock. Only 7 a.m. She breathed an audible sigh of relief then hopped out of bed to check for any Instant Messages. Sure enough, Stacey had IM’ed and she suggested the one place of which Jordan hadn’t thought about.  The arcade in the mall. Flashing lights would make sense and it certainly was a place where kids hang out.

She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling her bangs back until she held her hair tight against her head; a habit she did when stressed and lost in thought. What could possibly go wrong in an arcade? Someone might chip a nail on the joystick or worse case scenario- they go into a coma from too much play? Jordan wasn’t sure but she did know that if this was not the right place, someone, somewhere was going to get hurt or they might even die. She considered her choices. None of her other choices would involve flashing lights. It seemed like the arcade was the best choice with the given information. Jordan wondered if she were to go and run her fingers across the smooth carvings along the top of the mirror, would the mirror give her more information? She decided it was worth a try.

      She IM’ed a response back to Stacey and told her that her father said she was correct, the arcade was the answer. She asked if Stacey wanted to go to the mall right when they opened at ten, then logged off, hoping that Stacey would just come over or call rather than try to send an IM.

     After showering and a quick breakfast, Jordan decided it was best to try the mirror one more time. She had no idea how it worked. It could be that if she rubbed the damn letters enough, maybe it would work itself out and Jordan would not have to take on such a monumental task.

     Her mother was in the basement doing the wash and her father, as usual was at work. He usually left early and was gone for days when flying, but upon his return, he often had something for Jordan. Once he had gone to Prague and he brought back a small, ugly brown statuette of what he called the “Golem.” In history, the Golem was created to protect the Jewish people as they were being persecuted. Jordan had found the story fascinating and the drab little Golem stood among her more elegant souvenirs like the one from India, an ivory dagger with dark amber stones embedded along the hilt.

     She forced her mind back to the mirror as she ascended the stairs and once more entered the dark attic. She was less and less afraid to enter this shadowed, room full of diaphanous webs active with life as well as gauzy patches of cobweb that seemed to insulate the room. She removed the covering and immediately rubbed her fingertips along the carved runes.

     Grabbing her notebook, she waited. Sure enough the tale-tell signs that the mirror was working led to the flashing of symbols. Always symbols. “Can’t you just be clear?” She hissed under her breath as she quickly jotted down what she saw. The symbols lasted only moments, and Jordan continued to write, mentally documenting the smell, the current of air and how she activated the mirror each time.

     She rearranged everything as it had been, and crept downstairs to her room once more. She sat on the edge of her bed and glanced at the clock. Almost ten a.m. Stacey hadn’t IM’ed so Jordan hoped that maybe she was on her way over. Doing this with someone present for support, seemed more doable than doing it alone.

     Jordan turned her attention to the notebook page and her scrawling notes. Immediately it was evident that these clues had nothing to do with her current situation. Jordan couldn’t believe it. Another one? This problem isn’t even solved and now I have a second problem to figure out? Jordan took the paper and she folded it sharply, shoving it into her jeans pocket. For now, she had to focus on the arcade. She had a little over an hour to get there and… do whatever it is that she had to do. “Whatever that is,” Jordan sighed.

     She had no sooner put on her shoes, when the doorbell rang. Grabbing her purse, Jordan bounded down the stairs and threw open the door to greet Stacey. Dependable Stacey. They had been friends for years since their initial collision; attending the same school, both girls initially in band. Living right around the corner was an added bonus.

      The girls hopped in Stacey’s car and headed for the mall. Once there, Jordan headed straight for the Video Arcade, located on the bottom floor of the mall, pressed back in a corner.

     “Uh… Jordan, where are you going?” Stacey asked, out of breath from having to keep pace.

     Jordan knew that if she told Stacey what was going on, it might involve her more than necessary. She had no idea what the mirror could or could not do- to what extent its powers lie. Bethany had entrusted Jordan alone with the mirror, so for now, Jordan felt honor-bound to keep it that way. A secret. For now.

     “Mm I have to stop by the Arcade in a few minutes and…” here her mind raced furiously. She should’ve had a story already prepared, but her mind had been so occupied by all the rest. An idea popped into her mind. “And get a couple of gift certificates. Let’s stop and get a pretzel and pop and then you can run over and get your nails done, while I get the certificates. That way we don’t have to wait around all bored and everything. Sound good?” Jordan flashed Stacey a smile to reaffirm that separating was an okay idea. A bit reluctantly, Stacey agreed, and a short while later, Jordan was approaching the arcade, as Stacey rounded the corner toward the nail salon.

     The overly warm room was not swarming with too many bodies. It was almost 11 a.m. and most kids were probably just rolling out of bed. Jordan was glad that she was a morning person, particularly after she spotted the overweight, very grumpy manager who was yelling at some kids who were trying to reposition a huge video machine.

     Jordan scanned the room, taking note of the flashing lights, and the buzzing and beeping and other strange noises that seemed to rebound off the walls. She felt a headache coming on. The mirror had specifically pointed out games. Would games have been mentioned only because it was an arcade? Or was it more significant? Is it possible that one of the games will be what will cause harm? She wondered to herself.

     Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a school mate, Teresa.

     “Hey Teresa,” Jordan smiled weakly, wanting to concentrate on what was about to happen, rather than discuss the benefits of reading Tarrot cards vs. crystals. Or whatever craziness that Teresa happened to be in at the time. Jordan and Teresa had met in band camp their seventh grade year. Both girls played the flute, but the commonalties stopped there. Teresa dressed all in black. Black hair, eyeliner, fingernail polish. Everything was black. And around her wrists, Teresa wore razor blades tied with black cord to form bracelets. Jordan still recalled how they were partnered during band camp and what Teresa had done. Well, someone had been responsible, and Jordan was relatively certain that it had been Teresa.

     It had involved the theft of Jordan’s flute. Jordan was first chair and Teresa obviously rarely practiced. Every day Teresa was yelled at for her lack of skill or practice time while Jordan was praised for her gift of music. Somehow, during lunch, someone had stolen Jordan’s flute. Jordan knew that Teresa was at lunch, but she was not always watching her so she could’ve easily slipped out and back in again with all the noise and commotion of lunchtime and the voices of a hundred kids. The flute was later found, tied to a tree. Unfortunately it was found after the band camp finale’ presented to the parents and local community, meaning that Jordan did not get to play. Averting her gaze from Teresa, her face flushed red in anger and she tried again to show a convincing smile.

     “What’cha doing in here?” Teresa asked, stressing the ‘here’ with a bit of her usual disdain, insinuating that it was most unusual to see Jordan in an arcade. Jordan had never gone ape over video games and did not own any herself. To Jordan, they were a waste of time. She was more into the outdoors, music, friends and … guys. Once at school Jordan and Teresa had somehow gotten into a discussion about video games, as Teresa played darker games that she was all to happy to describe, and Jordan had made it perfectly clear that she did not like video games of any sort. Now here she stood in an arcade and Teresa was naturally curious as to why.

     “Um… just waiting around,” Jordan remarked, immediately chastising herself for saying that.

     “Waiting around? For what?” Teresa asked. “Or for whom?” Here Teresa’s expression changed. Jordan could tell that whatever thin friendship they had pretended to have, it was no longer a reality.

     “Uh… “ Jordan was getting aggravated and she began to sweat. “Uh… I’m waiting for… Stacey to finish her nails.”

      “In an arcade.” She said this as fact and not as a question, but the interrogation quickly led back to the same query. “Why wait here? You hate video games, remember? Meeting your boyfriend here?” Jordan practically screamed as she watched Teresa scan the room, particularly focused on the entrance, looking for some elusive boyfriend to harass.

      “I’m not meeting any guy here, Teresa,” Jordan said, trying to keep her voice even. It was nearly time and if Teresa kept distracting her, she would be of no help at all.

     Thankfully, another girl, all decked out in similar dark clothing approached with a ‘what’s up?’ for Teresa, and Jordan quickly made her move to the other side of the arcade. 

     She reached the area where the two boys were still trying to move the game, despite the castigation coming from the burly manager. She pressed herself along the wall, in a spot where she could see most of the area. She cast furtive glances around the room, noting that Teresa was alone again, and watching her every move, but thankfully she was keeping her distance.  Jordan was standing off to the left of the boys who were scowling and sweating, trying to get the machine into place. Finally the manager had had it.

     “Move!” he boomed.

Both boys immediately quit struggling with the machine, resting it back on the floor. The grumpy manager, sweating like a stuck pig at this point, glared at the boys as he approached the machine, pushing his sleeves up and squatting before the machine as though he were about to take on a sumo wrestler. Jordan also noted a bit of mirth in his expression. He obviously wanted to show these guys how to ‘do it right.’ Aggravated, one boy shot off a few expletives and stalked out of the arcade and off the job. That left the manager, and the remaining boy who was older than Jordan, but very, very skinny. Off in another corner a mother and her child were playing Skeeball. The clock was exactly on 11 a.m. and the hair on her arms and neck stood up with dreaded anticipation.

     “You are pathetic!” the manager was still roaring, pulling Jordan’s attention back to the moving fiasco. Jordan chuckled when the manager, like a bull, rushed up to the machine throwing both of his arms around the middle, using his heft to rock the machine so it would scoot back into its neatly prepared corner. It seemed to be working, and Jordan figured that the manager would gloat about this for weeks.

 Things suddenly changed and before she knew what was happening, Jordan saw the machine suddenly cock off to one side as the manager’s arms slipped.  

     The skinny boy had his back to the machine at this point; he was still PO’ed about the whole thing and she figured that maybe he was ignoring his boss because he was such a jerk. The manager’s arms slipped the rest of the way, as he fell backward, with a loud ‘umph!’ and a few choice words,  onto his large derrière. The momentum of the machine was amazing. The man, in falling backwards, had pushed against the already off-kilter machine, causing it to tip wildly- almost like it was suspended on a wire, until it began its rapid descent. Jordan barely had time to react. As if she was at the starting gate and the gun had gone off, Jordan shot from her position, grabbing the arcade boy by the waist, using their impetus to carry them forward until they landed, just inches away from the machine that crashed to the floor. Thousands of colored lights popped and exploded, and Jordan suddenly understood one of the symbols.

     The manager was cursing under his breath and dusting himself off, as Jordan arose from the floor, the skinny boy still lying there in obvious shock.

     “Th-thanks,” The kid said. “You saved my life.”

     “Oh it was nothing,” Jordan replied. “Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.”

She had no sooner said this, when her eyes met Teresa’s, who had rushed upon the scene along with everyone else who had been in the arcade. Jordan chastised herself for being so stupid. Teresa wanted to know why she was there… and well, she had pretty much just told her. She was at the right place and thankfully at the right time, but would it be so easy the next time? She wondered, recalling the folded up paper in her jean’s pocket that held the next riddle to solve. Quickly, before the manager started ranting again or before Teresa could ask any more questions, Jordan slipped from the arcade just in time to meet up with Stacey.

     “Get your gift certificates?” Stacie asked.

“Huh?” Jordan asked, then recalling her previously stated reason for going to the arcade, quickly tried to recover. “Oh, yeah. I have them. You ready to go?”

     “We just got here!” Stacie exclaimed. “What’s going on with you?”

“I-I’m just not feeling so hot,” Jordan replied, hoping she was convincing enough. Any other time, she would’ve fought to be at the mall all day, but not today. Jordan was tired, her head pounded, and now she had about eleven hours to unravel this last message from the mirror. She had hardly glanced at the symbols since her mind had been so preoccupied earlier. Now her mind churned with a dreaded expectancy.

     “Well,” she whispered to herself as they climbed back into Stacey’s car, “I did it. I figured it out.” Inside she was bursting with pride that she had been able to actually figure the symbols out (with Stacey’s help) and she was able to save the boy’s life. But would it be so easy next time?   

          She recalled the “Serenity Prayer” that had hung on Bethany’s wall. “I need the courage to change what I can,” she whispered, reciting the line just below the one she didn’t want to think about- which read, “Help me to accept the things I can not change.” Jordan shivered despite the warm, sunny weather. At some point, the odds would have to be against her. At some point, someone was going to be hurt or killed very badly and probably, right in front of Jordan’s very eyes.