Chapter Text
An elegant-looking woman with a noble bearing smiled warmly as she gazed into the three bassinets in front of her. Three pairs of eyes stared back curiously, the baby in the middle bassinet burbling happily as the woman reached down to smooth their shock of dark brown hair back from their forehead. The woman turned to the couple standing nearby. “Congratulations again, Angelo, Elena. They’re absolutely gorgeous.”
“Thank you, Mala,” Angelo replied as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We’re glad you were able to come and see them.”
“Of course. You both did go to the trouble to invite me, after all. I just regret that I wasn’t able to visit sooner. Things have been rather busy in my homeland.” The noblewoman sighed. “I’d like to have bestowed my blessings on them as soon as they were born but better late than never, I suppose.”
The couple smiled at one another as the noblewoman turned her attention back to the triplets. Their friend had explained to them that it was a tradition in her homeland to bestow blessings at weddings and births. They weren’t entirely sure where said homeland actually was, but they knew Mala was a very important figure there and her duties kept her away for long periods of time; the last time they had seen her, Elena was only about three months pregnant. They’d wanted to ask Mala more about where she was from and what she did, but they’d come to realize that she was an especially private person and seemed hesitant to delve too deeply into her personal life. They didn’t want to risk pushing their friend away, so they were content when the bits and pieces of her culture she was willing to share with them. She’d already given the children the blessings of health, beauty (though she assured them she doubted the babies would need any help in that regard), wit, charisma…and a little financial wisdom couldn’t hurt. Now she was pondering what individual blessings to bestow.
Everyone’s attention was pulled back to the triplets when a tiny hand reached up from the middle bassinet, a soft cooing noise coming from within. Devon, the only baby girl of the bunch, smiled up at Mala stretched her tiny hand up toward her as far as she could. She let out a happy squeak when Mala smiled and held out her finger for Devon to grab, the baby’s own chubby fingers wrapping around Mala’s longer one.
Mala’s smile widened, her green eyes shining with amusement. “What a brave little one you are. There’s nothing but curiosity in those eyes.”
Elena chuckled, hazel orbs watching her babies fondly. “That’s our little girl! None of them have seemed to mind all the visitors, but Devon’s been the most excited by all new people. She reaches out like that every time someone comes close enough to her bassinet, like she wants to connect the only way she knows how.” She sighed. “My brother’s concerned that she’ll end up being too trusting and get hurt but…personally, I hope she never loses that desire to connect.”
“Is that so?” Mala mused, tapping her cheek with her free hand. She watched Devon as the baby continued cooing happily, her grip on Mala’s finger never loosening. Finally, she gently lifted the child into her arms, chuckling in amusement as Devon let out a happy squeal. “Then I know just what blessing to give her.”
Devon opened her eyes only to be greeted with a dark void. She swung her arms back and forth, only to realize that she couldn’t even see them. The only thing she was aware of was that the ground beneath her was solid. She tried to call out to see if there was anyone was nearby but found she had no voice. Letting out a resigned sigh, she started slowly making her way forward, though she wasn’t sure what she was looking for or what she’d do if she managed to find anything. ‘Where even am I right now?’
“Oh, my dear beloved,” came a voice from the void. Devon nearly jumped out of her skin, her head turning every which way to find the source of the voice. The darkness hadn’t abated even slightly and the voice filled the entire room. Devon stilled her movements and waited to see if the voice spoke again. Maybe then she could figure out where it was coming from. “My most noble and beautiful flower of evil. You truly are the fairest in the land.”
‘Okaaaay,’ Devon thought to herself. ‘I still have no clue where that voice is coming from but I know I don’t recognize it.’ She still wasn’t able to see anything either, not even a silhouette. ‘I can get behind that ‘fairest in the land’ comment but I don’t know about that ‘flower of evil’ bit.’ She looked around the room again, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to see anything. ‘Listen, creepy disembodied voice, if you’re talking about me locking DJ in the closet, it was one time when we were 5 and he started it! Besides, I went and let him back out…two hours later because I forgot…but I apologized so-‘
Her train of thought was cut short when a large mirror suddenly appeared before her. She had never seen a mirror so large before; it was easily twice her size and had an elaborate silver frame. There was something almost familiar about it, but Devon couldn’t place it. She was sure she’d have remembered seeing a mirror as distinctive as this one. She was about to step closer to it when a silhouette appeared in front of the mirror. It was taller than Devon as well and looked at least vaguely human, but she couldn’t make out any features. She watched as the figure took a step closer to the mirror and, when it spoke, she recognized its voice as the one she’d heard before. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the most-“
Devon woke with a start and looked around frantically. Once she got her bearings and realized she was back in her room at home and the mirror and voice were just part of some weird dream, she sighed and sat up. “Just a dream, huh? Then why do I still feel so…uneasy?” Devon wondered to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by something soft nudging her arm. She looked down to her a fluffy white cat blinking up at her. “Don’t worry about me, Ghost. I’m just a little shaken,” she said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she scratched the cat behind her ears.
Devon grabbed her smartphone off its charger on her nightstand and got up to get ready for the day. She pulled on a pair of black track pants, a plain black t-shirt, and a light grey hoodie over it, catching sight of herself in the mirror on her dresser. “Heh. Almost didn’t recognize myself,” she mused with a small smile as she picked up her hairbrush. Devon had dyed her dark brown hair a light blue the night before and still wasn’t quite used to the sight. After she finished brushing her hair, she quickly threw it into a low ponytail before finishing her look with her lucky bracelet, a black leathery band with an iridescent gemstone in the center. She and her brothers had each received one on their fifth birthday from Mala, a friend of the family, and they had worn them every day since, only taking them off for short periods of time. None of them could explain why, but having the bracelets on felt comforting, like they were connected even when they couldn’t actually see each other. Once the bracelet was fastened, Devon made her way out the door with Ghost following on her heels.
She passed her younger brother’s bedroom door as she made her way down from her attic loft bedroom, nearly losing her balance when the door flew open right as she stepped in front of it. A head of lavender hair came into her field of vision as two hands grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “My bad, sis. I didn’t hear you walking by,” the purple-haired boy explained, dropping his hands back to his sides.
He smiled as he took in her new hair color. “The blue hair really suits you.”
Devon smiled back. “Thanks. I figured it was about I joined the hair-dye club with you and DJ.” She cast a quick glance into her brother’s room. “Gotta say, I wasn’t really expecting to see you out and about. You’ve been holed up in your room working on that super secret project of yours all summer.”
Dominic rolled his hazel eyes as he closed his bedroom door, but his smile didn’t fade. “I’ll have you know that ‘super secret project’ is a surprise for you. And for DJ. Well, it’s a birthday surprise so I guess that kinda makes it a gift for me too…even though I already know what it is.” He shook his head as if to get himself back on track. “Anyway, I wanted to get as much of it done over summer vacation as I could since we won’t have as much free time when school starts back.”
“Fair,” Devon conceded as the siblings made their way to the kitchen together. “I can’t say I’m too excited about school starting back, though. It’s probably gonna be rough those first few days.”
“Madison still isn’t talking to you, huh?” Dominic asked, casting his sister a sympathetic glance as he poured himself a bowl of cereal.
“Radio silence since she blew up at me the other day,” Devon said as she sat down across from him, trying hard not to let bitterness creep into her voice. Madison had been her best friend since grade school. She was the person Devon was closest to outside of her family, so the fact that they weren’t currently on speaking terms was difficult. She glanced down at the phone in her hand. “Maybe I should try texting her again.”
“Try it and I will knock that phone out of your hand!” called a voice from the adjoining family room. Devon and Dominic looked up to see DJ, their older brother, poke his head into the kitchen. He pushed his magenta hair back from his forehead as he sat down next to Dominic. “I know this is hard, Dev, but do not go crawling back to her. She’s mad at you over something that has nothing to do with her and isn’t any of her business.”
“I am not “crawling back” to anyone,” Devon assured him. “But maybe I didn’t do a good enough job explaining. We’ve been cheering together since we were 7 and besides, me quitting the squad means she’s lost her vice captain. I understand why she’s upset.”
“You quit the squad because you weren’t happy cheering anymore, right? Your decision had nothing to do with Madison so you don’t have to explain anything to her,” Dominic pointed out. “If she’s really your friend, she’d give you the space to do your own thing without kicking up a fuss. Just because you don’t want to cheer anymore doesn’t mean you don’t want to be friends with her anymore, ya know?” He studied his sister carefully as he chose his next words. “Besides, maybe this is a good thing.”
“What do you mean?” Devon asked. ‘I have a feeling this is going in a direction I’m not going to like…’
“He means that you’re finally out from under Madison’s thumb!” DJ exclaimed bluntly. “Now that she’s not watching your every move, you can find friends that you actually like being around.” Devon opened her mouth to protest but DJ kept going. “Don’t try to deny it. I saw how you acted around those girls whenever you cheered at my games.”
“You know I’m not usually one to agree with DJ but…I agree with DJ,” Dominic chimed in. “I suck at the whole ‘being social’ thing and even I noticed that you hadn’t been happy with that crowd for a while...assuming you ever were to begin with.”
“Okay fine, so I didn’t like hanging out with them,” Devon conceded. She refused to meet her brothers eyes, keeping her gaze on the cereal box Dominic had taken out. “They weren’t bad people or anything, we just had nothing in common outside of cheer.”
Dominic nodded. “I understand where you’re comin’ from, I really do, but you’re the type of person who sees the best in everyone…even if they don’t deserve it. DJ and I aren’t trying to run your life for you or anything-“
“Mmm, I kind of am,” DJ interjected, making a show of trying to force himself into Devon’s line of sight, his smile only growing when he saw the corners of her mouth turn upward despite turning her gaze to another spot in the kitchen.
“Shut up, dude,” Dominic huffed, playfully pushing DJ’s shoulder before turning back to Devon, who was finally looking him in the eyes again while continuing to avoid DJ’s. “It’s just that…we’ve both been concerned for a while that your friendship with Madison was becoming unhealthy. You two have grown a lot from when you met as kids and that’s a good thing, but that doesn’t mean that you grew in ways that are compatible with each other.” He smirked at his sister’s open-mouthed stare. “I think I overheard that on one of those talk-shows Mama always used to watch.” He noticed DJ trying to reach over and steal some of his cereal and promptly smacked is brother’s hand away from the bowl. “The box is literally in front of your face, DJ! Just pour yourself a dang bowl!”
“Food always tastes better when it’s someone else’s,” DJ replied in a sing-song voice, his amber eyes alight with mischief.
Dominic sighed. “Ugh. Why are you like this?”
Devon couldn’t help but smile as she watched her brothers go back and forth. Despite how frequently the two argued, all three of the triplets shared an extremely close bond. DJ definitely enjoyed playfully antagonizing both of his siblings (and parents), but he was quick to throw hands if he even thought someone else was doing the same. That playful nature of his made him the life of the party wherever he went; he was easily one of the most popular kids in their grade, if not the entire high school, and his athleticism only seemed to sweeten the deal for their schoolmates.
On the other hand, Dominic was more reserved. He’d always been the most introverted of the three, preferring to spend his time playing video games or tending to his plants (seriously, the boy’s room was like a greenhouse). Even so, he still managed to draw people to him as well and had the most cohesive friend group out of all of them. His social anxiety made it difficult for him to interact with most people, so Devon was happy Dominic had a squad outside the family that he could be his true self around. If she was honest with herself, Devon had always been a little envious of the friendship Dominic had with his best friend, Harper. The two had known each other about as long as she and Madison had but the dynamic was completely different; while Dominic and Harper were truly on equal terms in their friendship, Devon could at least admit to herself that Madison was very ‘my way or the highway’ when it came to friendship. Even their fight after Devon quit the cheer squad had mostly been about how inconvenienced Madison was by it.
“Keep your grubby hands outta my food, you psycho!” Dominic exclaimed, drawing Devon’s attention back to the present.
“Says the guy with carnivorous plants in his room,” DJ clapped back.
Dominic flicked DJ on the forehead. “Do not insult the plant children or I’ll feed you to them!”
“Ay mijos, it’s too early for you two to be yelling,” came a voice from the stairway leading to their parents room in the basement.
The triplets turned to see their father coming up from the basement. Angelo Lopez was a tall man with kind brown eyes and short black hair. Whereas Dominic inherited most of his looks from their mother, all the way down to her hazel eyes, DJ and Devon tended to take after their father. “Hey Papa!” they chorused as he grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter.
“Hey, my very noisy teenagers that I love with all my heart and soul,” Angelo greeted back, his fondness evident in his voice. “I got called into the hospital, so I’m off to work.”
“A doctor’s work is never done, eh?” Dominic asked, finishing off the last of his cereal before DJ could try to take any more.
“So it seems,” Angelo replied before turning his daughter. “The pharmacy called earlier this morning, Dev. Your thyroid meds are ready so you can go grab them whenever.”
“Nice. I’ll head out after I grab something to eat,” Devon replied.
Angelo smiled before walking over to the kitchen table and kissing each of his kids on the top of their heads. “I’ll see you all tonight. Te quiero.”
“Te quiero, Papa,” Devon replied while Dominic put his hand up and DJ gave their father a quick salute in farewell.
After Devon had eaten breakfast and headed back to her room to put on a pair of socks and sneakers, she grabbed her tye-dye messenger bag and made her way to the front door to head to the pharmacy. She was about to step outside when Dominic grabbed her arm. “Hold up a sec, sis.” He waited for Devon to step back inside before he continued. “We didn’t really get to finish our conversation earlier but…I just wanted to make sure you know that DJ and I weren’t just trying to dump all over your friendship with Madison. I know she means a lot to you and…I mean, I can’t speak for DJ, but I wasn’t tried to undermine that or anything. You just spend so much time looking after everyone else, but now you’ve gotta put you first, ya know.”
Devon shook her head and offered her brother a relaxed smile. “I know you guys are just trying to look out for me, Dom. I can’t get mad at you for that.” She let out a sigh. “I won’t lie and say what you said was easy to hear but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have been said. I…I don’t know if I’m willing to let the friendship go completely, at least not yet, but maybe it is time to rethink things. You’re both right. I’m not sure when it happened but our friendship isn’t what it used to be. Maybe some time apart will do us both some good.” She wrapped an arm around her brother’s shoulder and pulled him into a side-hug. “Thanks for the real talk, baby bro.”
Dominic twisted up his face in an exaggerated grimace. “Uuuugh, your affection disgusts me.” He stepped out of Devon’s half-embrace and nudged her toward the front door. “Get outta here and get your meds before you kill me with your love.”
Devon laughed. “Fine, fine, I’m going.” She pushed the front door open before turning back to Dominic. “I’m probably gonna take a detour through the park and hit up the rose garden.” She gestured to the messenger bag she was carrying. “This might be my last chance to get some sketches before they start wilting. I might be able to get some more parkour practice in while I’m at it. So, ya know, don’t panic if I’m not home right away.”
“No worries. I’ll be too busy feeding the cadaver stash DJ is convinced I have to my sundew plants,” Dominic replied dryly.
“Mmm. Sounds like a productive afternoon,” Devon snarked back as she walked out the door, knowing perfectly he’d made plans to hang out with his squad the night before. “Tell Harper, Errin, and AJ I said hey.”
As Devon exited the pharmacy after picking up her medicine (being sure to tuck it safely into her pocket with phone so she didn’t for get to take it out of her bag later), she noticed what appeared to be a large black carriage coming down the street toward her, pulled by an equally large and imposing black horse. ‘Hmm…there’s something you don’t see every day. I didn’t even know we had horse-drawn carriages around here.’ She began walking back toward the park, the uneasy feeling from when she woke up that morning starting to return. Each time she turned a corner, she glanced back over her shoulder. Each time she glanced back, the carriage was there, ambling along at the same pace. She scanned the faces of the people she passed, only to realize that none of them seemed to notice the carriage at all. ‘Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I’d expect that kind of blasé reaction if we were still living in New York City but this definitely isn’t the norm for outside the rest of the state.’
The blue-haired girl picked up the pace, trying to get to the park as quickly as she could. Just as she stepped onto the path leading to the rose garden, she heard the sound of clopping hooves. Turning around, her eyes widened as she saw that the black carriage had followed her. As it got closer she noticed that the carriage was carrying what appeared to a coffin. ‘Wonder if it’s someone’s funeral?’ She glanced around. ‘Shouldn’t there be some sort of procession, though? I don’t see any cars following it…’ She took another look at the horse and carriage and this time noticed that the driver’s bench was empty. ‘Hang on…is nobody driving that thing?!’
Driver or no driver, the horse pulling the carriage showed no sign of slowing down and it was still heading directly toward her. ‘Okay, this is way too creepy. Please tell that thing isn’t gonna follow me all the way back home.’ Devon was about to turn around and see if she could find a narrow path to take where the carriage wouldn’t be able to follow her and try to put as much distance between it and herself as she could, but she found herself rooted to the spot. It was almost as if the carriage was calling to her, urging her to come closer and it did nothing to calm the panic rising inside her. She tried to ignore the feeling, turn, and get herself out of there but as soon as she looked away from the carriage she felt a splitting pain in her head. It was so sudden and so intense that she was nearly brought to her knees. ‘What the actual hell?!’
The carriage kept the same steady pace as it drew closer and closer. Devon found that the pain began to dim the closer the carriage got to her but she couldn’t bring herself to walk toward it. She could feel herself growing more and more panicked, her eyes darting around frantically as she tried to find a way out or catch a passerby’s attention. She opened her mouth to call for help only to find that, just like in her dream, she was unable to speak.
Finally, the carriage was upon her. The last thing she remembered before everything went dark was the scary-looking horse touching her forehead with its muzzle.
Dominic jolted up from his computer desk as if he’d been struck by lightning. He had just been hit with a sudden foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that something was off, that something, no…that someone was missing. He slipped on a pair of sneakers and made his way downstairs. He had just reached the bottom of the stairs when he saw DJ standing by the front door, putting on a jacket.
“Did you just get a really bad feeling in your gut too?” DJ asked.
“Yeah,” Dominic confirmed.
“We need to find Devon,” DJ said, all humor and playfulness gone from his amber eyes. “I just tried to call her but she’s not answering.”
“She said she was going to a detour through the park trails to parkour. It might be nothing; she said not to expect her home right way,” Dominic recalled, though he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than his brother.
“I’ll believe it’s nothing when we see her and she makes fun of us for being overprotective,” DJ replied. He glanced up at a set of leashes hanging by the front door. “Think we should bring the dogs with us?”
“I mean, I don’t think it’ll hurt anything but it’s not like they know how to track; they’re huskies, not bloodhounds. Don’t you think we should call the police?” Dominic asked.
DJ shook his head as he grabbed the leashes. “We don’t even know for sure that anything is wrong; she’s only been gone for about an hour.” He thought for a moment. “I’m going to text Mama and Papa. They’re both at work though, so they may not be able to get away.” He may not have been confident that the authorities would take them seriously but both their immediate and extended family knew how in tune the triplets were with one another. DJ was confident they’d be willing to help.
“Good idea,” Dominic agreed as he and DJ walked to the door leading their yard to get the dogs leashed up. “I’ll let Tio Diego and Tio Alejandro know what’s up too.” He thought for a moment. “It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get ahold of Valentina.”
‘And we’re back to empty void again,’ Devon thought, as she was still unable to open her mouth. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait as long for the ornate mirror and the voice to make their appearances, though she was unable to see the silhouette this time.
“O thee, guided by the Dark Mirror,” came the voice from before, the sound once again filling the entire space. As Devon watched, a hand appeared in the mirror and extended itself towards her. “Follow your heart’s desire and take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror.”
Devon let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Ya know what, fine. I’ll play your game, creepy disembodied voice. I’m pretty sure I was just kidnapped by a freaky horse and stuffed in a coffin for whatever reason; for all I know, I’m dead right now and that hand in the mirror is gonna drag me to hell.’
She reached out, her hand passing through the mirror and grabbed the hand. As soon as she made contact with it, she found herself pulled into what looked like a sea of green fire. ‘Yep. This definitely has a ‘drag me to hell’ vibe.’ Her feet were no longer touching the ground; she felt as if she was floating and falling at the same time. Taking care not to loosen her grip on the hand that had pulled her into the mirror, she reached out her free hand to touch the green fire, mildly surprised to realize that it wasn’t burning her. ‘I guess being dead means I can’t feel pain anymore.’
The voice sounded once again. “Flames that incinerate even the stars. Ice that freezes even time. A great tree that engulfs the skies. Fear not the power of darkness. Now-demonstrate thy powers!”
“What are you talking about?!” Devon shouted into the void, finally able to speak again, her voice laced with both anger and fear. “What powers? Where are you taking me?!”
As suddenly as the sea of flames had appeared, they were gone, and Devon was now floating in an empty void once again. The hand remained and was still holding on to her own. Devon jolted as she felt someone (or something) grab her by the shoulders. She turned her head to get a look at whatever was holding her but it was still too dark to see anything. She could tell that the hands on her shoulders were clawed, yet they made no attempt to harm her.
Suddenly, a pair of glowing green eyes appeared out of the darkness directly in front of the mirror. Devon nearly jerked backward in surprise, but the hands on her shoulders kept her in place. Slowly, she noticed that more pairs of eyes began appearing in a circle around her. They were of all different colors; blues, greens, reds, greys, purples, even two heterochromic pairs of yellow and olive. She wasn’t able to make out any other features of these…well, she assumed they were people but for some reason, she no longer felt afraid or anxious. It almost felt like, whoever they were, they needed her for something. Something only she was able to do.
The voice spoke up again, this time coming from right behind her. “For me. For them. For you. We are all running out of time.” Devon felt her gaze being turned back toward the hand in mirror. “No matter what happens, don’t ever let go of that hand.”
Everything vanished in a blinding flash of light. As the light started to dim, Devon found herself fighting to keep her eyes open; it was almost as if the light had sapped what strength she had left. As she finally let her eyes slide closed, she heard the voice behind her again.
“Welcome to the villians world, my dear.”