Title: Looking through the glass…

Author: Morgana
Author’s Email: morganalebeau@yahoo.com
Web page: http://www.paranoid.nl/avalon
Pairing: Tommi/Juha (in a way)

Rating: PG-13
Summary: Tommi buys a mirror and ends up getting a mystery along with it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm not making any money out of these stories!

Warning: Real Person Slash.

All mistakes are mine.

Beta read by Notsogaladriel, thanks!

Part 1

The mirror was perfect. It was man-sized, richly decorated with golden embellishments and would look stunning on his bedroom wall. Tommi had been searching for it for some time and now he wanted to own it, no matter what. He turned toward the salesman and asked, “How much?”

“For that mirror right there?” The salesman eyed Tommi critically. “That’s the one you want?”

Tommi nodded firmly. “That’s the one.” He was a bit surprised that the salesman wasn’t jumping at the opportunity to sell it to him. “Is it very expensive?” The salesman, an elderly man which he gauged was around sixty, looked at him from above his glasses which had slipped down his nose.

“Are you really sure that it’s the one you want? I keep similar ones in the back.”

“It’s the one I want,” Tommi said, still wondering why the salesman was giving him such an odd look.

The elderly man cocked his head and continued to study his customer. Was this tall, somewhat rugged looking man up to the challenge owning this particular mirror presented? Was he the right person to sell it to? “I want two hundred euro for it,” he said and awaited the man’s reaction. How badly did the man want the mirror?

Tommi whistled. Two hundred euro wasn’t exactly cheap, but he really liked the mirror. It would look great in his home and there was something else that attracted him to it, but he couldn’t put it in words. “Done, I want it. Can you deliver it to my place?”

The salesman gasped in shock. The blond man had really bought the mirror. “If you give us your address we will deliver it tomorrow evening.”

“That’s great!” Tommi uncovered his wallet, put the money into the elderly man’s hand, and turned around to admire the mirror again. He liked its oval shape, the gilded flowers that decorated the top and bottom, and although the golden color had faded, he had no intention of repainting it. He wanted it to look original – untouched. Tommi removed his business card from his wallet and handed it to the elderly man. “I’ll make sure I’m home at six… If it’s possible please deliver it after that time.”

The salesman nodded and studied the business card. Reading the name on it – Tommi Liimatainen -- he wondered if this was the person the mirror had been waiting for – for so long.

~~~

Tommi hurried home the next evening as he didn’t want to be late. If he missed the mirror being delivered, he would have to set up another appointment and his time was already limited.

He opened the door to his apartment, stepped inside, and drew in a deep breath. It was always good to come home, but the one thing he had come to detest over the years was coming home to silence. He lived alone. Jonne and Ville both had their own place, and as he didn’t have a girlfriend – or boyfriend – he always came home to an empty apartment.

Tommi removed his coat and went into the kitchen where he made some coffee. Today had been a long and exhausting day at the office and he felt like he could fall asleep any moment now. Coffee would help him stay awake!

After pouring the coffee into a mug, Tommi went into the bedroom and eyed the place critically. He was a no nonsense type of guy and had painted his walls white. The king-sized bed had a wooden frame and he always put on yellow bed linen. He possessed several sets, but all were the same color. It was easier that way. Turning around, he checked the wall which would house the new mirror. He had already drilled a hole into the wall so he could hang the mirror there. It would look really good right there and fill up the empty wall.

Tommi was about to sip from his coffee again when the doorbell rang. He quickly marched over to the doorway and opened the door.

“We’ve got a delivery for Tommi Liimatainen. An antique mirror?” One of the two men had a note in hands while the other steadied the mirror.

“That’s me! You can put it in the bedroom. Just follow me!” Tommi stepped aside to let them enter, and while the one man carried the mirror into the bedroom, the other asked him to sign for delivery. Tommi signed, thanked the two men for hauling the large mirror upstairs, and closed the door behind him. Feeling proud of his newest purchase, Tommi strode into the bedroom and sighed appreciatively.

The mirror was perfect. It seemed like it had always hung there – belonged there. Moving closer, Tommi raised an arm and touched the fine carvings at the top. They had obviously been made by an artist who had put a lot of time and love into his work for the flowers looked surprisingly real. “Roses,” he noticed all of a sudden and for one moment, he thought he also smelled roses. “Weird,” he muttered and took a step away from the object. “I probably just need a good night’s sleep!”

Tommi turned around and headed for the living room where he sat down on the couch. He put his feet onto the coffee table and switched on the television. Although he couldn’t find anything really interesting, he settled on some talk show. As he had finished his coffee, he put the empty mug on the coffee table and made himself comfortable. He had the feeling that the caffeine wouldn’t keep him awake for long though. His eyes were closing and the talk show did little to keep him awake. Although it was only eight in the evening, Tommi decided to go to bed early. He had lots of appointments tomorrow and he should be rested when negotiating deals for his artists.

He got to his feet, sorted out the mess he had left behind before leaving for work in the morning, and when everything was satisfactory, he made a quick stop in the bathroom where he undressed and brushed his teeth. Now that he was finally ready to turn in, he made his way over to the bed, sat down, and stretched on his back. Ah, much better!

At first, Tommi stared at the ceiling, but then he turned onto his side and looked at his newest purchase. Was it just his imagination or did he smell roses again? The scent probably stuck to the mirror because it had smelled of roses in the antique store as well… or hadn’t it? Ah well, he didn’t remember and it didn’t really matter!

Yawning, he punched his pillow into the desired shape, put an arm beneath his head, and curled up. Tommi closed his eyes and it didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

~~~

Tommi shifted restlessly in bed. Unpleasant dreams invaded his sleep and he fought them. He felt cornered – trapped – in some dark room and the lack of fresh air was suffocating him. He broke out in a cold sweat and raised his arms as if to claw his way out into the open, but the darkness remained, and in the end, he sat up with a start and panted for breath.

His arm shook when he extended it to switch on the lamp on the nightstand. Damn it, he never had nightmares! Jonne was the one who usually had them, and Ville at times, but not him! He always slept soundly!

Tommi swung his feet onto the floor and rested his elbows on his knees. Cradling his head in his hands he tried to slow down his breathing and rid himself of the suffocating darkness that had surrounded him in his nightmare. He had no desire to return to sleep just yet and he got up to go into the kitchen to drink some water when he noticed that the mirror’s surface was gleaming. It was probably just the moonbeams lighting the room, but for one moment, it looked alive. The glass had turned dark, looking like muddy water and Tommi shivered.

“Maybe I’d better make tea instead of coffee,” he muttered to himself as he passed by the mirror to go into the kitchen. A cold breeze hit him all of a sudden and he shivered. Had he left a window open? He could check on that later. Now he wanted some of the tea which Nakki had once left behind, claiming it was perfect for settling a manager’s nerves.

Normally he wasn’t nervous at all. He even remained calm in dire circumstances, but that nightmare had really unsettled him! It had felt so fucking real! Even now, thin air invaded his nostrils and he smelled traces of mud and stone on it. “Stupid,” he chided himself. “It’s just a dream! It’s not real!” And if that was the case, why had it felt so real?

Tommi headed for the stove, put water on, and waited for it to come to the boil. In the meantime he managed to locate Nakki’s tea and put the tea bag into a mug. After adding hot water to it, he placed it onto the kitchen table and sat down. Staring into the swirling liquid, he blew onto the surface in the hope to make it cool down faster. “At least now I know how Jonne feels after a nightmare… Fuck, I don’t like it!”

Once the tea had cooled down, Tommi sipped from it. Ten minutes later, he had emptied it, and after a quick stop at the bathroom, he returned to his bedroom. Involuntarily, his gaze swept over to the mirror and he approached it again. This time, he didn’t reach out to touch it. It would be superstitious and stupid to blame the mirror for his bad dream. It was just an inert object – a mirror – nothing more, nothing less.

“Humpf, maybe I should stop drinking so much coffee.” Tommi laid down, turned onto his side, but this time facing away from the mirror. “Stupid nightmare…” He pulled the spare pillow close to his chest and hugged it close. Although he didn’t feel completely at ease yet, his eyes started to close. A few minutes later, he was back asleep.

~~~

“You look like you didn’t get any sleep last night,” Jonne remarked the next day during a meeting. “Tommi, you can take a day off occasionally! When was your last vacation?”

“Shut up,” Tommi muttered in a bad mood. It was true though. His sleep hadn’t been restful last night. Although the nightmare had stayed away for the second part of the night, he felt anything but rested.

“I mean it! Take some days off! Karma Killer hit third place in the charts! We don’t have any gigs this week and I promise to show up during the promotion events.” Jonne was serious. Tommi didn’t look well.

Tommi’s first reaction was to dismiss the idea, but Jonne was right. The last time he’d had a vacation was two years ago. Maybe lack of sleep was the reason why he felt so exhausted. “Maybe…”

Jonne placed a hand on his older brother’s arm. “And we’ll celebrate the start of your holidays this evening. Want me to come over and have some Chinese food together?”

Tommi liked the idea. “Sure, you can do that… Then I can also show you the new antique I bought. It’s a man-sized mirror.”

“For your empty bedroom wall?” Jonne recalled Tommi mentioning wanting to buy one.

“Yes, exactly. It’s quite old, I guess… It looks old!” Tommi laughed and curled his fingers around Jonne’s. “Why don’t you come by around eight? I’ll order dinner and we can eat at leisure.”

“I’ll be there.” Jonne was relieved that Tommi was willing to time take off – his brother looked like he really needed it.

~~~

For some unknown reason, the first thing Tommi did when he got home was to go into his bedroom and look at the mirror. The surface looked muddy and he reckoned it needed a good cleaning up. That was odd though, as he couldn’t find any dirt or dust on the mirror’s frame.

Tommi walked into the kitchen, placed his order at Jonne’s favorite Chinese take away, and then got out some cleaning materials. Armed with a cleaning spray and cloth, he returned to his bedroom and sprayed the mirror with the cleaning substance. He waited for a few seconds and then cleaned the glass with the cloth he had brought along.

Now that was odd. Tommi took a step away from the mirror and frowned. The surface was still muddy and the cloth was clean –there was no dirt on it. Tommi was still puzzled over it when the doorbell rang. That had to be either Jonne or the take away delivering the food. Abandoning the mirror for now, Tommi headed over to the front door and paid for their food. He took it into the kitchen and hoped Jonne would arrive quickly. A look at the clock told him that it was eight thirty already, which meant that Jonne was late, but that wasn’t unusual.

A moment later, the doorbell echoed through the apartment again, and this time it was Jonne. Tommi let him in and the two of them settled down at the kitchen table enjoying the food.

“You have no idea how hungry I am!” Jonne practically wolfed down the food. His last meal had been breakfast and he had only had some cereal back then.

Tommi had finished his share and retrieved some cold beer from the fridge. “Do you want one too?”

Jonne nodded and Tommi handed him one. Jonne uncapped the bottle and took a swig from it. “Ah yes, tastes good.” He leaned back against the chair and grinned at Tommi. When had he eaten that much the last time? He couldn’t remember! “Show me that mirror then! “ He had grown curious after Tommi had told him about it.

“Come along!” Tommi took his beer along as he headed for the bedroom, closely followed by his younger brother. “There it is! I was cleaning it earlier.”

“You didn’t do a very good job then. It looks dirty.” Jonne frowned upon looking at the mirror. The hair at the back of his neck suddenly stood rigid and he felt too uncomfortable to approach it further.

“Yes, it’s odd! When it arrived yesterday it wasn’t dirty at all. Must have happened during the night!” Tommi raised his arm and caressed the delicately carved flower petals. “It was rather expensive, but I liked it. There’s something special about it.”

Jonne nodded: that something special made his skin crawl and he desperately wanted to get away from it. “Let’s veg out on the couch… My body needs to digest all that food and I feel lazy.”

Tommi nodded absentmindedly. “Yes, that’s a good idea.” Had he been alone, he would have continued cleaning up the mirror, but now that his younger brother was here, he wanted to spend time with him. Tommi followed Jonne to the doorway, but not before looking at the mirror from over his shoulder one last time – keenly drawing in the sweet scent of roses.

~~~

“Enjoy your time off, but don’t disappear completely on me!” Jonne hugged Tommi close, pressed a kiss onto his brother’s brow, and stepped out on the street. “Call me!” he called out and waved goodbye as he walked down the street.

“I will!” Tommi waved at Jonne until his brother had vanished from his view and closed the door. It had been a nice and comfortable evening, spent in front of the television and eating way too much!

Tommi made a quick stop in the kitchen and living room to clean up after them. Next stop was the bathroom where he enjoyed a long, hot shower. Standing in front of the mirror, he wondered how his hair hat gotten that long. Okay, first thing in the morning he was going to get a haircut. After slipping into his boxers and a comfortable shirt, he switched off the lights in the rest of the apartment and headed for the bedroom. Instead of making his way over to the bed, he ended up in front of the mirror.

How odd. The surface was clear and even gleamed now that moonbeams touched it. Feeling drawn to it, Tommi raised an arm and let his fingertips glide over the smooth surface. In shock, he pulled back his hand. The surface felt warm! Hot even! Recalling the nightmare he’d had the night before, he wondered if his obsession with the mirror had something to do with it. He really liked the way the mirror looked on his wall, but if it really gave him nightmares he would either try to sell it back to the antique store or put it in storage.

Lying down on the bed, he turned onto his side, turning his back on the mirror. He punched his pillow into shape, tucked his comforter around him, and drifted off into sleep.

~~~

“Help me… Please, help me!”

Tommi started awake with a shock and sat up in bed. Wildly he searched the room, looking for an intruder. His sleep had been restless again. He had been back in that suffocating darkness, and this time, he had heard a voice too. It had pleaded with him for help. Switching on the lamp on the night stand, he searched his bedroom again, but came up with nothing out of the ordinary. What the hell was this about?

His gaze shifted toward the mirror, which, he suspected, was the source of his restless sleep. The surface was no longer clear and smooth, but seemed to exist out of black mud, and it was moving about. He shivered and pulled the comforter closer to his body. Enough was enough! He was moving that mirror out first thing in the morning and tonight he was going to sleep on the couch!

Tommi gathered his pillow and comforter close, left the bed, but had to pass by the mirror in order to go into the living room. He made sure he kept some distance between himself and the mirror, but just as he thought he had successfully past it by, he heard that voice again.

“Please help me!”

Tommi stumbled backward and tripped over the comforter he was carrying. He ended up on his butt and stared in horror at the mirror. The surface was no longer black, but red like blood. “Fuck!” he called out, and sprinted out of the bedroom. He slammed the door shut behind him and ended up cross-legged on the couch, shaking like a leaf. That was it! That mirror had to go!

He failed to get anymore sleep that night, as he couldn’t stop thinking about the bewitched mirror in his bedroom and ways of ridding himself of the cursed object!

~~~

In the morning, Tommi made strong coffee and drank a mug before venturing into his bedroom again. Peeking around the corner, he looked at the mirror, which looked deceitfully innocent with its smooth, clean surface. But Tommi wasn’t fooled and knew something was wrong with it. He removed it from the wall and carefully moved it into the storage area that came with the apartment. He had come up with a plan during the night: he was driving back to the antique store and was going to convince the salesman to take the mirror back.

Tommi covered the mirror with a large cloth and locked the door behind him. “No, I’m not crazy! I know what I saw last night!” he said in order to convince himself that he wasn’t acting crazy. He knew what he had seen, what had happened, and that the surface had felt hot to his touch.

After grabbing hold of his keys, Tommi left the apartment, went to his car, and drove to the store where he had bought the mirror.

~~~

The elderly man wasn’t surprised to see Tommi again. In fact, he had expected him to show up yesterday. “So you’re back.”

Tommi walked up to him and gave him a look that spoke of frustration. “I want you to take back that damn mirror!”

The elderly man beckoned Tommi to follow him into the apartment behind the antique store where he lived. “Coffee or tea?” he asked as they entered the kitchen.

The move surprised Tommi, but then he nodded. “Coffee please. Does that mean you’ll take it back and hand me my money?”

“Not yet.” The elderly man made coffee, and once it was done, poured it into two mugs. “Sit down,” he requested and placed the mugs onto the coffee table. “I’m Pekka, by the way,” he said, putting milk and coffee into his mug. “And that mirror has been with me all my life.” He wasn’t sure yet what to do and hoped Tommi’s reactions would tell him what the best course of action was. “I inherited it from my father, who ran this store before me. It has been in our family for several generations.”

Tommi frowned. “Why did you sell it to me if it’s a family heirloom?”

“Because you’re the first person ever who wanted to buy it. It has been up for sale for a long time, no one ever wanted to buy it.” Pekka sipped from his coffee and offered his guest a cookie to go along with it. He seldom had company and enjoyed the moment. “What happened that you want to sell it back to me?” He knew what had probably happened, but wanted Tommi to say it.

“It’s haunted! Damned! Cursed! It’s given me nightmares and I’m hearing voices! The mirror’s surface comes alive. It changes color at night. First it was merely muddy, then black, then red, and this morning it was clean again.” Tommi shivered at the memory. “I’m a sound sleeper and I never have nightmares, but these last two nights have been hell!”

Pekka nodded. “Those things happened to me too.’

Tommi’s head shot up and he stared at the elderly man in shock. “It did? Why did you sell it to me then? You could have warned me!” He placed the mug onto the table with a loud thud.

Pekka didn’t flinch. He locked gazes with Tommi and searched the younger man’s blue eyes. “As I said before, you’re the first ever to be interested in that mirror and I thought…” He frowned, cocked his head, and considered his next words. “There’s a story that comes along with that mirror. Do you want to hear it?”

“I just want you to take it back,” Tommi spat. But then he turned thoughtful and whispered, “What story?” Damn his curiosity!

Pekka smiled and poured himself more coffee. “ One of my forefathers kept a diary and wrote that his brother suddenly turned up with it. Apparently it must have looked stunning back then because they were quite smitten with it and his brother spent hours just looking at it – and later even talking to it.”

Tommi swallowed hard at recalling hearing that voice call out to him. “It talked to me last night.”

Pekka nodded. “I’ve heard a voice call out for help at several times, but when I went to check on it, it was just a mirror… There was nothing wrong with it and I’ve never seen the surface change color.”

“You were telling me a story,” Tommi reminded the older man and nibbled on a cookie in order to fight his nervousness. Now he wanted to know the whole story!

Pekka shrugged. “My great, great, great grandfather asked his brother what was wrong with him that he talked to a mirror, but his brother merely looked at him in a saddened way. His brother died after a few years and my great, great, great grandfather inherited it from him. He kept his journal to the end of his life and wrote down that he heard someone call for help on several occasions. He also thought the mirror was to blame for it and he locked it away, afraid to lose his mind like this brother had.”

“He lost his mind?”

“Well, if you call talking to a mirror normal, then he was normal, but he had also started to caress the frame and touch the surface. It was like he was in love with the thing.”

“Well, I’m most certainly not in love with it!” Tommi said and chuckled. “Do you know how the brother got his hands on the mirror?”

Pekka shrugged. “Not for sure. Wait, let me get the journal.”

“You have it?” Tommi’s eyes widened. That diary had to be old and he had expected it to be lost or falling apart!

“I kept it… It was handed down along with the mirror.” Pekka disappeared into the living room and then shuffled back to the kitchen table. “This is it.” The journal’s cover existed of leather, which had been dyed red. Letters had been engraved on it. Tommi made out several J’s and some T’s. He wanted to hold it himself, but knew asking for it would be considered forward, so he told himself to be patient instead.

Pekka opened the journal and started to read, “My brother never really told me how he came to possess that accursed mirror, but once, he mentioned having been north to the city of Oulu where he spent quite some time painting portraits of the masters of the castle there. My brother was a gifted artist, but has neglected his art ever since that damn mirror came into his life. He takes it with him whenever he moves into a new home. He’s constantly checking on it, touching it, talking to it like one would talk to a lover. He’s losing his mind and I fear the day when I will lose him all together. That mirror is possessed, and the devil housed in it is slowly destroying his soul. If I was not such a coward I would have smashed it long ago!”

Tommi drew in his breath sharply. “That doesn’t sound good!” He had no intention of losing his mind over a damn mirror!

Pekka however hadn’t finished reading yet. “There’s another passage that might interest you!”

Tommi grunted impatiently, but then nodded. “Let’s hear it then!”

“My brother talks to the mirror like one would talk to a lover. He caresses it, calls it his love. My brother changed dramatically after that trip to Oulu. When he left, he was a calm and rational person, but upon his return, his eyes were dead… I once asked him about it, and he said that he had found his true love in Oulu, and that he had lost it again. All he had left was that mirror.”

Tommi raised an eyebrow. “No offence, but it seems like he lost his mind in Oulu.”

Pekka nodded. “Maybe… Do you want to know his name? The name of the man who went to Oulu and returned home with that mirror?”

“His name? Tommi frowned. “Why would I want to know it?”

“Because you bear his name.”

“He was named Tommi? So what?” Tommi crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Pekka nodded. “Tommi went to Oulu, somehow acquired that mirror and cherished it for the rest of his life. Doing so made him insane.”

Tommi glared at the salesman. “It’s an interesting story, but it holds a warning which I’m not going to ignore. I want you to take that mirror back.”

Pekka closed the book and removed his glasses before staring Tommi in the eye. “No, I won’t do that. The mirror is yours and you’re somehow tied to it. I’m not taking it back.”

TBC

Part 2

Bad-tempered, Tommi returned home. He remained standing in the corridor, wondering if he should head for the storage area to have another look at the mirror, or ignore the damn thing and simply head for his apartment. He needed several minutes to make up his mind, but then unlocked the door to the storage area. After stepping inside, he walked over to the mirror and removed the cloth covering it. It looked normal for a change and he watched his reflection in it. Everything seemed okay – there was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. Maybe he had been imagining things last night? But what about Pekka’s story?

Sighing deeply, Tommi tried to make up his mind. Should he keep the mirror in here or move it back into the apartment? Maybe not into his bedroom, but he could put it in the hallway. It did look out of place here.

Drawing in a deep breath, Tommi picked it up and hauled it back to his apartment where he put it in the hallway to try it there. It had looked better in his bedroom, but he didn’t want it there for now.

Tommi went into the kitchen, made some sandwiches, and then sat down at his computer. Finding information about what had happened in Oulu was a long shot, but he could give it a try at any rate. After starting it up, Tommi stared at the screen for some time. Eventually he opted for Google search and entered – castle Oulu – without much hope of finding anything there. To his surprise he came up with some hits and opened the Wikipedia page.

Oulu Castle (Uleåborgs slott in Swedish, Oulun linna in Finnish) was a late defence castle in Oulu, Finland. It was built on an island in the delta of Oulu River in 1590. The castle was mostly made of wood and earth walls. There probably was an earlier medieval castle on the same site latest by 1375. Russian Sophia Chronicle has recorded that men from Novgorod tried to conquer a new castle in the Oulu River delta in 1377, however without succeeding in the task.

The present-day ruins remain from an even later castle, that was built in 1605. The castle was badly damaged in 1715, when Russian forces burned it. Final destruction took place in 1793, when a lightning set the other one of the powder magazines in fire.

Wooden constructions on the remaining powder magazine date from 1875 when the Oulu School of Sea Captains built their observatory on the site. The building has been a cafeteria since 1912 with a small exhibition on the castle history.

Tommi frowned. That was way more information than he had thought he would find. Pekka had told him that the mirror had been in his family for centuries, and looking at the dates, it was possible that this Tommi had visited Oulu around sixteen hundred. Everything fit. Tommi hadn’t expected that.

Leaning back against the comfort of his chair, Tommi hooked his hands behind his neck and watched the screen a little longer, taking in the picture of the castle as it looked today. Who might have lived there? The article didn’t mention the occupants.

Tommi got to his feet and returned to the hallway to study the mirror which looked calm and innocent, but it didn’t fool him anymore. There was obviously something wrong with it. Had he really bought a cursed object? Did he believe in curses? Did he believe in the supernatural? In God? Actually, he never had, but after what had happened these last few nights, Tommi wasn’t so sure anymore.

Why had that voice called out for help? And whom did it belong to? Tommi’s journal had made it clear that Pekka’s forefather had referred to mirror as his love. What had happened to this Tommi several hundred years ago? Had he lost his mind? Had the mirror made him lose it?

Tommi sighed: there was only one way to solve the mystery, but it wasn’t something he looked forward to doing.

~~~

During the evening, Tommi moved the mirror into the living room and placed it against the wall. He had resisted making more coffee and had gone for orange juice instead. He didn’t want the caffeine to make him overreact. While eating yesterdays Chinese’s leftovers, he sat on the floor and watched the mirror. It had turned active at night when the moonbeams had hit it. The way he had positioned it now made sure the moonbeams hit it too.

Although an uneasy feeling had settled into the pit of his stomach, Tommi switched off the lights in the apartment and sat close to the mirror – not too close though. He briefly wondered if he was losing his mind, considering he was actually doing this, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

Lightning a cigarette, he exhaled the smoke and waited for things to happen.

~~~

Nothing happened. No muddy surface, no voices, no eerie sounds… Nothing! Tommi felt disappointed and relieved at the same time. His imagination had gotten the better of him earlier that day and Pekka’s story had fed it. Yawning, he stretched and got to his feet. A quick look at the clock told him that it was close to midnight and that he should turn in for the night. Hopefully he would get some decent sleep!

Tommi dragged himself into his bedroom and laid down without undressing himself. Hugging a pillow close, he pushed deeper into the comfort of the mattress, and closed his eyes.

~~~

“Help me! Please…help me!”

Tommi sat up within seconds of hearing the voice. He hadn’t been asleep – not really. Just resting. After going to bed, sleep had eluded him, and now the voice was back. It wasn’t as clear or loud as before and Tommi needed a moment to find out what direction it was coming from.

“Just help me…”

The living room! It was definitely coming from the living room! And he had put the mirror in there! This time, Tommi didn’t freak out. It had probably to do with the fact that he wasn’t waking from another nightmare, and in a way, he had expected for it to happen – had been waiting for it. He put his feet onto the ground, rose from the bed, and sneaked over to the doorway from where he had a perfect view of his living room.

He wasn’t surprised to see the mirror sparkle blood-red in the moonlight. The surface showed red swirls and Tommi momentarily wavered. The mirror was obviously possessed and he wondered if it was wise to approach it. But he wanted to know what was going on and he would never find out if he acted like a coward and stayed in the bedroom.

Gathering his courage, Tommi stepped into the living room and cautiously approached the mirror, which seemed to have calmed down. The glass surface was growing dark again – almost black. “Who are you?” Tommi came to a halt in front of the mirror and cocked his head questioningly. “Why do you need help?”

For one moment, the entire room held its breath and Tommi involuntarily did the same thing. His knees threatened to give out beneath him and he sat down in front of the mirror, waiting for some sort of reply.

“Who is there?” A gentle breeze swept through the room, carrying the words with them.

Tommi swallowed hard. No imagination then. He was really talking to a mirror and it was talking back to him. “I’m a…friend…” He reckoned that was always a good thing to say. “Who are you?”

“A lost soul…trapped in darkness… It’s hard to breathe in here…” The voice sounded raw and struggled to form the words.

“Do you have a name?” Tommi congratulated himself on losing his mind – well done, Tommi Liimatainen – you’re officially insane now.

“I’m Juha… Can you help me to get out?”

“Juha?” Tommi repeated the name involuntarily. His madness had a name now. “Maybe I can help you, but I need to know where you are first.”

“It’s dark in here… There’s hardly any air…and I haven’t seen the sun in ages…”

Tommi frowned. That wasn’t much of a help. Suddenly the absurdity of the situation hit him. He sat in front of a mirror and was talking to it. Was this really happening or was he dreaming? Hallucinating maybe?

“Are you still there? Please don’t leave me alone. It’s been ages since I heard someone’s voice.”

“I’m still here,” Tommi replied. He raised his right arm and considered touching the glass, but then changed his mind, as he felt the absurd fear of being pulled inside and then he would be just another voice speaking from that mirror. “Can you tell me something about you? I know your name, but that’s about it.” Tommi held his breath because the surface of the mirror was changing again. Instead of black, it turned to silver, and for one tiny moment he thought he saw a face there. Large, green eyes stared at him in fear. Then the image dissolved and the blackness returned.

“Who are you? You didn’t even tell me your name…”

Tommi sighed and realized that if he wanted more information he would have to share some too. “My name is Tommi.” The next moment he had to cover his ears because a high-pitched wail ripped through his living room. The surface turned blood-red and then… Then the spell was broken – the mirror looked normal again and Tommi could tell that whatever presents lived in it, had pulled back. He hadn’t thought his name would provoke a reaction like that, but then again, Pekka’s forefather had been called that too and that man had brought the mirror home. “I’m sorry,” Tommi whispered, although he wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. “I’m really sorry…”

~~~

“Do you have trouble sleeping?” Jonne asked, as he cast a concerned look at his older brother. He had called Tommi earlier that day and had asked if it was okay if he came over for dinner. Tommi had sounded absentminded and Jonne had grown worried. Now that he was sitting opposite his brother, he realized that he had every right to worry. Tommi wasn’t his usual self and acted awfully distracted the whole time. Tommi’s gaze always shifted from him to the mirror. Jonne disliked seeing it there. The thing gave him the chills.

Tommi nodded. “I miss getting up early and having to work all day. I’m not tired during the evening.” It was a lie of course, but he couldn’t tell Jonne the real reason why he looked so poorly. His brother would think him insane, just like Tommi’s brother had back then. He wasn’t insane though – he had really talked to some presence locked inside the mirror.

“Eat something,” Jonne prodded. He had ordered their favorite pizza and it wasn’t like Tommi to simply stare at the food instead of eating it. “We can watch some ice hockey later, if you want to. There’s a game on.” Normally he didn’t care for sports, but it might pull Tommi from the blue funk he was in.

Tommi forced himself to eat a slice and then raised his head to look Jonne in the eye. Asking his younger brother was probably a mistake, but he had to talk about it, no matter what way. “Jonne, do you believe in ghosts? That there is more out there than we can see?”

Jonne blinked as the question took him by surprise. “I believe in God,” he said eventually, uncertain what Tommi wanted from him. “I’m not sure I believe in ghosts… The thought alone frightens me.” He was the kind of person who quickly flipped to the next channel if there was something on about haunted house and stuff like that. “I hope I’ll never run into one!” He smiled, trying to make light of the situation, but one look at Tommi told him that his brother didn’t agree. Tommi’s expression added to his worries. “How about you?”

“I never believed in things that I couldn’t see – or touch for that matter.” Tommi stared at the mirror again. He could hardly wait for midnight to come and bring back Juha’s presence. He had finally figured out that the mirror only became alive after midnight.

“Tommi?” Worried, Jonne inched closer to his brother and rested a hand on Tommi’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Tommi shook himself from his musings and focused on Jonne. “I just need my daily routine again and I’ll be back to sleeping soundly. Don’t worry!” He pulled Jonne in for a hug and kissed his brother’s brow. “Really, I’m fine.”

Jonne however found that hard to believe and was determined to keep an eye on Tommi.

~~~

Tommi installed himself on the floor in front of the mirror at a quarter to midnight. He had extinguished all lights and had opened the window so the moonbeams could easily touch the mirror. Holding his breath, he counted the minutes until the nearby church’s clock struck twelve.

For one long moment nothing happened, but then the surface of the mirror came alive again and there it was… That voice… “Help me!”

Tommi moved closer to it before speaking up. “I’m here… How can I help you?”

The mirror changed and then the green eyes appeared in swirls of black and red. “It can’t be you… Tommi died…”

Tommi swallowed nervously. The presence knew about Pekka’s forefather. Had remembered him – knew about his death. “I’m a different Tommi.”

“Why do you have to carry *his* name?”

Tommi easily identified the pain and longing in Juha’s voice. “I can’t help it. My mother gave me that name… Juha…” The green eyes which had been staring at him a moment ago, vanished the moment he spoke the name.

“How do you know my name… Did I tell you?”

“You did so last night… Juha, what happened to you? How can you be caught in that mirror? And why do you call out for help?” Tommi raised his right arm again, and contrary to yesterday, this time he touched the surface. In wonder, he watched as a golden glow emanating from his fingertips spread over the surface.

“What are you doing? There’s light in here all of a sudden… My eyes hurt…”

Juha appeared to be in discomfort, judging by the emotion in his voice, and Tommi removed his hand again, taking away the golden glow as he did. “I touched the surface.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I want to know more about you… And I wanted to convince myself that I’m not going insane.” A wailing sound echoed from the mirror and Tommi cringed.

“You shouldn’t do this… You shouldn’t talk to me. I don’t want to hurt you…or your mind.”

“You won’t!” Tommi frowned. “Is it because that other Tommi lost his mind?”

Juha remained silent and Tommi wondered if he had said something wrong. He hadn’t wanted to chase the presence off.

“He didn’t lose his mind…but his brother wouldn’t believe him…”

Tommi nodded. “I understand that now… So there is no reason for you to stop talking to me. I won’t lose my mind.” Tommi wondered what the hell he was doing, but did he have a choice? He *had* to know what was going on.

“Will you tell me about you? Who are you? What happened to you?” Tommi didn’t really expect the presence to indulge him and was therefore majorly surprised when the pair of green eyes appeared again. This time, there was more though… A face took form in the mirror – a face framed by long, red hair. A handsome face, definitely a male’s, although the features looked unusually soft and feminine. At least now he knew what Juha looked like. “Can you control it? The mirror, what it shows me?”

Juha nodded. “I learned that over the years… It’s strange to look at you… You’re alive…”

Tommi moistened his lips in a nervous moment. “And you’re not?”

“I died in the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and eighty-nine…”

Tommi’s heart missed a beat. Sitting here and talking to this dead soul was unbelievable, and for one moment, he *did* fear that he had lost his mind, but then he dismissed the thought. This was real. He didn’t know how it was possible, but it was really happening. “How old were you when you died?”

“Seventeen…” The mirror’s surface swirled again and this time ended up blue, making it look like tears glided over the glass.

Tommi couldn’t help himself – he reached out again and caressed the glass with his fingertips. “Don’t go away.” The glass beneath his fingers trembled and seemed to breathe, move away, and then back toward his fingertips. “I want you to stay.”

The face returned, and Tommi could tell that reaching out had brought Juha back. Tears ran down the handsome face and the expression in those green eyes spoke of gratitude. “Who are you, Juha? And how did you end up trapped in that mirror?”

“I don’t know exactly… Maybe I should start at the beginning… Do you really want to hear my story?”

Tommi nodded. “I want to hear it.” Juha’s face seemed more real and alive now that he was touching the glass. The golden glow returned and it didn’t take long for the mirror to blaze with it.

“It’s been so long since I saw light… felt such warmth… Thank you.”

“It happens when I touch the glass, doesn’t it?” Tommi asked.

“Yes, it does…” Juha’s eyes closed. “Are you going to keep me? The mirror…? Or are you going to take me back to the store?”

“I’ll keep you…” Tommi frowned. “Do you know everything that happens?”

“Most of it, yes… I can’t control it during the day, but I still hear and see what happens around me.”

Tommi grunted in surprise and then shook his head. “No more distraction. Tell me who you are and what happened to you.” For one moment the face threatened to fade from the mirror, but Tommi’s hand moved toward it as if to caress it and the face grew even stronger after that. “Just tell me.”

“I fell in love… Tommi came to the castle to paint a portrait of my family. My father had sent for him. The first time I saw Tommi I knew he was the other half of my soul. I fell in love with him, and after a while, he told me that he felt the same way about me. He started the family portrait, but in order to stay longer, always made mistakes which he had to redo later. My father grew impatient, but as Tommi’s art pleased him, he gave him more time to finish the portrait. In the meantime we met, secretively and hidden away. I knew that should my father find out he would be furious. He had made plans to marry me off to some lady who would bring lots of money to the family. I never told him that I felt attracted to men instead as I wasn’t sure I would survive telling him.”

Tommi had grown motionless and listened breathlessly. “Go on.”

“We met during the evening. Tommi always stole into my room by climbing in through the window. We spent our nights together...”

The swirls turned red and Tommi smelled the sweet scent of roses again. “But something happened.” Didn’t something bad always happen at moments of utter bliss?

“One night, my father stormed into my room. There was a fire and he wanted me to come to a place of safety, but unfortunately Tommi was still with me, asleep in my arms. My father went mad at that sight.”

Tommi’s heart went out to the soul and his fingertips caressed the surface again, hoping the touch somehow comforted Juha. “What did he do?”

“He wanted to kill Tommi, but my lover got away. He grabbed the rope which he had used to climb into my room and managed to flee.”

Tommi’s features contorted. “And that left you to face your father’s wrath on your own.”

“My father was furious. I had betrayed his trust, had soiled the family honor by lying with another man, and I was going to pay for that. He dragged me off by my hair and hauled me over the floor, all the way down the corridor and into the dungeon downstairs.”

“I’m sorry…” Tommi offered, genuinely feeling sorry for Juha.

“I always hated the dungeon. It’s a cold, damp place shrouded in darkness… “

Emotions tightened Tommi’s throat and he found it hard to continue breathing. The expression in those green eyes was one of utter pain and desolation. “What did he do?”

“I thought he was going to lock me up there… Make me suffer and eventually, he would let me out. I was wrong though…”

Tommi blinked. At first, he had thought that living through the past with Juha made it hard for him to breathe, but then he realized that it was something else. The moonbeams hardly penetrated the living room anymore and the wooden floor beneath him had changed to mud and stone. Juha had somehow dragged him down into that dungeon with him. Tommi told himself not to panic. He didn’t think Juha wanted to harm him and for some reason he trusted the lost soul.

“I was wrong… so wrong… I never knew about it, but my father had created an oubliette at the very end of the dungeon.”

“A what?” Tommi had never heard the word before.

“A special sort of dungeon,” Juha explained. “Imagine a large room with no exit… It’s impossible to escape from and it’s utterly dark in there… An oubliette houses people you want to forget about… You want them to starve and die in darkness… A suffocating darkness.”

Suddenly things made sense to Tommi. When he had felt like he was suffocating he had been inside the oubliette with Juha. “Your father really…”

Juha cut him short. “He threw me inside… I fell several meters and broke my left leg…”

Beneath his touch, the mirror trembled again and Tommi felt something wet upon his face. Damn, he was crying… He was really crying!

“He closed the hatch behind him and left me there to die… I never knew how much dying hurt… I lost count of the days that I was in there… The air grew thin and I had no water or food.. I survived for a while by drinking my urine and licking moisture from the rock, but in the end, it was useless… The pain I was in due to my broken leg grew dull and I drifted off into hallucinations. I thought I heard Tommi’s voice, but that must have been Grace touching me and comforting me. I don’t know how long I lasted, but I died in there.”

“I’m so sorry…” Tommi rubbed the surface comfortingly and with his other hand, he wiped away his tears. “You must have been in agony.”

“I was… But the odd thing is that I… I came alive again… I wasn’t dead… I found myself locked in this mirror and Tommi was there too. He had created the mirror and he was touching it… caressing it… touching me through the glass.”

“How can that be?” Tommi asked, having managed to compose himself again.

“I asked Tommi that – once I had recovered from the shock of dying. He told me that a witch had helped him… had told him about a spell that would catch my soul in the mirror so he didn’t have to part from me yet. He felt guilty… Guilty for letting me die alone.”

Rationally speaking none of what he had heard made sense – or was even possible, but Tommi *was* sitting close to a mirror which housed a lost soul. “And he took care of the mirror for the rest of his life. When he died, he passed it onto his brother.”

“I tried talking to him, but he didn’t want to listen… He put me in some storage area and it was only when his son succeeded him that I was removed from it.”

“And so the mirror was handed down from one generation to the next.” Tommi was once more in control of his feelings and managed to think more rationally. “And then I bought it.”

“You’re the first ever to be interested in buying the mirror… Most visitors turn away from it in discomfort, but you…”

“I felt attracted to it,” Tommi finished for Juha. The suffocating darkness had lifted and he was back in his living room. From the corner of his eye he saw that the sun was about to rise. “Why do you call out for help? What do you need from me?”

“Can’t you imagine that…”

Juha’s voice disappeared the moment the first ray of sunshine hit it. Tommi coursed the sun for rising that morning. He had almost found out everything he had wanted to know and now he had to wait again for the night to come so he could talk to Juha!

~~~

“Ah you’re back… Can’t say it’s a surprise…” Pekka studied Tommi from over his glasses. “You look tired.” Maybe he had made a mistake when he had refused to take back the mirror. He didn’t want Tommi to lose his mind over it!

“That’s because I spent last night talking to our ghost. Juha is stuck in that mirror. I found out some interesting details. Do you want to know about them?”

“Sure!” Pekka gestured for Tommi to follow him into the kitchen once more. This time, he served tea, being under the impression that caffeine was the last thing Tommi needed. “Tell me then.”

“They were in love… Tommi and Juha…”

Pekka raised an eyebrow. “That would explain why Tommi never married – or even dated.”

“Juha’s father found out about the affair and wanted to punish them. Tommi managed to flee, but Juha didn’t get away. His father threw him into an oubliette and he died there.” Tommi sipped from his tea. Every time he thought about that oubliette he remembered what the suffocating darkness had felt like. “Tommi used some spell to catch Juha’s soul in that mirror and Juha has been trapped ever since.”

Pekka thoughtfully studied Tommi. “I believe you… I really do… Along with the journal came a Book of Shadows and a Book of Mirrors, but they got lost. They’re not in my possession any longer.”

“Pity. It might have given us a clue on how to free Juha from his prison.”

“Does your ghost want that? To be freed of his mirror?” Pekka questioned. “What will happen to him once he’s set free?”

Tommi shrugged. “I don’t even know if I believe in heaven, or hell, for that matter. I don’t know where souls go…”

“Then talk to your ghost about it,” Pekka advised. “I will try to acquire books similar to the ones my forefather possessed, but it might take time to locate them.”

Tommi nodded. “Trust me, I’m going to talk to him again tonight. I still have some questions left!”

~~~

Tommi uncovered his phone and realized Jonne had tried to call him several times that day. Wondering what could possibly be wrong, he dialed Jonne’s number and waited.

“Tommi! It’s about time you got back to me! Where the hell are you?”

“I’m on my way home and try to calm down. What has happened?” Jonne sounded seriously distressed.

“Don’t tell me you have forgotten that it’s Ville’s birthday today!”

Oops, he actually had! But Jonne didn’t need to know that. Ville would notice it if Jonne tried to cover up for him. “Of course not. I’m merely heading home to pick up his present. I’ll see you in less than an hour.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you?” Jonne didn’t sound convinced at all. “Just hurry will you? Ville’s disappointed that you’re not here yet and our grandmother is ready to put you over her knee if you take much longer!”

“I’ll be there! There’s no reason to get stressed over this!” Tommi ended the call and cursed himself for forgetting all about Ville’s birthday. It was a good thing he had arranged for his gift a few weeks ago. All he had to do was to pick it up at home!

~~~

Tommi made a detour to the living room to check if the mirror was still in place. Of course it was. It didn’t move out of its own accord – or at least he hoped so. “I won’t be home late… I want to talk to you some more. I haven’t forgotten about you. I’ll see you later, Juha,” he said, speaking out loud on purpose now that he had learned that Juha did know what was happening around him. “I won’t be long…”

Tommi picked up the envelope that held Ville’s gift, and left, wishing he could have stayed instead.

TBC

Part 3

“It’s about time you showed up,” Jonne remarked as he walked Tommi over to the couch Ville was sitting on. “You know what Ville gets like when he thinks one of us has forgotten about him!”

Tommi nodded and took the lecture in stride for he deserved it. Shifting his attention to Ville, he was relieved to see Lauri and Oskari keeping an eye on him. There was a lot of alcohol about and it would be best if someone told Ville when to stop, since at times, Ville didn’t know that himself.

“Look who has finally arrived!” Jonne said and pushed Tommi toward the couch.

Ville raised his head and smiled brilliantly at Tommi. “You didn’t forget then!”

“Of course I didn’t.” Tommi wasn’t going to ruin the day by admitting that he had indeed forgotten about Ville’s birthday. He pulled Ville to his feet and hugged him tight. “Happy birthday, Ville.” Ville hugged him in turn, and once they pulled apart, Tommi handed his youngest brother the envelope.

“That’s for me?” Ville’s eyes glittered with excitement. “What did you get me?”

Jonne wrapped an arm around Ville and smiled at him. “Why don’t you look and find out?” He was relieved that Tommi hadn’t lied about having a gift for Ville. He had really thought Tommi might have forgotten about it. Looking at Tommi, Jonne realized his older brother looked better – calmer and less nervous.

Ville opened the envelope and removed the piece of paper from inside. His eyes widened and then he grinned from ear to ear. “Are you serious?”

Tommi nodded. “You decide who you take along… I wouldn’t mind it being Jonne and me, but you can also take some girlfriends.”

Having grown curious, Jonne cast a look at the paper. “You’re insane, Tommi!” Tommi had gifted Ville with a coupon – a journey for three to Greece in a nice hotel.

“I love you!” Ville flung himself at Tommi and hugged him like mad.

“I know you do!” Tommi allowed the hug until he ran out of breath. “Now let go, I need air!”

“Sorry,” Ville whispered in a tiny voice and then turned to Lauri and Oskari to show them the coupon.

“You made him very happy just now,” Jonne said. “But don’t count on him taking us along for the ride.”

“I know that… He’ll probably take some girlfriends along.” Ville was the only Liimatainen brother who was straight. “Or band mates, but not us!”

Jonne laughed. “Very true… You look better. Did you get some sleep?”

Tommi nodded, although he was lying. “Yes, I did… And now let’s party…”

~~~

“You’re leaving too early!” Ville complained and tried to stop Tommi. “We’re about to play spin the bottle and you need to be in it!”

“I’ll leave that to you youngsters,” Tommi said and pressed a kissed onto Ville’s cheek. “Have fun.”

Ville nodded and added out of his own accord, “And don’t drink too much. I know that. Thanks for not saying it extra.”

“You learned your lesson. Now go and have fun!” Tommi hugged Ville one more time and then closed the door behind him. It was almost midnight and he was itching to get home.

~~~

Tommi removed his shoes and coat and went straight for the mirror. He opened the curtains which had been closed during the day to keep out the sun and sat down on the floor. “Juha? Can you hear me?” The surface moved, became like liquid, and Tommi held his breath in anticipation.

“Tommi?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m back…” Juha’s face took shape in the mirror and Tommi cringed at seeing the pain filled expression in the green eyes. Raising his hand, he placed its palm against the glass and the golden glow appeared again. Juha’s features instantly relaxed.

“Thank you… It’s always so cold and dark in here.”

“We got cut off by the rising sun in the morning… I still want an answer though. Why do you call out for help?”

“Don’t you understand? I’ve been trapped in this mirror for centuries. I want to move on… When Tommi was still alive his presence made my existence bearable, but ever since he died I’m alone…”

Tommi nodded in understanding. It was strange, but in a way he didn’t want Juha to move on. He had become used to their nightly talks. “How can I help? Did your lover tell you how you could be set free?” Tommi had no clue himself and Pekka hadn’t known either.

“He did… He told me that someone has to bury my remains. He could never do that… Returning to Oulu would have cost him his life.” Juha’s features contorted. “I can’t ask you to do that. You’d have to go into the oubliette and… The experience alone is horrendous.”

“If that act will set you free, I’ll do it.”

“You need help. You can’t do it on your own. What if you get stuck in the oubliette and there’s no one to get help?”

Juha sounded worried and it amazed Tommi to which depth of emotion this ghost was capable. “I’ll take Pekka along. He can keep an eye on me.”

“The owner of the antique store?”

“Yes…” Tommi moved closer and his fingertips caressed Juha’s face. “I wish I could have known you in life.”

Juha nodded. “That would have been nice… but I’m dead and… When will you leave for Oulu?” Now that Tommi had given him hope he grew impatient.

“Tomorrow morning. I can’t take the mirror along though… It’s too big and won’t fit in my car.”

“I thought so… Don’t worry about me… I’ve survived for so long…” But surviving was getting harder, especially now that he had found someone who cared. “I can never thank you enough for doing this for me.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I feel honored that I can do this for you…” In his heart, Tommi knew that it was his task – and solely his – to set Juha free. There had been too many coincidences to make him believe otherwise. Juha’s lover’s name had been Tommi and he was the first to ever buy the mirror – to become interested in owning it. “I’ll go to Oulu and find the oubliette. Can you describe the way for me?” He would hate having to come back here to ask Juha for directions.

He had to remove his hand from the mirror in order to write down Juha’s instructions and instantly the surface of the mirror grew dark and cold again. Once he had written everything down, he placed the pen and paper away and touched the mirror again. The golden glow returned and Tommi wished Juha was alive and not just a ghost. He really liked Juha.

“When we first met, Tommi looked at me like that,” Juha whispered from inside the mirror.

Tommi nodded, as he had no reason to hide the truth. “I really like you, Juha… It’s a shame that we can never be… But I will do this for you. I *will* set you free. I promise.”

~~~

“Are you sure we should do this?” Pekka asked upon locking his store. Tommi’s appearance hadn’t really surprised him, but the man’s request *had*.

“We need to do this for Juha. Your forefather put him in this situation and we need to get him out of it.” Tommi walked Pekka over to his car, opened the doors, and sat down. Pekka sat down next to him on the passenger’s seat.

“But to drive up to Oulu in the hope that you’ll find the oubliette… Isn’t that madness?” Pekka asked as he put his seatbelt on.

“Isn’t it madness to lock a soul in a mirror?”

Pekka inclined his head. “You’re right,” he said. “Let’s do this… Do you have everything we might need?”

“I brought rope and climbing equipment. I have no idea how deep below the ground the oubliette is situated, but I’m not taking any chances.” Tommi was determined to do this right. He vividly recalled the hope he had seen in Juha’s eyes when the first sun rays had driven him deeper into the mirror. “You can get some sleep if you want… It’ll take us five hours to reach Oulu.” He had woken Pekka at dawn and it wasn’t even seven AM yet.

“I will do that… Wake me in two hours… I’ll drive the rest of the way.”

Tommi nodded, put on some classical music, and headed for Oulu.

~~~

They arrived at Oulu at noon. The sun stood high in the sky and the streets were busy. Pekka steered the car toward the castle and parked it nearby. “What do you want to do now? March in there and ask them if they’re okay with you removing a skeleton from its dungeon?”

Tommi shook his head. “Juha told me about a second entrance… But we’ll have to search for it. It’s probably hidden by vegetation by now.” Together, Tommi and Pekka searched the area Juha had mentioned and it was Pekka who located the hidden tunnel first.

“I might have found it!” Pekka called out to Tommi, who quickly joined him.

Checking the directions Juha had given him, Tommi guided them closer to the heart of the castle, but this heart was situated under the ground. “The dungeon, or what remains of it, is right above our heads.”

Pekka looked about in amazement. “I never knew these tunnels existed!”

“Juha’s father used them… He dragged his son this way when he headed for the oubliette, which should be…” Feeling frustrated, Tommi studied the directions once more. Damn, had he really forgotten to write something down? Were they supposed to turn right or left? “Fuck, I don’t know…”

“Go right,” came Juha’s voice, being carried by the breeze that now swept through the tunnel.

Tommi turned toward Pekka. “Did you hear that too?”

Pekka nodded. “We have a helper.”

The two men continued their journey until they came across the hatch hidden away beneath their feet. Tommi removed the branches, stones, and mud from it, and stared at it. “This is where he threw Juha in the oubliette.”

“Then let’s get him out. The poor boy waited long enough for this moment,” Pekka said.

Tommi nodded and reached for the hatch. The metal was rusty and refused to give in at first, but then it did and he flung it open. Looking below, Tommi saw nothing – just the darkness that he had seen reflected in the mirror. “This is it… “ He switched on the two flashlights he had brought along and handed one of them to Pekka. The other one he tied to the end of the rope and lowered it. “That’s about five meters,” he realized. “No wonder Juha broke his leg during his fall.” Once he knew its depth, he hauled the flash light up again.

After tying the rope around his waist for extra safety, he fastened the other end around a rock that stood nearby and then handed the rope to Pekka. “Lower me slowly…”

Pekka managed to lower him into the oubliette, and although Tommi did his best to adjust, his eyes made out nothing in the darkness – it was complete. It was hot in the oubliette and the air thin. Tommi grew furious, realizing this was what Juha had gone through – only the seventeen year old had also been in pain due to his broken leg.

Once he felt ground beneath his feet, Tommi moved the ray of the flashlight over the ground. He wasn’t prepared for the shook when he saw the skeleton in the corner furthest away from him. “Oh no…” he whispered in shock. “I found you…” Tommi made his way over to Juha’s remains and knelt next to the skeleton. He placed the flashlight onto the ground and tried to slow down his breathing, which had unwilling sped up.

All what was left of Juha was bones and hair. The fabrics Juha had worn had been eaten away by time, but the red hair had remained. “I’m so sorry, my friend,” he whispered, as he opened the bag which he had brought along. With due respect, he placed the bones into the large bag. When he had reached the skull, his hands shook with emotion. “Life isn’t fair,” he whispered, as he also placed the skull in the bag.

“Pekka, I’m ready to come up again.”

“Do you have him?”

“Yes, I found him… Now help me out… It’s hard to breathe down here!” Tommi desperately wanted out and he had only been inside the oubliette for minutes. It wasn’t hard to imagine the horror Juha must have lived through when he had been locked up in here. How had Juha felt when he had drawn in his last breath? Immensely alone and abandoned, Tommi realized.

Tommi wrapped the rope around the bag which held Juha’s remains and Pekka hauled that one up first. Tommi followed quickly and felt relieved now that he had left the oubliette. “I just spent time in hell,” he told Pekka.

The older man merely nodded. “Let’s get out of here…” The atmosphere in the tunnels was dreadful and he couldn’t wait to get going.

~~~

“Tommi? It’s me! I hope you don’t mind, but I let myself in! I rang your doorbell for five minutes and…” Jonne looked about and realized that he was talking to himself. Tommi wasn’t around. “Great, I really hoped you would be here,” he muttered beneath his breath. Tommi wasn’t reacting to his calls – again – and Jonne had already checked the restaurants where Tommi sometimes went for lunch.

“What do I do now?” Jonne went into the kitchen, got himself some orange juice, and went into the living room. He wanted to catch his breath before heading for the office. Maybe Tommi hadn’t kept his word and had gone to work after all.

Sitting down on the couch, Jonne’s gaze was drawn toward the mirror. Gooseflesh formed all over his body and he instantly felt cold. “I hate that thing…” He couldn’t explain why, but something told him not to go near it. It wasn’t safe – that was the feeling he got from it.

~~~

“Did he say it had to be hallowed ground?” Pekka inquired. They had put Juha’s remains on the backseat and now left Oulu behind them.

“No, he didn’t…” Tommi swallowed convulsively. He would never forget the feeling of dread and terror which he had experienced while being in the oubliette. “That looks like a good spot.” It was near the sea and quite deserted. He had thought about taking Juha’s remains to Tampere to give him a proper burial, but that would take time and Tommi had seen the yearning in those green eyes. Juha wanted to be free – wanted to move on as quickly as possible.

“Looks fine to me!” Pekka parked the car and they got the shuffles from the trunk. “How about that tree?”

Tommi liked the spot. Pekka joined him and the two men started digging. “I can’t believe I did that,” Tommi whispered thoughtfully. “That I went into that damn oubliette and got out his remains.”

“I knew you were special when you asked me how much that mirror was,” Pekka said, thinking aloud. “Did you ever think about it? The coincidence, I mean. Juha’s lover’s name was Tommi and your name is Tommi too.”

“I did, but what’s the point of doing that? Things happen…” Tommi checked the depth and stopped digging. “That should do.” While Pekka waited at the site, Tommi carefully gathered the bag from the back seat. “Do we need some sort of ceremony? I’m no priest… I don’t know what to say…”

“I think you do,” Pekka said, as he watched Tommi lower the bag into the hole they had dug.

Tommi fought his emotions when they threatened to cut off his air. “I’m sorry it took so long, Juha… You didn’t deserve the things that happened to you. I hope you can finally move on… I hope you’re free now…” Tommi threw the first load of earth onto the bag and Pekka quickly joined in. “Be on your way, Juha… Fly to the heavens.”

~~~

Jonne was about to leave the living room when odd sounds coming from the mirror made him stop in his tracks. He turned around and his eyes widened upon seeing the mirror tremble against the wall. The glass, which had perfectly reflected the opposite wall a moment ago, had changed color and was pitch black. Although feeling scared, Jonne found himself drawn closer to it and he made his way over to the mirror. “What the fuck…?”

The glass cracked in its frame, and for one moment Jonne thought he saw a face in the dark glass – one with green eyes. The lips opened to release a scream and… Hundreds of glass shards sprang from the mirror and Jonne quickly turned around and covered his face with his arms. A few shards still cut his skin, but he barely noticed the tiny wounds.

Once the onslaught had stopped, Jonne lowered his arms and turned to peek at the mirror. The wooden frame was still intact and a rain of glass had descended onto the area surrounding it. Jonne didn’t think twice and quickly fled into the kitchen. Once he was there, he reached for his phone and dialed Tommi’s number.

~~~

Nothing spectacular had happened once they had refilled the grave. Tommi didn’t know what he had expected to happen, but he had thought something would. Maybe hearing Juha’s voice again – or seeing those eyes a last time. But nothing happened – nothing.

“We’re done here. Juha should have found his peace,” Pekka remarked and started his way back over to the car so he could place the shuffle into the truck again.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” Tommi said, needing another moment to say his goodbyes. “I hope you’re free now, Juha… I hope you went to heaven, if that place really exists. For what it’s worth – I will never forget you.” Tommi started to turn, but then his phone went off. Reaching for it, he checked the display. Had it been someone else than Jonne – or Ville – he wouldn’t have answered it. He felt too emotional at that moment.

“Tommi here.”

“Tommi! Your mirror just freaked on me!”

Tommi sucked in his breath. “What did you say? What’s wrong with the mirror?”

“I wanted to check on you and let myself in. When I was in the living room your mirror became alive! The glass turned dark and I saw a face… well, a pair of eyes to be exact. And it screamed! And then… Then it exploded! The frame is still intact, but the glass is gone!”

Maybe that was the sign Tommi had been waiting for. The glass had broken… The spell had been broken – Juha was free. “Don’t worry about it, Jonne. I’ll just clean everything up later.”

“By the way, where the fuck are you? Are you still in Tampere?”

Jonne sounded angry and Tommi gathered it was because his brother felt scared because of what had happened in the living room. “I’m in Oulu with a friend – doing some sightseeing.”

“Get the hell back, will you? I’m not staying in your apartment for another moment! It’s haunted!”

Jonne terminated the call and Tommi put his phone away too. “No, Jonne. It’s not haunted anymore. Juha’s free.”

“Are you ready to go? I want to get back to my store today! Not tomorrow!” Pekka said.

Tommi nodded and joined the older man. He opted for the passenger’s seat, as he needed to think everything over.

Pekka took the wheel and drove toward the main road.

”The mirror exploded. That was my brother telling me that the glass shattered.”

Pekka sighed deeply. “We did the right thing then – Juha’s free.”

“I’ll miss him though,” Tommi admitted.

“You’ll miss a ghost?” Pekka said in surprise.

“He was special… His soul was special, Pekka…” Tommi shook his head. “It’s not fair that he only knew misery in life – and death.”

“Life isn’t fair,” Pekka said and nodded. “It just isn’t.”

~~~

“Someone lost his mind! Who the hell is so damn insane as to walk on the road with people speeding like mad around here? And naked at that!” Pekka had sighted the man first. “He’s going to get killed!”

“Slow down… Let’s see if we can help…” Tommi had been dozing, but was wide awake now. Scanning the road ahead of them, he noticed the man too. His heart missed a beat at seeing the red hair and for one moment, he was reminded of Juha, but he quickly dismissed the thought again. The naked man stumbled and then fell.

Pekka steered the car to the side, killed the engine, and opened the door. “Probably some drunk who doesn’t know which direction home is!”

Tommi left the car first and marched over to where the fallen form rested on the asphalt. He wanted to see what was wrong before calling the alarm number right away. Kneeling on the asphalt, he slowly turned the stranger, who had ended up on his stomach, around. The man was a dead weight in his arms and Tommi pulled him closer. “Hey, what…?”

The words froze on his lips. The red hair moved aside and revealed awfully familiar features. “No…” Tommi stuttered in disbelief. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be happening. But then the stranger’s eyelids fluttered and green, feline eyes stared back at him. Tommi desperately fought for breath… This was impossible!

The redhead’s arm shook when he raised it, but he managed to touch the older man’s face. “Tommi?” he whispered, dazed.

“Juha?” Tommi stared at the redhead in shock. “But it can’t be you!”

“It is… It’s me…” Juha placed his hand against Tommi’s cheek and rubbed the warm skin beneath his fingertips. “Feels good… Thank you, Tommi… for everything…” Then the eyes closed and he lost consciousness again.

Tommi pulled Juha close and wept… He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, but now he wept tears of happiness. “God, I never really believed in you, until today… Thank you… Thank you…” Rocking Juha in his arms, Tommi stopped questioning and started believing.

The end