Falling Through Glass Read Free

finished off the bottle of sake, content that he was safe once again.
    Yet, she had been a pretty little demon.
    Over the course of the ensuing weeks, in those fleeting moments before Aneko covered her prized mirror, the demon entranced him. A few times in the dead of night, curiosity propelled him to lift the silken cover and peek at the reflective surface. Often the glass reflected only the room’s objects, and he was certain the demon girl was nothing more than a trick of his mind, an odd play of light and shadow. Other times he’d see her deep inside, looking at him as if her captivating eyes called out to his very soul through the blue-tinted mist.

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Los Angeles
    Present day
     
    “You can’t take that to Japan, Em-chan.”
    “But you don’t understand. I have to keep this with me. If I put it in the checked bag, it will break.”
    Jake rubbed his temple and looked at his watch. “We have to get moving or risk missing the flight. If anything happens to it while we’re gone, I’ll find you another one.”
    “No!” Emmi shouted, hugging the mirror to her chest. “You don’t understand! I saw Daddy in it—” She broke off, tears stinging her eyes. She turned away.
    Gently placing his hands upon her shoulders, Jake turned Emmi to face him. “Tell me what happened, Emiko. All of it. I need to hear it.”
    “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
    “I won’t. I promise. Trust me.”
    Emmi accepted that Jake may have experienced something supernatural without question. Her dad, too, had never been one to hide his open-mindedness about things that pushed the boundaries of ‘normal’. She explained to Jake what had happened that night when she’d first cleaned the mirror, and how she’d been getting up every night since, trying to see the image of her father again.
    “I thought I caught a glimpse of him a couple times, but it was all blurry, like the glass was clouded or steamy—the way mirrors get when you shower.” She sighed. “It couldn’t have been Daddy. It probably was just a weird reflection.”
    “You don’t have to brush the experience off because you think it’s what I want to hear,” Jake said softly.
    “I’m not,” Emmi said defensively. “At first I was positive it was Daddy, but this man is younger, a lot younger, around my age, and he looked so serious. Daddy never let anything get to him. He was always happy and smiling.”
    Jake nodded. “That he was.” He looked at his watch again. “Tell you what. Let me call the prop master. I know there are a couple of pieces that he has permission to carry on. Maybe he can slip the mirror in with them.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Halfway through the flight, Emmi had the uncontrollable urge to check on the mirror but forced herself to contain the impulse. Jake had been right back at the condo—airport security would probably consider the mirror a dangerous weapon if broken into shards. She should have left it at home. Even as she assured herself that the mirror was perfectly safe with the prop master’s more fragile things, Emmi’s stomach knotted with worry.
    Emmi closed her eyes and tried to sleep, since there wasn’t much else to do to pass the hours. A weird, dreamy vision came to her just as she began dozing off. It was like the dream she’d had before the accident—the flash of insight that had told her there was going to be a wreck, and that she would be behind the wheel. However, this was clearer and more than a quick flash. Yet it still didn’t make much sense.
    As if in a samurai movie, she saw herself on a street, being pulled against her will by a man in traditional Japanese clothing.
    Emmi jumped in her seat and looked over to Jake, sitting quietly with his eyes closed. Was there going to be an accident on the set? Please, don’t let it be another omen , she prayed. She couldn’t lose Uncle Jake on top of everything else.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Finally moved up in the world, eh, Jake?” Dan Cruze, the