Glass Order? What the hell is that? Ray wondered.
His brows furrowed. Ray turned to look at Kirby who appeared to be as lost as he was.
"Glass Order? Look, if we have anything of yours, we'd gladly give it back."
The man cracked a small smile.
"I like you." He pointed fondly at Kirby.
Then with a serious expression, he turned to Ray.
"Where is the shard?"
He decided to play dumb. "What shard?"
"I'm not joking with you, kid. Tell me where it is and I'd let you walk out that door with your friend."
"He doesn't have it anymore."
His gaze snapped to Kirby's.
"So you lost it?"
Ray glanced between the two guys. "Apparently so." He murmured.
The man glanced down at his wrist watch. His sleeve rolled up slightly, revealing a hint of grey on his arm.
Ray's breath caught. They were everywhere.
The man stood up and stretched his arms. Then, without a word of warning, he slapped Ray across the face.
He could feel blood flow into his mouth. His cheek stung terribly.
"I'll ask you one last time, where is it?"
"I don't know!" He coughed out.
Kirby was trembling next to him. "He really doesn't know, I swear. He called me to his place at midnight to look for it. Please…"
The man smoothed his hand in preparation for another lash.
"I believe you," he said to Kirby. "What if I tell you that with a phone call from me, your precious dying friend would be taken off life support? Would you tell me where it is then?"
Two other men, dressed in all black, walked into the room.
The guy in grey took off his wristwatch and set it on the table beside him.
"I don't know where the damn thing is! Leave her out of this!"
The man just stared with a sickly smirk on his face. He pulled out his phone and dangled it before them.
"Tell him what you told me." Kirby whispered.
"Huh?"
"About the other Sarah."
Ray glanced up. The armpits of his t-shirt were dark with perspiration.
"Go on." The man urged.
"Our friend… in the hospital has a Reflection here with us. I think she took it."
"You think? Would you be sure if your friend dies?"
Ray jerked against his restraints. "I didn't see her take it, okay. I just felt she did."
He turned to one of the men in black. "Find her and retrieve it." To them, he said, "If you're lying, your friend still dies, get that?"
"Take them back to the hospital." He said to the remaining man.
His grin was the last thing Ray saw before the sack was brutally pulled over his head.
They were hefted roughly and thrown into a car. He could hear a few men talking but couldn't make sense of what was being said.
The ride was smooth, no bumps but many turns.
When they reached the hospital, their faces were uncovered and they were thrown out of the car.
Ray tried to study the plate of the receding car. He only got the last three digits.
Kirby rolled to his back and stared up at the night sky.
"I told you to throw that piece of junk away. If you'd listen to me more-"
"It's not a piece of junk - if it was, the Glass Order or whatever he called them, wouldn't want it so bad."
"What is it, then? I've looked at it, but I still can't find anything fascinating about it."
Ray groaned.
"That's your business. I've never been slapped like that in my life before."
Kirby tried laughing but couldn't.
"Man, I was scared. I nearly pissed myself."
Ray turned to look at him.
Two of them just laid there, in the center of the road, staring up at the sky.
The hospital's lights glared down at them.
"My hands are terribly bruised. We might have to check ourselves in."
Ray bit his lower lip.
"I'm not going in there again. That ugly nurse works for them. And you know what that means, right?"
"What does it mean?"
"That Sarah isn't safe there as well. We have to get her out."
Kirby sat up. "How do you propose we do that? She's probably in the ICU."
Ray ran a hand through his hair.
"My dad should be here by now."
"Would you tell him about the-"
"No. He'll probably go nuts when I mention the mirror shard."
"Then, what good will he do us?"
Ray threw his hands up. "What good will anyone do us? As we speak, Mrs. Tolen is on a plane with the fake Sarah - who probably took the shard."
"But, Ray?"
"What?"
"We can't lie down in the middle of the road forever."
Ray heaved a heavy sigh.
"Even the stars look like mirror bits from down here."
Kirbt tilted his head.
"Nah, it looks like a kite. Look, it's got four corners."
Ray tilted his head as well.
"Not a kite. It looks like my mirror fragment."
Kirby rubbed his eyes. "Can't you ever stop talking about that thing? It's like it possessed you with some sort of obsessive spirit. Even a can of soda would look like it."
"No, Kirb. It does look like it. Look closer."
Kirby fell silent.
"Maybe… it does." He finally admitted after a while.
Then, two of them got up, dusted themselves and entered the hospital.
At the desk was the same woman… but different. Her lipstick was smooth, not smeared. And, there was no grey mark on her arm.
"Hello. Are you here to see a patient?"
Both of them exchanged glances. The voice was the same, but everything about her was different.
Her eyes were blank, like that of an employee that had seen too much to be interested in the clients, whereas the other one's gaze had glinted with interest.
"Yes."
Her green eyes flickered to the bruises on their arms.
"Rough night? Got into a fight?" She asked casually as she printed a form for them.
"You could say that." Kirby said.
"Ray!" He spun around at the sound of his father's voice.
Darrick was dressed in a casual shirt that wasn't cuffed and jeans. He looked… worried. Did he speak with the doctor? Did things get worse?
He could feel Kirby's hand on his shoulder.
"Didn't you say Sarah was admitted here?"
"I did, dad."
"I've asked around. They're saying there's no such patient, that no one of her description was admitted."
He wished a black hole would suck him up just then.