Aubrie’s day had, despite the surprise early morning visit (or rather, unexpected overnight stay), been fairly normal. She told Ms Silvey that she had been rather sick with food poisoning, that the rucksack had been left behind in her rush to get home, and that she was all better now and she had not intended to worry her so.

Ms Silvey had initially just been relieved. Apparently, missing teenagers were a worryingly common occurrence in Orthank, and she’d been worried that Aubrie might have gone missing. Aubrie promised to call in sick next time. And was then soundly scolded by Ms Silvey, who felt Aubrie wasn’t taking the situation seriously enough.

Afterwards, she got to work. She was delighted to see her regulars, most of all Alarie, but in all other regards, it was just an ordinary day.

When evening arrived, she headed over to Nocoeur High. As it was a Wednesday, she had geography and history, which were the only other classes she shared with Rella.

Rella had not noticed Aubrie’s disappearance into Soporifick, and why would she? They barely knew each other and Rella had been expecting to next see her on Wednesday anyway.

The two chatted, but when Rella asked about meeting up, Aubrie realized she’d have the same problem as with Alarie – with Soporifick in the air, she couldn’t really make any immediate plans.

She needed to resolve the Soporifick situation quickly. She texted Geno and requested they go to Soporifick tonight. Geno responded quite quickly.

After class, she waited at the school entrance, for Geno to show up. When he did, he tapped on the glass doors and waved at her. She let him in.

“To be honest,” he said, as he entered, “these night classes make getting into Soporifick way easier.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You can only enter Soporifick through mirrors in workplaces at night,” he explained. “The only workplace I go to is school, so I’ve been breaking and entering to get into Soporifick.”

Aubrie’s smile twitched. “I see.” So, Geno was technically a criminal, breaking and entering as he pleased… “Since I take every night class, I guess you won’t have to break and enter anymore.”

“You’ll let me in every night?” Geno asked, surprised, but pleased. She nodded. It was the least she could do to protect him (from himself, she was starting to suspect).

“So which mirror have you been using?” Aubrie asked.

“There’s a mirror in the teacher’s room. We’re going there,” Geno answered.

“And you’re certain any mirror at any time won’t work?”

“Um. Yeah,” Geno answered. “’Cause that’s how all the stories about Soporifick work.” She suspected that he hadn’t actually tried or experimented with mirrors, but she chose to let the subject lie for now. He was still far more experienced with Soporifick, even if her confidence in him was starting to wane.

Ms Ridgeway had not yet left for the day, so they snuck into the teacher’s room quietly, hoping she wouldn’t come along and catch them in the act.

“I have to ask,” Aubrie spoke up. “How did you end up in Soporifick if you don’t have a workplace?”

Geno laughed nervously. “Before the summer break, I might have tried to change my school report before my brother saw it,” he answered. There it was, his brazen honesty once again. She tried to hide her smile by covering her mouth.

“Geno, you’re really something,” she told him.

“I know,” he answered smugly, entering the teachers’ bathrooms. There was a large mirror above the twin sinks. He held out his hand. “After you, my lady.”

“Hm?” she asked, looking at his hand dubiously.

“We’re going through the mirror,” he told her, “to get into Soporifick. People like us can return without needing The Monster in the Mirror.”

She looked at the mirror. With it being above waist height, it would be a climb to get through. She touched the mirror and to her surprise, the surface rippled like water. She watched, stunned. She knew she’d been dragged through a mirror two nights ago, but that mirrors now acted like portals instead of, well, solid, reflective surfaces, was an impossible sight to behold.

“Go on,” Geno said encouragingly. She took his hand, carefully climbed onto the sink, then stepped through the mirror. On the other side was a red mockery of the teachers’ bathroom. With the bathroom door open, she could see the teacher’s room and the windows to the outside. Soporifick’s purple sky was outside. She was pushed off the sink and she stumbled onto the floor. Geno climbed out of the mirror after her.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were still sitting there,” he apologized.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him, getting to her feet. She looked around. “So what now?”

“First of all, we gotta put on our secret identities,” Geno answered, as he exited the bathrooms and threw his rucksack onto the meeting table in the teachers’ room.

“Our?” she asked.

“Well, you know, we can’t have people wondering why Aubrie Sanders is appearing in their dreams. You can get your own clothes later, but I went ahead and got you a mask and hat,” Geno told her. “I think red’s going out of fashion, so you can get everything for super cheap right now.”

“Why red…?” Aubrie asked, as she accepted the mask and hat.

“Red’s the colour of heroes, duh,” Geno answered. Aubrie considered this.

“Good point,” she decided to agree. She tied her hair into a small ponytail, then put the hat and mask on. “This won’t really hide much of my identity,” she told him. Geno just shrugged.

“Most people dismiss what happens in Soporifick as a dream anyway, so we’ll be fine,” Geno replied. “Can you turn around…?”

“Why? Oh.” Aubrie quickly turned around, allowing Geno to get changed.

“I asked Rella about the Red Gent today,” she told him conversationally. “I thought you were making it up about him being famous, but Rella has heard of him. Said he’s a real popular urban myth among our peers.”

“Told ya. Even if I only live in people’s dreams, that’s good enough for me,” Geno claimed.

“It’s hardly just dreams if you’re a conversation starter,” she told him. “And no offence, I prefer you in my reality than in my dreams.”

“How is that offensive?” Geno asked.

“Never mind.”

When silence filled the room, she asked, “Done?”

“Done,” Geno agreed. She turned around, and there stood the so-called Red Gent, putting his civies in his rucksack.

“So, here’s the plan,” he told her. “We’re going to prioritize finding people lost in Soporifick. We’ll probably run into some andahts, and if that happens, try using your powers. You can make forcefields, right?”

Aubrie held out her hand and imagined it appearing. The bubble did, starting small and floating above her palm, then growing to encompass herself and Geno. She sensed she could still easily make it bigger. For now, she let it pop. “Right,” she confirmed. Geno was smiling, impressed.

“Sweet. Well, let’s get going. There haven’t been any new reports of missing people, so we’re gonna patrol.”

“How do you follow missing people reports?” Aubrie asked.

“My brother’s a detective,” Geno answered, and Aubrie had to pause.

“Like… A private detective?” she asked.

“No, like a police detective?” Geno replied. “Which is pretty cool, but he’s my brother, so he’s still lame as all heck.”

She looked at him, horrified. “But- you broke into Nocoeur! Multiple times! Once to steal your report! And you told him you ran away from home!”

As if realizing his mistake, Geno let out a pained sigh.

“Look, Aubrie, I ain’t gonna lie,” Geno spoke and his voice sounded fragile. “I’m no saint. Before Soporifick, I was kind of a jerk, I guess. And maybe that’s why things aren’t going great for me. But my brother’s way too controlling and uptight. And I hated having to move to Orthank, just to increase my chances of getting into high school, and I kinda hate that I have to go to high school.” He paused. “But then I fell into Soporifick. And I… I just suddenly realized the world’s so much bigger than just me. I was so bogged down with all the crap happening to me, I didn’t notice everyone else or anyone else’s lives.” He paused and lowered his head, as if ashamed.

“So… you’re saying you’ve changed?” Aubrie gently prompted. He turned to her, a small smile on his face.

“Well, I like to think so. But I still play up the bad boy image, so I can keep going to Soporifick and keep people off my trail.”

She couldn’t help but smile with amusement. “What people?”

“You never know. I just figure… If I’m a superhero, then there’s gotta be super villains out there, right? I should keep my identity secret from them. Both when I’m running around as the Red Gent and when I’m just being me.”

“Smart,” she agreed. Overly cautious and presumptuous, but not entirely stupid either. “So, Geno Keyes continues being a bad boy by day, and the Red Gent remains a beacon of light by night?”

“Heh. You always flatter heroes, or am I special?”

Aubrie just laughed. She thought she was starting to understand what kind of person Geno was. “Ok, one last question,” she insisted. “How did your brother take your supposed running away?”

“Oh, we had a yelling match,” Geno replied, shrugging.

“Doesn’t arguing with him bother you?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine arguing with Al or Fay. Well, she also couldn’t imagine being so flippant towards them as to entirely disregard their thoughts and feelings.

“As said, he’s too controlling and way too uptight. Arguing with him is a great way to let off steam,” Geno dismissed, shrugging. He tried to play it cool, but the way he drew his eyebrows together and the absence of a smile, revealed what he really thought.

“What’s your brother’s name anyway?”

“Uri,” Geno answered.

“That’s a nice name,” Aubrie innocently said.

“You think? His nickname was urine all through school,” Geno argued. “Makes me look like I had the good name.”

“Oh. If you say so, Eugene,” Aubrie told him. Geno looked at her surprised, then rubbed his neck.

“Why d’you have to do me dirty like that?” he complained and she just smiled.

“I think they’re both nice names,” she told him honestly. He just shook his head.

“Country hick. You are definitely not city folk,” he told her. His tone was gentle and there was no malice. She smiled widely. “Anyway, shall we get going?” he asked, holding out a hand to her. Her smile faded.

“Do we have to hold hands?” she asked.

“I just need to have physical contact with you,” Geno replied dismissively. “Holding hands is the easiest way, why are you- oooooh. Um. Sorry. I’m so used to it, I forgot that- I guess you could hold onto my shoulder or something?”

She just shook her head. Right. This wasn’t a big deal.

“If we’re going to be working together, I can’t get embarrassed about holding hands. Let’s go,” she told him.

“So we are going to work together?” he asked, hopefully.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she replied, but her smile told him all he needed to know. He grinned, as the world became a swirl of colours once more.