“Go to your mirror and draw this symbol on it." He handed her a small card that showed an eye in a circle with a wavy line through it.
”What's this for?"
”It's to help you. Go on."
She frowned, then went to the mirror.
”No," Skulduggery said, "a full length mirror. Do you have one?"
”Yeah," Stephanie said. Still with no clue why she was doing this, she opened her wardrobe and used the chalk to copy the symbol on to the mirror on the other side of the door. When she was done, she handed the card and the chalk back to Skulduggery. He thanked her, put them away and then looked at the mirror.
”Surface speak, surface feel, surface think, surface real." He looked at her again. "Could you wipe the symbol off now, please?"
”What is going on? What are you doing? Did you just cast a spell on my mirror?"
”Yes. Could you wipe the symbol off?"
”Well what does the spell do?" she asked as she used her sleeve to erase the chalk.
”You'll see," he answered. "Are you wearing a watch?"
”My watch broke. I wore it swimming. I thought it was waterproof.”
“Was it?"
”As it turned out, no. Why do you need to know the time?"
”Oh, I don't. Touch the mirror."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
”Touch it."
Stephanie hesitated, then did as he said and reached out, touching her fingers lightly against the mirror. But when she pulled back, her reflection did not. She watched in amazement as her reflection blinked, as if awakening from a trance, then dropped its arm to its side and looked around. Then, very slowly, it stepped out through the mirror.
”Oh my God..." Stephanie said, moving back as the reflection joined her in the room. "Oh my God," she said again, because she couldn't think of anything else to say.
Skulduggery looked on from the window. "It will carry on with your life while you're away, so you won't be missed."
Stephanie stared. "She's me."
”Not she, it. And it isn't you, it's a surface copy. It walks like you, talks like you, behaves like you, and it should be enough to fool your parents and anyone else it comes into contact with. When you return, it goes back into the mirror and the experiences and the memories it has made transfer to you."
”So... so I can be in two places at once?"
”Precisely. It can't spend too long in other people's company or they'll start to notice that things aren't quite right, and it would never fool a mage, but it is ideal for your needs.”