Since I was around seven, I avoided mirrors at all costs. I had a reason to do that. It started when we stayed at a hotel with my family on vacation. It was a really great time, until our second night there.
I woke up around midnight because I heard noises coming from the bathroom. It sounded like some kind of animal crawling on something. I thought maybe there was a rat in the hotel, so I went there to check it.
As I opened the bathroom door, the sound stopped. At that point, I was sure it was a rat, and it just ran away as it heard me coming. I looked around, and hadn’t found anything. I even checked the bathtub.
I turned back to the door to leave the bathroom, but then saw something from the corner of my eye. I looked in the mirror, and saw the reflection of a tall, dark figure standing behind me. I immediately turned back to see that figure, but there was nothing behind me. I screamed and ran out of the bathroom, waking up my parents.
I told them what I saw in the mirror. Of course, they didn’t believe me. I was a child. They told me I was just imagining things, and that there’s nothing in the mirror, no monsters, no ghosts, nothing.
They wanted me to go back to the bathroom, to show me that there was nothing in there, but I refused. After that, I didn’t go to the bathroom until my parents covered the mirror with something.
We went home about a week later. I already forgot about what I saw that night. My father parked the car in the garage, and we went inside. Before lunch, I hurried to our bathroom to wash my hands. As soon as I entered the room, I saw that thing again in the mirror above the sink. It stood about two meters behind me. This time I saw it better. It had two long arms and legs. Its eyes were glowing in white. Its head looked like a dog’s skull.
As I turned back, nothing was behind me. I ran back to my parents, screaming again.
“I saw it again,” I cried. “I saw the creature in the mirror again.”
My father hurried to the bathroom to make sure everything was okay. Of course, he didn’t find anything. He didn’t see the creature, but I know I did. I had nightmares for weeks after that.
I avoided all kinds of mirrors since then. The next time I saw a mirror again, I was already 8. We were going somewhere with the class, traveling by school bus. I sat in one of the front seats, talking with my classmates.
For some reason, I looked up at the driver’s mirror and saw the creature again, standing a few seats behind me. I almost threw up from the fear, seeing those evil eyes and head.
My classmate, who sat beside me, noticed that I was scared and asked what had happened.
“Do you see that in the mirror?” I asked.
“See what?” he asked. He didn’t see it. I wasn’t even surprised at that point.
I looked down at my shoes for the rest of the ride, too scared to look near the mirror again. On our way back, I sat at the back of the bus, so I couldn’t see the mirror by accident.
I also realized that the thing was getting closer every time I saw a mirror. When I saw it for the first time in that hotel, it was about two meters behind me. It got closer by a few centimeters in my house, then at the bus, it was less than two meters behind me.
More than ten years had gone by since then. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of mirrors over the last decade. The last time I saw it, it was about 30 centimeters behind me.
I was depressed at that point, not knowing what to do. I hoped that at some point I just stop seeing that thing, but it got closer and closer. One night, I almost blinded myself with a kitchen knife, hoping that it stops the thing. Luckily, I changed my mind.
Last week, while I tried to sleep, I heard glass shattering from the bathroom. I went there to check it. The mirror was, of course, covered with a piece of cloth.
I looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. There wasn’t anything made out of glass in the bathroom. It was the mirror, I thought.
I grabbed the cloth on the mirror with shaking hands, sweating. I quickly threw it to the ground, revealing the broken mirror. It looked like somebody had smashed it with a hammer.
On every shard of the mirror, I could see the reflection of the creature. I could even feel its breath on the back of my neck. I slowly turned back, knowing that there was nothing behind me. I was wrong.
For the first time ever, I saw that thing standing in front of me, and not just in the mirror. I think I lost consciousness after a few seconds. I woke up hours later, when my parents found me lying in the bathroom.
They thought that I was the one who broke the mirror. I denied it, but they slowly started to believe I was crazy. They sent me to the hospital, but the doctors told me I was healthy, both physically and mentally.
I saw the creature a few times since then in the mirror, but I hadn’t turned back, because I knew that if I do, it’ll be there. Last time it was only a few centimeters behind me. He could almost touch me.
I’m afraid of what will happen if I see a mirror again. I’m sure it will kill me. Maybe I should really blind myself to avoid that, but I can’t do it. I need to find a way to expel this creature who is haunting me, or else I’ll be dead soon.