See Part 1 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/xey0km/i_inherited_a_cursed_family_heirloom_part_1/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
________ Part 2 ___________
I stood over the stove, frying bacon with my mind reeling when I heard the front door open and shut.
“Honeyyy, I’m home!” I heard my husband, Mark, call out. I glanced at the kitchen clock. Right at 10:00pm. Mark had been working late and that meant late dinners for us.
“What is this?” I heard Mark ask, as I entered into the entry way of our home. I saw Mark holding the large mirror in his hands, looking at it with such curiosity. My stomach tightened and I felt bile rising in the back of my throat.
“Nothing. Ready to eat? Breakfast for dinner!” I said, doing my best to seem normal and not like I was going to vomit.
“Hmmm. Sure smells good!” He grinned. “But, I know you. What’s up? Why dodging questions about the mysterious mirror?”
I felt my fake smile drop. All evening I considered what to do with the stupid thing. I had settled on smashing it to pieces in the backyard and burning the shattered remains until my mother texted me reminding me to send her pictures of it on display in our home.
So, it sat on the tile floor. Learned against the side table my mother had mentioned hanging it above. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. It was the best place for it.
“Mom came by.” I stated nonchalantly. “It’s a house warming gift.” I shrugged and headed back to the kitchen to plate out meals.
“Your mom couldn’t just write your name on a gift tag like a normal person?” Mark chuckled. I turned to see him standing in the kitchen, large creepy mirror in tow.
“What?” I asked, still feeling just as confused as I had since my mother’s visit ended.
“She wrote your name on the mirror with… like, her finger or something.” He stated looking at the glass with an odd expression.
“Huh?” I said as I stomped over to see what he was talking about.
Just when I thought the knot in my gut couldn’t get any bigger, there it was. “K-A-R-L-E-E” written across the mirror in what did appear to be finger smudges.
I felt all the blood in my body drain out of me. That was not there just a few hours ago. I stared at that thing forever before I brought it in the house. The glass was flawless, not a smudge or spot in sight. Even the fore-mentioned crack was gone.
“Babe, you good? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Mark’s voice brought me out of my trans-like state. The confusion engraved in his expression.
“You know mom, always doing weird stuff like that.” I tried to laugh it off. “Come on, let’s eat!” I said as I grabbed our loaded plates and headed to the living room.
I heard Mark set the mirror down on the kitchen floor before following behind me.
“Kari, what’s going on?” His voice was serious now. I felt his touch on my shoulder as he turned me to look at him after I set our plates on the coffee table.
I felt the tears burn as they started to fall from my eyes. “I’m just stressed. I’m trying to work from home and nothing is going right. The internet is still spotty, boss isn’t happy I’ve missed two deadlines during this move. It’s just stress.” I said as I wiped away the few tears that had escaped.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mark. I truly trusted him with my life. There was just some part of me that was not ready to open up about this whole dilemma. I just couldn’t. Not now. Not yet.
Mark pulled me into a tight hug, a hug that, before tonight, felt like it could’ve solved anything. “I’ll call the internet provider first thing tomorrow.” He promised before giving me a peck on the head.
After eating and watching a couple episodes of our favorite show, we headed to bed where Mark was out-cold before his head hit the pillow.
It took me longer. Much longer than usual to sleep. As I drifted off, I could’ve swore I heard “Soon Karlee” whispered in my ear by a raspy voice.
That night, I dreamt of a dark room. I was cold, alone and scared. The strong smell of sulfur burned my nose and eyes.
“Help me!” Cried a strange, foreign voice. “Help me, Karlee!”
“NO!” I screamed out as sat up straight in bed. My head was pounding, my heart was racing and I was drenched in sweat.
“Babe?” Mark’s groggy voice came over me like a warm blanket. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just a dream.” He said as he pulled me into him.
My mouth was so dry it that felt like I had sand in my throat. “I just need a drink.” I managed to croak out as pulled away and stood on my shaking legs.
Mark offered to go with me but I shook my head ‘no’ and headed to the kitchen. I just needed a minute to calm down. And a Diet Coke.
As I entered into the kitchen, my body came to a complete stop when my eyes fell on the mirror. I had forgotten Mark had left it in there, on the floor leaned against the cabinets.
I slowly approached it. I wanted to kick it. To throw it. Anything to get rid of this wicked thing.
Instead, my eyes were drawn to the fact my reflection wasn’t clear. Like a film was over the glass.
I felt myself drop to my knees, slowly crawling over to the mirror to get a closer look.
My blood ran cold.
The entire glass was covered in handprints.
I jerked back from the mirror as I heard footsteps approach me from behind. I nearly came out of skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I shrieked just as I looked up to realize it was Mark.
“Geez, Kari!” He yelled as he jumped a bit in response to my scream. “What is going on with you?!”
“The mirror!” I practically cried. “Look! Someone touched it!” Mark looked over towards the mirror with scowl. “How do you know someone touched it?”
“Look at the handprints! They are too small to be yours and I have not touched it! Someone is here, Mark!” I felt myself starting to cry again. Mark looked back to the mirror and squinted his eyes, “What handprints, Kari?”
“The ones on the…” I felt my sentence trail off as looked back the mirror. It couldn’t be. The mirror was spotless again. Not a single imperfection in sight.
Mark was silent as he looked back down at me. It wasn’t until this moment I realized I was still sitting on the kitchen floor.
“They were there, Mark.” I bellowed. “And what about my name? It’s gone! You saw it too!”
“I wiped it off with my sleeve before I sat in the floor earlier…” Mark said, looking at me in a way I had never seen him look at me before. Almost like he was looking at a complete stranger. “I’m sorry…. I just had a nightmare and must have psyched myself out…” I mumbled as I looked down. I felt absolutely insane.
“Come on,” Mark said as he reached for my arms to help lift me off the kitchen floor “let’s get you to bed.” He swept me up into a fireman’s carry.
I felt myself relax a bit against him as he carried me. As he turned to head to the bedroom, I could not resist the urge to look back at the mirror one last time.
I could not be sure, but I could have sworn I caught just a glimpse of someone in the mirror. Actually, not just someone. It looked like my own reflection… staring at me with a blank expression before vanishing completely.