Have you ever taken a deep stare into your reflection? Stared at it until your vision began to grow dark and blurry. Swirling shadows invading your mind, your reflections face changing, warping, growing unfamiliar. It’s scary, staring at yourself for too long. Your face growing black, growing darker, turning into something else. But that’s what I did. That’s how it all began.
I stared deep into my reflection, inspecting every aspect of it, peering into its mirrored world. I lifted my hand slowly, watching my reflection follow my lead in perfect sync. I closed one eye, then another and he did the same, my gaze analyzing every movement for any noticeable difference.
But there was none.
I let out a sigh as I began to back away from the mirror, disappointment covering my face. It was already dark and I would have to head to bed or face the wrath of my father so I brushed my teeth then changed into my pajamas. My eyes kept wandering back to the mirror, still hoping to catch any difference in movements but there was none. I began to feel childish, I was 12 now, much too old to believe in supernatural mirrors, I should be playing video games and sports like a normal kid, not standing in front of a mirror waiting for something to change, but then something did.
It happened as I was walking towards my bed, a little delay in my footsteps hardly noticeable but noticeable if you were a paranoid 12 year old keeping keen eyes on your mirror. I turned to the mirror, thinking I had just imagined the whole thing. Surely it was a figment of my imagination, there was no way my reflection was out of sync the one time that I was paranoid about it.
I warily took a step towards the mirror, then another, studying my reflections every move. Something did seem off. No, something was definitely off. I lifted a hand and so too did my reflection, but the angle seemed wrong, as if the hand was slightly lower than it should be, off by a half an inch, maybe a quarter of one. But it was definitely off.
“What in the?” I said astonished as I lifted my other hand towards the mirror, my reflection following, but not completely in sync. I wasn’t imagining it. Slowly, I reached my hand closer and closer to the mirror and just as I was about to touch it, my reflection blinked.
I screamed.
My dad burst into the room seconds after I screamed as I jumped away from the mirror and cowered behind my bed.
“What the hell Mike?!” Dad screamed as he scanned the room.
“The mirror!” I cried, “there’s something wrong with the mirror!”
He approached the mirror and stared into it, his reflection following his every move perfectly, he placed his hand on it, then turned to me, anger now present on his face.
“There’s nothing wrong with that goddamn mirror!”
I took a step towards it. Maybe it was only my reflection, I thought, maybe only my reflection was delayed. But as I walked towards the mirror, there was no difference in strides between me and my reflection.
“Go to bed,” My dad ordered as he began to stomp away, muttering “damn kid.
”
I sighed and turned towards my bed, still wary of the mirror, and began to obey him when I noticed my reflection’s lips curling into a smile.
I gasped. “Dad!” I said, fear present in my voice.
He turned around and gave me one of his best death stares, a stare that told you you were on dangerous territory, a stare that would soon turn into a hit.
“Goodnight,” I mumbled.
He slammed the door.
I woke up to the sound of banging. My eyes shot open and scanned the room, they were terrified of what they saw. My reflection was pounding on the glass, tears rolling down his, or my, or its face. He was screaming yet I could not hear a thing, nevertheless, I could still read his lips.
“Get me out! Get me out! Get me out!” he was screaming as his fists pounded on the glass. I was too stunned to move, frozen in fear, my heart pounding faster and faster until I could taste blood in my mouth. My eyes opened wider and wider, bewildered at the sight they beheld. My reflection pounded harder, more frantically. Blood began to form on his hands, then spilled down them, then splattered all over the mirror, painting his world.
His face began to contort with anger as he pleaded for my help but I did not move an inch. His body grows red, malice filling his eyes, his hatred piercing my soul. That’s when he smiles, that same wide grin as before, as he clamps his teeth on his finger biting hard, then harder and harder until his mouth closes shut. I can almost hear the noise, the tearing of flesh and shattering of bones. Then he smiles again, blood now covering his teeth and spilling down his lip, as he writes with his half torn finger: “I’m here.”
I woke up to the sounds of my own screams. Jumping out of my bed, my eyes shot to the mirror but my reflection seemed normal. I quickly quieted down, realizing that it had been a nightmare but it was too late, I already heard my dads feet pounding down the hall.
The door slammed open.
“Dammit Mike!” his face already swelling with anger, “what the Hell is it now?!”
“T-the mirror,” I stuttered, “A nightmare-”
I couldn’t even finish my sentence before my dad’s hand struck like a viper, my face snapping to the side from the impact as I struggled to stay upright.
“Wake me again and I’ll beat yer ass.” My dad said coldly as he stormed out of the room, his feeting creating earthquakes on the floor.
Tears formed in my eye as my fear developed into anger. An anger that didn’t last long when I saw from my peripheral vision, that my reflection was looking towards me with a smile.
I got back into bed, nervous and afraid but unable to do anything unless I wanted to face my father’s wrath. I pulled the cover up and over my head, my body trembling slightly from fear as my eyes began to grow heavy, then heavier until they were unable to remain open, but as my eyelids began to close, I could see the reflection of myself that was lying in bed, stand up and walk towards the mirror.
When I woke up, I did not feel the soft and comfy mattress on my body, I felt something else, something colder. Slowly, my eyes began to open, beginning to take everything in.
That’s weird, I thought as I saw my bed to my side, I fell asleep on the floor? That couldn’t be right, I specifically remembered wrapping myself in my blanket and sleeping in my bed. Maybe I rolled off? But I’m sure I would have woken up to the impact of hitting the floor.
That’s when I looked towards my leg, feeling a strange pulling sensation. My eyes shot open and terror coursed through my body as I began to kick and scream, begging my dad for help without worrying about the punishment.
My reflection smiled down at me, his teeth shining in the darkness as he continued to pull on my leg, dragging me towards the mirror.
I screamed, I kicked, I spat and scratched but the being had otherworld strength. He didn’t even budge as my feet crashed into his arm. Wiggling frantically, I dug my nails into the floor, hard enough for them to peel backwards and causing some to break off. Blood began to pour from my fingertips as I grasped for any sort of leverage, but it was a futile attempt.
“I got you!” My reflection mimicked, its voice sounded distorted, but unmistakably like my own.
“Help me!” I screamed for my dad and he answered as I heard the door knob rattle… But it didn’t open.
My eyes grew wide with shock as I noticed the door had been locked. I never locked the door because my dad did not allow it, my reflection must have done it! The thought of him roaming around my room as I slept, quietly locking the door, and gently lowering me off my bed and onto the floor made me panic, and my screams grew in desperation.
My reflection used his other hand to grab my wrist, lifting my struggling body off the ground and towards the mirror which I could see had a circle of blood, like a portal. I screamed as the realization of what he was going to do dawned on me.
“No, don’t!” I cried.
“Bye, bye,” He mocked as he threw me into the mirror, my body going straight through as if there was nothing there. I hit the ground and pain shot through my limbs but I quickly rose to my feet, running towards the mirror in desperation. But my reflection used his shirt to wipe off a section of the blood and the mirror reformed, growing solid again.
I crashed into the mirror, my hands pounding on the glass as my dad pounded harder and harder on the bedroom door. I saw my reflection sit on the floor, smiling at me one last time before he began to scream, mimicking how I acted moments ago. My bedroom door slammed open and relief filled my veins as I saw my dad barge into the room.
“Dad help me!” I screamed, “that isn’t me!”
But he didn’t seem to notice my pleas, his face filled with fear as he saw me pounding on the mirror and he walked in front of my reflection, in a defensive stance. He was protecting my reflection.
Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I realized that he did not know the son he was protecting was an imposter. The blood, I could use the blood I realized. Blood still dripped from my recently torn fingernail and I began to draw a circle around the mirror as my dad darted back out of the room.
I had to make it out, I had to show him that that was an imposter. I continued to draw the circle, wincing at the pain when my dad burst into the room again, holding a hammer.
My eyes widened. “Don’t!” I screamed as he ran towards me, lifting his hammer. I glanced at my reflection one last time, watching him wave goodbye to me with a smile curled on his lips as my dad swung at the mirror and it shattered.
I don’t even know how long it’s been. It feels like days, maybe even months, that I had been trapped in here. Sitting alone in my room, unable to leave it. It’s like the room is the only thing that exists in this place. When I open the door, there’s nothing but an endless void, when I open the window, it’s the same. Now that the mirror is gone I can’t even peer through into my own world. I am completely alone.
Everything here still works though. The lights still switch on, the electricity still works, and so does the computer. I don’t know if I have signal though, it says the wifi is on but I don’t know if it’ll connect to the outside world. I’m typing this out to tell you what happened. To hope that somehow my family realizes that the man from the mirror is not me. And to warn you, please, be wary of your reflection and for the love of God do not let it out.