I’m going to try to be quick with this because I don’t know how much time I have left here; sometimes he’s early and that has traumatized…too many people to count. My name is Derek Murphy and I’ve been stuck here…Well… This “here” for 30 years. Shit, I’ve already screwed this up… Try to follow me on this, I’m almost out of time.
When I was 9 years old, my family moved into a house that was basically in the middle of nowhere, but I remember hearing my folks talk about how it was a steal. There was nothing around but farmland but the odd thing, at least at first, was that nothing would grow. The tree line was on 3 sides of the land, but nothing grew in the soil except some really shitty grass that was mostly weeds, and even then, my dad never had to mow. Even houseplants died… This is always already taking way too long, but if I don’t finish…
There was at least one mirror on every wall in the house, but someone put them on with some heavy duty industrial glue or something, so we just left them up. What I immediately didn’t like were the ones in my room. My brothers and sister had mirrors in their rooms as well, but mine were right next to my bed, in a corner so that you got that infinite window look, sort of like pointing a camera at a TV screen. That was the first time I saw him.
At first I thought it was a dream; I woke up facing the mirrors and thought I saw movement. It didn’t register at first because I was still mostly asleep, but he kept getting he closer. When he didn’t move, he was standing completely still, arms at his sides, and black… The whole figure was devoid of color, save for the yellow eyes. Not a vibrant yellow either…sort of a brownish yellow. I remember falling out of bed trying to get away from him, but as he got closer to me, his arms started to lift, then they extended, reaching for me like he was reaching to pick up a baby. And the sound…fuck… That sound… Metal on metal… Nails on a chalkboard… Dragging a fork across teeth… All rolled into one, only ear piercingly loud. I saw the hands coming through the mirror but I was frozen in place. I pissed myself in fear and I think I lost consciousness as he began to pull me into the mirror.
I woke up on a floor somewhere I had never been. Everything was quiet, and everything was wrong. It was broad daylight and even though it was snowing out, the windows were open. I heard my mother call for me and I instinctively tan toward the sound. I find myself in a dark hallway with the glow of a television coming from the room at the end and I ran toward it, hoping this nightmare would end.
What I found was a chair set up in front of a TV with my mother sat in her favorite dress and the mirror man standing next to her, chewing the flesh from her shoulder. I tried to scream….my god I tried….I fucking tried! He turned to me with those piss yellow eyes and a smirk of jagged teeth covered in blood of my mother….I turned to run, but the door slammed shut. The television went dark, and I found myself in a pitch black room awaiting horrors I could never even fathom…. Then a dim light illuminated the black. Just enough for the TV screen to cast a reflection, and the hands reached for me again. This time, I kicked and screamed, but I don’t realized it was pointless. That was the last time I ever fought him. I’ve tried to be smarter.
It doesn’t matter how long I evade him, I’m only 9 when I get pulled back into the mirror. Then I start all over, but time keeps going by. Little things change, like people’s names or places where I go to dinner will be across town from the last time. I know it’s 2022. It still will be when he comes back for me. I should be a 50 year old man right now, but instead, I’m 39…. I’ve avoided him for 30 years, but I can’t run forever. He’s already consumed my wife and my family….I can’t fight him… I just have to keep moving next time… Don’t settle down… Sorry for the pace change. He’s coming. I can hear his sound. I’ve got this mirror covered, but not much longer… I’ll write again when I’m old enough. Remember to cover your mirrors in case he comes for you next. Goodbye.