The Girl in the Mirror

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own.

The silhouette was mine, but the girl staring back at me had death in her eyes. Her irises were black and her skin ghostly white. Her night gown was tattered and covered in stains. Her fingernails were torn, and her fingertips were caked in dried blood. Her reflection ricocheted off the mirrored walls of the room. She was on every side of me. I couldn't escape her stare. She stood there in silence as I was frozen in my own stance. I had nowhere to run. I could not escape her.

Her arm raised toward me. She pressed her hand against the glass. Her mouth opened as if she were screaming but I couldn't hear a sound. Both hands raised to the glass as she pounded against the mirrored walls. She slammed her hands harder until the walls began to crack around me. Her screams seeped through the broken glass. I covered my ears.

I had nowhere to run to. I was trapped with her in that room. She was desperately making her way out to me and I had no idea what her intentions were. The broken pieces fell to the ground. The crashes were loud as her screams echoed through the room. The darkness from behind the walls seeped into the space around me. She was coming for me…

I awoke with a start and sat up in bed. I looked around in the darkness as my eyes adjusted. The walls were bare in my new NYC apartment. The early morning city lights cascaded through my curtainless windows. I laid back and stared at the ceiling. My nerves were in high gear as I processed all the new occurrences that had transpired in the last few months. New apartment, new job, new city, and a whole new life. The only thing familiar was Adina, my long haired husky, fast asleep at the foot of the bed.

The next morning my nerves accelerated as I stepped out of the shower. My new suit hung from the hook on the back of the bathroom door. Steamed and pressed by the dry cleaning service offered in the building. One of the many perks of highrise living. I wiped the condensation off the bathroom mirror and stared at my reflection. I tried to recall the girl from my dream. The stress from the adjustment had gotten to me. It was affecting my sleep.

I had scoped out the walk to work when I first arrived. I was excited to try the downtown coffee shop on my way. I grabbed a danish and a fresh coffee and sat at the window. As I scrolled through the latest news on my phone, a text from my friend, Trish, popped up on the screen “Good luck on your first day, Kera. Drinks at my place after?”

“Sure thing,” I texted back. “See you soon!” As a therapist, Trish was helping me work through my nightmares a few nights a week. That night, however, we made plans to help her move into her new home.

I checked the time and finished up before I headed back out the door.

I worked on the 42nd floor in a highrise in downtown Manhattan. I landed a finance position for a popular law firm. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The kind of job the city girl gets in the movies, right before she heads into a wild city life adventure. I was excited to see where my story was headed. The beginning looked pretty promising.

I entered the building and scanned my employee card at the front desk. I headed to the elevators. The elevator walls were mirrored. I stared at my reflection as I thought about that girl again. The emptiness in her eyes stuck in my head. I couldn't shake it. I turned from my reflection and watched the floor buttons light up as the elevator went higher. The elevator eventually dinged, and the doors opened. I stepped onto the marble floor and made my way toward my new adventure.

After work, I hopped on the subway toward the outskirts of the city. From the station I took a car service to Trish’s house. She had moved to NY, months before I had, with her husband. “Just walk right in. I’m in the basement,” her text read as I walked up her drive. I opened the door and made my way through the front room. Boxes were stacked, scattered throughout the bare rooms. I zigzagged around them as I headed toward the basement door.

“Hello,” I called as I walked down the stairs.

She looked up at me. She was kneeled down in front of a storage container. “Hey,” she greeted. “How was your first day?”

“It was great,” I replied. “I met a lot of great people today.”

She stood up and wiped the dust off of her knees. “Let’s have that drink and celebrate.” She walked over to the wine rack and pulled out a cabernet. I followed her upstairs toward the kitchen. On the way there we passed the hallway where my reflection caught my eye. I stopped and pointed down the hall.

“Is that new,” I asked as I headed down the hall towards the tall mirror against the wall. I wasn't sure why, but I was mesmerized by it. My friend appeared in the hall with two glasses of wine. She handed me one and turned on the light. The mirror stood tall against the wall, surrounded by a white wooden frame.

“Yea,” she said. “I found it on sale online. Here, it comes in a sand color and gray.” She handed me her cellphone. I held it in my hand as I stared at the mirror. I could not understand why I was so drawn to it.

“The gray frame would go great in my room,” I said out loud.

“You should buy it. It’s a great mirror,” she replied. “You need to set up that apartment. It’s too empty.”

“You’re right, it would probably help with the nerves.” I followed her to the kitchen as I put in my information for the mirror.

The mirror had arrived toward the end of the week. I had purchased some wall decor and shelves. That weekend I set up my new place. I felt more at ease. My friend was right. I definitely needed to fill the apartment. I filled the bookshelf with all my childhood books and some decor I had taken from my old life. A chapter that was closed, and I was eager to move on from.

I unboxed my mirror and stood it up against the wall in my bedroom. As I admired how it looked, my attention was drawn to the crack in the corner. “Are you serious?” I was frustrated. It wasn’t very noticeable but I knew it would bother me. “Maybe they’ll send me a new one.” I shrugged it off for the time being and continued to set up the rest of the apartment.

That night I met the girl in the mirror again, except she was standing in my new mirror. A mist of darkness swirled around her as she slammed her fists against the glass. The mist seeped through the cracks, along with her screams. The cracks grew longer as she continued to slam on the glass. Once again I was frozen. I couldn't move or turn away from her. I was paralyzed; caught up in the death of her black eyes. This time, her fist busted through the glass. It slashed several deep cuts into her arm as she reached out and grabbed me. Her screams turned into our screams.

I shot up in bed. Sweat saturated my back and dripped down my chest. I rubbed my face to bring myself back to reality. I reached toward the end of the bed for Adina. I felt her fur reach my fingertips. Usually the softness of her coat brought me ease, however something was wrong. She was stiff. The warmth had escaped her body. I began to shake as I gently tried to nudge her awake. Panic hit as I jumped out of bed and yelled her name. “Adina, please wake up!” I screamed. Tears fell from my eyes as I wrapped her up and desperately tried to find any signs of life.

With her still in my arms, I reached for my phone. I searched for the nearest emergency vet clinic. My fingers trembled as I hit the call button.

“Southside Veterinary Clinic, how can I help you?”

“I don’t know what to do,” I screamed into my phone. “My dog isn't breathing. I think she’s dead.”

Adina’s body laid across the examination table as the vet listed out my options. My saturated eyes were glued to the cloak on my phone screen. 3:27 it read. It was the first time I had checked the time all night. Nothing had come back from her tests. They suggested an autopsy for further investigation, but she looked too peaceful laying there. My soul could not take the idea of them tearing her apart. I could not get her back, nor could I have saved her, so I let the mystery of her death be burned with her delicate body as I settled for cremation.

I made it back to my highrise in time to comb over the events before I had to get ready for work. I sat at the edge of my bed and looked over my reflection in the mirror. I did not recognize the girl that stared back at me. I had been fighting with my own mind and it was winning. The nightmares, the new environment, and then Adina. I was gradually slipping into a darkness I could not pull myself out of. I knew I had to get a handle on it before it consumed me entirely.

I took one last look at the broken girl in the mirror, but then something else caught my eye. The small chip had grown to a larger crack across the corner of my mirror. I stood up and got closer to examine it. I had heard of a car window continuing to break after a chip, but was not aware of a mirror doing the same. I examined the crack a little more, but the crack was the least of my worries. I decided to put it off until later.

I took a personal day that morning. I had not gotten any sleep and I knew I had to create a plan to deal with what was going on inside of my head. I decided to reach out to Trish to get some feedback from her, as well as maybe some referrals to any therapists in my area. I called her office at first but her receptionist said she had not been in. That was strange for Trish. She took a lot of remote sessions, however, she always did them from her office. She was huge on separating work and home, and always said it was important for our mental health.

I called her cellphone, but she did not answer. I tried her landline phone. It picked up but I was not greeted. “Trish,” I asked. Only silence came from the other line. “Trish, are you there?” I asked again. I heard her voice but it was cutting in and out. Static rose from the other end.

“The mirror…. Dark…” Her voice trailed in and out and the static grew louder.

“Trish, what's going on? Is something wrong with your phone? Call me on my cell.”

Suddenly the static stopped. “Kera,” she said weakly

“Trish? What's wrong?” I felt my throat tighten at the sound of her voice. She sounded scared and as if she had been crying?

“Kera, I don’t think I’m alone here.” she whispered. The call cut out and I was left with the dial tone. I heard a cracking sound and looked up to see the crack in the mirror grow and web out. My reflection flickered from light to dark. My bedroom light was on, but my reflection was me sitting in the dark. I jumped up and backed out of the room. I looked down at my phone as it began to ring. It was Trish.

I answered it. “Hello, Trish? Please tell me you're ok!”

First silence, then screaming as if it was coming from another room then where the phone was.

“Trisha!” I yelled into my phone. The screaming stopped. Silence filled my ears for a few brief moments. Suddenly, I heard barking in the background. Trish did not have a dog. I hung the phone up and grabbed my coat as I headed toward the door.

The subway car could not move fast enough. I had scheduled my driver to pick me up while I made my way to the terminal. I tracked its location to see how soon it would arrive. The driver pulled up as I made my way off the terminal and to the roadway. I gave him the address and tried to call Trish back but she didn't answer.

“It’s the Mirror.” I said to myself.

“I'm sorry , it's what,” the driver asked me.

“I’m sorry Im just thinking out loud.” ‘How is this happening,’ I quietly thought to myself. ‘This can not be real. This was something out of a horror movie.’

When I arrived at Trish's house it was quiet. The screaming that I had heard on the phone should have been loud enough to alarm a neighbor, but no one was around. I tried the front door but it was locked. “Trish,” I called out. “Trish answer the door,” I demanded. I pounded on the door.

I looked around to see if any neighbors had popped their head out at my pounding, but nobody budged. The silence was deafening. I walked around the house to find an open window. The window to her basement, facing her backyard, was wide open. I easily slid the screen over and climbed inside.

The basement was dark so I used the light on my phone. I walked over to the basement light and pulled on the string hanging from the ceiling, but it did not turn on. “Trish,” I called again.

I made my way up the stairs. The whole house was dark. I tried every light switch but none of the lights turned on. I walked toward the kitchen when a flash of light caught my eye. I froze for a brief second until I realized that it was my light reflecting off the mirror in the hallway.

The glass had shattered. Cracks had woven and webbed the entire mirror. The reflection was distorted.

The light on my phone began to flicker. The low battery alert flashed across my screen. “That’s impossible, its been charging all morning.” The light finally went out and my screen went black.

“What the hell,” I exclaimed. It took a second to adjust to the dark but the light from outside gave a low illumination. It suddenly hit me that it was oddly dark inside the house for it being day time. It was overcast and raining outside, however it still should have lit the rooms up enough.

I tried to decipher the unexplainable physics of the situation until I heard barking. It came from the end of the hall, but nothing stood between me and the mirror.

The barking continued as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Screams echoed from within the walls. Loud at first, then they faded in and out. I saw movement in the mirror and looked up. My reflection was gone. The mirror had shifted into a window of darkness. Standing there behind the broken glass was Adina. However, instead of a well natured, gentle dog, stood a beast that was snarling and growling in my direction.

“Adina” I screamed as the tears poured from my eyes. My chest tightened and I lost my breath. I fell to my knees. The creature behind the glass began to jump and claw at the cracks trying to escape. I couldn't run, and I couldn't move. I pressed my back against the wall and brought my knees to my chest. “STOP!” I yelled through my tears.

I dropped my phone and covered my ears. The barking wove in and out of the screams. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stood frozen in fear. The lights flickered throughout the house. I shut my eyes and waited to be consumed by the chaos rushing around me.

Then the flickering and noises stopped simultaneously. I kept my ears covered and my eyes shut.

“KERA!” Trishes voice rang through my muffled ears. My eyes shot open as my friend stood over me. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was soaked in tears. “Tell me where David is."

I stood up shaking, “Your husband?,” I asked weakly. “I don't know where David is, Trish”

“Don’t ‘Trish’ me, Kera! I saw you! I saw you with him!”

I tried to ground myself from the events that had just occurred. My mind was fogged and spinning. My chest was tight and it was hard to breathe. “Saw me when, Trish? With who?”

Had I imagined the whole thing? Was I going crazy? My reality was distorted and I wasn't sure what was real.

“I SAW YOU, TRISH!” she screamed at me and pointed to the mirror. I looked up at the shattered pieces that broke up our reflection. My breath quickened and I leaned against the wall as my head spun.

“You need to get rid of the mirror!” I told her.

“Why Kera, why? She grabbed my shoulders. The woman angrily staring back at me was not my friend. This woman was crazed with vengeance. She tilted her head at me. “Are you afraid of the mirror, Kera”

I pushed her off of me and grabbed my phone. The power had come back on and it was fully charged. The fear within me shifted into anger as I looked over at the mirror. First Adina, and now Trish. The mirror was ripping everything away from me. The darkness grew in Trish’s eyes and she continued to taunt me about the mirror.

I paraded down the hall. I watched my reflection rush towards me as I made my way to the mirror. A yell surrounded the room before I noticed it coming from within. The distraught , deranged girl looking back at me was not a person I recognized. Her eyes told a devastating story of what she had gone through. I felt her pain as I slammed my foot into the glass, shattering the pieces to the ground. I tore down the mirror from the wall as the yelling from within escaped my throat and echoed off the walls.

I bent over the pieces trying to catch my breath. I looked over at my friend. She stared at me with confusion and fear in her eyes. Although she still looked distraught, I saw the softness of my friend return to her eyes.

“What the hell just happened,” she asked in a panic.

“We need to get rid of these pieces.” My friend continued to stand still as she stared at me. “NOW, TRISH!” I yelled.

She quickly ran out of the room and returned with a broom and garbage bag. Careful not to cut ourselves we picked up every single piece and tossed them into the garbage.

“We have to get rid of this,” I said. “We’ll have to take your car.” I grabbed her keys and headed toward the door.

“Tell me what the hell is happening?” she yelled at me.

“I'll explain in the car,” I said to her.

I rushed home that night and smashed the mirror and threw all the pieces into a garbage bag. I took the bag to the main floor trash room. I texted Trish and asked her how she was feeling. It took a moment to gain clarity on the whole situation. During the drive she told me there was a period of time she could not recall. She had been having nightmares the last few nights.

My phone buzzed, “Better,” she said. “Try to get some rest and then stop by my office tomorrow after work. We’ve got some processing to do if we’re going to move forward from this.”

I layed back on my pillow and looked over at the empty space on my wall. I decided on a shelf and would avoid mirrors for a while.

I had fallen asleep fast for the first time in months without a nightmare. I woke up well rested. I enjoyed a slow morning. I felt a weight lifted off of me. I took my morning walk to the coffee shop and sat to eat my danish. I decided to stay away from the news. Instead I watched the rush of people walk by the large coffee shop window.

I entered my work building and listened to my heels click on the marble floors on the way to the elevator. Every morning I usually waited with a group of people before we gathered onto the box, but this morning it was just me. ‘Odd,’ I thought to myself. The doors opened and I stepped onto the elevator. The mirrored walls made me uneasy but I did my best to ignore the feeling as I pressed the button to my office floor. I watched the floor numbers light up.

As I made my way to the top, the floor numbers appeared to light up slower. The lights began to flicker. The elevator continued up past my floor. I frantically began to press button 42 as if it would make it stop. I could feel the elevator slow down but it continued up. I made it to the top floor, however the elevator felt as if it was still slowly moving up.

The lights flickered aggressively. I started to move back towards the wall, but the girl in my reflection stood still. I spun around as all four reflections were standing facing me. Her eyes were black. I was surrounded. The barking started. I fell to the ground and covered my ears. The lights went off and the girl in the mirror was gone. The elevator stopped moving and I sat alone in the dark. I started screaming for help but my yells went unanswered.

A faint green glow came from the mirror. On all four sides I could see a faint image of my room from the viewpoint of where the old mirror would have stood. I focused on the movement in my bed. It was me. My image began to rise out of bed and hover over the mattress. I watched as my body rose, lifeless. My hair, arms and legs dangling in the air.

The elevator suddenly dropped and I scurried to the wall to hang on to the railing as I screamed. The elevator fell further and faster down as I desperately clung to the railing.

My surroundings immediately changed as I fell hard onto my mattress. I shot up. The room was dark with a dull green glow. I looked over to the wall where the mirror stood once again. Panic fell through me as I climbed out of bed.

I walked to the mirror. The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. My hair hung ragged and uncombed. My nightgown was torn and stained. My skin was pale, and deathly white. My fingernails were torn and bloody. My eyes were pitch black. I pulled my hands up and looked down at the torn, dirt filled fingernails. I touched my cold, pale skin. My hands shook as I grabbed a hold of the ragged nightgown.

In the mirror the light went on in my room. I stood in the darkness as I watched my reflection come into view. It was me, the old me. The me with full color in her cheeks and bright blue eyes.

She looked right through me as she combed her hair. I reached to touch the glass but she could not see me. “Help” I could barely recognize my own voice. It was scratchy and weak. “HELP” I tried to yell a little louder but I was barely making it out. I hit the mirror hard with my fist. The girl on the other side jumped. I left a webbed crack where my fist had landed. I watched her as she stared at it.

The lights in her room flickered. Her eyes jumped from the shatter to my eyes. She could see me. She stood frozen. Screaming came from all around me. It wasn't until I started pounding on the glass that I realized it was me. My hand broke through and pain ripped up my arm as the glass sliced deep wounds into my pale skin.

The blood dripped onto the floor as I reached for the girl in the mirror…