The Mirror

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. As I walked cautiously toward it along the dimly lit hallway my mind played tricks. Perhaps it wasn't a mirror and someone else was walking toward me. I shifted left and so did they. I shifted right and again they moved as I moved. I had done this before, in a tight fitting doorway, trying to pass someone coming the other way when we both nervously laugh for trying to evade each other and make jokes of wanting to dance until one yields for the other to pass. It felt like that but something was off. I looked over my shoulder and then forward again. This had to be a mirror yet why would the hall end at a full sized mirror like this? From wall to wall and baseboard to crown, the image of the hall behind me was exact but the person approaching was not me.

From a distance the face had appeared blurry and dark. Now, much closer, the darkness had not receded, the blurriness still evident. I looked closely to see if the glass was damaged or marred in any way. A chill ran down my spine as I stared into the blurry dark faceless image before me. I could not see any features yet I could feel it smiling; a sinister grin that seemed to melt my insides. Unable to look away and without any conscious thought to flee, I stepped closer to the mirror image. I tentatively reached out and the image followed my moves. Our fingers touched and I felt the softness of flesh not the cold hard surface of glass. Palm to palm an abject terror began to stir in my bosom. I felt a pain in my jaw and realized it was clenched and my molars had started to grind. I tried to relax but the softness of the hand touching mine flayed my confidence. Then it dawned on me and I chuckled nervously at my own folly. I realized my roommates were pranking me. At least, that was the only logical answer. I had taken their dare after all. I was the fool for exploring this abandoned farmhouse on my own and they had gone above and beyond to scare me witless. It had nearly worked. I sighed heavily.

"What is this, guys?" I asked. "OK Devon--joke's over. Come on out Matt. This was really good."

"I know what this is," the mirror image spoke. It was the grating sound of a thousand voices, with varying pitch and cadence that echoed through my skull and down the hall. The terror in my gut forced its way up into my widened eyes. My throat went suddenly dry and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I quickly pulled my hand away and massaged it as if trying to remove the remnant of the previous touch. The image did not mimic me. It instead put its hands on its hips and tilted its blurry dark face. "This is the end...and it is your new beginning."

I turned to run. A strange dropping sensation occurred as my muscles refused to comply. It was painful and slow. I eventually forced myself to turn but it was as if we had swapped places and I was once again facing the faceless image. I nearly crashed into his embrace as he lifted his arms to accept me. I halted and turned again but it had no effect on my bearing. No matter which direction I turned I faced him. A volcanic terror tried to consume me but I refused to let it have its way. I composed myself and looked up for there was sure to be an escape up there. Instead I saw him looking down at me, his faceless maw opened wide and the blurry darkness poured out of him like water from a hose.

I screamed but no sound emerged as I drank and gagged on the darkness. My vision blurred as I swam in a cacophony of voices. They jubilantly surrounded me and passed through me until I tumbled from a dazed shock into a surreal tranquility. My voice joined the chorus. I did not fight it. I did not resist. My mind opened and the collective existence within the mirror image was now my own. We stood still for a moment, listening. A sound far away stirred us. New prey awaited. The mirror dissipated and reappeared in another part of the world; on a wall in an abandoned warehouse a lone boy explored. He saw the mirror and tilted his head forward, squinting to see himself in the dark. We moved as he moved.

He joined us and we celebrated our unification for but a moment. Another voice was ours to claim. The portal shifted once more. Our hunger will never be sated.