He Will Not Forget Her (Shards of Glass)

“The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own,” Julie swallowed a scream on her knees beside the bed.

Tag ran his hand over his face, not this again…

A year earlier

Tag and Aidra had been together for years, he loved her but they were toxic together. Aidra could be very toxic. He knew when he broke up with her that it was going to be dramatic and she did not let him down.

Throwing dishes, glasses and fragile items all over the house, including mirrors giving him years of bad luck in multiples of sevens. She trashed the place like a drunk or high celebrity. He tolerated it all because he was so glad when she finally left. It was her rage that haloed their relationship more than any love that he had for her or her for him.

“You still love me!” she had screamed and hot saliva from her mouth hit him like hot oil. “You will not forget me!”

Tag closed the door behind her and pressed his back to it. He saw his reflection in the antique mirror she had forgotten and oddly had not tagged as hers. It went with his decor so he left it there.

Aidra had not lied, he did love her and his heart was completely broken but her rage was more than he could handle. She had had plenty to be enraged about in her life–an abusive home, abusive boyfriends and other things that would make her feel pure rage. But Tag had loved her and she made him feel unsafe. He could not compensate for all of the things that had happened to her before he met her and clearly he could not ever love her enough.

Even though he had loved her with all of his mind and body.

It was months before he could even think of dating, and it was only because Audrey was so sweet that he could not resist her. He took her home with him and in the morning while he was making breakfast for them, he heard her scream.

He ran into the livingroom and before he could ask her what was wrong he paused because he saw Aidra in the antique mirror. At first he thought he was imagining it because he had lived with her for such a long time and she was the only woman he had seen in his apartment before. But when he looked away from the mirror he saw Audrey but out of his periphery vision, he could see Aidra looking at him instead of Audrey who was actually looking up at him. Looking at her terrified eyes, they both faced at the mirror.

“Aidra…” he said, under his breath.

Tag did not know what to say to her, but Audrey was brave.

“Maybe your ex put a spell on the mirror…”

He looked at her like she was bat shit crazy, but in retrospect he was happy she had said that because she was not far off.

“What?!”

“I know it sounds really woo woo,” she said gesturing with her hands and backing away from the mirror. “But my friend Julie works for a New Age store that does spells and sells wild stuff–some of the stuff is allegedly haunted.”

Audrey was cute enough that she convinced him to take a picture of the mirror to show her friend Julie at the store. But when she tried to take a photo, no image would appear on her phone. When Tag used his phone for the photo, Aidra’s face was in the mirror.

Neither of them wanted to touch the mirror, Tag was startled he had it in his apartment for this long and for the most part he was unharmed. Audrey sat with her hand on his thigh in the car to the store and he was at least happy she had not run from his place screaming and thinking he was a warlock.

Tag was not expecting the woo woo New Age store to be so sleek. It was minimalist in design and the things they had were displayed like museum pieces.

“Julie works in the back,” Audrey said taking his hand. He followed behind her and Julie stood up. If he was not with Audrey, he would not have been able to keep his eyes off of her. She was stunning and by the way she quickly looked away from him, he could see she liked what she saw as well.

But they both moved on, as decent people.

“So yes,” Julie said, staring between the both of them after they told her the story and showed her the picture. “There are definitely haunted things in the world which I did not believe in until I started working here.”

Julie pushed her glasses up into her hair and gestured that they come closer with a finger on her mouth.

“What?” Audrey mouthed and looked at Tag, squeezing his hand tighter.

“Well, I think the owner can make things haunted and cast spells like this...This ex of yours might even have come here to do it.” Julie looked at Tag solemnly.

Tag squeezed Audrey’s hand anxiously. The store looked like a place that would appeal to Aidra. An upscale New Age store. She had a particular love for esoteric things like this.

“So what can I do?” Tag questioned.

“You can have someone come take the mirror out of the house–you might not be able to or Audrey,” Julie said, looking at their tightly held hands.

“Okay, how about you?” Audrey proposed.

“Me?” Julie placed her hand on her chest.

“Yes, come to the apartment when you are off of work and then move it out for us.”

Julie shook her head.

“I really do not want to get involved…”

“You are my friend, Julie…”

“No, I have heard stories and know things now that I did not know before. I do not want to go to the apartment. We have people who are trained and specialists in that--in haunted items.

“Julie, I cannot go back to Tag’s apartment unless that mirror is gone!”

Tag and Audrey went back to the his apartment.

“It has to go Tag, if I have to move it myself!” Audrey declared in the backseat of the car headed back to the scene of the crime.

“Audrey! You heard what Julie said, I don’t believe in all of this woo woo stuff, but I think she is right. Leave that mirror alone!"

Audrey in a rage, much like the kind that Aidra would have with her canines bared grabbed the mirror. A cloud of glass swarmed around her like bees faster and faster until it looked like a silver flame. Audrey screamed and ran toward his balcony where she hurled herself over his plants that were there.

Tag covered his mouth and scratched his face as he looked at the scorched marks on the wall where the mirror had been.

A year later

Tag saw Julie randomly a while after Audrey’s funeral. He had never expected to see her again. But there she was under an awning with him sheltering from a practical monsoon that had descended suddenly. The rain was so loud around them that they had to get close and whisper loudly to hear each other.

“How are you?” she said, taking his hand.

How was he? He still had nightmares about Audrey, and worse Aidra was in his dreams. He was not dreaming about her, she was in his dreams. He felt her, read up on it and realized he was dreaming about Audrey, but Aidra was in his dreams.

The only way not to see her at night was to stay up, so he became an insomniac.

Or if someone was with him he would be distracted.

He took Julie home.

“All of the mirrors are gone, right?” she said, with a smirk.

After what had happened to him--and Audrey, he completely understood her asking. There were no mirrors in the apartment anymore...

He kissed her and pressed her to the wall, both of them soaking wet from the rain.

Julie did not ask another question as he pulled her skirt up over her hip. They had liked each other when they met at the New Age store, but he was with Audrey.

Audrey who had died shortly after...

Tag was able to sleep that night with Julie in bed with him. Until she woke him up.

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own, Julie’s words froze him.

Aidra had not lied. Tag heard the door slam when Aidra was in his dreams right before Julie woke him up.

“Shards of glass, my love, did you look for shards of broken mirror glass when you took the mirrors out?” Aidra had asked in his dream, so close to him he could smell her perfume and breath. “Why do you think I broke all of those dishes? And mirrors?”

Her laughter was icy, hitting him like hale.

Julie’s finger bled and blood streaked the large shard of mirror that he was not even sure where she found it. And in the mirror, he saw Aidra.

He would never not see her...

Want to read another horror by me? Read this.

Read more stories by me on Vocal and Medium.

Read every story in Horror.