Head UP!

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

My Face was full of blood and my head looked strange to me. It was a little bit crumbled and not in the center of my neck. My eyes were huge and somehow they looked like they were dead. No life could be seen in them, but I was still standing here, right in front of the mirror and looking at myself. So, what is going on right now?

My memories of the last 24 hours were rather poor. I could only remember snippets of pictures. The last thing I could fully remember was this: me standing in the mirror covered in blood. What happened? Have I been attacked or have I had an accident? Did I hurt or maybe even kill someone?

Everything was really very strange. I turned to go to my chair. Holy shit! That wasn't my room at all.

There was nothing here but me; the whole room was empty. The walls were smeared with blood and the whole floor was a single pool of blood. There, there is a window. It didn't look very inviting, but maybe I could tell where I was. My head felt like a giant melon and i was still bleeding. I couldn't see an open wound.

The window had milky glass so I couldn't see through it and the handle to open it was broken or someone had knocked it off on purpose.

A door, where is a door? Maybe it's not locked and i can get out of this room. I see everything only bloody and blurry. I'm sick and dizzy and I can't believe my eyes. I have the feeling I'm on a carousel and I'm just turning in circles without being able to break out of this circle. Just gross and awful.

I stagger through the room and try to find a door somewhere in the walls. But I only see blood it and can't just be my blood alone. And again I arrived at the mirror and again it shows me a picture of a person who doesn't look like me. But it should be me! I know who I am! Or not? If I'm not who I'm according to the mirror, then who are you?

Is this all just a bad joke? Is the mirror a picture? A picture of someone who is already dead? But why am I covered in blood from top to bottom?

The whole thing feels unrealistic. I have the feeling I ended up in a bad thriller or horror movie. I move my head to the side again - the image in the mirror moves with me. One eye now hangs almost completely out of this face. I feel my eyes with both my hands. But they are both in the right place. So it's not me? But also the picture in the mirror has brought both hands to the face. But my eyes are in the right place. I look down at my hands. They're also covered in blood, but they're smaller than the hands in the mirror.

The hands in the mirror are big, very big. They look more like men's hands. Now I can see that the eyes in the mirror are brown. Mine are blue so it can't be me.

I'm slowly starting to panic. I want to touch the mirror, but I'm scared. I turn around and go back to the window. From there I stare back at the mirror and at the same time try to push in the window pane with my elbow.

I feel the disc on my arm and elbow. The window is cold, very cold. Only now I realize how cold it actually is in this room. I can see my own breath. I increase the pressure on the window with my elbow, but nothing happens. I wrap my sweater around my elbow and swing out to hit the glass with full force. 'Ouch', that hurts. The glass of the window is too thick. I try again but nothing happens and now I can see that the pane is not milky, it is fogged with ice. I wipe the window as fast as I can. There, a small hole opens for a moment and I can see through it. 'Oh my god, I'm in a freezer'. I see people working outside, I try to call out, but all that comes out of my mouth is a croak. Nobody sees me, nobody hears me, nobody knows that I'm in here. Only the picture, or the one in the mirror, knows I'm in here.

I go to the mirror again. "I know you can see and hear me. What do you want from me and why am I in here?"

A devilish grin appears on the face in the mirror.

"I'm cold and I need a warm shower. I'm hungry too, so let me out of here".

The face in the mirror keeps grinning and sticks out a dirty, bloody half tongue. How terrible is that? So the face probably can't speak with half a tongue, but it doesn't want to let me out either. "What have I done to you that you want to let me freeze to death here? If you can't speak, then write me the answer on a piece of paper."

I can't show that I'm scared. I have to try to get the face to talk. I don't even know if it's a man or a woman! I know from my own experience that women are much more aggressive than men.

The face moves away from the mirror. Or is that a window? I try to touch it and the sweat of fear is on my forehead. Hopefully the window or mirror hasn't been electrified by this lunatic who's holding me here.

One of my fingers tries to touch the mirror or the window. But there is nothing, nothing at all. No mirror, no window, nothing, nothing. I only feel wallpaper? Or is it a canvas? I think I'm going to have a panic attack. I scream like crazy but no one hears me. I don't want to die in here, I want to live. I'm still so young. I still have my whole life ahead of me. What have I done that they want to see me die in here. I've never harmed anyone and now I'm stuck here in this freezer with freezing temperatures and slowly freezing to death. This can't all be true. Something is decidedly wrong!

I'm hammering against this iced pane with both fists now. Maybe someone hears me.

"You can knock on this pane as long as you want, there is no one to save you".

I turn around again. My stomach is clenching. The reflection of the mirror is right in front of me. "You will die like everyone else before you. It will be slow and you will have no way of escaping your fate here".

I stare at this face and have only one thought. Attack is the best form of defense and I only have this one chance. Now or never. I still have enough energy to take the man standing in front of me by surprise and knock him down. My knowledge of self-defense should be enough for this.

Before my 'murderer' can even take a small step, I shot forward and put a stranglehold on him. Two more spins and he's disabled. I have no idea where he suddenly appeared from, but somewhere in this freezing room must be a door or something similar to get into this room. I have maybe two or three minutes. My body is already severely hypothermic and every step hurts but I try to find the exit as quickly as possible. My first attempt at the 'mirror' was correct. I run through the opening door and lock it very quickly.

That was not a second too early. My 'murderer' had recovered faster than expected and was already at the door. But now it's locked. He can't get out of my prison. I can see him but he can't see me. I'm looking for a phone and a door to get out of this building. No telephone, no mobile phone can be found. I tap the walls to find the exit. At the same moment as I find the exit, the door opens with a loud bang. Police is storming in and is surrounding me. Tears come to my eyes from relief. I am saved now. An ambulance is already waiting for me. I can still see the policemen storming the room where I was held captive from my stretcher, but no one is in it anymore. The cops come out again. The doctor is giving me a sedative. Three policemen went in and four came out again. I'm about to say something, but one of the police officers leans over me and assures me that I can relax. That everything will be fine again, 'He's back' now. I try to push him away, but he just holds my hand tighter and whispers in my ear: "that was the first act, the second act will follow soon".

I'm trapped, my killer is a cop and no one can protect me. I want to die here and now. Immediately.

"Hello, wake up. Hello, Mrs. Baker, how are you?"

I don't want to open my eyes. I'm afraid. "Mrs. Baker, you can open your eyes, the surgery is over and your implants for your new teeth are all in place."

I blink and the light from the spotlights hurts my eyes. "Mrs. Baker, everything is fine. The surgery went great. You are only allowed to eat liquid food for the next five days. Your face will still be a bit swollen, but otherwise everything is fine, and we will see you again in two weeks to put in the new teeth".

My eyes now open fully and I see that I am sitting on my dentist's chair and my face resembles that of a hamster. My husband is ready to take me home. Well, it was all just a bad dream. I slide off the chair and walk towards my husband with shaky legs. He helps me into my jacket and we walk slowly to the car. Just as I put my foot in the car, a police car drives by. The policeman opens the window and waves at me. My nightmare seems to become reality.