Inside the Mirror

I wake in a cold sweat, jumping up from where I'm laying. Looking around, this is not my bed. This is not my house, where the hell am I?! I look around to take in my surroundings, I'm in the woods. Deep in the woods by the looks of it, but how? I don’t even live near the woods, I'm about fifty miles from the closest hiking trail, let alone a forest. I look around confused for a few minutes before I decide I probably shouldn't keep sitting on the ground, but where am I going to go? I don't even know where I am.. I hear birds chirping in the distance, I feel the breeze between the trees. I’m washed with a sense of calm, as weird as it seems. Perfect balance of sound and fresh air, I feel like it's cleaning my soul. I looked around where I was laying, looking for some evidence of someone bringing me here, looking for my phone or a cigarette and lighter at least. I find nothing, and search my pockets, hoping there's some clue as to how this happened, but I’m at a loss. Behind me I hear the leaves on the ground rustle, sounding like footsteps. I whip my head around to find a small wooden box, the size of a little jewelry box.

“Okay, you were not there before” I say out loud, to myself. Hearing my own voice kind of comforted me for a moment, but where the hell did this box come from…

“I’m just going to open this box and see what you’re all about, I suppose.. Maybe you will tell me how i got here..” I continued, trying to give myself a little courage before I do the stupid thing. You know, like in the movies when they tell you not to do that.. Yeah I’m about to, and I really, really don't want to.. But how else will I figure this out..

So, I walk up to the box, but I scan the area before I reach for it, walking around it on all sides. Maybe I wont get brutally murdered if I'm careful, I think to myself before I use a stick to pull the box closer. Box in hand, I walk a bit away from where it was sat and peek around, looking for watching eyes. I look above me too, hoping there's someone there, but also hoping there's not. About ten minutes pass, at least it seems so, before I attempt to open the box. Anxious about what may be inside, and what the consequences are for me opening this little wooden box.

I open it.

There’s a black velvet bag inside, tied up tight. I pick the bag up, and see a small pull cord underneath, and against my better judgement I pull it open the rest of the way. Under the lining of the box is a Polaroid picture of me, laughing with my now deceased friend from years ago. I look at the picture in disbelief, sadness fills my heart and wells my eyes up with tears. This was her copy of our favorite picture together. Trembling, I open the little velvet bag, already having an idea of what would be in it now.. It’s the friendship charm necklace that we got from each other, the one I've worn for six years, even two years after she died. I can't hold it in anymore, I begin to cry, missing my best friend and filled with fear of what is going on. I don't know how to rationalize what's going on right now.

“Jesse?” I call out for her, I don’t know why, but I feel someone here and I guess I’m just hoping it’s her.

I hear leaves rustle from a distance again, but it sounds like they’re getting farther away this time.

“I’m so stupid for doing this” I say out loud again, preparing myself to follow the sound, and maybe try to find out whats happening.

I start walking towards the rustling, going as quietly and stealthily as I possibly can in a forest. I walk for what seems like an hour, when the leaves stop moving. I stop and listen, I crouch down behind a bush, hoping I will see someone without them noticing. I hear a branch snap directly behind me and I jump around to find nothing. I'm absolutely terrified right now. I look back to where the sound was coming from, maybe my ears are just playing tricks on me now. I try to rationalize to myself, to keep me from freaking out completely. I’m still in the middle of the woods, I still don’t know how I got here, or why I am here. I was given a picture of my dead friend and the charm necklace I thought she was wearing when they buried her. I look around, searching for some sign that I’m going towards civilization and not just deeper into the woods. I don’t hear any cars, or any resemblance of another person. I turn around to scan behind me again before I continue forward and I see an envelope. A plain, white envelope with my name written on it in some type of red ink dangling from the canopy of pine trees above me.

“Oh uh so where did this come from” I ask myself out loud. Once again I can't help but instantly regret that I was going to open it. Why would I want to open this? The mystery sky mail is too intriguing to ignore, so I snatch it up and run away a bit to open it.

My stomach feels like it’s full of bricks, my heart pounding, the anticipation building to open the envelope with my name on it. Apparently written in blood or paint, not ink. I’m going to say it’s paint, just to make myself feel better.. Inside is a letter. Written to me, from... Jesse?

“April, Why didn’t you save me”

That’s all it says..

Save her? What does that mean? Jesse died from an aneurysm, not anything I could have prevented. At least that was what I was told by her parents. Did something happen to her? Did I have the power to save my friend from something, or someone? I look into the envelope again, hoping there may have been another letter to explain things, but there was only a Polaroid picture. One of me at Jesse’s graduation party, and in the background you see her boyfriend Keith standing with her by the pool. Ugh Keith, I almost forgot about that joker. Always smoking and drinking, and getting Jesse into trouble. Luckily only ever with her parents and not the cops but I’m sure that was never far off, and about two weeks after Jesse passed he was arrested for burglary. At least she wouldn't have that following her to the grave too. Maybe Keith put her in some type of danger that ruptured her aneurysm, but what could I have done to save her?

I put the picture and letter back into the envelope, I folded it up and put it in my pocket along with the other picture and her necklace. I look around again and decide to run for a bit and see where it takes me, but just as I get a few steps in I hear the rustling again. Stopping in my tracks I look around and above me.

“Who's there?! Stop playing games and show yourself. What didn’t I do?!!” I scream, emptying my frustration and hoping for a response.

I wait, and nothing. I can't stay here, I have to keep moving. I don’t know what time it is, but with the temperature changing it feels like it’ll be dark soon. I don’t have any food or somewhere to stay warm. I run again, just trying to make it somewhere. I smell a fire ahead, and I see smoke. It almost seems like an answered prayer, but that's not always a good thing.

“Your nightmare is almost over, or you’re about to die. Either way the woods are no place for that. “ I say to myself, it was a lot less comforting than i hoped it’d be but still I pushed on. I walk for what seems like an hour again when I come upon a house. It looks like something you’d see in a fairy tale, little stone walls and a thatched roof, chimney going with a fire. I crouch into the bushes for a little while to watch the house, hoping I'm not walking myself into a trap. This is the first person I've seen since I woke up in the forest. I need to find out where i am. It’s dark out now, I haven’t seen anyone come out of the house nor have I seen anyone moving around inside. I decided to see if they would have a phone, but I mean I doubt it since we're in the middle of nowhere. I sneak to the side of the house, crouching below the window trying to peek in undetected. So far so good, I don't see anyone inside, and I haven't seen anyone outside for at least an hour. I scan the room, looking desperately for a phone. I see one!

*Whack*

Something hit me in the head, and knocked me unconscious.

I wake to find an old woman, dressed in dark green clothing. Her hair is silver and down to her ankles, granted she is only about five feet tall, but that's still a lot of hair. I feel her skinny bony fingers poking my ribs. For whatever reason it’s extremely painful, but I can't see my sides because of how she positioned me. How did this tiny old woman get me in here? I’m not very big, but taller than her and from the looks of it a bit more dense. She leaves the room and I try to look for that phone again before she notices I’m awake. I look around me in this room, which is a lot bigger than it looked like from the window. It’s dark, and musty and smells like moth balls. She’s got shelves full of glass jars, I can't make out what is in those jars but something tells me I don't want to know. I see her phone hanging on the wall, next to the door she went through. I'm tied to a metal table but my hands are a little loose. Maybe I’ll be able to squeeze out of this after all. I still can't help but wonder if this is about Jesse or not. Does this scary woman think I might have something to do with Jesse’s death? And if she does, how does she even KNOW Jesse? I could wait here, and ask her, and possibly be turned into stew or something… Or I can just run for the phone and hope that someone will pick up and tell me where I am, and that helps on the way. I decide to break free, but search the room for some clue as to where I am. Getting my hands free was the easy part, but for whatever reason my feet were better secured. I find something somewhat sharp, and cut the ropes off my feet trying to be careful, and not hurt myself in the process of trying to escape. It feels like hours before I get them undone, obviously it wasn't but the anxiety I felt in that moment made it last forever. I know it would be bad if she walked in while I'm in the middle of untying myself, probably worse than if I'd just stayed tied up. Finally, I'm off that table, and I start searching for some papers or a map, anything to tell me where I am. I see an old utility bill laying on the floor way under the shelves. I reach as far as I can and read the paper. Fair Oaks Arkansas. Arkansas?! That's about four hundred miles from where I live, I know that Jesse had some family out in Arkansas but why the hell would I be brought here.

“Okay, let's find something pointy and heavy so we can defend ourselves if we need to” I whisper to myself.

Now that I know where I am, it's time to try and call for help. I could either call my parents at home and hope they do something, or call the local police and hope they’re not working for this woman or something. I’m really not looking to end up in a blue barrel today. I pick the phone up off the receiver and it’s dead. Great. When I was going through the possibilities of what would happen if I did one thing or the other, the phone not working never crossed my mind. I now have to figure another way out. I looked around the room again, maybe I missed something the first time because I was fixated on the phone. With my makeshift weapon in hand I decide I may as well surprise the woman and get some answers by asking directly. Either way I'm still stuck, in Arkansas, with no way to call for help. So at this point, what do I really have to lose? The sun is starting to rise, and so I use the limited light to navigate myself through this woman's house. I’m creeping through the hallway, and suddenly this tiny little cottage type house is like a maze. The room I left disappears behind me, becoming a solid wall.

“Let’s just pretend that isn’t weird and find a way through here” I whisper to myself. This new corridor is long, and narrow with only the slight bit of sunlight glinting through the blacked out windows. I can hear something from a distance, it sounds like someone crying or in pain. It’s alarming, but also confusing because I didn't hear anyone before the room disappeared. I begin towards the sound, maybe someone else is trapped here too and we could work together to get out of here.. I walk cautiously and come to a half open doorway, peeking in so I wouldn't be seen. I try to see who’s crying. The room is set up with a solid wood dresser set, and a canopy bed, decorated much brighter than the rest of the house. There's a girl sitting at the vanity, face in her hands and sobbing. I watch for a moment, when suddenly the crying stops, the girl whips her head up and for a second it’s Jesse’s face in the reflection. I step back to hide my gasp, when suddenly I see the reflection banging on the inside of the mirror screaming for help. The door slams shut and I hear an awful scream. It burns my ears from the pitch and it feels like the entire house shakes from the scream. I hold my ears, and try to look around for somewhere to hide just in case the woman comes looking for me now that I can't hear her footsteps. I go in through another door, and it looks like an office. It's full of books, with a desk and a book open on the table. I walked over to the desk to see what was so important to be left open, apparently luck was on my side because it's some type of spell book, left open to the last spell used. Now I have never used any type of spells or anything, but I know Jesse believed in this kind of stuff so that was always good enough for me. It appears that whoever this woman is, tried to bond Jesse’s soul back to this world. Jesse was supposed to be ‘brought back’ but the Woman needed her body to complete the spell, or a surrogate body, otherwise she would be trapped between realms.

“That might explain why the woman brought me here, but why just dump me in the woods? I ask myself.

“It does explain why I brought you here. You are not supposed to be in here, you were supposed to stay where I put you.” The woman says from the doorway.

Apparently I was so focused on reading her book that I didn't see her standing there watching me. I grab my makeshift weapon, planning to fight her off if I needed to.

“Who ARE you!?” I yell at her, much louder than I intended but she did drag me here and knock me unconscious.

“Why I am Jesse’s birth mother, my dear. I know, you thought Amy was her mom but no, it is me. The old awful witch that everyone left when I started using my spell book. You can put your.. Pointy thing down, if I wanted you back into that room you would have been there two hours ago.” she replied.

“Jesse’s birth mom? Why did she never tell me about you then? Why did you bring me here, and what is up with the games in the woods?!” I ask her forcefully.

“I brought you here to die, I thought that was pretty self explanatory. It’s been too long since Jess died to use her body, and nobody told me she died anyways. I just wanted to bring my girl back and you look kinda like her. The stuff in the woods I don't know about. I brought you to them, but I don’t go that far from my house.” she chuckles a little as she moves farther into the room, cornering me where I am.

It must have been Jess trying to get help, for me to set her spirit free I guess?

“How did I see Jesse’s face in the mirror trying to get out OF the mirror then?” I probe, trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do for my best friend.

The woman rolls her eyes, and holds up a small mirror. I see Jess inside it, crying and and alone in the mirror.

“Go ahead, touch the mirror” she urges.

It seems like a stupid thing to do, but maybe she will see that I'm here to help her if i do. I can break the spell that's keeping her in the mirror I think.

I reach out, and touch Jesse's face in the mirror. I’m suddenly surrounded by darkness, I can see my face, and the woman's face. I try to yell, but my voice has no sound. I can hear my voice though, talking to the woman, and I see myself and the woman hug. I try to run towards us, but I'm blocked by some barrier, and then I realize that the woman just used the mirror to swap me for her daughter. I’m now the extra reflection of their mirrors, trapped with no knowledge on how to get myself out. Jesse lives on, now inside my body, while I watch from inside the mirror.