Me

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. Well, perhaps that wasn't quite accurate. It was still me, sort of, but it wasn't a reflection. The freckle on my- on our- cheek was on the same side, er, opposite sides, like we were staring at each other through a window. That, and Mirror-Kate sometimes wore different clothes than me. All things I had in my own wardrobe, just on different days. I tried tracking who wore what when, trying to see if there was any sort of consistent pattern, suggesting maybe a time discrepancy, but I couldn't find anything.

Beyond all that, which I recognize is a lot to get past, she behaved for the most part like an ordinary reflection. There were a few occasions where we didn't quite sync up, but generally her movements mirrored mine. Yet, somehow, it didn't feel like I was seeing my motions being reflected, but rather we were just in perfect harmony. Certainly, the looks of confusion and thoughtfulness and fear she passed back to me seemed to have a life of their own.

The implications of this were... concerning. Was she just some sort of distortion, or was she alive as well, in some other universe, wondering who the weird girl in her mirror was? Was I even the real one, or did I just think I was? Maybe I was just her reflection. These sorts of questions stole many hours of sleep over those weeks, stole them from both of us. I know, because we would always rise to examine the mirror at the same times. It was just an ordinary mirror, no carved wooden frame, no ancient and sordid history, just a thin sheet of- whatever it was mirrors were made out of. No other mirrors did this, just the one.

It was this oddity that gave me the idea. It took time to form, gathering from a handful of vague notions to burn in my mind like a blazing star until it was all I could think about. The next day, I went out and bought a new mirror, about six feet tall, on wheels for easy movement. When I brought it home, I saw that she'd had the same idea. Great minds think alike it seems. We both rolled ours up, facing away, and stared at each other for a long while. Sizing each other up, perhaps, or sharing a moment of comradery. My feelings toward Mirror-Kate often shifted between those two variables.

But eventually, we could not delay it any more. We took our newcomers and turned them to face the anomalous screen; for, it figured, if the reflection was 'wrong' in some way, then it must reveal something if we spread it infinitely across the different surfaces. Would it create more Kates, I wondered, each slightly unique in their own way? Or would it-

The mirror cracked. Not the ones we had brought, the one.

I stared.

She stared.

Slowly, in unison, we both reached up to feel the rift, a hairline fracture splitting our image in two. In unison, we murmured in wonder, and I heard her. It was like an echo, so faint as to be barely audible, but it was there. And she heard it too. We stopped, we blinked, we looked at each other with new wonder.

"Hello?" We both said. "You can hear me? Are you-"

We stopped, frowned, and tried again.

"We need to take turns to talk." We said in perfect unison. "You go first. No, you. Okay, I will..."

There implications here toward the existence of free will were frightening to say the least, but we persevered, and and managed to hash out a speaking order.

"So are you... real?" I asked, feeling slightly foolish.

"I was going to ask the same thing." Mirror-Kate replied.

"I am. I think."

"Me too. I think."

We regarded each other. "This is really weird." We said together, again. Then, "We can't keep doing that."

"So, what do you think is happening?" I asked, once we'd again figured out our speaking order.

"Not sure. Our worlds must be colliding."

"Here? In my- in our living room?"

"I don't know."

"Hm."

"I wonder what would happen if we made the crack wider? Could we come through?"

My head snapped up so fast I got a crick in my neck. This was one of those rare movements which was not copied. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Isn't it? You aren't the least bit curious?"

"That sounds like the sort of thing other people should decide."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Smart people."

"We're smart."

"Oh, stop."

"We are!"

"I mean, like, government people. Who can figure out what's going on. What if there's a difference in air pressure, or there's different bacteria, or- something bad like that."

Mirror Kate nodded thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that. I just thought it'd be nice to- you know, meet each other."

"What?"

"I mean, I don't know how things are going on your side, but have you met anyone who really... gets you?"

"Um..."

"Cause I sure haven't. Besides me. Or you. Us?"

"I don't know." I fidgeted uncomfortably. It was true- I'd wanted to show someone else the mirror see what it did to them, but there wasn't anyone in my life I could. New city, but no new friends, and the same old family. Just me. And my reflection.

"We can at least widen it a little." Mirror-Kate persisted. "I'm shouting myself hoarse trying to get you to hear me."

That was a valid point. "Okay, but just a little wider. Um. How? Would just bashing it work?"

"I doubt it. I don't think that's a normal crack we just made. Turn that other mirror on it more."

I looked over in surprise. She was right; in my shock at the sudden crack of glass, I'd jerked the new mirror away, so it was no longer facing the portal. Swallowing my fears, I gripped it firmly. Mirror-Kate did the same.

"Just for a second though, right?" I confirmed. "Just to widen it?"

"Right."

In unison, we pulled the mirrors around again, capturing the reflection a thousand times over as they faced each other across the strange portal. We hadn't done that the first time; our new mirrors just caught the briefest of glances of each other. Now, they gazed into each others depths, capturing infinity, but it was just for a moment, I was about to pull it away-

The mirror shattered.

And it was, indeed, a portal.

But past the rim of jagged glass, there was no copy of my living room. No familiar but slightly different world. Just darkness. No, not quite darkness, because the word 'darkness' implies there is something there to not be able to see. Beyond the portal was just... void. Void, and Mirror-Kate, standing or maybe floating with a look of surprise on her face.

Cautiously, she stepped through. "Air smells nice." She commented. "Feels nice."

"What- Where-" I stammered.

"Ah. Yes. Sorry love." She reached a hand up to brush my cheek. "It's really nothing personal. You- I guess 'we' now-" She chuckled at this. "-seem like a lovely girl, but you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Don't worry, I'll do us proud."

With that she seized me with a strength I didn't know we had, and shoved me through the broken rim.

The warmth vanished. The sensation of air, of light, of being, vanished. Before I could even register what had happened, my doppelganger pulled the new mirror around and shoved it into the broken frame, meshing it in. She smiled sadly at me as the image dulled, became silvery, until I could tell she saw nothing but her own reflection. Then, she left.

The first few months- if they were indeed months, for there was no way to tell time- were dreadful. Eventually I figured out how to move around, or at least change what I was looking at. Different mirrors, all around the world, but none anyone could see me through. I'm not angry at Mirror-Kate. I don't know what trapped her there in the first place, but I can empathize with wanting to leave. Once I find a weak point, I'm going to try too. With no form of my own in here, it's easy to mimic someone. And sure, I'll feel bad about trapping them, replacing them, stealing their life, but hey. If there's no real 'me,' then there's no real 'them' either. And if there's no real 'anyone' then hell; what's the harm?

See you- us- soon.