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Lilly McGuinn had just suffered the loss of her entire family, and due to her uncontrollable depression, was sent to the Medfield State Hospital for psychiatric treatment. What she finds within the walls of Medfield, however, is far worse than she could've imagined.

By Jenna TomovichPublished about a year ago 23 min read
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https://www.twowaymirrors.com/haunted-mirror-myths/

“The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own,” Lilly explained. Her icy, blue eyes darted from side to side as she spoke, scanning the room.

“Y-You f-f-found the mirror?” Jill stuttered, jerking a bit as she spoke.

Lilly fiddled with a strand of her fair, blonde hair, “I thought it might have belonged to Marian…but…Jill, what I saw. It was so terrible.”

It had only been a few weeks since Lilly McGuinn’s family had burned alive in a house fire. Her mother, father, and younger brother had all perished, leaving15-year-old Lilly, an orphan. The distressed and grief-stricken Lilly was given into her Aunt Clair’s custody, her last surviving relative. Aunt Clair was a spinster living in downtown Boston, making barely enough money as a seamstress to feed herself, let alone a young girl. The best option for the callus Aunt Clair, was to deposit Lilly and her emotional wounds to the newly renamed, “Medfield State Hospital'', previously, “The Medfield Asylum.”

The day Lilly entered Medfield was a chilly October morning in 1906. The looming clouds covered the sun like a cloak, and the trees bent sideways with each strong gust of wind. Lilly wrapped her shawl tightly around her thin body and stared up at the monstrous place. The red brick structure was cold, unwelcoming, and seemed to suck all hope and life out of the world around it. Two nurses dressed in long, white skirts came out to meet her. Their hair was pulled back in tight buns, and they wore small, white nurse’s bonnets on their heads. Without a word of welcome, one of the nurses took Lilly by the arm and the other grabbed her small bag of belongings and led her inside.

The interior of Medfield was as dreadful as the outside. The halls were a dingy yellow in some areas and a faded, green in others. There were nurses, all dressed the same as the first two, scurrying around. Lilly could tell right away who the patients were. Aside from their sad, gray dresses, there was something defeated about them. Their shoulders were hunched, their eyes were hollow, and it seemed as though nothing about the world around them had any importance. Lilly wondered how long it would be until she looked like them.

After a brief tour of the women’s wing, an explanation of the rules, and a rundown of what the daily schedule looked like at Medfield, Lilly was then passed over to the head nurse, Fran Hadley. She was a tall, thin woman with a milky, white complexion. There was no color in her face at all except for a small birthmark on her right cheek. Her eyes were narrow, and her pupils were almost indistinguishable from the black of her irises. Her dark, brown hair was pulled in the same, tight bun as the other nurses, however her bonnet was an emerald green instead of white.

“Hello, Lilly,” said Hadley with a sinister grin, “Please follow me to your room.”

Lilly followed Nurse Hadley up a flight of stairs and down a long, dimly-lit hallway. There were about 15 wooden doors on each side, all with a small box of a window so that staff could look in when necessary. As they walked past, Lilly could see several sets of eyes peering out at her from behind the small windows. Everytime Nurse Hadley caught one of the patients peeping at them, she would slam the side of her fist against the door, sending whoever was behind it scampering away. Once they reached the door with the number 271, Hadley pulled out a ring of brass keys and unlocked it, “This is your room. You’re lucky. Not many patients get their own room, but we recently had an opening,” she spat, coldly. Lilly said nothing as she slowly stepped into the small, gray room. The tiles on the floor were an unattractive mint green, and there was nothing but a single bed in the corner and a night stand with one drawer next to it. A very thin, rectangular window let in some light from outside, but even so, the room was dark and dull. Laid on the bed was a simple, gray dress and a long, white nightgown. Below them, were a pair of slipper-like shoes. “You get one dress which will be washed weekly, one night gown, one pair of shoes, and clean underclothes will be brought to your room, daily. Do not ruin your clothing. You will not be issued a new pair,” Nurse Hadley explained matter-of-factly.

“Where are my things?” asked Lilly, still taking in her surroundings.

“You won’t be getting those back until you’re…discharged,” retorted the nurse, “Now, get changed, and when you are in your assigned gown, I will take your old clothing and store it with your other belongings.” She then shut the door behind her and waited in the hall. Lilly sighed and began to change out of her dress. Her pale fingers shook as she undid the buttons down the front of her blouse. She wanted to cry, but grief is what put her there in the first place. If she were ever to be free, she would need to compose herself. As she slipped the gray dress over her head, she heard the hushed sound of voices chatting in the hallway. As quietly as she could, Lilly drew near to the door and pressed her ear against the wood, straining to make out the words. Nurse Hadley was speaking to another nurse.

“Is this the room where Marian-?” the nurse began.

Hadley quickly hushed her, “Shhh! You know not to mention anything about that in the patient’s ward.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry, I just…I’m just still shocked by it all. I mean she was healthy, I don’t understand how she could die so suddenly,” replied the nurse in a loud whisper.

Hadley grew angrier, “Are you an idiot? Say it louder so that every patient can hear you! None of the patients are ‘healthy’, mind you. Who knows what effect Marian’s deranged mind had on her body. Now go, get back to work! It’s time for social hour.”

Lilly heard the nurse hurry away followed by the sound of jingling keys. She leaped backward and positioned herself on the bed to give the illusion that she had been waiting patiently. Nurse Hadley came in and collected her old clothes, placing them in a sack. She looked Lilly up and down, an amused smile spreading across her lips, “You know, you might consider having that pretty blonde hair of yours cut. Some of the patients may try to…play with it.”

She then led Lilly out of the room and down the hall to a large common room where there were dozens of other patients. This was the only room in the entire building that Lilly had seen some element of normalcy. Several patients were sitting at tables playing cards, others were chatting and rocking in chairs, and some simply stared out the windows at the outside world. “This is the common room. Only our well behaved patients have the privilege of socializing. Misbehave and you will lose that privilege,” Nurse Hadley stated, her hands clasped in front of her. “You will get one hour everyday in the common room starting at 6pm following supper. After that, it’s back to your room by 7pm and time for bed. Do you understand?” Hadley asked, staring down at her. Lilly nodded and was let alone to socialize with the other patients.

“H-Hello,” a voice called out from behind her. Lilly turned around to see a girl who looked about her age sitting in a rocking chair. Her red hair was a mess of curls down to her shoulders, and her wide, green eyes were strangely full of hope.

“Hello, what’s your name?” Lilly asked, taking a seat in the chair next to her.

“I’m J-J-Jill Grant,” the girl stuttered, “Y-You’re new, aren’t you?”

Lilly nodded, “Yes…I’m Lilly. Nice to meet you.” She held her hand out.

Jill stretched out her skinny arm, “Nice to meet y-you.” She jerked suddenly, startling Lilly.

“I’m sorry. I h-have a s-stutter and I h-have a t-twitch,” said Jill, bashfully.

“That’s alright. I don’t mind…Is that why you’re here?” Lilly asked.

Jill shook her head and giggled, twitching a few times, “N-No. I see things. Things that aren’t th-th-there. Or at least, things that other people d-don’t s-see.”

Lilly was taken aback by Jill’s honesty, but she wasn’t about to turn away a friend in a place like that. Not even someone who saw imaginary people. Lilly smiled and nodded, “That’s OK.”

“You mean you don’t think I’m c-crazy?” Jill asked.

Lilly shook her head, “Haven’t you heard? We all are.” The girls laughed.

“So, w-what room are you in?” asked Jill.

“I’m in 271,” replied Lilly.

Jill’s eyes widened, “271? That was Marian’s room,” She whispered.

“Jill…who’s Marian?” Lilly asked.

Jill shook her head as if to snap herself back to reality, “Oh, um…sh-she was my f-f-friend. She was in your r-room before you.” Jill began to twitch more frequently.

“I heard something happened to her…what happened?” Lilly asked, taking Jill’s frail hand in hers.

“The mirror…sh-she said something about a-a mirror,” Jill answered nervously.

“A mirror? What mirror?” Lilly asked, confused.

“She looked at the m-mirror,” Jill replied, starting to grow agitated. Suddenly, Jill began to rock back and forth, speaking quickly and indistinguishably.

“Jill, are you alright?” Lilly asked. Grabbing her shoulder.

Two nurses ran over and pulled Jill out of the chair.

“Is she OK?” Lilly called after them.

One of the nurses turned back toward Lilly, “She has episodes like this sometimes. She’ll be fine.”

Later that night, Lilly laid on her small bed, staring up at the light coming in from the window. For some reason, she couldn’t sleep. Sleep would have been her only escape from that awful reality, but it wouldn’t come. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Jill had said. A mirror? What did it mean? Lilly sat up and got out of bed, her bare feet touching the icy cold floor. The second her feet put pressure on the tiles, she felt a slight dip in the floor. She got down on all fours and pressed on the tile again, noticing a slight give. Using her fingernails, Lilly pried the tile off the ground, revealing a shallow hole underneath. In that hole, was an old, silver mirror. The mirror had beautiful detailing around the sides that looked like vines, and a long, twisting handle. The mirror itself was broken, with three sharp lines cutting across the surface. Lilly quickly ran to her door and peered out through the small window. The dark hallways were empty, no nurses in sight. She then ran back over to the hole in the floor and removed the mysterious mirror.

“Was this Marian’s?” She whispered to herself. The moonlight was shining in through the thin, rectangular window behind her. Taking the mirror in her hands, she stood up and walked over to the light. She wanted to see herself, at least one last time, before this place turned her into something else. Brushing the dust off of the surface, she held up the mirror and stared at her reflection. Immediately, she threw the mirror on the bed and darted to the opposite side of the room. Lilly held her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming after what she had just seen. It was not she who appeared in the reflection, but someone else. Someone who terrified Lilly to the deepest parts of her soul.

Composing herself, quickly, Lilly ran back to her bed, grabbed the mirror, and placed it back in the hole. She quickly covered it with the tile and jumped back into bed, cradling her legs to her chest. She didn’t sleep that night, she couldn’t. The face she’d seen in the mirror would only haunt her dreams.

The next morning, The lights in the hallway turned on, sending a stream of light underneath her door. Lilly was glad she would soon escape that room, even if it meant another day at Medfield. Nurse Hadley opened the door briskly, that same, sinister smile on her lips. She threw a new pair of undergarments on the bed, “Hope you slept well. Get dressed and join the others in line. It’s time for breakfast…hurry!” Lilly rose out of bed and pulled out her gray dress from the night stand. Once she was dressed, she hurried out into the hall, careful not to step on the tile covering the mirror. She stood in line behind the other patients, all standing outside of their rooms. Lilly counted about 30 women in total, ranging from young girls to older women. A few rows ahead, Lilly could see Jill’s curly, red hair. She needed to tell her about what she’d seen in the mirror and find out if Marian had seen the same.

Nurse Hadley walked up and down the rows, examining each patient to make sure that they were dressed properly. She then raised her thin, right arm and said, “Follow me, ladies. Single file.” They made their way through the hall and down the stairs, walking in two straight lines behind Hadley. They finally reached the cafeteria, a large room with high windows and several long tables with benches. The women began to take their seats and chat amongst each other. Lilly rushed over next to Jill who was sitting at the far end of the back table. Jill was muttering something to herself, rocking slowly back and forth on the bench.

“Jill? It’s me, Lilly. We met yesterday,” Lilly said softly, trying not to startle her.

Jill looked up at her with those same hopeful eyes, “H-Hello, L-Lilly!”

Lilly quickly sat down next to her, “Jill, I have to tell you something. Remember the mirror you mentioned yesterday? I found it.”

Jill’s face went blank, “You…f-found it?”

“The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own,” Lilly explained. Her icy, blue eyes darted from side to side as she spoke, scanning the room.

“Y-you f-f-found the mirror?” Jill stuttered, jerking a bit as she spoke.

Lilly fiddled with a strand of her fair, blonde hair, “I thought it might have belonged to Marian…but…Jill, what I saw. It was so terrible.” A staff member came up behind them and placed a bowl of gray-colored porridge in front of them. Jill began to shovel the porridge into her mouth, nervously.

“Jill, did Marian see something when she looked in that mirror, too?” Lilly persisted.

Another staff member came and placed a glass of milk in front of each of them. Jill grabbed her glass and took a big gulp.

“Jill, please!” begged Lilly.

“Y-You saw the woman, d-din’t you?” Jill asked, twitching. Lilly’s blood ran cold. She hadn’t imagined it. It was real.

Lilly nodded, “Yes, I…I saw her. It was dark but…it was not my face I saw. She had long straggly hair, black like a crow. She was sickly thin and her eyes…her eyes were…white.” She could feel the fear and dread welling up inside her as if she were seeing the face again.

Jill put her spoon down and took another gulp of milk. She twitched slightly before whispering, “Two weeks.”

“Two weeks? Two weeks for what?” Lilly questioned.

Jill looked over at her, the hope gone from her green eyes, “Unt-til sh-she takes you.”

Suddenly, a fist slammed down on the table in front of the girls. Nurse Hadley’s looming figure stood over them. “You haven’t touched your breakfast, Lilly,” Hadley stated, calmly, “Do you think wasting food is acceptable here?” Lilly felt a lump forming in her throat and her palms began to sweat. “If you don’t eat, you will become weak, and if you become weak, you won’t get better, will you?” Hadley questioned in a condescending tone. Lilly shook her head.

“Then why are you not eating?” demanded Hadley, leaning in closer toward the girls. Before Lilly could think of an answer, a nurse over in the corner of the room caught her eye. Her hair wasn’t pulled back in a bun like the rest. It was in long, unkept, black strands down her back. Her uniform was dirty, like she’d been rolling in dirt, and she stood facing the wall, slowly swaying from side to side. Lilly couldn’t help but watch the strange woman, wondering why she looked so unkept. The nurse slowly turned around to face Lilly from across the room, her face pointed down at the floor, hidden by her black hair. She slowly raised her head, revealing the terrifying face Lilly had seen in the mirror.

Lilly screamed and fell backwards off the bench, landing on the hard, cafeteria floor. Jill and the rest of the patients stopped eating and turned to see what had happened. “Do you see her!?” screamed Lilly. Everyone was silent, looking at one another in confusion.

Nurse Hadley walked around the wooden table, her heels clicking with each step. She stood over Lilly with her arms crossed, “See who, Lilly?” she asked in a slow, degrading voice.

“There-there was a nurse…she-she was there!” Lilly pointed a shaky finger in the direction she’d seen the woman, but there was no one there. The woman had vanished. Lilly realized that everyone was staring at her. She looked up at Nurse Hadley, embarrassed, “I-I’m sorry. I thought I saw someone.”

“Don’t be sorry, Miss McGuinn. This is clearly a new manifestation of your hysteria. It appears you may need more…intense treatment than we thought,” said Hadley in a phony, sympathetic tone. She then snapped her fingers, and two large men dressed in white smocks and trousers rushed over. “I think Miss McGuinn could use an ice bath,” Hadley said to them. They nodded and grabbed Lilly by each arm, dragging her toward the double doors to the hospital wing.

“No! I’m fine! Please!” Lilly screamed as they pulled her away. Kicking and thrashing was ineffective, as the men were three-times stronger than she.

Just before they pulled her through the doors, Jill stood up and called out, “G-Get someone else to l-look! She’ll l-leave you alone if she finds s-someone else!”

The days that followed were a nightmarish blur. Lilly continued to see the woman. Sometimes she would be dressed as a staff member, staring at her from afar. Other times, Lilly would see her in reflective surfaces, her white, empty eyes glaring back at her. The constant unknowing of when she would appear sent Lilly into an endless, nervous state. Nurse Hadley delighted in Lilly’s quick mental decline, and had her undergo horribly painful treatments. They gave her the same, tasteless, brothy soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at night, she was put in restraints so that she couldn’t move.

Lilly laid in her bed, strapped down and unable to do anything except breath and think. She couldn’t tell how long it had been since she’d arrived. A few days? A few weeks? Regardless, she knew her time was limited. She was seeing the woman more and more. Marian had looked in the mirror, seen the woman, and died shortly after. Now, Lilly had seen her and was being haunted by the woman who no one else could see. “Just take me already!” she pleaded as she laid in bed, “I'd rather die than stay in this place any longer.” That’s when she remembered what Jill had said to her as she was being dragged away, Get someone else to look. Lilly finally understood what Jill meant, if she got someone else to look at the mirror, the ghost woman would go after them instead. Could she really do that to someone else? She would be responsible for their demise. No, no, she couldn’t…unless it was someone who deserved to die. “Nurse Hadley,” Lilly whispered.

The next morning, Lilly heard the familiar keys jingling from down the hall. A few moments later, Nurse Hadley unlocked her door and stepped inside, a small grin on lips, “Sleep well, Lilly?”

“No, I didn’t. In fact, I believe I know the reason,” replied Lilly, meekly.

Hadley’s grin grew into an intrigued smile, “Oh, is that so? Please share.”

Lilly sighed, “I was able to keep something with me, something from the outside. I hid it when I was admitted…and it’s in this room.”

Nurse Hadley raised a brow, curiously, “You were able to hide something for this long? Why would you tell me?”

“It’s a mirror. It was my mother’s. It’s one of the only things that survived the fire. I brought it with me and hid it in this room. I just can’t sleep anymore knowing that it’s here. It reminds me of the fire and my family’s deaths. Please, take it,” Lilly explained, sorrowfully.

“If that’s true,” began Hadley, slowly pacing across the room, “where could you have possibly hidden it?”

“It’s underneath a tile in the floor. If you take my restraints off, I’ll show you,” promised Lilly.

“If you try anything, I’ll have you locked in solitary for a week!” spat Hadley as she undid the restraints across Lilly’s chest, arms, and legs. Lilly sat up and stretched. She then got down on all fours next to the tile concealing the hiding place of the mirror. Nurse Hadley never took her eyes off her, and Lilly could feel her suspicious gaze burning into her.

Lilly lifted the tile off the ground and carefully placed it to the side. She then reached into the shallow hole and pulled out the silver, broken mirror. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilly could see the ghost woman standing in the corner, her white eyes glaring at her. Lilly didn’t react this time, she continued to act calm as she handed the mirror over to Nurse Hadley, “Here, take it.”

Hadley laughed, shocked at what had just happened, “You sneaky girl. I will admit, you had this hidden from me. I’m glad your time here has helped you realize what needs to be done.” She then held up the mirror to her face and began fixing her hair and bonnet, “It’s not very often I get a chance to check my appearance during a shift. Might as well take advantage,” Hadley joked. All of the sudden, Lilly could see Hadley’s expression change from amusement to terror. Hadley stared into the mirror, trying to make sense of the reflection. Her eyes grew wide and glossy, and her lips began to quiver.

“What’s wrong, Nurse Hadley?” Lilly asked, innocently.

Hadley immediately shook her head and composed herself. She cleared her throat and smoothed her skirt, “I’m fine. Now get dressed. You have treatment in ten minutes.” She then took the mirror and stormed out of the room.

That day, Lilly underwent a series of painful injections that lowered her blood sugar to the point of unconsciousness. She slipped into a deep coma, not waking for days. During that time, she dreamed that she was free, living in the New England countryside, far away from Medfield. Her family was there along with her old friends. She was happy. She even heard them calling her name, “Lilly…Lilly…”

Lilly’s eyes fluttered open. To her despair, she was still in Medfield, still restrained in her bed.

“Lilly,” the voice said again. She turned her head to see Jill’s mess of red curls and big green eyes next to her.

“Jill?” Lilly asked, groggily. “What are you doing here?”

“The nurses let me come see you. You’ve been unconscious for days. They did that same treatment to me a while ago. I told them we were friends and they let me come sit by your bed everyday for social hour,” Jill explained, softly.

“Nurse Hadley let you visit me?” Lilly asked, surprised by Hadley’s sudden kindness.

Jill’s face brightened, “No! You didn’t know because you’ve been asleep, but Nurse Hadley has resigned from her position.”

Lilly stared up at Jill, shocked, “What? Why?”

“She began seeing things and went crazy. She would start screaming at nothing. It went on for days! Yesterday, they finally announced that she had resigned,” Jill explained, excitedly.

Lilly chuckled, relieved at the news, “That’s, that’s wonderful!...Wait, Jill? Why are you speaking differently?”

“What do you mean, Lilly?” she responded, calmly.

“Well, you had a stutter, and you twitched when you spoke before. You’re speaking perfectly now,” Lilly noted.

“I have you to thank for that,” Jill replied with a smile.

Lilly felt a chill run down her spine, “What do you mean?”

“You got Hadley to look at the mirror, didn’t you?” questioned Jill.

“Yes, but…I don’t understand. I got her to look at the mirror so that the woman would haunt her instead of m-,” Lilly’s words were cut short when she saw the dark silhouette of the ghost woman standing in the shadows behind Jill. “No…No! She’s still here!” screamed Lilly.

“Shhhh, it’s OK,” said Jill, stroking Lilly’s hair, “All I needed was one more person to look at her.”

Lilly grew increasingly distraught, “Jill, what is happening?”

“I’ve been at Medfield for five years, Lilly. They did the same things to me that they’re doing to you. They said I see things that aren’t there, but they are there, Lilly. They’re real. They’re my friends. I’ve seen them ever since I was a little girl, including the woman in the mirror,” Jill explained, her voice quivering with excitement.

“Jill-,” Lilly started.

“No, no! Let me finish,” Jill interrupted, “They put me in this place and did horrible things to me. I didn’t want to live anymore. I wanted to die. That’s when she came back, the woman. She said that if I got ten people to look, she would make me better and get me out of here.”

Lilly became restless, fighting to free herself from the restraints, “So, you hid the mirror in here! You got Marian to look! You got me to look! You made me show Nurse Hadley! You did this!” Lilly screamed.

“Oh, my, you’re getting all worked up. I’ll go get the nurses for you and see if they can help,” said Jill, patting her on the head. As she walked over to the door, she paused and looked back at Lilly who was hysterically trying to free herself, “I think your two weeks are almost up.”

That week, Lilly McGuinn died in her sleep for unknown reasons. The nurses speculated that her depression had become too much for her heart to bear, and it simply stopped beating. That same week, the previous head nurse, Fran Hadley, was admitted as a patient to the Medfield State Hospital. Her diagnosis, "dementia praecox", better known as schizophrenia. Unfortunately, she died just a couple of weeks after starting treatment. Jill Grant was discharged a few days later. Her previous diagnosis of hallucinations, a speech impediment, and uncontrollable twitching had been completely cured during her time at the Medfield State Hospital. Although no family came to claim her, she was legally old enough to leave on her own. She is one of the very few successful patients to have undergone treatment at Medfield, and to this day, is still a medical enigma. When people ask her how she managed to get better, she always told them, “I owe my health to my friends.”

supernatural
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About the Creator

Jenna Tomovich

Hey guys! My name is Jenna and I'm a twenty-something post-grad living in the DC area! I mostly write for fun and it's always been a hobby of mine. I hope you enjoy my stores and that they bring some excitement to your day!

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  • Test2 months ago

    This is the best horror story I've ever read.

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