The Broken Reflection

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. I saw it, in the mirror. It was in the old house on the abandoned side of town. Everyone in this suburb left in a hurry, some chased away by the costs of them, some because of the distance from the city that they worked at. But the main reason was more sinister: there was a serial killer that was shot dead in one of the homes. It was a huge scene: the cops surrounded the home of what was going to be the 66th victim of the serial killer, who was dubbed "The Night Shadow" by social media. The killer resisted arrest, and was promptly shot down by the squad of cops. The ongoing fervor from this situation was not helped by the rising cases of people going missing in the neighbourhood. Within 5 years, this once thriving neighbourhood was now unofficially quarantined off, restricted by anyone and everyone around the suburb. No one would even dare drive 5 minutes away from there. It was astonishing, really. There was an urban legend that had risen that said that The Night Shadow killer was still alive, or that the soul of the killer presided in that home. Mysterious things began to happen to people who went to the open houses for the home, or for those who trespassed and wanted to catch a thrill by exploring the haunted home. Some of the urban legends said that people drove themselves insane, disappeared, changed mentally and physically, and would lose their senses after visiting the home. Some even said the mirror that was left in the room where the killer was killed was haunted. Me and my friends didn't believe so, so we went to check ourselves.

Sometimes, its better to listen to everyone else. Maybe they were right all along. I rushed upstairs to where that famed mirror was (because why the hell not). Now I realized why the hell I shouldn't have. In the mirror wasn't me, but a dark figure that was in my place. The figure was like a black hole, and just imitated what I did. If I moved my hand, it would move the same hand. If I talked, a growling mumble came from the mirror. There was no face, but I could tell that this thing was wearing what looked like a hoodie and gloves. Otherwise, the clothing and silhouette was just pure darkness. It left an unsettling feeling in my stomach. I hated this. I tried to move away, but I felt glued to the ground. I used all my energy, every ounce of it, but my body refused to budge. My struggle was being imitated by the figure.

"Guys! Help me! Please!" I yelled out. But even as I yelled, I could hear my hearing drown out from my ears. It felt like I was listening from the bottom of a big tunnel. I tried to scream again, but my throat ached from a pain that I could only describe as feeling like your vocal chords were being shredded to pieces. Now, the figure's background was morphing before my very eyes. The reflection of the room was disappearing, and in its place were multiple people. I knew exactly who these people were. Each face was drained of colour, standing there in a greyish tone. Their eyes flushed of life, their mouths agape, staring at me in horror. And then, the drowning in my ears had ended, with it now substituted with the sounds of ear piercing screams. All these people began to shout and yell, belting cries of horror that made my soul quiver in fear. I'm not a fearful person, but this was something that made me feel total fear. Fear that I never thought was possible.

Each scream caused my nerves to go in a frantic frenzy. I could feel my body getting slowly paralyzed, trapped in a state of shock. This was like nothing I ever felt before. The screams got louder and louder, with the figure still copying everything I did. And then, it moved. It began to walk towards me, grabbing onto the edges of the mirror, and pushing it self out of the mirror. Slowly, this figure had walked out of the mirror, and stood right in front of me. There was still no face, and only a pitch black darkness that it was giving off. Was I hallucinating, or was this all reality? I was not able to understand what was going on. It just felt all too much. I wanted out of this, I wanted to be saved. What was happening to me?

The figure stepped forward to me, putting its hand on my face. The enveloping darkness drained any remaining light around me. I tried screaming, but it felt like the sound was being vacuumed into this black hole. I couldn't do anything, nor was my body seeming to listen to anything I was trying to do. I gave up. I decided that this was my fate, and that nothing could change it. All of a sudden, I could hear a familiar voice, the voice of my friend. "HEY MAN, SNAP OUT OF IT!" he screamed as he shook me back into reality. I looked around to see my friends all looking at me in fear and in shock. They must have seen how I was in front of the mirror. I looked around and then looked at the mirror, to see that one of my friends had shattered it to pieces. I looked at my friends, with tears running down my face, pleading them in a whisper, "lets go home."

They helped me up as we all rushed out of the home. "Screw this, I'm never ever coming back here," said one of my friends. As we got out of the home and got near our car, I saw it again. In the mirror of the car, the same dark figure was there. I screamed running away from the mirror, only to trip and fall onto the ground. As I got up, I saw it again, but now in the pieces of a broken mirror on the ground. My friends chased after me as I ran in fear. What was happening to me? I ran and ran, but stopped in my tracks as I saw the figure, now in front of me, down the street. I pointed at it and told my friends to run away. They stopped in their tracks and stared at me, now in confusion and in anger. "What are you talking about man no ones there!" they yelled back at me. I looked at the figure as it slowly walked towards me, with the screams of the people now echoing in my ears. I fell to my knees, screaming at the top of my lungs to make it stop. My friends looked in confusion, as they tired to take me back to the car. But they couldn't budge me to move. The same paralyzing fear enveloped me. Nothing was changing as the figure moved even closer. I accepted my fate and did what I only was able to do at this point: scream.