The Man in the Mirror

Man in the Mirror

Every day starts the same way. The 7:30 alarm blares its infuriating wake-up call. I hit the snooze button at least three times. When I finally stumble out of bed, I spend as much as a half-hour sitting on the toilet using that time to try and wake up. I read a few more pages in whatever novel I am currently slogging my way through as my body accepts its fate for the day. I follow this with a quick shave, teeth brushing, and then a shower. A quick bite to eat, and then I’m off to work. Most days during this routine, I find myself staring at my own reflection, checking for new wrinkles or grey hairs, or any signs that I'm growing older or changing. In the past few days though, it seems I have been seeing things, things that can’t honestly be happening. For instance, yesterday I saw my reflection wink at me. Sometimes I see myself grinning and making faces back at me, though I'm pretty sure I did nothing of the sort.

This morning was no different than the past few; when I looked in the mirror, my reflection was whistling, and I could hear a ghost of a melody too. I touched my lips and found them to be frowning; my eyes widened as my reflection never moved. Perhaps it was stupid of me; after all, I know better than to open the basement door during a thunderstorm and that you should never pick up the mysterious relic in a horror movie. However, my reasoning failed me that morning and I reached out to touch the mirror. This time, my reflection did move. It reached up and out of the mirror and grabbed my wrist tightly. I cried out in alarm as the iron-like grip tightened around my wrist. It had me trapped! A fear-stricken cry escaped my lips as I looked and saw the hand from the mirror as it began to sink into my flesh. Terror gripped my heart. I tried to pull free, hoping that it was just a reflection, a ghost, but it was to no avail. It held me just as tight as before, if not tighter.

“Shhhhhh… it will all be over soon, Edward. I promise… there won't be any pain.”

The voice came from the mirror as my reflection gazed back at me with glowing red eyes and a fang-filled mouth. I opened my mouth to scream, and that was when the thing that looked like me gave a savage jerk. In that moment, my body didn’t seem to move, yet I felt like I was speeding towards the mirror.

I must have blacked out; I don’t remember anything after that except for blackness. Even when I knew I was awake, all I was aware of was blackness. Time, space, and even weight were lost in this place. As far as I could tell, I could have been floating in space, except that I still seemed to be breathing... or at least figured I must still be breathing. I reached around with my hands and while I seemed to still be in one piece, I could not feel anything around me, not even under my feet. Hours passed, or many only minutes- it was difficult to tell here- a light sprang into being in front of me. I tried to walk forward but nothing happened, I tried to swim towards it in case such a motion could work, still, nothing happened. Eventually, the small pinprick of light grew wider and wider and I realized it was a door opening. Finally, it opened and a rectangle of light illuminated the darkness I found myself trapped in. A shadow filled the doorway, and I started to call out to it for help. In an instant though, my voice stuck in the back of my throat as I saw the face fully when the room's light flicked on. It was me?! But how? Why? I could not begin to answer, but the person out there was me, and for some reason he was holding a hammer in his hand. I started to yell for help anyway; perhaps someone other than this doppelganger would hear and rescue me?

The reflection came right up to me and he reached up with one hand, his fingers stopping just inches away from me. I was a bit relieved because I had the worst feeling that his touch would have been cold and clammy on my cheek. I heard his voice, so very much like my own, softly through the darkness. I couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were no longer red and his teeth no longer fangs; now he looked exactly like me in every single way.

“Ahhhh Eddie, Ed, Edward. I do hope no one will miss you, or the old you at least. I plan on living life the way you should have! One continuous party, Eddie my man! Drugs, booze, women… heck maybe even a few men, never know till you try it right, Eddie?”

His voice sent shivers down my spine and I realized it wasn’t just a reflection I was seeing, it was me! At least in body… He started whistling the song “Time Is On My Side” by the Rolling Stones as the hammer lifted high over my… his head.

“Sorry, Eddie… it’s my body now, and I won't risk giving you the chance to get it back!”

With those final words, he swung the hammer down towards my head. It impacted my prison, shattering it, shattering me into hundreds of little pieces. Each piece of me watched as my body walked out of the bathroom, only pausing long enough to crush a larger fragment of mirror under its heel. With that as my last memory, my spirit and my consciousness were pulled down into the darkness as it finally consumed me and that was all I knew.