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The Mirror

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own.

By O. GrimleyPublished about a year ago 5 min read
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The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. It was a twisted, hideous mockery of the human form, a grotesque caricature of some perverse artist’s nightmare. The figure’s skin was mottled and bruised, its hair a tangled mass of greasy black strands that hung lifelessly around its misshapen face. A wide, malicious grin revealed teeth as sharp and twisted as a shark’s, and its eyes, those soulless orbs of midnight, seemed to burrow into the darkest corners of my mind.

My name is O. Grimley, and I’m a writer. I had always been fascinated by the otherworldly and supernatural, so when I came across the old, seemingly abandoned house at the end of Elm Street, I knew I’d found my latest inspiration. The house was a creaking Victorian monstrosity, its weathered wooden frame sagging under the weight of countless years. It had been a local legend for decades, said to be haunted by the malevolent spirit of its last owner. To me, it was a treasure trove of untold stories.

I explored the house’s musty depths, each room offering a glimpse into a bygone era. In the master bedroom, I found the mirror, its ornate frame tarnished with age, the silvered glass speckled with black spots, a cancerous constellation creeping across its surface. It was that mirror that revealed the horrifying visage that now haunted my waking thoughts.

I became obsessed with the mirror, consumed by a desire to uncover its dark secrets. I spent hours staring into its depths, searching for some hint of meaning in the twisted reflection. As the days passed, I felt my grasp on reality slipping, my world and the one in the mirror becoming increasingly intertwined.

At night, I would hear strange, unexplainable noises — whispers that seemed to slither through the walls, echoing in the chambers of my mind. I dismissed them as the product of my overactive imagination, the price of immersing myself in a world of darkness and horror.

But soon, the whispers became voices, and the voices grew louder, more insistent. They taunted me, urging me to embrace the darkness, to let it seep into my very soul. And as the voices grew more powerful, so too did the figure in the mirror. The twisted, malignant creature I saw there seemed to grow stronger, its influence on my world increasing with each passing day.

Then the nightmare began to manifest itself in the physical world. Objects in the house would move of their own accord, doors slamming shut, shadows flickering across the walls. I found myself being drawn deeper into the mirror’s world, my reality slowly being consumed by the alternate dimension that lay within its silvered depths.

As the barrier between the worlds began to blur, the figure in the mirror revealed itself to me. It was a twisted reflection of my own inner darkness, a manifestation of the fear and loathing that had plagued me for so long. It fed on my doubts and insecurities, growing stronger with each passing moment, until it threatened to consume me entirely.

In a desperate attempt to save myself, I turned to the town’s history, searching for some clue to the mirror’s origins. I discovered that it had once belonged to a man named Samuel Finch, a reclusive artist who had lived in the house nearly a century ago. The townspeople had shunned him, believing him to be mad. Finch had been obsessed with the idea of alternate dimensions, spending years searching for a way to break through the barriers of reality.

It was said that he had finally succeeded, but at a terrible cost. In opening the door to another world, he had allowed something dark and malevolent to seep into our own reality. The townspeople found Finch dead in the house, his body twisted and contorted in a way that defied explanation. The mirror was the only clue left behind, a sinister portal that had allowed the darkness to enter our world.

Armed with this knowledge, I realized that I had to destroy the mirror, sever the connection between the worlds, and banish the creature that threatened to consume me. But as I prepared to shatter the glass, the voices in my head grew louder, more desperate. They clawed at the edges of my sanity, demanding that I surrender myself to the darkness.

In that moment, I understood the terrible truth: the creature in the mirror was not some external force, but a manifestation of my own inner demons. By allowing my fears and insecurities to consume me, I had given it the power to cross into our world. The only way to defeat it was to confront those demons, to face the darkness within myself and find the strength to overcome it.

I stood before the mirror, my heart pounding in my chest as I stared into the eyes of the twisted figure that had once been my reflection. I gathered all of my courage and determination, and with a resolute cry, I shattered the glass, the sound like a thousand screaming souls being silenced at once.

The mirror lay in pieces on the floor, the twisted figure trapped within the shards of broken glass, its power diminished. As I swept up the fragments, I felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t experienced in weeks. The whispers in my mind had gone silent, the shadows no longer danced on the walls, and the world around me seemed brighter, more real.

But as I disposed of the shattered mirror, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had truly defeated the darkness, or if it still lingered within me, waiting for another chance to break free. It was a question that would haunt me for the rest of my days, a reminder that the line between reality and nightmare was thinner than I had ever imagined.

I left the house on Elm Street behind, seeking solace in the anonymity of a new town, a fresh start. But as I began to rebuild my life, I couldn’t escape the shadow of the haunted mirror, the sinister portal that had nearly consumed me. I knew that I could never fully escape the darkness within myself, but I vowed to fight it, to resist the temptation to surrender to the nightmare.

And so, I embraced the only weapon I had: my writing. Through my stories, I would expose the darkness, bringing it into the light so that others might recognize the demons that lurked within them. For I had learned the most terrifying truth of all — that the monsters we fear the most are not the ones that hide in the shadows, but the ones that dwell within our own hearts.

Craving more chilling tales? Follow me on Vocal and delve deeper into the shadows. Don’t forget to comment, share, and recommend my stories to fellow horror enthusiasts. Embrace the darkness.

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About the Creator

O. Grimley

Cryptic weaver of nightmares, I delve into humanity's shadows, unearthing fears to craft chilling tales. Embrace the darkness within my words.

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