Mirror Image

I woke up late yet again. It was the third day in a row I had to endure extra sleep after I moved back into my childhood home following my mom’s passing. I didn’t want to walk by the dressing table mirror in the morning, not after seeing the writings that would show up on it every time I woke up. There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing was even stolen. It felt like a sick prank. Someone was sneaking into my house just to write “Good morning, Ariel” on my mirror. I didn’t know what to make of it.

I informed the police about it, but that got me nowhere, so I did the next best thing: I bought a camera and hid it inside a soft toy to catch the culprit in the act. But what I thought would give me answers only raised more questions: there was no culprit—the letters were forming on the mirror all by themselves. What was I supposed to do with the footage? No one would believe it to be true.

I buried myself in work to avoid the paranormal issue that plagued my house; it was the only thing I knew to do. The last time I was this stressed was when my sister disappeared. Remembering those memories made me even more anxious. That night, I worked until my eyes were too heavy for me to continue. It was already past midnight, so I decided to turn in for the night. I was washing my face in front of the bathroom mirror when, suddenly, more words began to form before me: “Good night, Ariel.”

My legs began to shake. I moved back almost instantly and found myself backed up against the wall. “I’m really losing it,” I told myself.

“No, you’re not” appeared on the mirror.

“Y— What are you?”

“I’m a lost soul trapped between worlds.”

“Why are you here? Who are you?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yes.”

A translucent figure began to form within the mirror. It was humanoid, but with glowing grey eyes. The image was vague, but the features were too uncanny. I felt a bitter chill sink deep into my skin, freezing me where I stood. “Li…sa?”

“It has been a while, sis.”

“How is this possible?”

“You abandoned me back then. How long has it been? Twenty years?”

“Lisa, we were teenagers playing a dumb game. I didn’t know what really happened. One moment you were there, the next you were gone.”

“But you didn’t even try to find me!”

“I did. Let me show you.”

I pulled out all the newspaper clippings and journal notes I had kept with me all these years and showed her everything. “Do you believe me now?”

“I… I’m sorry.”

There was a brief moment of silence between us.

“What really happened that day, Lisa?”

“I can’t quite explain it. When that dark mist enveloped us, I found myself suddenly swept away. When I awakened, I could neither hear nor see; I couldn’t smell or taste or touch. I felt nothing, as if I were floating in an endless emptiness. All I could do was exist in the silence, until one day, I was finally met by a faint light.”

“A mirror?”

“Yes, I soon found myself able to perceive where mirrors were, even though all my other senses were gone. My consciousness was somehow linked to them.”

My heart sank as Lisa explained her story. For over two decades, I thought that the spell we read had killed her, but it seemed she had suffered a fate far worse than death, trapped in an eternal prison. I needed to make things right. I rushed to the basement and rummaged through our old belongings until I found that cursed book. I flipped through the pages in desperation, hoping there was something—anything—that would help me free my sister. To my luck, there was a way, but it came with a heavy price.

I took a deep breath. Lisa deserved a second chance; it was my fault that we even performed that stupid spell in the first place. I had to take responsibility. I didn’t tell Lisa what the spell would cost, and just went through with it. Upon reciting the reversal spell, a gust of black mist, similar to the one we faced that day, engulfed the entire room. The next thing I remembered was waking up to an empty world, void of all my senses. The spell had worked; now I just had to find my way back to Lisa.