The Reflection
“Mom!” Mikah called, already fed up with the arguments; it hadn’t even been five minutes since they had started unpacking.
“What?!” came a shrill response from the next room over.
“Where did you put that mirror?” Mikah replied. He had specifically told his mom not to touch the mirror because he knew where he wanted it, but of course, she always had to get in the middle of everything. She couldn’t help it.
“What are you talking about, I never touched your mirror!” Mikah’s mother called, peeking her head around the corner.
“Well it didn’t just move itse–” he was cut off abruptly as he turned around and walked straight into the mirror, knocking it over and shattering it on the hard tile floor. “Goddammit!” Mikah was tired. Tired of fighting with his mom. Tired of being alone.
“Oh god- Mikah I’m sorry- I guess I forgot that I took it out of the box,” Mikah’s mom frantically stammered.
“You know, Mom, can you please just go? You’re making it harder, and I really need to be alone right now,” he lied. He needed company more than anything, but would never have admitted it, especially to his mom. She already made a fit about him moving to the other side of the country, and if he admitted that he was already lonely, she would never leave him alone.
“Mikah, I flew all the way here to help you move in- I’m not just going to leave you-”
“Just get out, Mom!” Mikah interrupted, immediately flooded with guilt.
Mikah’s mother quickly covered her hurt expression with one of understanding. “Okay, well that’s alright. It looks like you just want to be alone, and I could go for some food anyways,” she turned towards the door but stopped before leaving. “I love you, Mikah.”
No response. She walked briskly into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. Mikah could tell she was crying, and he felt bad, but he couldn’t help it. Something had been off between them these last few months, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. They always fought and could never get on the same page. Taking some space from each other would probably end up being a good thing. He was trying to be more independent, after all.
Mikah sighed as he turned to face the broken glass, and slowly stooped down to start picking them up. He was nearly finished when one of the pieces sliced his hand open. “Shit!” he exclaimed while trying not to let any blood drip onto the carpet. He couldn’t remember how long he’d had the mirror, and was quite annoyed that he now had to go buy another. Nothing in LA was cheap, especially the rent.
By the time he got the glass cleaned up and his hand wrapped, it was easily 9:00 pm, but he couldn’t be bothered to actually check the clock. He started to worry about his mom, of course they fought, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about her; she should have been back by now. She probably got her own hotel room in order to give Mikah some space, she would come back in the morning once the air had cleared.
Mikah knew he probably needed stitches for the cut on his hand, but he decided that it could wait until the morning. He sat alone on his bed, taking it all in. The off-white walls, the mold growing in the top corner of his bedroom, the leaking faucet in the bathroom, the dark stain on the carpet that he really didn’t want to think about. Just as he was thinking through what he would say in his job interview for a tech company the next day, the light flickered out.
“Of course”, Mikah muttered to himself. “Nothing else in this stinking building works, so why should the electricity.” He dragged himself out of bed to check the fuses, when a hair raising voice stopped him in his tracks.
Where are you going, Mikah? it said.
Mikah was frozen in horror. The voice was nothing like he had ever heard before, yet it seemed so familiar, like a very old friend. “Who is that? Where are you?” Mikah muttered while trying to keep his voice as level as possible.
You don’t recognize me? The voice sounded sad.
Mikah didn’t want to piss off whoever was talking to him so he decided to go along with it, “Maybe I could recognize you if I could see you.”
Fine, then. Have it your way. The intruder stepped out of the shadows, and Mikah nearly fainted at the sight. Whatever it was, it was clear that it wasn’t human. It had the general shape of a human, but it looked like it was made of shadows. It had no eyes or nose, but a very large mouth that stretched from ear to ear, that would be if it had any ears. Wisps of black smoke curled from its body, and its very presence gave off a cold feeling that made Mikah’s skin crawl. It radiated bitterness and fear.
“What are you?” Mikah whispered, surprised that he could muster up any voice at all.
Don’t you know, Mikah? It’s lips curled into a smile that reflected all the evil of the world. I’m you.
“What?”
Isn’t it obvious? We’re practically identical. The Thing then giggled a shrill sound which turned Mikah’s blood to ice. The high pitched laugh quickly dropped to a deep-throated snarl.
“How are we the same person, that isn’t possible,” Mikah stammered; he was just trying to keep the conversation going because as long as the Thing was talking, it didn’t seem like it was interested in killing Mikah. Yet.
Oh, Mikah, we always did have a bad memory didn’t we, hmm didn’t we?
“You’re right, I- I don’t remember. Can you please remind me?”
Mikah, you’re so silly, so silly hmmm. The Thing hunched over itself and turned halfway toward the wall, muttering to itself.
“Um, wh- what do you mean-”
SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! Spit flew from the Thing’s mouth as Mikah shrunk back against the wall. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO US! YOU KNOW WHAT SHE DID!
“What-”
It was her. It was Mother. When we were two, we were in the bathtub. She left us there and we drowned. She brought you back, but I died. I got stuck in that mirror in the bathroom, but you set me free. The Thing’s voice was shaking with rage, spit was flying in all directions. Mikah watched as it bared its teeth, rows of sharp razors; it vaguely reminded him of the clown from that Steven King movie his friend made him watch.
You cried, and I died. I died and watched you grow hmm. I was waiting in that mirror, watching you live and grow, but now I’m out, and we never have to be alone anymore hmmmm.
“But- but how is that possible?”
Oh, come now, Mikah. You had to have known that part of you had died that day, hmmm? But it doesn’t matter because now I’m here, and we never have to be alone ever again hmmm.
“So you’re not going to kill me?”
Why would I want to kill you, Mikah, that would take all the fun away hmmm.
“Alright, well- um, I should go check on Mom and make sure she’s doing okay, I kind of yelled at her earlier-” The Thing nodded along enthusiastically. “I should go check on her.”
Oh you don’t need to do that Mikah. I already made sure of that.
Mikah froze at his words. “What?…”
Oh yes, I saw you get mad at her once I escaped, and of course I was angry as well, so I killed her force us hmmmm. The Thing grinned wider than before, clearly very proud of itself. You know, she didn’t even recognize me at the end. Her own son. She killed me and POOF. Forgot all about us hmmm.
Mikah was frozen, his feet rooted into the ground. He didn’t know what to say. What to do. “You… what- I,” he suddenly forgot how to form a complete sentence. The feeling of darkness that he felt when the Thing first spoke came rushing back as the gravity of what had happened settled in.
Hmmmm, yes. Ah, well now that she is out of the way, you and I can do whatever we want to and we never have to be alone. We have each other now hmm.
“No… what- no!” The Thing looked taken aback. “You killed my mom, the only one who was there for me, and you expect me to be, what? Happy?!”
I expect you to be free, it snarled. I expect you to be grateful.You freed me, so I freed you!
“This isn’t freedom! You aren’t me, you’re a plague- you’re a monster!”
The Thing rushed forward and pinned Mikah against the wall before he could even blink. You should be careful about what you say or I’ll have to put you in a cage. Like a dog. The Thing licked its lips, and Mikah could feel it stare deep into his soul despite its lack of eyes. Mikah got a surge of bravery from somewhere inside him and spit in the Thing’s face. With tears streaming down his face, partly from fear and partly from grief, he muttered, “Screw you. We are not the same and will never be.”
The Thing let out an outraged cry as it rushed backwards standing over the broken mirror frame. Fine. You say both of us cannot be, then so be it. The last thing Mikah remembered was the Thing rushing up to him, and slamming his head hard against the wall.
When Mikah came round, he was looking through some kind of broken window that had been hastily repaired. Standing on the other side was… him? It was like looking in a reflection, but something was off about it. Mikah looked around to see where he was and all he saw was darkness. Through the window was his bedroom. His body had black vine-like marks everywhere, like he was transforming. He looked up and made eye contact with his reflection, only it wasn’t a reflection. It was the Thing, it was taping and glueing the mirror back together, and Mikah was stuck inside. “No,” he whispered to himself, but his voice sounded different. It was like a distant echo.
“Oh yes,” the Thing replied, smiling with Mikah’s face. Talking with Mikah’s voice. “You said that I could not exist, so I became you, and now you will become me hmmm. A shame, too. We could have had so much fun together, Mikah. But you had to draw the line, you just haaaaaad to flip out on me.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m living now, it’s all I’ve ever wanted since that bitch left me to die all those years ago.”
Mikah remembered his mother, and a sob forced its way up his throat. “Don’t talk about her that way!”
“Ohhh, no no no, Mikah. You don’t get to talk to me like that anymore. See, I own you. You are never coming out of that mirror, and trust me, you would not believe what that place can do to your mind. It’s crazyyyyyy hmmmm,” the Thing giggled. As it put the finishing touches on the broken glass, the Thing picked it up and gently set it down in the closet.
“Well, now that Mother has tragically passed away, I can’t imagine that anybody would come looking for you, especially when I show up to your job interview, sleep in your bed, and live your life,” the Thing drawled with mock sympathy.
“You won’t get away with this- someone will find you out- you’re not going to win-”
“Oh sweetie,” the Thing cooed. “I already did. Ta ta!” Mikah watched with horror as his freedom turned around, and closed the door.
. . .
27 Years Later
Anthony Ramierez and Roselyn Parker had been assigned to clean out the apartment of a man named, what was it? Michael Leafblad? Mason? Something like that. Apparently the man got in a car wreck and died while drunk driving. Anthony was always rambling on about the dangers of driving, and he was certainly not going to pass up this opportunity to tell Roselyn about it.
“Look, Rosie, all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be driving around at night when people like this guy are drivin’ like a bat out of hell s’all I’m sayin’.”
“Sure, Anthony, I’ll be extra careful. Hey,” she teased, “maybe you can take me home!”
“You wish, Rosie,” Anthony replied, hiding his red face from his partner. “Alright,” he announced, changing the subject. “Bedroom’s next I guess.” There really wasn’t much in the room; this guy had no taste whatsoever.
As Rosie started taking things off the nightstand, Anthony moved toward the closet, and to his surprise, the only thing other than a few bland t-shirts and an old suit was a broken mirror. Well, at least it used to be broken. It looked like this Mark guy had put the mirror back together.
“Hey, Rose!”
“Yeah?”
“Come check this out!” Rosie made her way over and looked just as surprised as Anthony. “You’d think he’d just buy a new mirror, no?”
“Not our job to wonder, my friend,” Rosie sighed. She made her way over to the mirror and started pulling it out. Anthony, trying to help Rosie, made a lunge to grab the other end, but he just knocked it out of her hand, causing it to shatter on the ground. “Ah damn,” Anthony muttered.
“Don’t sweat it,” Rosie said. “This thing was garbage anyways, nobody would buy this thing. She was then interrupted by a dark figure that ran past them, knocking both workers over. The shadowy figure came to rest in the opposite corner, face turned away from them. Both Rosie and Anthony were too stunned to speak, and instead just listened to the thing mutter to itself.
The shadowy figure whipped it head around, revealing a face with no eyes or nose, just a large, gaping mouth. Where is he? the figure questioned hastily.
“I- uh- wh-” Anthony stammered before being slammed against the wall by the figure, making Rosie yelp and shrink away in fear.
I said, where is he! The Thing who lives here, where is he!
Rosie finally spoke up, “Th-there was a man who lived here, b-but he died. We’re just cleaning the place out. Oh god, please don’t hurt us, we didn’t do anything!”
This made the dark figure step back in surprise. He never expected the Thing to die again.
Dead? So… I have waited years, decades for revenge, and now, it is taken from me, the figure snarled, articulating each word carefully.
“Look, we’ll give ya whatever you want, I swear. Just, please, let us go! We’ll leave this place, we’ll leave it alone, I promise,” Anthony cried.
The figure stepped back, calmer now, a look of resolution plastered onto its face. You may think he’s dead, but he won’t be. He wanted me to escape, and now he’s waiting for me. To join him. This is all he ever wanted, for us to be together. Hmmm isn’t irony cruel, he stated matter-of-factly while glancing toward the terrified workers on the floor who vigorously nodded their heads in agreement.
Hmm, you never realize it until it’s too late, but life can drown oceans of obstacles, yet it is finite. If I could only make him see.
And with that, the figure was gone, dissolved in shadow, never to be seen by another soul again. At least a living soul, that is.
