Mirror
 

I woke to the sound of scratching. At first, I thought it was coming from the window, until I heard it coming from the mirror…
I got out of bed and started walking towards the mirror. What was making that sound? As I approached the mirror, I thought I saw something standing behind me. I walked a little closer and squinted my eyes. What was that? It looked like a girl in a black dress with no face… I was paralyzed with fear. What do I do? All I could do was just stare at the girl. Was this just a dream or was this actually happening? I couldn’t tell whether this was real or not.
As I kept staring at the girl, I noticed her feet hovering over the dark, gray carpet covering my floor. She was just floating there like a balloon! I tried to find my voice and when I was about to ask her so many questions, she disappeared. I could feel myself trembling with fear. I felt dizzy and cold. I tried to walk back to my bed and I was surprised when I could feel my feet and legs move again. I crawled into bed and pulled the light purple covers over my head. I lay there, thinking about what just happened. “This is unbelievable,” I whispered to myself. “ This is just a dream. A terrifying nightmare. None of this is real.” I tried to convince myself that this was just a dream, but I couldn’t think straight.
My alarm started going off at 8:00 this morning, so I quickly shut it off. I climbed out of bed and changed into dark blue skinny jeans and a comfortable white t-shirt.. I walked into the bathroom across the hall and tied my brown, crazy hair up into a ponytail. I brushed my teeth and went downstairs into my messy living room. It’s hard to keep a big house to yourself perfectly clean, but I was glad I moved out when I did. My mom and dad were always telling me to do this, that, and what not. It took them awhile to accept that their daughter was all grown up, but eventually they did.
I walked into the kitchen and ate a bagel for breakfast. When I was finished, I put my shoes and coat on, grabbed my keys, and walked out to my car. I got in and started it. As I was backing out of my driveway, I looked into the rearview mirror and regretted it instantly. In the backseat was a woman in a black dress with jet black hair with no face. My hand flew to my mouth immediately to keep me from screaming. I looked away from the rearview mirror to my backseat. When I did, I saw nothing. I brushed it off and drove to work.
I arrived at work around 9:15 a.m. and parked in the parking lot in the front of the Key to Art building. I walked in and talked to the receptionist.
“Hi, Embry! Room 214?”, asked the receptionist, holding a pair of keys.
“Yup. Thanks, Renae.”, I replied. I took the keys and went on my way.
I walked down the long hallway until I reached the only door at the the end of it. Room 214. I unlocked the door and walked in. The room was filled with the sun’s light pouring in from the only two big, wide windows on the left and on the wall across from the door. There was an easel in the far left hand corner and next to it was a long shelf filled with all of my paint supplies. The walls were a light lavender while the floor had a tan, wood covering. There were unpainted canvases leaning up against the right hand corner of the room.There was a dark brown, three seater couch in the middle of the room. There was a desk with a chair in front of it facing the middle of the wall on the right. The room itself was very wide and open.
I walked towards the couch and put my bag and coat on it. I took my laptop out of my bag and put it on the desk. I sat down, opened my laptop. In the black screen, I could see the two girls. One from last night and one from this morning. I tried to remain as calm as I could. I blinked a couple of times but they were still standing there. Their feet weren’t even touching the ground. I turned around as quick as I could. They were still standing there. I slowly stood up from my chair and walked towards them. I stopped right in front of them.
“What do you want??”, I asked nervously.
None of them answered. So I asked again but this time angrily. “What do you want!?”
Just as I said it, they both rushed towards me and disappeared right when they were about to hit me. I fell to the ground, shaking. I crawled towards my desk and sat in the chair. I turned on my computer and opened an internet browser. In the search bar, I typed in “Ghosts”. I clicked on the first link. It explained how ghosts only haunt certain places or people and how you know when a ghost is present. It also explained how the temperature drastically changes when a ghost or spirit is around. It even listed ways to communicate with them. I immediately closed out of the program when I finished reading.
I left my desk and walked over to the unpainted canvases leaning against the wall. I grabbed a tall wide one and set it on the easel. I grabbed a tray and poured random different colors of paint. I grabbed a fine tipped paint brush and dipped it in the purple paint. I began painting.
It was about noon when I finished painting. I looked over the beautiful purple Foxgloves. Painting always helped calm my nerves. I usually paint flowers or landscapes. The flower I painted looked like a bell with wavy edges. There were many Foxgloves grouped together in a green, grassy meadow. This painting would definitely buy me some more groceries.
I left work at around 1:00 pm for lunch. I went to the new Subway nearby and bought a sandwich. Delicious. I sat down and started eating. I looked out the window and in the reflection, I saw the girl and the woman holding hands. I immediately looked away. These ghosts or whatever were driving me crazy. Should I call someone to help?
I went back to work after lunch to find out that there was nothing else they needed me to do. I went back home at 2:15pm. I was extremely tired, so I came inside, took off my coat and shoes, walked into the living room, and laid down on the couch to take a nap. I slowly drifted off to sleep.
In my dream, I was standing in an old house. The dark blue paint in the room I was standing in (I wasn’t sure which room) was peeling off the walls and the floor underneath my feet was covered with stained tan carpet. This room almost looked like my room in my house. I turned around to see if I can find a door. Behind me were the girl and the woman. They looked like they were being held back by something. I looked over the woman’s shoulder to see that they both had chains around their ankles. I was terrified. They reached their hands out and yelled, “ HELP! He’s going to be back soon! Hurry!” I replied, “ He who? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Before I could do anything they started screaming. I put my hands over my ears. Their screams were painful. I fell to my knees on the floor.
I woke in a cold sweat, screaming. I was fully awake now. I decided I would call someone, but when I saw the clock on the wall above the end table, I chose not to. It was already 1 o’clock in the morning. I slept for almost 12 hours. I pulled my hand away and stood up. It was dark but across from me was a man. He was dressed in all black. Black pants, black shoes, and a black hoodie. In his left hand was something I couldn’t make out, but it was big and sharp. He must be the man the girl and the woman were warning me about. I tried to run towards the door, but he stepped in front of me. He put his finger to his mouth and said, “ Shhh.” I tried hard not to scream. I decided to turn around and run but before I made it to the kitchen, he grabbed me from behind and threw me to the ground. I looked up at him and I saw his boot heading towards my face. Then it went black.