I stare into space, waiting for this magic little thought to happen. The thought comes in, and then fades out again. I continue my stare, hoping for this flakey thought of mine to stick around long enough for me to get a good grasp on it. Then my thoughts go blank, completely. The hope I held so dear to me had slipped away without warning.
My stare is no longer just a stare. My brain processes what my eyes are seeing. I’m seeing my dark side imitate me. My dark side slides past me, without skipping a beat, with that smirk that screams trouble. I know her all too well. I know exactly what she’s planning. She plans to pose as me to take over my life here. I’m no stranger to the game.
I try to speak, but she’s already beat me to the opposing words to my very obvious argument. Maybe she knows me all too well. I make an effort to protest, but she’s got my mouth clamped shut, keeping my protest inside it. She’s much too strong for me to take on, and she knows that. She sees my horror, causing her to laugh almost uncontrollably. But then she fades back inside my reflection in the mirror. Now I see her. Amusement has melted completely away.
Her anger becomes clear. So clear, that the anger swells inside me as well. The rage breaks through the mirror. In that exact moment, I see her face in agony, I look down at my hand and see the blood across my knuckles dripping down my fingers. Suddenly, the corners of my mouth turn up to a smile, but not under my command. I clench my fist, examining the injury, then I look at her. Her smile is so bright and ruthlessly polite. Hate starts in my torso, in the form of a pit in my stomach. The hate travels upward, in a slow motion, but it floats into my brain and hands rather quickly.
I stare at her with my eyes so fixed on hers that I’ve got her eyes held down in that exact spot. They try to squirm away from me, but the hate is now full force. I give it a second to let it adjust in my system, and fill up every single inch of my body. I’m suddenly light headed and high off of the rage. And not a second more passes until I start to set off bombs in her head. Her terrified face tries to beg me for a chance. I decline in a silent, yet obvious way. I reach and feel her thoughts clustered, busy, and unorganized. There’s nothing but darkness in that cold void of hers, but the fear is definitely there.
That darkness is only a mask. I know there’s something there. Just like in a movie, I throw a pebble at the window to her brain, and sure enough the appearance of darkness suddenly turns into the uneasy feeling of being invaded. I drill into her brain, the engraving of my presence. I make it very clear that I am here to tear her from limb to limb, in every way possible. She starts to scream, but I force her mouth shut and start my process.
She puts up a pretty damn good fight, but her slip ups are too major for her to recover from. My mental tweezers dissect every section of pain she has stored in her nerves, emotions, and soul. I strip her of every ounce of dignity. I clean off the makeup of her exterior to show her true face. They say if you’re going to be two faced, at least make one of them pretty.
I’m distracted for a second too long, and the upper hand is returned to her. Her counter attack is through my one weakness, my fear of losing my mind. I feel the nagging annoyance drill into my brain, leave holes where my memories and thoughts are supposed to be. I try to retrieve them, but she dangles them in front of my face like car keys, but as soon as she knows she’s got my attention, she crushes them to dust. She picks apart the things that mean the most to me, ridding me of everything but the raw, brutal sense of worthlessness. She lights a fuse inside my mind, a medium sized one. The sparks fly at random, catching everything else on fire, then suddenly, there’s an explosion. It hits like a brick to the back of my head and I fall to the floor.
I cry out in agony, while she laughs at the pain she’s inflicted. I try to use my strength to get up, but that b**** has stolen it. She keeps me on the ground, gives me a chuckle or so, then I feel a pit in my stomach start to compose itself. I look up with what little strength I have left and see her grinning so widely at my suffering. The pain gets more intense as her grin starts to turn into a twisted smile. I try to shut my eyes as tight as possible to help minimize the pain, but it doesn’t work. Her smile opens up to let out a sound of morbid laughter.
Her laughter caused her to ease up just enough for me to stand up. At the first attempt, I almost screamed and fell back down, My second attempt granted me permission, and I finally lifted myself up. Her laughing slowed and she looked straight at me, her expression blank. I had no idea what her next plan of action was going to be. But, I took a risk and stood 2 inches away from her. Her eyes pierced mine in an un mistakeable challenge. Unfortunately for her, she let her guard down and couldn’t grasp it to pull it back up. So, I stole it from her. Every last piece.
Feeling my dominance, she stepped back. Her face showed purely fear and nothing more. I took her head in both of my hands. She tried to back away before I could reach her, but I was quicker. I held her head perfectly still to where I could see it. She clearly didn’t enjoy it. I let her go, but threw her to the ground. She was free to travel wherever she wanted right now. But I was stronger at this point. I invited myself back into her mind again and said, “Let the flames begin.” As I set fire to her body from the inside out. She tried to get up, but my hold on her was way too strong.
She was so helpless, it was almost funny. She was on her hands and knees as she started coughing up blood. To accentuate the affect, I kicked her while she was down. I heard a cry crack from her voice. She was able to roll over just enough to spit up more blood. Internally liquefied now, she writhed in pain. I took to digging into her brain again in the most painful manner I could inflict, because I knew there was nothing she could do about it anymore. She was too weak. I picked her apart, turning here to mulch, then I melted her eyes from the sockets from the fire in my own. They attempted to regenerate themselves, but then, her cold hands dropped to her side, and she dropped back onto the floor. This time, her entire body remained still on the black and white marble.
Almost instantaneously, I saw her begin to decay, rotting her body and soul from the inside out. She lay there, nothing but a dead complication.
I looked up at what was left of my mirror, half expecting to see my reflection. I was sadly mistaken. I saw no reflection. Not even hers.
I looked back down at the lifeless body, looked at mine, then looked at the empty mirror. Suddenly, the mirror was put back to normal again, but still not showing any sign of life. I looked at her, The side of me that was supposed to be bad, She looked like the normal me.
My eyes drifted slowly back to my own body. My knuckles were bloody, my dress tattered, my hair in disarray, and my skin was covered in scabs, bruises, and cuts. Why was everything else getting back to normal except for me? I checked the mirror once again, but this time my reflection finally stared back. The smile on the reflection seemed a lot more mischievous than it should look... but then the reflection’s smile widened, turning its head to where the body should be. I was forced to look at the body.
My body.
Suddenly. I was face to face with my dark side again. She leaned in and whispered, “Gotcha.” Her giggle filled my ears while she turned and headed back to the other side of the mirror. The brighter side. I stood there as a ghost, remembering how my dark side always, always tried to take my place. She finally succeeded. Now I’m the one in hell.