naxwritex-blog - Tumblr blog

naxwritex-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Camp NaNoWriMo Submission - ‘Behind The Mirror’

Here it is. My submission for July 2019. It’s a snippet of an idea I got inspiration for, once I’ve finished SWY, I’m going to be exploring this concept in larger detail. It was originally planned for 3000 words, but I shortened it to almost 1700.

You find yourself standing in front of a mirror. Edges crusted in gold, you slide your hand along its cracked surface. No dust. It seemed as though it was thousands of years old from all the said cracks and designs of peculiar inscriptions written along the dull glow of the frame. The rigid feeling on your fingertips filled you with an uneasy feeling. The reflection beyond it was unnerving. It didn't feel like you.

Was it watching you? Was it even you?

You moved your hand away from the screen, a sinking feeling in your chest erupted as it seemed as though the mirror grew darker. Your hand found itself moving to your head, then your leg, then your other arm as you watched the reflection mirror itself. For some reason, you still didn't feel as though you could breathe a sigh of relief. Or at least, you just couldn't.

Your breathing hitched. Did its eyes just change colour? For a split second, you saw a glinting flash of red in the reflections eyes. Or maybe you're just crazy, fatigued or just plain paranoid. The deep breath that you weren't even aware of escaped your lips.

You blinked again and did a double-take. Mist? It disappeared before you could even realise. It's not cold, it's a warm Summer's day with a temperature reaching almost twenty-five degrees Celsius.

“Okay,” you whispered. “Going crazy.”

A bang sounded behind you, something fell was your first thought. Nope. You bolted out, slamming the door open, cracking the white wall of the hallway... which wasn't white before.

You're back in the same room. This time the mirror still in front of you, the apparition in the mirror looking back at you, just as confused. It almost looked as if it was mocking you.

You slid down the door behind you. You didn't close it when you re-entered the room. Eyes widening. “This has to be a nightmare,” you asked yourself. Heavy, hitched breaths filled your lungs, before you once again fled the room. The door once again slammed into the white walls of the mirror room.

You turned around, expecting to see the hallway you desperately tried to reach. The door was closed again.

Slowly this time, panicked thoughts of how this could be a joke raced through your mind, you opened the door. No darting; no slamming. There it was! The lime washed walls tinted with an azure blue.

You took a step.

Hazy vision twisting and distorting, forcing you to curl over on the ground from the instant rush of nausea.

The bleak, white walls surrounded you again. This time, however, the mirror edged closer to you. As a matter of fact, it never occurred to you until now, but the mirror edged closer each time you walked through door. Anxiety strangled you.

“This has to be a nightmare,” you repeated to yourself over and over again. Hands tightly clutching your black bangs that curled down in front of your eyes.

Wait what? Black? You looked again, pulling your hair in front of you. Tearing out some strands like a deranged animal. Your hair was never black. It used to be a soft golden like the splash of the rays in the sky during a sunset - now, ruined as it turned ash black.

The strands of hair slipped through your fingertips, disintegrating as they touched the hard ground. You looked up for a brief second, attention snapping to another glint of red. This time it didn't disappear.

It really was looking down on you, mocking you as it flashed a grin. You could see it's shadow over your skin. It's.. alive...

You were frozen. Completely locked to the ground. No, really, your legs turned numb. A blinding pain surged through your calves as you let out a pained gasp, a short intake of breath that pierced your lungs. You couldn't even tremble.

“Wh-what,” an exasperated whimper sounded.

Its lips started to move, not mimicking yours. “Place your hand on mine.” Like a moving statue, its palm raised and pressed against the glass. The crimson glimmer of its eyes brightened as you flinched. You raised your hand almost as if you were controlled, captivated by its gaze. Your vision was narrowed as you continued to stare. A growing darkness crept up on your vision – blink.

You looked down at your hands, your vision still slightly dark around the edges. It didn't recede. Your pale skin had become a tone paler, hair still a deep black. You noticed the world had a dark glint to it, scanning the room around you everything seemed normal... but you knew something was amiss.

Oh.

The mirror was gone. The apparition, the shadow, the demon. It was gone too.

Still in a haze, you neglected to look for it – or even care about it. It was like a fever dream or a sick joke someone thought was funny.

The door. You reluctantly reached for the handle, expecting to be flung back into the room. Nothing. Nothing happened, you saw the dimmed lime walls of the hallway as the door cracked open outwards. There was sweat dripping down the side of your head, it felt like the world dropped to minus forty, then immediately rising to plus forty degrees Celsius.

You popped your head out of the door, you couldn't hear anything. So, nobody's home... what time was it? It felt like a century had passed during the time you were trapped in that room. You sauntered down the hallway, was it the lighting? Is that why everything looked so grey? Checking all the rooms, nope, still nobody. You then glanced towards the clock as you read out loud, “three-thirty.”

Wait, so only five minutes had passed? Your older brother won't finish his day for another half hour and your parents are still out of town. Although, they did specify they would be back about six on Wednesday – that's today. What were they doing anyway? They never even said.

You're stuck in secondary school, fourteen years old with the same old schedule having to deal with the same old people, whereas your brother is in college. When he left your school to move on last year, everyone at school became relentless. No more big brother to save you any more.

By this point, you'd checked every room in the house. Nothing seemed wrong, except for the depressing, rich black tint on everything. Everything was in place, except the antique, gold-crusted mirror that disappeared. You walked into your room, to find the mirror door on your wardrobe. Carefully approaching it, still shook from what you saw before. Closing your eyes as you stood in front of it, you really didn't want to see it. Not again.

“You have to do this, you whispered to yourself. It never appeared here before, I mean, it shouldn't right? That mirror must be defective. You're overreacting.”

Biting down on your lips and swallowing a harsh breath; opening your eyes. What? You closed them again, then reopened them. The mirror was empty. Not even your reflection stood there.

“Hey, Noah! I'm home early today!” A voice dragged you out of your thoughts. “You there?” He sounded again, a few seconds later. You raced out, your black bangs swayed in front of your eyes as you came to a halt. Wait. He probably won't even recognise you. Oh well, he could pull off the 'it's just a phase' thing, right?

You found yourself stood in front of him, he looked around the place confused after not hearing a response. “Hey, Jake-” you waved at him. He walked right through you calling out your name again, a bag slung over his shoulder and a vacant expression plastering his face. Stunned at how he just phased right through you, you freaked out, slamming a hand on his shoulder. It went right through him

“I'm right here, Jake,” your voice sounded out again. His brother shrugged, he thought he heard something feint – and even felt something, although when we scanned the area and found nothing he quietly ambled to his room and placed a hand on his shoulder to inspect the area. His expression switched instantly from the previous vacant to confused, but then back again as he once more found nothing. The door closed.

You raced back to the room, struggling to find the mirror, scrambling your hands along the walls around the room while visible panic surged through your veins. You stopped, remembering something. Rushing back to your room, you slammed open the door. The mirror! It wasn't the ancient, tinted mirror like before. It was a simple, modern mirror that replaced the door of the wardrobe. There was still nothing reflecting back. But you took a deep breath anyway, touching the smooth glass surface.

It felt like water, the glass rippled as time seemed to stop around you. The world around you had turned grey – much darker and ominous than before. Increasing the pressure in your hands as you pushed yourself through the cold glass, feeling a rush of fresh water hit your face.

You opened your eyes that you had no idea were closed.

Light. Everything... was light again. Your hair had changed back to its original soft, golden hay colour. You never thought you'd miss being normal again. It was like the ash black had never even been there. You sent an awkward half-glance at the mirror, making sure it was safe before returning your full gaze. You were there. You. No deep red eyes, no ghost, just you and your light smile.

A relieved sigh escaped through your lips.

“There you are,” a familiar voice behind you called. “I called your name several times, why didn't you answer me?”

“Oh...” You put an uncomfortable hand behind your head, scratching it while searching for answers. “I... fell asleep.”

That's it. That's what it was, right? Just one horrible nightmare.

0 notes