The Mirror

I gripped her hand tighter in mine as strobe lights flickered in the room.

“Ready?” I asked the other girls as we stare towards our reflections- the pulsing lights illuminating jerky movements. Murmurs of agreement rippled through the three of them. And I took a deep breath.

“Bloody Mary,” I said softly, and Natalie gripped my hand tighter.

“Bloody Mary,” We chorused together, “Bloody Mary.”

As soon as the words left our lips for the third time the bathroom door was yanked open with a loud creak. A shriek left our lips as we stumbled away from the door, and the lights flickered on.

“What are you, twelve?” Chrissy asked incredulously. “Keep the lights on, I’m not peeing in the dark.”

Chrissy was hardly five feet tall, but she could scare a grown man with a single look. She stomped off into one of the stalls, and I glanced at the other girls to see their reactions. They began to relax as we all exchanged looks before laughter bubbled its way out of my throat. I suppose laughter was contagious because the next thing I knew, we were all laughing.

My eyes strayed back to the mirror, and my breath caught in my throat. Standing beside me was a girl with long dark hair, and pale blue eyes. Blood covered the front of her dress, and seemed to come from the wound on her neck. Her head tilted lightly to the side as though she couldn’t figure out why I was staring at her.

“Cupcake?” A hand touched my shoulder, and my eyes shifted to the girl next to me.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asked as her hand fell back to her side. I glanced back at the mirror- did they really not see her?- but she was gone.

“You look ready to pass out,” Allyson spoke up. I glanced at my own reflection and noticed how horribly pale I had gotten.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled as I tried to get over the sudden terror I felt. “I think my sugar’s just crashing. I’m just going to grab something from concessions real quick.” I don’t think I could have left the bathroom faster.

I wasn’t prepared for school the next day. When I walked in the doors, everyone was uncharacteristically somber. I had no clue what was going on until the announcements came on in second block. After I heard the news that Allyson had killed herself in the theatre last night I was numb. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t focus on anything. I found myself in the boy’s dressing room next to the stage right after school. The performance that night had been rescheduled so we could have a memorial for her, but I didn’t care. I sat on the couch in the dressing room and stared at the spot of dried blood on the ground, and the place where the large vanity mirror once sat. From what I could gather, Allyson shattered the mirror before using one of the shards to slice open her throat. My eyes raked over the room as I tried to fathom a reason as to why this happened. When I caught sight of a piece of mirror that had somehow stayed in the frame, I knew. Because staring at me from the reflection was the same girl I saw in the bathroom mirror yesterday. A vicious smirk curled her lips before she disappeared.

The next two days followed in the same manner, Natalie and Cassie were both found near the theatre with shattered mirrors and slit throats. Cassie had been found in the girls dressing room, where as Natalie was found in the bathroom adjacent to the auditorium. I had been numb the past three days- what were you supposed to do when an urban legend comes alive and kills your friends?

I was next, I knew I was. But I didn’t think she’d find me. The school had been closed for a few days due to the rash of suicides, and the police were actually looking into it to find a reason behind them. I knew they wouldn’t find anything.

I was a wreck. I hardly ate, hardly slept, hell I hardly got out of bed. My mom tried to drag me out, but eventually gave up. She couldn’t do anything- no one could. After everyone went to bed one night, I found myself wandering into the kitchen. I knew it was stupid, but I just wanted sleep. I took a large dose of Nyquil and prayed that it knocked me out. It worked.

I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again. The mirror I had was leaning again the wall- it was a simple full length mirror. Slowly I got up and walked over to it. I probably shouldn’t have approached the mirror when I was half awake, but I did. Looking into the mirror, I didn’t think anything was amiss. I shrugged off the foreboding feeling I was getting- there was no one here, and I was probably just imagining it. But when I turned around to go back to bed, she was there. The smirk was still present on her face, and the blood that nearly covered her entirely looked fresh.

I didn’t know what would happen next. When she suddenly reached up and shoved me back into the mirror, I began to understand. It was my turn. All of the other girls were gone, and now it was time for me to go as well. The mirror shattered with the force she had shoved me with, and my body broke the frame. I could faintly hear my parents stirring over the sound of their fans, but I knew they would arrive too late. It all happened so quickly- she grabbed a shard of glass, and a sharp pain spread over my neck. I could still feel the warm blood escape me and trail down my neck.

I could hear my mother stumble into the room, and her sobbing as she caught sight of my body. Of my dad screaming in agony and disbelief. I could hear my brother ask- with sleep lacing his voice- what was wrong. I could see her- I could see Mary- standing behind all of them with that damn smirk still present on her face. And then, nothing.