Reflections

Casey briefly studied the face staring back at her from the black glass. The disheveled brown hair held back with a hair band accentuated the baggy eyes and crow’s feet.

     When did I get so old?

     A child’s giggling cry snapped Casey from her reverie and back to the sink full of dirty dishes. She sighed. The boys were put to bed hours ago, and should still be asleep. Casey dried her hands and headed to the bedrooms at the end of the single wide trailer.

     Giggles and happy gurgling emanated from the dark rooms.

     “Good little boys should be asleep.” She called out. Casey opened the door to her twin toddlers attempting to climb back into their beds, mischief dancing across their faces.

     Tyler ambled to his Casey with outstretched arms. Casey smiled. Loving warmth filled her chest and momentarily relieved the aching fatigue.

     “Do you want me to read you a story?” She asked, picking up the fair-haired child and placing him on the bed next to his brother, Adam. Casey picked up their favorite book from the nightstand and settled on the bed. Each boy reflexively nestled into her sides. Their blues eyes looking up at her.

     Casey read the story about two little boys, and their adventures in the land of dreams.

     By the end of the book, each child breathed steadily, off adventuring in their own peaceful sleep. Casey tucked them in and kissed each boy lightly on the forehead. She paused to watch her children sleep peacefully, admiring their gentle features and pink cheeks.

     I wish these days would never end.

     She turned off the lights and returned to her dishes.

     I really need to get curtains for this window. Casey thought as her own face stared back at her again. Dark windows always made her feel uncomfortable. She never knew if someone or something was watching her through the glass, but tonight, she just didn’t want to look at her own face.

     Sighing, she returned to the cold, murky water.

     Tap. Tap. Tap.

     Casey dropped the glass she was washing, causing it to shatter on the edge of the sink, as she scrambled away from the window.

     Tap. Tap.

     Turn off the lights!

     Casey flipped off the lights and peered at the window from behind the refrigerator. A long, thin claw scraped on the glass. Abruptly, it disappeared below the window sill. Casey strained to hear anything over her pounding heart.

     Is the door locked? Dammit! Lock the door!

     On socked feet, Casey slid across the linoleum towards the front door as quickly and quietly as possible, only breathing once the deadbolt engaged the doorframe.

     With her back to the door, she strained to see anything in the darkness outside the windows. The moonless night revealed no secrets. Her ears filled with a thunderous ringing brought on by her own heart. She inhaled deeply to steady her quivering legs and hands.

     My babies!

     Panic surged in her gut. Without knowing from which window this thing was watching, Casey crawled on her hands and knees to the bedrooms. Her eyes stayed fixated on the windows, searching for any sign of movement. Darkness enveloped everything about her. Her mind raced with scattered thoughts.

     Would anyone notice if we were gone? The last time I saw a neighbor was three months ago. They won’t know to go get help or come looking.

     For the first time, she cursed living in such a remote place at the edge of a national forest. For years, she lived there alone without fear, but now, with two children, Casey had never been more terrified in her life.

     When she entered the windowless hallway to the bedrooms, Casey shut her eyes. Eyesight was of no use here. Crawling helped her avoid any of the children’s toys, and prevented her from tripping in the dark.

     She reached the door at the end of the hall and felt for the doorhandle. It clicked open as she pulled on the handle, and a slight breeze hit her cheeks.

     Her adrenaline surged as she leapt through the door. A primal roar escaped from her throat.

     In the darkness, she grabbed anything that contacted her fingertips and threw it at the dark hulking mass hanging through the window above the bed.

     Frantic, she lobbed everything she could at the creature. Screams, human and inhuman, erupted in response to the flurry of activity.

     Casey flipped on the lights, her eyes blinking to adjust to the change. Her boys cowered on the bed, clutching each other. Their black eyes wide with terror.

     The lanky, hairless creature screamed. Long, clawed hands instinctively shielded its large, black eyes from the light. White fish-hook teeth gleamed from a gaping black maw.

     Casey grabbed her boys and fled to her bedroom at the opposite end of the trailer. The creature howled and clawed the rest of the way through the window. Frenzied, it bounded after Casey. Leaping onto the counter behind her as she darted through the kitchen, desperately clutching the screaming children. She slammed her bedroom door as the creature hurled itself against the flimsy wood. Four-inch-long claws wrapped around the edge of the door leaving gashes. Casey’s feet desperately dug into the carpeted floor. She clutched the boys to her chest. The door lurched again, and a claw ripped her right arm.

     Casey looked at her children and dropped them as gently as she could. Grabbing a Maglite flashlight off the dresser by the door, she swung wildly at the creature’s arm. Gray skin stretched tight over protruding knuckles, accentuating every bone in the creature’s hand.

     Bloody fingers eventually retreated. Casey snapped the door shut and secured the lock. She tossed the flashlight onto the bed, picked up the screaming children, and gently placed them on the bed as well.

     The creature growled and scratched at the door. Casey ticked on a lamp and scrambled through the bottom of the nightstand, removing the semi-automatic pistol she kept there.

     The door creaked and gave way just as Casey loaded the gun and turned around. In a blur of gray skin and dark shadows, the creature lunged. Casey fired three shots into its chest.

     As the creature lay on the floor, Casey watched its chest flail. Every rib and bone visible through thin, taught skin. Black blood soaked into the carpet.

     “Momma? Momma?” Adam gasped between heaving sobs. He rolled off the bed and reached for the creature. His graying skin and black eyes matching those of the being on the floor.

     Casey picked him up, but he pushed away from her while continuing to scream and sob. Tylor watched on in silence. His blonde hair contrasted against gray skin and black eyes.

     “Oh, Adam.” Casey cooed. “I’m your Momma, and I’m never going to let you go.” The little boy’s hair and skin began to change back to its lighter color to match Casey’s.

     “You’re my little boys. I found you, and you’ll forever be mine. My little boys.”

     Casey held the crying child close to her chest and rocked him in her arms.

     Tylor stared at the bedroom window in silence. Fixated on the reflection of the creature holding his brother. Its hollow eyes stared off into nothing, and the mouth twisted in a wry grin.