Room of Mirrors

Room of Mirrors

By A.B Julian

I stepped out of the cab and stood there admiring the Victorian exterior of the Blackwell mansion. I had some pleasant memories of this house from the time when I visited this place during summer. 

"Welcome, you must be Vance Blackwell. I am Jenna Spencer, the caretaker."

"Vance Hanshaw. Marie Blackwell was my great aunt."

"Oh yes. The lawyer mentioned. I forget easily. I am getting old. Please come in."

Carrying my bags, I stepped into the house. The floorboard creaked under my feet.

"Have you been here before?"

"Yes, a long time ago. I think I was twelve." 

"Things must be different back then. Madam laid off all the employees after her grandson's death. She thought the house was cursed, and it killed him."

"But Riley’s death didn't happen in the house."

"No, it was a plane crash. Madam said she had opened the door to the room of mirrors, letting out the curse."

I remembered the room of mirrors was always locked. No one was allowed to go in there.

"Old age can make you delusional," She added.

"She didn't seek help?"

"Therapy wasn't helping. She kept repeating that the mirrors held the curse, and she had let it out. Even on her deathbed."

Aunt Marie left all her property to me. In her will, she had explicitly mentioned that no one else could inherit this house but me, the second son. 

"Are you thinking about keeping the place?"

"No, this is enormous. Maintaining it would take a fortune." 

"Right, of course."

"I'll help you find suitable employment or retirement pay."

She smiled. "Retirement money would be ideal for me at this age."

"Sure, I'll inform the lawyer."

"Thank you. Would you like to have dinner?"

"No, thank you. I'd like to rest. Where is my room?"

"It's upstairs, first one on your right."

Before walking upstairs, I looked at the locked door to the room of mirrors in the living room behind the staircase. 

When I was younger, Riley, Jax, and I were not allowed to go near the room of mirrors. Jax was the neighbour's kid. I had a silent crush on Jax. He was good at everything he did. He taught me how to swim and face my fears. Jax told us why Aunt Marie didn't allow us in the room of mirrors. He wanted to get into the room and prove that there was no curse, but we never succeeded in our attempts. Aunt Marie was too quick to catch us. 

….

I reached my room, took out pyjamas and towel, then went to the bathroom. 

I checked myself in the mirror. My reflection was a lot different than the last I looked into any of the mirrors in this house. All mirrors were identical in design. The difference was their height and width. 

I thought of Jax and Riley. We were always up to something. One of the best times of my life. When Riley passed away, I was in college and didn't attend his funeral. I believed if I didn't see it, it would be like it never happened. 

"I miss you, Riley. Rest in peace." I said to my reflection. It felt as if my reflection froze, staring at me. The air suddenly grew colder, and my reflection in the mirror started to get angry. I forced myself to look away, and it took so much effort. But when I finally did, everything seemed to calm down, including the cold air. I again looked at my reflection. My eyes looked hollow, and my dark brown hair damp. I shook my head. I must be tired. I took off my clothes without another glance in the mirror and stepped into the shower. 

….

I felt someone sitting beside me on the bed in the middle of the night. It was Aunt Marie. She looked sad and older than I remembered. I tried to hold her hand to comfort her and almost fell off the bed. 

I woke up with a sudden alarm, realizing I was dreaming. The room was still dark. I checked my phone, but it was dead. There was no power. I was checking the lights when I felt someone watching me. I turned to see, but there was no one. I moved to the door and felt someone behind me. I turned again, but it was only a mirror. Then I saw someone move behind me in the mirror and turned to look at the door again. There was no one. I huffed and decided to return to bed when I heard someone scream. 

"What’s happening?" I ran downstairs. The house was too dark except for little candles. 

"Jenna," I looked around for her, and my feet halted when I saw the door to the room of mirrors wide open. It was pitch dark inside the room. "Jenna." I walked closer to the door, and what little light was coming from the hallway reflected in the mirrors. I grabbed the nearby candle and stepped into the room. My reflection appeared in all the mirrors. "Jenna," my voice echoed, giving me eerie feelings of being watched. I moved my candle around to see. 

The candle fell from my hand when I met someone’s dead, soulless eyes, and for a second, it felt as if all the mirrors had life and simultaneously turned to look at me. I ran backward and clashed with someone's hard body. I yelped with intense fear when he held me.

"Calm down," he spoke in a very male, hard voice. "Vance." 

I met his green eyes. "Who? There…" I was breathless.

"You are alright? Where is Jenna?" 

"Jenna… there… who are you?"

"You don't recognize me? Have I changed that much?" he smiled, and recognition dawned on me. 

"Jax," I smiled despite myself. He was handsome. I thought. 

"Yeah. You look the same, Vance. Just a little taller. Still shorter than me." he teased. "So, where’s Jenna? She called me. Reported break-in."

"Why did she call you?"

"Because I am the Sheriff," he prided. 

"Oh God, the… dead body."

"What? Where?" He took out his gun, and my eyes zeroed in on it. 

"In the room of mirrors, but I don't think we should go in there."

"Stay here, I'll go check it." He walked before I could protest. What could I say to stop him? He was the cop. When he didn't return right away, I dared to follow him. Those are just mirrors, objects. Nothing to it. I told myself. 

"Jax?" I called, standing at the door, but he didn't answer. "Jax."  

"Vance, I am here." 

Finally, there was a flashlight, and I followed it. 

"I thought I told you to stay there." Jax was standing closer to the dead body. The dead man’s horrified eyes were staring at one of the mirrors. "I have to call this in.”

I couldn't take my eyes off the dead body.

"Don't look at him, Vance." Jax's words forced me to look away from those dead eyes. "Have you ever seen him before?"

"Like, when he was alive?"

He sniggered. How could he laugh at this time? "Yeah, like when he was alive."

"No, I just got here."

"Phone is not connecting. I think Jenna has a landline." He started to walk to the door, and I jumped at the loud slamming. The door to the room of mirrors got shut, locking us in.

"What the…" he said, and we ran to the door. He tried to open it, but it was locked, "Jenna," he called. 

"I don't think it's Jenna," I said, and Jax turned to see what I was looking at. The mirrors, something dark had taken over them, and then a body fell from the ceiling.

"Oh my God," I screamed and hugged Jax. He wrapped his arm around me. Jenna's dead eyes stared at us. The shadow in the mirror was moving swiftly from one mirror to another. "Tell me you see this."

In response, Jax pulled me closer. The shadow escalated its movement and was coming at us. Jax pointed the flashlight its way, and it screeched so loudly we had to cover our ears. Jax dropped the flashlight, which flew in the air at jet-speed, hitting the ceiling, broke into pieces. Jax and I stared at the shattered pieces of the flashlight.

"Come on," Jax said, but I couldn't move my legs. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the other side of the room. The shadow kept following us from mirror to mirror, and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Jax walked me into a storage closet and shut the door. 

"What the absolute fu…" Jax cursed.

"I'm gonna die." I was shaking. Before that thing got to me. I was going to die of a heart attack.

Jax wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his broad chest. "It's okay, you are safe. Take a deep breath. Count to ten."

"I am not safe, we are not safe," the panic was rising inside me. "Aunt Marie was right. That thing killed Riley." 

The monster shrieked again. We both tried to cover our ears. "What is it waiting for? Why doesn't it come and kill us like it killed Jenna?"

"I don't think it can cross doors. The door to this room was always locked, remember." Jax reminded.

"Or it can't leave that room," I concluded. 

A flickering light in the corner took our attention. I looked around to see where it came from, but there was no source. It was a glittering paper. Jax stayed beside me as I pulled it. 

"Where is the light coming from?" Jax questioned. 

"I don't know," I flipped it over a few times, and words started to appear. 

It was all gibberish, “kill…it..tt…kill….yousecson… kill….it…orit.kill yousecson… killedRiley…kill it…”

The monster outside squealed. The light flickered and then dimmed.

"Second son. Aunt Marie…"  I met Jax's eyes, which appeared golden in this light. 

"Your Aunt Marie passed away," Jax reminded me as if I didn't know.

"She died, but she is still here," I had seen her in my room. 

"That's…" he started to say, then he looked at the door, "Okay, at this point, I'd believe anything."

"I think she is telling me if I don't kill it, it’ll kill me."

"So, how do we kill it?" Jax asked. "I doubt the bullets would work." 

"Bullets can break the mirror." 

The paper flipped, a big "NO" written on it.

"So, we can't break the mirrors." 

"Apparently not." Another no appeared. 

“Burn… car…”

"It has a car?" I asked.

"Where do we find its car? What model is it?" Jax asked.

A big "NO" appeared again.

"Okay, can't your aunt be more clear?" 

"She is trying. She is a ghost. Be respectful."

He huffed, "So about this car?"

"NO," appeared again.

“Nation… nation… “

"Nation? How did we get from car to nation?" Jax remarked.

"Is it a national car?"

"What's a national car?" Jax asked.

I shrugged.

The paper flickered a few times, "car… Nation. "

"Carnation? Like flowers?"

"Burn…burn…burn...Yousecson…”

"She is talking about burning the carnations, or you?" Jax quipped.

"Haha." 

The thing outside shrieked.

"Shut up." Jax cursed at it, and it squealed more. 

"Where do we find these flowers? Aunt Marie."

"Large…. Mirrrrrrrr….” The paper struggled, then it lost its light.

"I think she is gone." 

"There are so many mirrors. How do we find the largest one?"

"I think it’s in the centre. That's where the body was." Jax informed. I remembered the dead eyes of the intruder staring into that large mirror.

"I don't remember seeing any flowers."

"Yeah, we'll burn the whole darn thing to be safe," Jax said.

"Suppose we get to it. How do we start the fire? Find two stones and hope to God it works?" It never worked for me at camping. 

Jax laughed, "You are still funny, Vance. But no, I have a lighter." 

"You smoke?" I made a judgmental face, and he laughed again.

"You are typical, and no, I don't. This town always has electricity problems, so it's handy."

"What do you mean, I am typical? And what the heck is typical."

"How about we burn its monster ass first and then fight."

"We’re not fighting, but okay, how do we get to the large mirror." the monster was walking around outside. 

"We gotta find something that could burn faster," Jax looked around. There were papers, but we didn't want to be burned with them. 

"How about this?" I picked up the old broom. 

"This is perfect." He grabbed the broom from me. "Okay, we'll light it, then walk out the door. He might scream, so be ready."

"What if it takes the broom from us?"

"It couldn't take the flashlight from me until I dropped it."

"Okay, so don't drop it, got it."

"The mirror is on the right. We run there together."

I nodded, but I knew he could see the fear on my face because he held my arm and met my eyes, "I am with you. Okay. I won't leave you. I won't let it get to you."

"But if it gets to you?"

"Then you do what you have to, burn its ass."

I hugged him. "I don't want us to die." 

"I don't want us to die either. That's why we gotta do this," Jax pulled me to face him again, "And when we make it alive out of here, we'll go on a date," he winked.

I couldn't help but blush. It took away some of my fear.

"You assume I am single." 

"I do because I am never wrong in assumptions."

I laughed. 

"Good to see you smile. Now," Jax lit the broomstick and handed it to me. 

"Wait," I said, and he looked at me. "I'll go on a date with you." 

He smiled and kissed my cheek, I enjoyed the softness of his warm lips with a slight scratch of his stubble against my skin. 

"Ready?"

I braced myself and nodded. He held my arm while he slightly opened the door. The shadow whooshed in front of us at full speed. I worried it would kill the fire, but the broom was still lit. We stepped into the room, and the shadow shrieked. It was rounding around us from mirror to mirror, making me dizzy. 

"Keep walking," Jax whispered, and the shadow shrieked so loud that we both bent down with the waves of its sound. 

Its scream made my grip waver on the broomstick. The shadow got hold of Jax and threw him up in the air, harshly bringing him down on the floor. 

"Jax," I screamed and ran to him. "Stay away from him," I warned the shadow. "Jax," I tried to wake him.

"I'm okay." I helped Jax on his feet. The shadow shrieked, but we kept moving to the mirror. The shadow got angrier and started throwing things from one mirror to another. I realized it couldn't come out of the mirror. We held still where the mirrors were not crossing, and the flying objects couldn't reach us. 

"That's good thinking," Jax said. We started taking one step at a time, jumping between the empty spaces. 

The large mirror was in the middle, and the two mirrors were on the side. There was no escaping it. I saw the dried flowers right under the mirror. They looked like memorial flowers. I met Jax's eyes. He nodded in response. I tried to push the broom through the energy between the mirrors. It was too heavy. Jax kept both his hands on mine, and we tried to push the broom towards the mirror. Then I noticed my reflection in the mirror. It was me, but it wasn't me. It looked so angry. 

"Vance, snap out of it." I heard Jax, but I couldn't move. My reflection held my eyes, and then it gave me a sinister smile, and then it pushed with all its force, making both Jax and me fly in the air and back to the floor. I screamed because it hurt. I saw the dying light of the broom, and Jax moved on top of me and rolled me over, placing me in the space between the mirrors.

He took out his gun and placed it in my hands. Wrapping my finger on the trigger, he whispered, "Shoot," and I did. It shot one of the flowers, and the monster screamed, making it impossible for me to hold onto the gun, but Jax held my hand and fired another shot, then another and another. The monster was shrieking, but his voice didn't have much potency. We shot the last flower, and all the mirrors shattered simultaneously. Jax covered me with his body. When the last of the mirrors broke, everything fell quiet. 

"Jax," I worried that the glass from the mirrors may have hurt him. I tried to shake him. 

"I am okay," He met my eyes. "You are okay?" He asked.

I nodded, and we carefully stood up. 

"It worked," I smiled.

"Yeah, I'll hold on to it," he took the gun from my hand, which I had accidentally pointed at him.

"How did you know that would work?"

"The flowers needed to be destroyed, and only the second son could do it. Doesn't take a genius to figure out, but you can call me one if you want to."

I laughed, "We hunted a monster."

"We sure did." He checked for glass in his hair. “We need to see the paramedics. Where’s my phone?"

I saw Jenna's still body and felt sad. 

I hugged him. "If you weren't here, I would have died."

"If you weren't with me, I would have died too." He held me closer, "It's so good to have you back, Vance." he kissed my cheek.

"It's good to be back."

………..