My Conscience in the Mirror

Day 1

    What would you do if you saw the devil in your mirror? 

Freshly nineteen-year-old Chevelle Lowery was a good girl. A homebody. An introvert. On the night of her birthday, her parents got her a vanity that― not just by appearance alone— was out of her style. It was a pretty pink oval vanity with lights all around the rim. Despite the faded color- due to age probably―it was so bright compared to her cool-toned room. 

   She had no qualms against it until she found the light switch to the mirror as she was curious if the lights worked and found a version of herself with black eyes and horns attached to her head. The damned version of Chevelle feigned shock, mocking the mortal version.

“Are you going to sit there looking stupid or scream?”  

And screamed Chevelle. She ran in fear to find her parents.

What the hell?

Is this a sick joke? 

What type of birthday gift is this?

  That was just a fractioned version of what was going through her head. Room after room, her search became fruitless. She checked the kitchen window and noticed the family car was not in its spot. She picked up her phone calling both of their phones.

“I’m sorry the person you have dialed-” 

“I’m sorry the person you-” 

Neither one of them picks up their phones. 

 Great, the devil is in my room and the culprits who gave me the mirror weren't home.

  Chevelle couldn’t help, but laugh. Her heart was going through a race in her chest, yet her laughter betrayed her. She lay on the couch―trying to catch her breath. Nothing was funny, nor was she having fun. However, the idea that a blacked-eyed, devil-horned Chevelle staring back at her was just nothing but lunacy.

      She struggled to catch her breath while her tears fell off her face. She wasn’t the type to get in trouble. She kept to herself, never going out to get in trouble. Ever.

   Yet it was like she was being taunted. Her laughter became a soft sob. She cried her way into the guest bathroom where she grabbed some paper towels.

  They were a little harsh on her skin, but she wasn’t concerned with that. She looked into the corner of her eyes, a tinge of red-hued skin after finishing wiping her tears―

Wait a minute.

She looked at her reflection once more. Her eyes were completely normal and her reflection wasn’t mocking her.

          “Thank God, I just scared myself,” she sighed in relief. After throwing away the paper towel, she made it back to her. Feeling a lot less scared than before. Her heart became calm, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood. Walking past the vanity, a shiver ran down her spine. She chose to ignore it and just kept walking to her bed. 

“You know it’s rude to ignore a guest, right?” A deep voice questioned. Chevelle’s whole body froze. That was not the sound of her father’s voice, but the voice of the demon in her mirror earlier. Was it in her room the entire time? Was it just waiting for her?

  Slowly, but cautiously she turned to find the voice. She looked all around, but no one was in her room.

“Yoo-hoo, darling. I’m right where you left me.” The voice pushed to guide her back to the vanity. She watched as her reflection mirrored her movements perfectly back into her seat. Everything was the same except for her face. The one thing she tried to avoid looking in the mirror. 

      She never felt as pretty as other girls she knew. She had a chubby face with dark marks all over. Looking into the vanity, she felt juvenile. 

“Why such a long face? Usually, people love to see such a pretty face like this” The voice was a deep, but almost sultry tone. It certainly did not belong out of Chevelle’s mouth. The more “Chevelle” spoke from the mirror, the more Chevelle cringed from it.

       It was long before the real Chevelle had something to say to her “reflection”, “What are you?”

    And with the cruelest grin to appear on her face, “Chevelle” answered, “I’m you.”

Day 3

  Chevelle looked at the message board on her phone screen and just stared at the text.

Jossy: 

8th Ave

Apart. 171

9p.m. 

Dress Sexy!!!

   It would have been rude to look at the message and not respond― despite watching her classmate insert her number, name, and text into her phone― however, it was what was said in the text that was the problem. 

      Chevelle was invited to her first college party by her chemistry partner, Joscelyn. They had a surprising amount of things in common, especially birthdays. However, she moved the party to the weekend and invited Chevelle to celebrate. Being the people pleaser she was, she couldn’t say no and accept the invite.

  She threw her phone to the side and weighed out her options. She could do the right thing and not disregard her comfort zone and study time to “Dress Sexy!!!” ―Joscelyn’s words, not hers.

    A pit doubled in her stomach, and she believed it would be better to not go than to attend. Like a gray cloud, every terrible scenario she could think of rained over her mind. She always made her presence small around crowds- she didn’t want to carry on to someone's attention if they did want to garner hers. She believed she would embarrass herself easily that way. 

           As she tried to sit in her turmoil, it was interrupted by a disquieting chuckle. Quickly, she sat up from her bed. The pit grew more and more. The words caught in the back of her throat once she realized she never turned on the mirror’s light.

“Having troubles, poor girl?” 

  In the last three days since Chevelle had her vanity, she has had three things. One, only she can see Mirror Chevelle. After her parents returned home that morning, she tried to warn them about the mirror; However, to them, it was plain old vanity.

      Her father urged her to get some rest and that finals were getting to her head.

  Secondly, Mirror Chevelle only appears when the lights cut on. In an attempt to throw the damn mirror away, her reflection becomes normal once again after unplugging it from the wall.

  Lastly, the mirror always comes back. Her attempts to throw it away or break the mirror have been ineffective. Mirror Chevelle just laughs at her attempt—nudging her for creative ways to get rid of it. This was just entertainment for it.

“Silence won't get you anywhere. Not even to a party.”

A thick tension rose much to her dismay―Mirror Chevelle knew how to push her against a wall. 

How did it know-?

“Have you tried a rosary? I don't think it would do any good, but this old thing can do some accessorizing?” Mirror Chevelle never let up on the tauntings. She refused to be provoked into a reaction. There was no normal reaction to a confrontation like this. It was unnatural- looking at herself was unnatural.

“Why do you waste your time overthinking possibilities that haven't even happened?’

Don’t interact with it.

“An entire lifetime to yourself and you waste only short-term accomplishments.”

Don’t listen to the voice.

“You only isolate yourself from your vices. Never want to seek comfort from anyone but yourself.”

Don’t let it get to your head.

“You’ll just end up being a nonfactor-”

   A loud shatter interrupted the last sentence before it could finish. So much anger coursed through her body as she watched the pieces of glass scatter the vanity. A broken M.U.N trophy lay lifeless on the ground- possibly covered in bits of glass well. The trophy would stay broken, but Chevelle knew by the next morning the mirror would return to its original state. 

         The faint voices of her parents concerned slowly became static to her. Chevelle’s focus was on her phone.

Day 5

  Chevelle and her mom, Ganine, were dress shopping and she found the dress she wanted. She got lost in the temptation to go to a party and seeing Joscelyn today in class didn’t help either. Currently, she stood in front of this beautiful blue mini dress. The hairs on her forearm stood up. Everything in her system was telling her to get it. The material of it was a fine silk that had no static against her fingers- so fine to the touch. Chevelle was tempted to get it. There was a problem, however. 

“$409. 99” 

         There was no possible way she could get this. It was too much to ask from her mom, let alone anyone else. The dress was simple but elegant. Chevelle pressed the hanged dress to her chest and looked in the mirror. She looked- felt- pretty. It doesn’t look like it would be worth that much. Letting go of it was hard, they were in the mall for two hours and she hadn’t even come close to finding a dress like this. 

                  Sighing, she slowly walked away from it once she heard her mom calling her name. She left the dress alone from where it came from, but there was a lingering gaze watching her walk away. Chevelle found Ganine across the aisle with a couple of dresses in her hand. None of which was to her liking. She was never this picky, but her mind remained on the blue dress. 

      In the back of her mind, she wanted to just tell Ganine she found the perfect dress. Her thoughts were clogged with doubt with her mom rejecting the dress. Her throat got tight, her nails dug into her palm and she began to pace. She left herself alone to figure out what she wanted to do. No solutions were adjourned.

Chevelle glanced back into the mirror to calm herself, instead she was met with the fierce glare of Mirror Chevelle. Its dark eyes are devoid of any sort of emotion except for the furrowed brow that had yet to let up.

  The gaze was enough to scare Chevelle out of her thoughts and search for her mom.

 “Hey, Mom,” she stuttered towards her. 

Day 7 

  Chevelle flinched, feeling the cold foundation touch her skin. Gently it brushed against her cheeks to cover up the layer of concealer that sat on her skin already. Like an artist, Ganine placed her makeup carefully on the right angles. Her shoulders reacted lightly to the taps of the brush coming down her jawline. It was hard not to pinch her eyebrows together, her mom said it would crease her makeup.

  She felt nervous sitting back in her vanity. Even with the lights off, she felt like its eyes were peering into her. Chevelle finally dared to ask her mom for the dress. Ganine was so excited the price didn’t matter to her. A wave of relief washed over her instantaneously. It sat waiting to be worn on her bed while Ganine did her makeup. 

   Lightly and swiftly every stroke and dap was placed and set on her face without a single interruption. Once she was down with her face, she huffed a breath, “I need some light. Does the light work, baby?”

    She nodded her head stiffly, still not prying her eyes open. Her heart picked up faster when the lights turned on. She felt her face get slightly hotter and the side of her felt brighter- even with her eyes closed.

 Time felt slow. Ganine was taking her time applying Chevelle’s eyeshadow. Every time she applied something, it took her a second to come back to it. It was the same for the other eye. She would add something, disappear, and add something again. Then it was time for her eyelashes, “ Alright…..almost….done….and Viola! I’m done! Look in the mirror, honey.”

   Ganine sounded so proud of herself. Chevelle didn’t have any way to fake her excitement if she was just going to be looking at “herself”. She mentally prepared herself to see that cruel smile and dark eyes waiting for her. After having her eyes closed the entire time, the lights felt a little hard on her eyes for a second. 

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

  She couldn’t believe it. Chevelle looked at her reflection so intensely for the first time. Instead of the vacant stare, her eyes were lit up beautifully to her surprise. There wasn't a place where a shine or shimmer was missing. Her grin was just as bright as the rest of her. She was as speechless as ever. All week, this vanity has been provoking and mocking- showing her worst traits- , but tonight she felt absolutely beautiful.

  Ganine took her daughter’s silence as a good thing. Chevelle fell absolutely awestruck at the sight of her final look. A cold stare was replaced with a warm smile. A smile she never knew that fit so well on her face.