A guess in the reflection

• Wakey, wakey, Mr.Black. It's time for tonight's guessing game.

As he slowly opens his eyes, Alex takes a moment to let these eerie words echo in his mind and reflect back to the shadows where they came from.

• Alex: Alright, I am coming alright. Today I am going to beat you, you know.
• Shadow: I hope so, Mr.Black. You still have a lot of work to do, though, if you want to beat me in our little game. So please, get up, and come to me. You have to make a new guess tonight.

Alex rises from the cold bed, taking a glance at the beautiful landscape around him. The view is stunning, as always, but it's the climate he never liked, especially the air. The air is freezing most of the year, and Alex preferred the warmer temperatures. It was not that it mattered that much, considering he couldn't leave home whenever he wanted.

He could go out at specific hours of the day and spend time with his friends, but they had to stick strictly to the schedule of the neighborhood so that everyone had fun. He's been living in this new house for five years now, but he had rented it for at least twenty more. To be sure that no one could move him out of this cozy, spacy residence.

He stands up and moves towards the sink in the bathroom, right next to where his bed was. As he washes his face, a subtle but creepy and a bit disturbing voice speaks again. This time it is heard through the mirror right above his head.

• Mirror: I hope you had plenty of sleep, Mr.Black. Today's reveal is going to be rough, to say the least. I want you to be well-rested and prepared for what's to come.
• Alex: I am not afraid of you, mirror. I am afraid of nothing. I never was.
• Mirror: And how did that work for you? You are stuck with me for the rest of your life, playing "Guess who" every single night.

Alex raises his head and looks straight into the mirror. But he can't see his reflection. The only thing he can see is a floating black shadow, like a mass without form or any identity.

• Mirror: What do you see?
• Alex: I see a shadow. A big, black shadow inside you.
• Mirror: But I am you, and you are I. That shadow is rooted deep inside you. And you are, once more, not ready to face the truth. So, make a guess. Who am I, really, today?
• Alex: Ok, let me see. You are Mrs.Barbara Peterson. That old hag lived on the third floor, right above my apartment, back when I was living in London. She and her stupid, lousy cats.

Suddenly, the black mass inside the mirror starts disappearing, and the beautiful figure of an elderly woman takes its place. She is holding a few baby cats, and she is smiling at Alex.

• Mirror: Ah, yes, Mrs.Barbara. Poor, Mrs.Barbara. I remember her. A day came when all of her children went their ways and left her alone. Noone came back for her; she was forgotten. To fight her loneliness, she adopted six little kittens to keep her company till the end of her time. But you couldn't stand the noise, could you?
• Alex: What are you talking about?
• Mirror: She used to love you, remember? She always greeted you with a big, warm smile. But you couldn't stand her smile either, so you killed her.
• Alex: No. No. You are lying. I couldn't. I am no murderer. Yes, I couldn't stand her or her stupid cats, but I can't hurt anyone.
• Mirror: Yes, you can, and yes, you are a murderer. A cold-blooded killer. One day, you went upstairs to her apartment and pretended you wanted to pay the rent.
• Alex: Stop it! Stop it, please!
• Mirror: She let you in her house. She thought of you as a friend of hers. She felt that you loved her as much as she loved you. But you did not. You can't love or be loved, Mr.Black, because you are empty!
• Alex: No! Stop it!
• Mirror: And then you saw the kittens on the couch. Too much noise, you thought and headed straight for the kitchen.
• Alex: I did not! I did not!
• Mirror: You grabbed a large knife and stabbed Mrs.Barbara 20 times to her death. And then, you slit the throats of those six little kittens, you monster!
• Alex: There was so much noise! So much noise!

The mirror stops talking for a moment. Alex, now dropped to his knees, is holding his head tightly, trying to silence the voices of hundreds of people inside his head.

• Mirror: Do you hear them now, Mr.Black? Those are the voices of the hundreds of lives you took with your own hands before Mrs.Barbara. Together, we go through that every night.
• Alex: No! How could I?
• Mirror: Today can be your final lesson if you finally admit it.

Alex is still holding his head, trying to make the screams disappear. But they only grow louder.

• Mirror: Look at me!

The thundering echo of the mirror is enough to make any voice in Alex's head go away. He rises and looks in the mirror one more time.

• Mirror: You see, Mrs.Barbara was your last mistake. In your rage and despair, you set her apartment on fire, but you didn't disappear. No, you stayed there and watched. That's how they found you and brought you here, to me. After 5 years of mindless murders, the notorious serial killer had finally been caught.

Alex takes a look around, and a staggering pain pierces his cold heart.

• Mirror: That's right. Nothing is beautiful around here. No landscapes, no friends, no cozy residencies. This prison cell will be your home till the end of your time, psycho. Now tell me. Who are you?

Alex mumbles and whispers his name as he starts to realize what his true nature really is.

• Alex: I am Alex Black.
• Mirror: What are you?
• Alex: A murderer.
• Mirror: Take a look at me for one last time. And give an end to this. You deserve to be alone, forever, in this cell.

He looks at the mirror for one last time. But for the first time, he can clearly see his face, his real face, reflected on that ugly piece of glass. And with one swift strike, he punches the mirror and breaks it into hundreds of tiny pieces, like the voices inside his head.

The blood on his fist brings back sad memories of things he will never be able to fix. And with that thought, he returns to his cold bed.