Rachel stood in the living room, admiring the mirror she had inherited. Shivers ran down her spine and she felt tears well up, thinking back on that fateful day. Two months ago, while she was at work, she had gotten a call from her brother, Joe. His voice was barely above a whisper. “Rachel. There’s been an accident. Ma and Pa are dead. I’m at Natalie’s, how soon can you be here?” Her whole world came crashing down when she heard it. Rachel teared up, let out a high-pitched wail and started crying, her co-workers and boss came running to her, asking what was wrong. She remembered hanging up, grabbing the nearest person and just hugged her and cried. Next thing she remembered was sitting in a cab, crying. Later she found out that her boss, Hugh, had ordered her a cab after talking to Joe and finding out the circumstances. She was really grateful for how Hugh had handled things, as well as how well the co-workers had responded, doing their best to help her and comfort her. On the ride in the cab, she had reminisced about her parents, her youth, how they had always supported her and how wonderful human beings they were – no, had been. That thought made her cry even more. She simply couldn’t imagine life without her daily chat with her mom, or her dad’s witty comebacks. Eventually the cab arrived at Natalie’s, and Rachel made her way inside. Everything got a bit hazy after that. The funeral came and went. Then she thought about the day their parents property was to be settled. Everything went smoothly, as their parents will had been pretty clear. Natalie and Joe decided to have the lawyer sell most of the stuff that their parents had had. Too many memories. For some reason though, she had ended up with this accursed mirror. Joe had remembered how fascinated she had been with it when she was a little girl. She hit the wall with her fists, crying. She looked at the mirror again. The memories were overwhelming. Thinking of her Ma, how close they had been, always talking about everything that happened in their lives. Thinking of Pa, who was always ready to come and help her fix stuff in her apartment. She let out a wail, feeling crushed. Two damned months and she didn’t feel any better. The worst part of it all – well, apart from the loss of her parents, of course – was that the drunk driver who had hit their car survived, with minimal injuries. And since he was the kid of a wealthy businessman, he was released on bail. She got so angry thinking about that piece of human excrement. She hated him. Hated his family. She let out another wail, and cried. After crying for a bit, she looked at her image in the mirror, hit the wall again with her right fist and turned around. She hated being like this. So emotional. So vulnerable. She decided to try to take a nap. She hadn’t been sleeping to well since the loss of her parents.

  As she lay down on the couch, she found herself caught firmly in sleep’s cold embrace, and she no longer was in her living room, but rather on a dimly lit road, somewhere far away. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. She weakly shouted “hello”, trying to establish contact with anyone. No response. Suddenly, there was a loud crash behind her, and the sky lit up. She looked to see what was happening behind her, and saw a car, totally crumpled together and in flames. “oh no”, she said, “I can’t go through that again. Please.” As she stared at the burning car, she heard a raspy voice behind her, saying:”Rachel…where were you?” She turned slowly, and then saw her parents. Except they were engulfed in flames. Tears started running down her cheek. Then, in the blink of an eye, her parents were right in front of her, giving her an angry stare. “Where were you?”, her father screamed. And with that, she woke up with a start. She had only slept for 5 minutes. She was exhausted. Being unable to sleep for longer periods did take its toll on her. She slowly sat herself up on the couch, and put her right hand on her temple. She had a big headache, probably due to the lack of sleep. She stood up, and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet, found the aspirin and took a couple of pills. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Huge bags under her eyes, hair unkempt and she looked very pale. “What a catch”, she thought sarcastically, trying to somehow cheer herself up. It didn’t quite work though. She just sighed. She made her way into the living room. Even though she turned the lights on, it was rather dark. The drapes were always down. She walked in and looked around. She really needed to clean soon. However, to her, even a simple vacuuming seemed like an insurmountable task. It didn’t used to be so. But after the loss of her parents, even basic chores felt like she was at the base of a mountain, and she didn’t have any energy to make the climb. She sighed again. She let her gaze wander throughout her living room, finally fixing upon the dreaded mirror. It was a rather beautiful mirror, with a golden frame. The frame had a wave-like looking pattern carved into it, and on the bottom there was an area with smooth surface. There had been something inscribed there, words she didn’t even recognize. She walked up to the mirror, fixated on the wave-like pattern. She let her eyes glide all over the pattern, from the left side, to the top, to the right side. Finally she looked at the inscription. Tared el karaz it said.

  “What on earth does that mean?”, she said to herself. She sighed deeply, and looked at her reflection. Her hair was messy and unkempt. She had huge bags under her eyes, due to the lack of sleep. She looked gaunt, because she didn’t eat so well anymore. Sometimes she just skipped the meals because it was such a hassle to make anything. She started to stare at the reflection. How did she get here? To this state, where even the most basic of chores seemed an insurmountable task. How was it that it was so hard for her to come to terms with the loss of her parents? As she stared at her reflection and had these thoughts, something seemed to happen. Her eyes wandered across the reflection, looking at random spots. Then, she locked eyes with her reflection, and seemed unable to break it. And as she looked into the eyes of the reflection, a cold breeze licked the back of her neck. She shuddered, but was still unable to break the eye contact. After a few seconds, her reflection seemed to… age, somehow. Her hair grew longer, and turned white. The bags under her eyes grew longer, and her temple and cheeks turned wrinkly. This change happened over a few second period. Then, she thought she saw a movement in the lower right corner of the mirror. And that was enough to break the spell. She no longer held eye contact with her reflection. She looked in the lower right corner of the mirror, and saw a small black shape, and in the middle of where the head presumably was, a couple of greenish orbs, eyes probably. She gasped, and looked to her side. Nothing. She looked back in the mirror, and her reflection had turned back to normal. No black shapes or green eyes. She shuddered and found a blanket which she covered the mirror with. Now, she wasn’t as much grieving as she was terrified. She decided enough was enough. It was time to get to the bottom of this mirror mystery. She decided to call her brother Joe. After a few rings, she heard Joe’s gruff voice. “This is Joe”, he said. It took Rachel a few moments to find words. In the meantime, Joe said:”Who is this?” and was obviously getting annoyed.

  Finally, Rachel managed to say:”hey Joe. Rachel here.”

  “Oh hello sis. How are you doing? I haven’t heard from you in a while, I was getting worried.”, Joe said.

  “Well, actually, I have been awful since the accident. But that’s not why I’m calling. I need some information from you”, Rachel replied.

  “Oh, that’s not good to hear”, said Joe. “I mean, that you’ve been awful, not the information part.”

  That last sentence from Joe made her tear up, and she let out a soft sob. “Oh Joe, that reminded me so much of dad. He was always so funny.”

  “Sorry”, Joe said. “I know you were rather close to dad. I didn’t mean to -”

  “It’s OK”, Rachel interrupted. “But I need to ask you about that mirror I inherited. That huge mirror.”

  There was a pause. Finally, Joe replied with:”what mirror? We had the lawyers sell everything. There was nothing left. Didn’t you receive your share?”

  “Joe, I’m not here to ask about my share. I’m sure it’s on my account now. No, I’m asking about that hideous mirror. You know, the one I used to love when I was younger, the one dad was so fond of.”

  There was again silence in Joe’s end. And after a few moments, Joe said:”are you talking about the mirror in the bathroom? Or the large one on their closet?”

  Rachel was getting frustrated, so she snapped:”no Joe, I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about the large one with the gold frame. With that nonsensical inscription on the bottom. You know, the one me and dad used to spend so much time in front of.”

  Again, Joe was silent for a moment. Then he awkwardly said:”Rachel, I genuinely have no idea what you are talking about. We didn’t have any mirrors fitting your description. Maybe you saw it somewhere else?”

  Rachel was getting angry at this point, and shouted:”no Joe, I distinctly remember standing in front of the mirror along with dad when I was younger. In our living room. And there are glimpses of us playing in front of it. How can you not remember it?”

  Joe sighed, and was silent for a moment. “I’m telling you, we never had any fancy mirrors like that. With a golden frame. And when did you get it? And from who? It just sounds like a gift of some sorts, although I can’t explain the memories you supposedly have.”

  “What do you mean by that? ‘supposedly’. These memories are clear as day. Maybe if you stopped drinking for a second you could remember it.”

  She regretted saying it immediately. There was a long pause. Then he simply said:”Goodbye Rachel, don’t call me with more of you hallucinations”. And with that, he hung up. She felt sad at how this conversation ended. She knew he hadn’t touched a drop in over two years, and how proud he was of that. And why did she react like that? That wasn’t like her at all. Was it the grief talking? She hung up the phone, sighed, and then decided to try to call Natalie. After a few rings, she heard Natalie answer it. “Hello?”, Natalie said.

  “Hi Natalie”, Rachel said. “It is so nice to hear your voice again”.

  “Oh Rachel, what a pleasant surprise”, Natalie said. “Me and Joe have been quite worried about you. We have tried calling you a few times, but to no avail.”

  “I know”, Rachel said. “The accident was quite a blow for me. I haven’t coped well. But that’s not why I’m calling. Do you remember the mirror dad had? The one with the golden frame and an obscure inscription on the bottom?”

  There was a pause from Natalie. Then she said:”what are you talking about? Dad didn’t have any mirror like that.” Rachel paused. “But how can I distinctly remember standing in front of that mirror along with dad?”

  “I couldn’t say, dear”, said Natalie. “Are you sure it’s dad you remember? And not uncle Keegan or something similar? I mean, they do look a bit alike.”

  Although Rachel was getting annoyed, she was also getting doubts. How real were her memories of this mirror? Had the accident perhaps muddied her recollection of the events? Or had they even happened? And if not, where did that accursed mirror then come from? After a moment, Rachel replied:”I don’t know. I’m not so sure anymore. Everything seems to be a blur, and I have a mirror that gives me hallucinations.”

  “Oh sweetie, that doesn’t sound good at all. I’m not a doctor, but it sounds like it’s something that’s in your head. Would you like some company?”, said Natalie.

  “No, it’s all right,” Rachel replied. “I just have to find a way to get rid of this blasted mirror. Whatever is happening, it’s not just ‘in my head’.”

  “OK. But if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call either me or Joe,” Natalie said.

  “I will. Now, I have to go. Goodbye sis.” Rachel said.

  “Goodbye sweetie,” Natalie said and they both hung up. Rachel sat down in the kitchen, and let her gaze wander around. Gosh, it was getting filthy. She hadn’t had the energy to clean in…what, 2 months ? The massive castle of dirty plates, glasses and other kitchen utensils looked foreboding and unconquerable. Rachel sighed, and slowly made her way to the living room. She still felt as if a massive, dark cloud was hanging over her head. She looked around, and realized how much she had neglected her cleaning duties during this very hard, dark times. She sighed again. She stood up, and was about to make her way back to the kitchen, when she caught something in the corner of her eye. Her eyes scanned the room, going from the bookshelves, to her table, before finally ending upon the dreaded mirror. As her eyes locked with her reflection, she once again found her unable to break the spell. She looked at her own reflection, looking at her sickly thin frame, at her disheveled hair, at her gaunt face and felt sadness and anger welled up inside her. As her eyes locked on to the eyes of the reflection, she felt a chill run down her spine. She also realized that she could not break away from the stare. She looked into the eyes, those weirdly hypnotic eyes. As she did, it seemed that the background seemed to somehow change. The background seemed to swirl and she felt dizzy. Then, from the corner of her eyes she seemed to see only darkness behind her reflection. The breaths she took were shorter, and she felt as if she was suffocating. Her eyes were wide open. Then the background behind her reflection began to swirl once again. And she felt immense cold all around her and she shivered. And yet, she was unable to break the eye contact. The background behind her reflection turned back into her living room. The cold was intense. Finally, her reflection smiled and evil looking smile, and moved away. Rachel gasped, and fell to her knees. Then she looked around and screamed and cried, not only because of the extreme mental exhaustion she was experiencing. She screamed because of her loss, she screamed because of her exasperation, but mostly she screamed because of fear. Fear, because when she looked around, she realized she was covered in total darkness.