My Short Stories

Reflections of My Inner Self (Part 2)

Since we've moved house, the hidden room with the mirrors wasn't the only weird thing I found. The old house was full of surprises.

After coming home from school today, I noticed a woman coming out of our house. She wasn't any older than mum, but I never saw her before, to even call her my mum's friend. 

As I walked closer to the front door, the woman stopped in her tracks and turned to look straight at me. Her intense look froze me. I couldn't move, not even if I wanted to. 

She started to take a few steps towards me. I could feel my muscles tense up for some bizarre reason. As my focus was kept forcefully on her, she got closer and closer. I now noticed her ice blue eyes seemed familiar, but i couldn't explain what. I had confusing thoughts about what they were telling me. Her eyes were stern yet calm at the same time. I questioned myself, why would this unknown woman be angry with someone she never met? So much as it feared me, I had to find out sooner or later.

The woman stopped to stand just inches away from me. Her gaze lingered for a second before she let out a giggle. But my tension didn't loosen up one bit. Why was she suddenly laughing? Was she hiding her true feelings?

"Your mother's a nice woman." She said. Her voice didn't sound aggressive or anything, but I decided to take a page out of one of Roald Dahl's books. Who knew what she had planned, if she had any. 

"Er... Thanks, I guess." I stammered. 

She sighed with a grin on her face.

"It's so nice to see this house be filled with people again, you know?" She said. "It's been empty for years."

Hearing her speak, kind of gave me a little courage to open my mouth more. "H-h-how long exactly?"

"Oh, I don't know, it's been a long time, I've lost count of the years." Her grin grew bigger from ear to ear as she stretched out her hand to shake mine. "I'm your new neighbour. Welcome to the neighbourhood."

For the first time, I felt relaxed and smiled back at her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. But that soon changed the second our hands touched when I reached out to shake it. It was like a strong electric shock that sent me to another dimension. Everything was so blurry and dark, but one thing was clear - the woman's stern eyes were back and this time, her voice was eerie as she spoke. "You shouldn't have opened that door, Cassie. You don't know what you just let out."