Murderous Reflection

 Bolting upright in bed, little Camie first noticed her gown, which seemed vaguely familiar. A slight breeze flowed through the open window only causing Camie to cover herself more with the unfamiliar blanket around her. Faint screams could be heard in the distance. As Camie rolled out of bed, the screaming seemed to grow louder and more ominous. It became very clear to Camie what was causing that awful screaming when she went to close the window. 

 The screaming abruptly stopped when Camie reached the window. There appeared to be a tall, slender woman crouched over a lifeless form. She could not tell if it was an animal, or a person from so far away. Rushing to the door, she threw on a sweater and her slippers, silently closing the door behind her as she leaves the house, as is not to disturb any of the others in the house any further than they had been. Camie ran toward the woman, determined to find out what had happened.

 Camie stopped dead in her tracks when she realized who the woman was. It was her neighbor, Mrs. Kellings. No one knew her first name or what she did for a living.  Her husband went missing many years ago, never to be found.  After her husband had disappeared she locked herself away, only being seen going in and out late at night. 

 "Mrs. Kellings?" asked Camie, trying to hide her anxiety and fear.

 Mrs. Kellings turned around to see Camie staring at her in shock. She had blood dripping down her mouth to the ground. Before Camie could react, Mrs. Kellings sprinted off in the opposite direction, leaving Camie standing there. Camie stumbled over to what Mrs. Kellings was leaning over and saw what looked like a dismembered young girl, her limbs torn asunder and her blood spattered across the cold ground, pale against the moonlight. The closer she examined, the more she saw her own reflection in the disheveled corpse. She had the same long, wavy auburn hair and the same deep green eyes, a look of sheer agony imprinted upon them.

 A feeling of terror and dread began to form and take hold of Camie, her breathing began to hasten, and her body began to shake, yet she felt as though she could not move her limbs. Her body seemed to be in a state of paralysis. She was able to make sense of what was going on around her. Acting upon danger didn't seem like a possibility. Even clouds didn't feel as static as Camie felt in this exact moment of shock and dismay.

 Camie's body began to feel weightless and shallow as the world began to spin around her, sinking to her knees, her vision began to blur and blacken before finally she hit the ground with a thud.

 Camie awoke to the sound of a deep, raspy voice hovering inches above her. "Camie? What are you doing here?"

 Opening her eyes to see Mrs. Kellings staring down at her in thirst, Camie, as calmly as she could  respond, "I'm sorry. I must have fell asleep when I saw... " Camie trailed off in thought as she remembered the gruesome corpse.

 "When you saw my wonderful creation?" Mrs. Kellings suggested. "I have more, if you'd like. You interrupted me during this one. The others are much better."

 "No, no thank you. I should really head home though. I'm still very tired, if you don't mind."

 "That's quite alright, young Camie. Let me walk you home, I was heading in that direction anyway," Mrs. Kellings claims.

 As Camie walked back to her house with Mrs. Kellings, she could hear the faint whispers of someone saying "Wake her up." She didn't know where it was coming from. No one else was around so Camie thought she was just hearing things because of how tired she was. The voices didn't stop throughout the walk. "Get the needle," was shouted often. Camie often wondered what these voices were referring to. Pressure was often felt upon her body as the voices went on. 

 Mrs. Kellings was talking about all of her conceptions. The way she described her victims made Camie feel ill. She explained in vivid detail how she tore her victims apart, tying each of their intestines to the next creating a rope of entrails. With the individual organs, she created into a grotesque artwork upon the walls, framed by the teeth of each person. The bones, skull, and hair of the bodies was made into different styles of furniture. 

 Camie's legs began to wobble beneath her as she walked. She could feel the need to sleep settling in quickly, along with the nausea from the story. She could see her house just a few houses down. "Not far now," she thought to herself. At least, she believed that it was her own thoughts. Maybe it was those other voices still speaking.

 "Are you feeling well, Camie? You look a little pale," asks a very concerned looking Mrs. Kellings.

 "I'm okay, just looking forward to some really good rest," responded a very sick Camie.

 "Will someone please wake her up! She can't stay like this much longer...." trailed on the disembodied voices in Camie's mind.

  Just as Camie reached the door, she heard Mrs. Kellings pull something out of her pocket. She turned around just in time to see a knife being thrusted towards her gut. There was no time for Camie to scream as blood flooded into her lungs, suffocating her as she bled profusely.

 Mrs. Kellings grinned ear to ear and let out a cackle, "Don't worry my dear, you're going to be my finest edition to my collection thus far, after all, you are..." She trailed off as the world blackened around Camie one last time.

 Camie woke up with a pounding headache and bright lights shining in her eyes. Her arms were bound around her as though she was hugging herself, making moving near impossible. She could hear strange people walking all around her, but she wasn't able to see exactly what they were trying to do. Suddenly, a woman in long white coat appeared in front of Camie with a clipboard in hand. It wasn't until the woman spoke that Camie realized the truth.

 "Finally! We've been trying to wake you up for hours, Camie Kellings, now we can continue work on that psychotic little mind of yours!"

 In the back of her mind, Camie heard a sinister voice laughing hysterically, "You are the same person as I, afterall, I think you and I will get along famously, won't we dear?" All those awful things that Mrs. Kellings was telling her about was Camie's work as well.