Mirror Mirror

Chapter I.

The sun rose steadily through the clouds, chasing away the darkness and fading the light of the stars until they submerged completely. A cool, brisk air whistled gently through the tall evergreen trees surrounding the village, and from somewhere in the distance a rooster cried. A young man was out jogging, his heavy breaths coming out in hot white clouds of steam. He slowed from a jog to a walk and then to a hesitant stop at the dilapidated old house. He looked at it for a few seconds, completely silent, almost like a reluctant vigil. He took in its grimy boarded up windows, the rotting wooden front porch, peeling paintwork and monstrous garden. The weeds were everywhere, and misshapen trees with gnarled roots reached up towards the sky, as if trying to climb out of a hellish pit. As his dark eyes drifted, he could have sworn he saw a slender shadow slip through the bushes. Then, shivering slightly - and not only from the cold, he did the same thing he had done every morning since that (still unidentified) corpse had been found, he crossed to the other side of the street and continued on his way. Today for some reason, he felt the compulsion to glance back at the old house where a murder had taken place, just last year. He shook his head, ran a long-fingered hand through his tousled brown hair and jogged around the corner, not looking back until the house was out of sight.

A few hours later, in a nice warm house several miles away, an alarm beeped 7:30am, and Detective Chief Inspector Comyna groaned and sat up in bed. The pale blue bedding was crumpled and old, just as its occupants were. Norvin glanced at Gaelle's sleeping figure beside him, envying the casual work hours that allowed his husband another hours' sleep. Reluctantly, and scowling with displeasure at the effort this simple movement required, Norvin got out of bed, his feet sinking into the soft carpet underfoot, pulled on an itchy robe and headed to the bathroom. Sunlight streamed through the small window, the stained glass sending waves of colour rippling across the tiles. Norvin reached up and opened them up, closing his eyes and allowing the warm rays of light to caress his lined face. He then turned and stood in front of the mirror, steadying himself against the sink. His reflection depressed him. Every morning he looked in the mirror, and every morning he though the same thing; I'm not getting any younger. He frowned slightly, and his haggard, greying reflection frowned back. He couldn't help but feel a slight uneasiness, a slight sense of foreboding in his stomach. Suddenly, he felt an absurd compulsion to look away, a slight prickling on the back of his neck - almost like he was being watched. He caught something in the mirror. What was it? A shadow flickering behind him? But what was casting it? He turned slowly and looked behind him...

Gaelle was awoken from his slumber by a piercing scream that seemed to ricochet across the walls of the bedroom. He wrenched himself out of bed, tangling himself in the sheets and tumbling to an ungracefully heap on the carpet. He lunged up and sprinted across the room to the en suite, nearly ripping the door of its hinges in his hurry. Gaelle came to a staggering stop in the doorway. On the floor lay Norvin, eyes wide and hand dripping blood. The mirror was smashed, and in the sink lay a heavy brick covered in powdered glass. Gaelle walked over to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. It's okay. Are you hurt?" He knelt down beside him and carefully extracted the crumpled piece of paper Norvin had been clutching in his injured hand. It was small, barely the size of his palm. In the centre, several words were written, and to his growing horror, it looked like it was written in dried blood. I KNOW ALL YOUR SECRETS it read. Gaelle looked back at Norvin, saw the fear in his eyes, and looked back at the open window, just in time to see a shadow slip out of sight...