Creepy Tales

A Stranger's Reflection

        I wake up, dizzy. I rub my eyes and take in my surroundings. A bedroom, one I've never been in before. The next thing I hear makes my eyes widen and dart around the room. A baby crying. I don't have a baby. I don't even have a boyfriend. My eyes land on the baby in a crib in the corner of the room.

I groan as I get a sudden headache, reaching up and rubbing my temple. Where am I...and who's baby is crying? I slowly get out of bed, walking over to the crib, breathing heavily. Before I make it over to the baby, I notice my- or rather a stranger's- reflection in a mirror over the dresser. I stop in my tracks, turning towards the mirror completely. I slowly walk towards it, reaching up and touching my face in shock, also realizing I have a ring on my finger, am I married?

This isn't me...yet it is at the same time. I see a confused dark haired woman in her late 20s. I pinch myself, hoping I'll wake up from this strange dream of being a mother. I'm still here. I flinch as I hear what sounds like glass breaking. I take a deep breath before I walk out into the hall towards the noise.

I hear someone cuss as I walk closer to what seems to be the kitchen as I can now smell something cooking. I am surprised to be met with a dark haired man sweeping up pieces of glass from the floor. He notices me and smiles.

"Oh, sorry if I woke you up, accidentally broke a glass. Wasn't your favorite one or anything though, thankfully." He says, throwing away the glass in a nearby trash can.

I just stare at him blankly, wondering who he is and how I ended up this way. He looks at me again, realizing I look confused.

"Did it happen again?" He asks, taking a few steps closer. I start to take a few steps back, even more confused.

"Take a seat at the table and we'll talk over breakfast." He says, motioning towards a wooden table close to me.

I hesitantly sit down at the table. I simply stare at the food on the plate in front of me. Bacon, eggs, and toast, with a glass of orange juice next to it. I hate orange juice, that I know. As good as this food looks, I'm not the least bit hungry. The man takes a seat in front of me, pouring himself a glass of orange juice as well. As he puts the cap back on the carton, he looks at me, suddenly serious.

"Do you know where you are, who you are, or who I am?" He asks me.

My eyes widen at the question. How does he know...? I shake my head, afraid to speak, not wanting to hear a stranger's voice. His eyes that were full of hope a moment ago are instantly filled with sadness.

"You're at home, your name is Kate and you're my wife. I'm Ryan, and we have a daughter named Emma, she's nearly 1," he says calmly. "Any of that coming back to you?"

"No." I say, surprised by the raspiness of my voice. Do I sound like that normally or should I clear my throat?

"I should also say this has been happening recently the past few months, you losing your memory. I've tried taking you to the doctor but none of the prescriptions have helped you." He says.

I clear my throat before saying "I....don't feel so good. Maybe I should lay back down.."

"I understand, but you should bring the food to bed with you, you need to eat something, Kate." He tells me.

When he calls me Kate I feel nothing. I nod and grab the plate before walking back to the bedroom. The baby isn't crying anymore, she seems to be sleeping. I set the plate of food on the nightstand. What do I do now? I walk over to the other side of the bed and notice a second nightstand.

      Assuming it's Ryan's, I open the top drawer. Before I can look through anything, I hear footsteps and shut the drawer immediately, turning around. Ryan is standing in front of me, holding the glass of orange juice.

"You forgot this," he says, handing the glass to me. I take it with a shaky hand. "What were you doing?"

"I was...looking for some painkillers, my head hurts." I say, which isn't a complete lie, my head is killing me.

"If you would have looked on your side of the bed, you would have noticed you have some in the top drawer of your nightstand." He says.

"Oh, I'll do that, then. Thanks." I say, hoping he'll leave.

"I'll let you rest now, Kate. I hope you feel better." He says before walking away, probably back to the kitchen.

I set the glass down on his nightstand and walk over and shut the bedroom door before resuming to search his things, hoping I'll find something, anything that relates to me. After finding nothing interesting in the first two drawers, I open the third one. Nothing. I want proof I'm his wife, more proof than just the ring on my finger. I'm about to shut the drawer when I realize the bottom of the drawer isn't even.

A false bottom? You only see those in movies....I take the remaining stuff out of the drawer and lift up the bottom. I'm met with tons of pictures. My eyes widen and I smile in victory, rushing to look at them. The first one I see makes my smile falter. A wedding photo of Ryan and a woman with dark hair. She looks similar to the woman in my reflection, but not quite the same. Her eyes are more green than mine. Her skin is more clear, and her teeth are whiter.

I look through more of the photos, finding ones where the woman is pregnant. Has to be Emma. As I continue shuffling through them, her stomach gets bigger. There's two pictures left now. There's one of Ryan holding the woman's hand as she lays in a hospital bed, most likely in labor. The last picture isn't a one of her holding the baby, but rather a picture of a gravestone with a bouquet of flowers next to it.

I take a deep, shaky breath as I bring the photo closer to my face so I can read the name on the stone. Kate Miller. A shiver runs down my spine. I flip the photo of them at the hospital over to read the date. It's the same as the one on the tombstone...she must have died giving birth to Emma. Jesus...who am I?

I let out a muffled gasp as a hand clamps over my mouth. Ryan let's out a sigh before speaking.

"No matter how many times I hide those pictures in different places, you find them every time. I'll give you one more chance."

After that, I feel a syringe being inserted into my neck, my vision becoming distorted before all I see is black. I wake up, feeling dizzy. The next thing I hear makes me very confused. A baby is crying. I don't have a baby.