A Neat Mess

9.The Haunted Reflection

Sam jolted awake to the sharp chime of the doorbell, her dream still swirling in her mind. Groggy and disoriented, she stumbled down the stairs, her thoughts struggling to catch up with reality. As she reached the front door and pulled it open, Jess's familiar face appeared, framed by the morning light.

"Hey, what brings you here so early?" Sam asked, her surprise evident in her raised eyebrows. "Care for a cup of tea?"

"Want to come in for tea?" Sam asked, holding the door open.

"Nah, I'm good. I heard about this alternative medicine college nearby and thought you might want to join me for a visit."

"Alright, let me just get dressed," Sam said. She paused, glancing back at Jess. "I had a weird dream last night. Fresh air might help clear my head."

"Why don't you come in and have a seat while I get dressed?" Sam offered.

"You know I don't sit! I will circle your house until you get ready," Jess replied with a chuckle. "Besides, it's absolutely beautiful out here."

On the way to the college, Sam asked Jess: "Why do think ghosts only seem to show up when people are asleep or half asleep? It seems like they work well with bad eyes and blurred vision!"

Jess looked at Sam from the corner of her eye but didn't respond.

Not giving up, Sam continued: "I mean, I wonder why the spirit world has to act like a normal villain would, like when it's dark and people are looking away. Why don't they appear in broad daylight and in public? They don't have to act like a common criminal. They shouldn't be scared of getting recognised and arrested. What's the worst that can happen to them? Aren't they already dead?"

"I don't fucking know," Jess said with a sigh. "Maybe there are bound by some rules and limitations? The fact that it happens in the dark doesn't necessarily prove that it's not real."

"It sorta does!" Sam quipped.

"Do you still got those nocturnal visions?" Jess asked.

"If I ever get the chance to haunt people, I'd do it in broad daylight, where I could be captured by hundreds of smartphones. That way, there'd be no doubt I was a ghost. I'd choose a public place, where everyone's supposed to be quiet, and I'd silence those loud and chatty folks forever. Now, that's a possession worth doing"

"I remember when you got mute for days once. Wasn't that how we met?" asked Jess.

"I was quite lucid the whole time," Sam responded.

"How lucid are you now?" Jess asked, just as they reached their destination.

"This place used to be a hairdresser; I think." Sam Said.

Once inside, they traversed a narrow corridor adorned with eighteenth-century Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and a red-carpet runner leading to a large living room. The room beyond was shadowy and windowless, its atmosphere thick and unholy, with an unsettling, oppressive weight.

Floral wallpaper, faded to a yellowish-brown hue over time, covered the walls, absorbed the scant light from a small glass window on the front door, casting the space in an eerie gloom.

Sam walked past to an oval-shaped mirror hanging on the wall, admiring its dark wooden frame, noticed Jess was talking quietly to another woman. Where did she come from? Sam wondered, perplexed. I didn't even see her walk in!

The woman, who seemed to be rotting with the building she was staying in, handed some forms to Jess to fill out, suddenly turned to Sam and, with a very serious tone, asked, "You didn't look into this mirror, did you?" Just like she was talking to a six-year-old.

"Mmmm...nope!" Sam responded in a half-guilty tone. She did feel like a six-year-old, worried she'd done something wrong but unsure of what.

When the woman left the room, Sam and Jess exchanged a befuddled look. Sam parroted the woman's question in a mocking fashion. Sam hadn't looked into the mirror directly—only the side of its frame. From that angle, she could see it was an old and damaged mirror reflecting the opposite wall.

You know what?" Sam whispered. "I did glance at the mirror from the corner of my eye as I was passing by."

"What did you see?" Jess asked, curious.

"Nothing. I just saw myself. I didn't look directly, but nothing unusual is here. So this must be the original magic mirror on the wall, let's try it."

Sam kept her head and eyes down as she walked towards the mirror. "Ready?" As her eyes met the glass, she stumbled backward, her breath catching in her throat.

In the mirror, Sam saw her face twisted with jagged teeth, saliva dripping from a gaping maw stained with the blood of a freshly devoured animal. The animal's eyes were hers. As Sam recoiled in terror, she stumbled backward, her hands frantically exploring her face. Jess knelt beside her, gripping her leg. As Sam turned, blood from the vision splashed across Jess's face. Paralysed with fear, Jess stared at the grotesque reflection, feeling like a trapped prey awaiting its grisly end. 

They both kept screaming until Sam woke up.