Inside Evil

Chapter 7 - Part II

*Inside Evil and its sequels are available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks*  

Something reflecting in the mirror beside her caught Roberta's eye. She saw a flash of blue in the glass, but there was nothing blue to reflect. Roberta was tired and stoned, and as much as she wanted to continue her ridiculous conversation with Sam, she needed to crawl into bed and forget about her problems, if only just for a few hours. So, having left Sam on the couch to wonder how he was going to get her into the cellar without Susan's knowledge, Roberta was going to drag herself up to bed for a few moments.

The flash of blue caught her eye again as Roberta made a move to start up the stairs, and she turned towards the mirror and looked in. Nothing. It was normal and there was not a patch of blue to be seen, but she was sure it had been there. She then caught sight of her blood shot eyes, her pale skin and stray hair, and wondered how her life had fallen so far in such a short time. She tried to flatten a few strands of flyaway hair before realising it was no good, and just as she turned to once again go to bed, the mirror started to gently vibrate. Eyes wide and mouth open, Roberta looked on as her reflection in the mirror changed, and as the seconds passed, her own reflection disappeared and was replaced by another. There were crow's feet at her eyes, and faded blue irises to replace Roberta's own hazel colour. The skin, whilst older, was pinker and plumper, highlighting just how tired Roberta's own face had become. She was now staring back at a much older woman, but whose life force seemed far more youthful than her own. Roberta knew this woman, she was sure, but in the haze of her mind Roberta couldn't place her.

As her mind tried to find the identity of the reflection, she saw the woman in the mirror move and start to tap the glass.

"Oh drat...I'm in this damn mirror again," she exclaimed. "Hello, Roberta, Roberta?" She called out whilst rapping on the other side of the mirror with a finger to get Roberta's full attention.

Roberta stood, rooted to the spot. Whatever Sam had bought was certainly powerful stuff. The woman rapped a few more times and called her name until Roberta had no choice but to reply, "W-Who are you?"

"Oh dear Roberta, you don't remember me? Roberta, you have to try harder, we haven't got long you know."

The soft tone of the woman's voice made an impression, and Roberta suddenly remembered from where she recognised the face. "You're, but you can't be! You're the woman from my dream?" Roberta half questioned and stated. "But how can that be, how can you be in my mirror? You're not real." She was quite sure at this stage that she was going mad.

"I can assure you Roberta Arlington that I am as real as you and Sam are, but we haven't got time for small talk dear. As lovely as you may be, it's got a hold of you, and therefore, you've got work to do."

"I don't understand. I didn't understand the dream, and I don't understand this, what am I supposed to be doing?"

"You have to find me dear. I'm closer than you think. We can progress to the next stage when you find me," the woman replied in a riddle. "We have to end this, you have to end it."

"What do I have to end?!"

"I'm running out of time, Roberta, find me, get all the help you can, it is of the utmost urgency," and on her last words the mirror started to swirl and the woman's image began to fade away

"Wait, wait" Roberta called. "How am I supposed to find you? I don't know what to do."

"Follow your friends, dear, follow your friends," was the reply from the now ghostly face in the mirror. "And Roberta, stay away from Susan Lingly".

With that, her face disappeared and Roberta was once again staring back at her own eyes and pale skin.

Roberta felt slightly sick, the anxiety of the past few minutes twisting her stomach with renewed torture. Though she had smoked before, she'd never had such a vivid hallucination. In fact, she'd never actually had a hallucination at all. Her conscious and grounded mind asserted that whatever she and Sam had been smoking had just sent her completely over the edge. But it had been so real and tangible.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked.

"What the hell did you put in that stuff?" Roberta snapped at him as he dozily sauntered in behind her.

"Nothing. It's just your normal wacky baccy, chill out."

"How the hell am I supposed to chill out when I'm turning into a raving lunatic," Roberta cried, before pushing Sam away from her and running up to her bedroom. 

*I will be posting one or two scenes a week as the story builds. However, if you can't wait that long, Inside Evil is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks.

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