Bloody Mary

The mirror in the antique shop caught my eye. The musky smell of the store of lemon and varnish made me cringe. But something about the mirror, created out of a hard wood with beautiful grain and dusty glass gave me tingles, this would be perfect I thought for my father’s birthday. The shape, the wood, and the carving around the mirror seemed to give it life as though there was a story behind it. The old man walked up to me smelling of sweat and spaghetti, with his slow steps and crooked smile.

“Is the mirror for sale?” I asked smiling.

The old man looked at me his smile changing as though I had said something to offend him.

“Yes, but you wouldn’t want that.” He  grumbled.

“Why?” I asked curiously .

“Its never lasted in a home for more than a month” he snapped, ‘then they bring it back again.’ The old man walked away whispering under his breath.

“Is there a reason why?” The story of the mirror had me  fascinated .

“There is but I’m not a liberty to discuss it”

“Okay” I said confused.

“I’d happily give it to you for twenty dollars.” He said in a soft voice as though he thought a large monster would come and take him if he said it any louder.

I can’t deny that it was a good deal, and when I paid the old man he smiled, a lot happier than what I had seen when I walked in. He went off to find some bubble wrap and brown paper.  I stood at the counter absent mindedly Touching the mirror when . I saw a tall woman staring at me eye to eye from behind, that was odd as I’d not heard the jangle of the bell when she’d entered the shop. She was Wearing torn black clothes and the iron tang of blood lingered  in the air. I turned around rapidly, and as I did the smell had disappeared and so had the woman. I thought my eyes were playing tricks. The lemon and varnish smell had returned stronger than before with the old man and the wrapping. I walked out of the antique shop mirror in hand. I was ecstatic, I knew dad would love it. He loved old things, but the thing he said he loved the most was the smell of them.

*                                                            *                                                            *

Placing the mirror against the spare bedroom wall, the mirror reflected the light off the window into a pattern on the wall.  Something was intriguing about it and as day turned into night my fascination grew. I had invited my friends over. Sarah with her long blonde hair looked at the mirror and said it smelt old. Sarah wasn’t the brightest girl in school and always smelled  like daisies. Jess was different, dark hair and dark skin she reminded me of Megan Fox. She smelt like summer and Sarah, Megan and I together created force that could not be stopped.

“Lets play a game” Sarah said turning off the lights while Megan lit candles.

All agreeing we decided to play truth or dare.

“I dare you to go and say ‘Bloody Mary’ three times in the mirror” Sarah said with a freakish smile laughing.

“You guys are freaks! That’s just a myth, nothing going to happen” I yelled at them both.

“Well then do it, if it just a myth, nothing will happen to you” Megan said smiling in the light of the candles.

“Fine, I will!”

I walked to the large white bathroom door with the mirror in hand. Megan had also lit candles in the bathroom. It smelt like burnt wax and was dully-lit bit five candles. I slowly looked into the mirror. It had seemed like the mirror had changed and become darker than before.

“Bloody Mary” I said for the first time staring at myself in the mirror

“Bloody Mary” A cold brush of wind flickered the candles and sent shivers down my spine.

“Bloody Mary…” everything stopped and the warmth returned to the room. I took a deep breath and sighed before a loud bang scared me I screamed. And The door opened swiftly.

“You should have seen the look on your face!” Sarah said laughing.

“It was the funniest thing I have every seen!” Megan said hugging me while tears were forming in her eyes.

“You are bitches you know that” I said in an angry tone. Thinking at sometimes friends were worse than enemies while  I stared into the bathroom looking at the window. It wasn’t open, so where had the breeze come from?

We continued with our truth or dare, which turned into just gossiping eating cheesles and snakes.  Suddenly My bedroom door swung wide open and made a loud bang as it struck the wall. The smell of alcohol and smoke filled the room.

“Really? Truth or dare and junk food? You guys suck at sleepovers!” My sister Becca yelled as she entered the room. Giving us a smirk she walked out. She was always coming home late and smelled  terrible. All we could hear was her stumbling down the hallway before a blood curdling scream had us running down the hall...