The Man in the Mirror

Chapter 3: A Loud Silence

"Here lies Suzie Fable." That's what was written on the tombstone along with, "three-year-old daughter of Marie Fable. We may remember her forever." Joann stared at the grave with fear in her eye. Whatever was in her house couldn't have been her father, it murdered Suzie. 

About a month later, she had not seen the ghost again. Had it gone in hiding? Was it only there to kill Suzie? But she couldn't think of that now, she was just about to start a dodgeball game. Martha, Polly, Sarah, and Tiffany were up on Joann's team along with Joann. The whistle blew, the teams dashed for the balls. Joann was playing great, her team was up by six. But she fell weary. Martha fainted and faceplanted on the cold gym floor and the team surrounded her as the paramedics came into the gym.

The paramedics leaned down to see what was wrong when a shot of blood spilled out of her mouth. It ran down the left cheek of her face. Blood started running out of her eyes. It looked like something from a horror movie. It dripped onto the hard floor of the gym. Joann stared in fear. She knew that this was the work of the shadow. 

The paramedics pick her up and put Martha in a body bag. They hauled her away in the ambulance and drove off with Martha. Joann's hands covered her face as she cried. She fell to her knees and started to bawl. She had blood on her knees, hands, and shoes. The blood smeared on her face as the tears ran down. There was silence in the gym. The loudest silence that Joann had ever heard.

Joann sat in her room thinking. Thinking about life. How long would hers last? It was all a mystery to her. It had already tried to kill her. Would it ever stop? Maybe it had mistaken Martha for Joann. She dreaded the thought. She thought to herself, It's gonna kill me, It's gonna kill me, It's gonna kill me, It's gonna kill me, It was repeating inside of her head as if it were a nightmare. 

She couldn't sleep that night. She knew that then ghost would try to kill her. And she was right. She was shaking, her head was jolting around to see if the shadow had been in her room. She could barely keep her eyes open, so she got up off of her bed and ran into the kitchen. She pressed the power button on the coffee maker. It poured smoothly into the white mug.  She took a calm sip. She closed her eyes as the coffee ran into her mouth as if it were a steaming wonderland. She savored the taste until all of the coffee was gone. She opened her eyes and stared up at what had been in front of her. There was a flashlight being held by a man. The man had a small stubble as a beard, he had a flannel shirt and a Twins baseball cap. 

He was staring her in the eyes. It was her father. He said in a raspy voice, "Don't tr-trust *cough* him." After he finished his sentence, he dissolved into the air. Joann dropped her mug. It shattered when it hit the floor and stabbed her in the foot. She didn't seem to notice it until her mom walked into the room. Her mom had not known what had just happened, she did not see Joann's father, she didn't see the light. She only heard a cup shatter in the kitchen.  

Joann's mother tightened the wrap. "Aah!" She grabbed her foot. "What the hell was that for!?" 

"Oh suck it up, your the one who cut your foot, You had it coming," Her mother replied.

"It was Dad, Mom. I just know it." Her mom tightened the wrap again. 

"Joann, it was not your father!"

"But Mom I know it. It's gotta be him." 

"Shut up Joann!"

"Why don't you just believe me?"

"I can't believe you."

"Why is that?" Joann demanded an answer

Joann's mother stuttered. Sigh." Okay, I believe you."

"What?"

"Yes I believe you but there is a lot that we need to talk about."

"Like what?"

"It's  about your father..."