Shiver: A Collection Of Paranormal Stories

My Reflection**

In 9th grade I befriended a witch. She introduced me to that world, but I always had a fascination with it, even before.

When I confined in her about some dreams I was having, she told me a particular story which chilled me but intrigued me at the same extent, it confirmed all my experiences. We were at my house alone. My dad was at work and he encouraged me to invite a friend over to keep me company because he was on night shift.

She explained to me a ritual she preformed to meet her "other half". Apparently in this book she read, which she borrowed from our small town's local library, it explained how when each soul was created they were divided, taking the horrible parts away from the good and trapping them inside mirrors, creating your reflection.

This really stuck with me because even as a young child I was oddly drawn but also very frightened by mirrors until my family warmed me up to them. After that I became enamoured with my reflection, as a young child I wondered what was inside, as young as 5, I felt something was trapped and I had to get it out to become whole again.

Around the age of 7, I became obsessed with the idea of catching my reflection moving when I wasn't. I watched it intently, seeing if it would screw up and not match my movements exactly, but I only ever caught it at the corner of my eye. One night in my grandparents bathroom, I did what I usually did, staring at the mirror and trying to make my reflection slip. I talked to it the entire time, calling it a coward and an asshole and everything under the moon, I was fed up because I knew there was something in there and I was determinded to make it show itself to me. It slowly it began to slip up more and more, lacking behind on my movements at the corner of my eye, sending me slight glares. When I saw this I got freaked out and almost left the room, but I guess it realized I saw it and it went back to normal, matching my movements exactly with a slightly more sinister expression than mine. Eventually I gave up and went to bed, not before glaring at my reflection intensely, flipping it off and calling it a coward once more before going to bed. Yes, I guess you could say I was a very fearless child.

That night I had a horrible dream, a replay of that night. But the whole time I noticed my reflection was more sinister, but I continued with my fearlessness like I had that night. That's until I looked away and caught it glaring at me from the corner of my eye, facing towards me. I swing my head forward towards the image to catch it and to my own horror, it broke out into an evil smile. I gasp and jump away from the mirror while my mirror image jumps like a wild animal up onto the inside of the mirrors glass, pressing its hands against the mirror, and peering through. I had nowhere to hide, I was frozen in shock. It looked through me almost, I felt naked, like it knew all my secrets. After all it was me? Well a version of me, that acted like a savage animal on the hunt.

I remember that it taunted me back, saying all the things I said to it earlier. Are you afraid? Coward. Move! You're not so tough now are you? You little piece of shit. You better pray to your God I don't get out of here. You stupid child. It went on, calling me to the dirt, hitting my biggest insecurities. She turned to the side and pointed out my underbite, her underbite, mocking me. She laughs at my reaction. How do I know it's one of your insecurities? Well, I'm you. And it will only grow bigger, mark my words. Later she says, possibly in a seprate dream: I'm the you you've always wanted to be. Let me out, no one will ever pick on you again if you do. I don't blame them for treating you like they do, look at you, you're pathetic. I could do better.

I scream at her, she laughs at my horror and I leave, I don't remember when, it's like the dream went on forever, some of it is blurry, but I woke up when I left the room. My underbite did grow bigger and the bullying got worse. It's an experience I'll never forget even though I deeply try.

This is what I think of when Katie tells me about mirror selves. I tell her the story and she's even more intrigued that I started having dreams about mirrors again.

My dreams you ask? They were similar to the ones before. Not menacing, no talking, just creepy. It was at the point where I felt constantly watched at my house, in every reflection. I'd dream that I'd wake up to pee and my mirror self would just be there in the mirror, standing straight up, looking straight at me. As I walked past and even as I was out of the view of the mirror, it stood and watched me. In most of the dreams, I would walk past and ignore it, just get my glass of water, let my dog out, use the bathroom, whatever I had to do without looking at it and then go straight to bed.

This was creepy enough as dreams, but as I acknowledged it's existance in my household and talked about it more, it's like it got stronger. Suddenly it was happening in real life. I would wake up every night at 3am and I'd have to use the bathroom, I'd stay in bed as long as I could, in fear of the mirror at the end of the hall and the mirror in my bathroom. Eventually, I got up.

One night in particular, the energy was stronger than ever. This time, when I exit my room, I see her already, at the corner of my eye, me. Stood in the mirror at the end of the hall, in my clothes, staring straight on at me. I resist the urge to look and walk towards the bathroom, I see her again in the bathroom mirror, I feel the strong urge to look but yet again, I don't. I do what I have to do and quickly leave. As I enter my room and begin to lie back down to sleep, my nose starts pouring blood. I freak out, there was no way I was going to sleep that night. Katie told me not long before, your mirror self cant hurt you, they can only make your nose bleed or give you bad dreams at worst. Apparently I did something to piss mine off because that's what was happening. I get up, turn the light on, grab a tissue and decide I'm not gonna sleep until the sun rises. So I close all the doors and go into the living room and watch some tv with my dog. My dog used to always sleep in my bed with me but just before the dreams started he'd refuse to even enter my room, which happens when a negative spirit or entity is around.

I message Katie that night and I tell her that we have to get rid of whatever is in my house and she agrees. Later when I am home alone I scream for whatever is in my home to get out because they're not welcome which was a horrible call, and I hang white sheets in my room over the mirrors to block out the very intense energy radiating out of my mirrors.

I sleep at my grandparent's for a few nights. I utimately decide I can't avoid it forever, Katie was busy but she would help when she could. So I would suck it up and go sleep in my own bed at my own house. It's late, but my dad is on day shift again so I stay for the night with him. I leave the door open for the cat to come in and out and it lessens the energy in my room. But it was so magnified, I'm not even show how I managed to sleep. It went on like this for a while until I was alone in my room, my dad mustve closed the door before going to work and I woke up, I could literally see the energy radiating from my mirror and beneath the white sheet. I sit up quickly and the energy approaches me.

I freeze, unable to move and what feels like a hand slowly moves up my leg. "You wanna let me inside?" I hear my own voice say, but not from myself.

I'm unable to talk, but I think NO and hold myself as strong as I can.

My own voice laughs, but again, it's not me. Whatever it is, my mirror self? A spirit? A demon? Has stolen my voice. "That's ok," It says and the next words chill me to the bone, "When you die at the age of 27, I'll take over. You can't do anything about it then,"

I wake up in the same position I was in during my dream. The energy is lessened in my room, I am too scared to move.

I talk to my grandmother and my psychic aunt, I sage my house, I pray. After that day, I never had another dream and I stopped feeling energy within my house. I still fear whatever it was will come back and take over. I fear that maybe it's right and I will die at 27 and it will possess my body. It seemed all knowing or maybe it just acted that way. Either way, this is the story of my mirror self haunting me or whatever it was. Beware of your reflection. I learned that the hard way.

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