through the mirror

PART I | he came in like a nightmare, like a dream

PART I | he came like a nightmare, like a dream

It's Wednesday and the sky is gloomy. The sun is hiding behind the clouds, giving off a grayish, colder than normal atmosphere. Cool breeze make the twigs sway, autumn leaves filling up every path. For Freya, it's a good day. Though the nimbostratus clouds may bring heavy rain this afternoon, it still left a smile on the young woman's face. After all, it's her first official day of becoming a strong independent woman. The twenty-three year old had fought for her independency since she turned eighteen against a strict, overprotective family. It's only when she received a job offer far away from her hometown that her mother had finally let her loose- well, kinda. There's still the announced and unannounced visitations that her mother will do from time to time. It's a deal she agreed to. Her friends saw it as "too much" but she saw it as unconditional love. "You know how to compromise." One of her friends remarked when she gave them the news.

Nonetheless, she's now standing by the apartment building- seconds away from sealing it off. Her independence.

"Bring it to third floor, last room to the left." The man who owns the building tells the men Freya hired to help her move her things. His attention then focuses on her. He tells her to follow him as he will give her a short tour around the unit.

Before they enter the apartment, the owner gives Freya the spare key and the updated code for the automated lock. "You can change it once everything's settled." He tells her before pushing the door open.

It is when they're inside that she finally let herself loose and smile so wide. Her heart is literally leaping from happiness right now.

She drops the bag she's carrying to take in the familiar yet new surrounding. Freya had only seen the apartment in pictures on a Facebook post. It was sent to her by her college friend who she informed that she's looking for an apartment near her workplace. Due to the rush transfer requested by the company she's working for, she didn't have time to check it out in person. Her worries of living in an unsafe and uncomfortable place washed away once she finds how neat and pretty it actually is than the pictures she saw on the Internet.

"This has to be the only presentable unit that has been used for years." The owner remarked. "It's all thanks to the previous tenant who always cleaned the place once a week. It's either she was a germaphobe or someone who just loved to clean- but I'm thankful. It's the only unit Joe didn't have to enter to clean. It helped the old guy somehow." Freya didn't know who Joe was but she thinks it's the janitor who's assigned to clean the units of the building. The owner's kind of talkative and as Freya listened to the guy talk, she let herself wander around the place.

The color of the wall resembles the yellow sunflower dress she used to love when she was eighteen. The outer walls are made up of plywood stacked together painted in bright yellow but the inner walls are cemented. The floor is tiled. The lines that separates the tiles are not covered with mold- it's surprisingly bright pink. The unit has two windows. One above the sink and the other is inside the bedroom, right beside the bed. The two windows are enough to bring the needed sunlight in the apartment. Freya unhooks the window by the bed and slides it up to allow some some fresh air to get inside.

Freya steps back to find a small bookshelf near the bed enough for all the books she had brought with her. It makes her smile just from the thought of it. She takes a couple of steps further, her heels turn around then a high pitched shriek leaves her mouth when she finds a face with a funny expression looking back at her: big eyes and mouth wide open, mirroring hers.

"Oh my God!" Freya clutches her chest, ears red and cheeks flushed. She calms herself down once she realizes it was just her stupid reflection. Before her is a mirror attached to the wall right in front of the bed. The mirror is blurry, it has stains that she couldn't tell coming from where or what. It is big enough to take in her face and her torso.