TARGET

鏡子

His orbs pulsated, lashes fluttering against the furrow of his brow. He groggily sat up in his bed, arms outstretched and jaw unhinged in a drawn yawn. 

He gazed into the full lengthed mirror at the foot of his bed, reflecting his disheveled appearance back at him. He saw his face morph and adopt a perplexed expression, 

he had never bought a new mirror.

Albeit, Joshua was accustomed to perpetual oddities inside the Ursula Minor dorms, he neglected the idiosyncratic entity, planning to ask the commune later-

but he had an unsettling sentiment that his reflection continued to stare at him despite the relocation of gaze,

He swiveled his head back to the strange mirror, scrutinizing his reflection that reciprocated the action, per usual. Out of sheer curiosity, he crawled over to the mirror, the comforter dipping with his pursuit, engulfing his knees and palms in a sea of cushion,

Joshua inspected the looking glass, and every time his sight averted from interlocking its own, he could detect through his peripheral vision the obscure vision of himself ogling at him.

"What the fuc-"

His lips.

The two petals remained daintily parted, not once moving despite his remark.

"Josh,"

W-what?

Joshua didn't say that, and concurrently, the orator was himself...

In the mirror.

He watched in bewilderment as his tannum hair swept with the pivot of his, in all actuality, stationary head, "Joshua, why did you trap me in here?"

Joshua's eyes darted across the bizarre phenomenon before him, "How are you-"

"How am I doing this? Well, ask yourself, literally," His typically maroon orbs were tainted an inky color, glistening with a sheen of craze.

His reflection began to morph, his frame shriveled, his mane losing its luster,

The aforementioned tossed his head back, pearly canines blinding against the god rays that seeped from the shutters, "Well, Joshua, I'm not going to answer your question before you answer mine,"

Joshua stilled, his precognition knew what his reflection was alluding to. The palpitations caged in his chest rung in his temple, merging with the disorienting anomaly to manufacture that familiar dissonance,

"Why did you trap poor Jisoo in here?"

Joshua felt a faint tug at the hem of his shirt,

Pale, frail talons tugged at the fabric, sinking in its overgrown nails,

Jisoo had reached through the looking glass and pulled Joshua through.

The sensation was hauntingly transcendent.

His body jerked, he felt as if he was being pulled through a wall of obscure chilled fluid, yet simultaneously, Joshu felt shards of glass litter his skin with vibrant crimson trails. His throat closed as if he swallowed the translucent glass, the substance sinking itself into the walls of his esophagus, an excruciating asphyxiation.

The hand still clung onto his garments, tearing the dark fabric with its ethereal claws.

And his eardrums violently trembled. It wasn't a distinguishable sound, a sovereign cacophony unable to be interpreted by any adjectives. It was deafening, horrid, and yet celestial. His vision, obstructed by cryptic dancing silhouettes; he was impotent in accessing his sense's innate usage-

"Why do you choose to ignore me? I am you,"  Jisoo's voice was acute amidst the discord,

Joshua couldn't sob, cry, materialize coherent emotion-

It was a numbing trepidation.

"You use my power, but only to the extent you wish; you ignore your past, my origin; does it sound fair to you Joshua?"

"No..."

"Of course. I care for you, Josh, so why don't you care for me?"

Everything was seeping from his grasp, he was ready to succumb,

"You know if you don't let me flourish, one day you'll do something you regret. You're very powerful Joshua, but if you don't control this gift, one day you'll crack-"

"One day I'll crack." Jisoo's tone dropped an octave, resonating deep within Joshua's weightless stature,

"I know...I know...I know..."

"Do you, Josh?"

The aforementioned hesitated, prying his eyes open:

Before him stood a gaunt Jisoo,

Jisoo the orphan,

Jisoo the gentleman,

Jisoo the hopeful,

Jisoo the powerful.

It was peculiar:

Joshua was taller, his frame was sturdy and built, arms robust.
Jisoo was pale and scrawny, with thin ravenette mane,

And yet the latter was unimaginably more powerful.

"I'm going to let you go now, but remember this, and remember well,"

"I am not going to continue to play your game, Joshua."

His orbs pulsated, lashes fluttering against the furrow of his brow. He groggily sat up in his bed, arms outstretched and jaw unhinged in a drawn yawn. 

His head throbbed with a pierce to his crown, Joshua dragged his gaze to the foot of his bed, dreading the convergence of his gaze and the feat at the foot of his bed,

But in the mirror's stead sat the wooden marionette, its lumber dazzling under the luminescence of the night sky, peppering the figurine with the rays of the stars.

The doll emitted an ominous, staggering aura, inciting Joshua's stomach to churn,

It was a dream.

No,

A warning.