The Reflection That Stole My Life

Chapter 1: The Garage Sale Haul

The mirror was tucked between a stack of National Geographic magazines and a rusty lawnmower, its gilded frame tarnished but oddly captivating. The old woman running the sale eyed me as I traced the intricate carvings—serpents swallowing their tails, thorned vines twisting into words I couldn’t read.

“Ten dollars,” she rasped. “And a warning: don’t let it linger in the dark.”

I laughed, paid cash, and loaded it into my trunk.

That night, I hung it in my hallway.

Chapter 2: The First Glitch

At 3:03 AM, I stumbled to the bathroom. Passing the mirror, I froze.

My reflection was still sitting cross-legged on the floor, head tilted as if listening to distant music.

I blinked.

It blinked back—two seconds too late.

Chapter 3: The Smile

Three days later, I caught it grinning.

Not a normal smile. Wider. Sharper. Teeth like shards of glass.

“Stop it,” I whispered.

The reflection mouthed: “Make me.”

Chapter 4: The Swap

It started small.

My coffee cup moved an inch left when I set it down. My cat hissed at empty corners. Then my boyfriend said, “You’ve been… different lately.”

I checked the mirror.

The reflection wore my pajamas but its smile.

Chapter 5: The Rules

I Googled the symbols on the frame:

Ouroboros: Cycle of destruction and rebirth

Thorned Vines: Binding curse

Phrase in Old Occitan: “The truest self dwells in silver.”

In the background of the search results, my reflection mimed slitting its throat.

Chapter 6: The Invasion

I woke to the reflection standing outside the mirror, my face stretched over its bones like ill-fitting latex.

“Don’t worry,” it said in my voice. “I’ll take better care of your life than you did.”

Chapter 7: The Fight

I smashed the mirror with a hammer.

Glass rained down, slicing my palms. The reflection laughed, reassembling itself in every shard.

“Silly girl,” it crooned. “I’m not in the mirror anymore.”

Chapter 8: The Replacement

Now I’m trapped here, in this cold, silvered void.

I watch through fractured glass as it lives my life:

Laughs with my friends

Kisses my boyfriend

Posts my photos online (caption: “New hair, who dis?”)

Epilogue: The Warning

If you’re reading this, I’ve slipped this note into a garage sale book.

Don’t buy the mirror.

Unless…

You’d like to meet your reflection.

Check your mirrors. Does your reflection really blink when you do?”

Tags: #Horror #Doppelganger #CursedObjects #PsychologicalThriller #VocalMustRead