The Mirror Children

"The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own, mommy," the little girl, Addison, told her mother, "Come look."

"What did it show, Addy?" Amber asked as she got dragged by the hand deeper into the thrift store.

"There was another little girl in the mirror." Addison exclaimed as they neared the dark wooden wrapped mid-sized mirror sitting on a shelf.

"I just see us, hunny," Amber replied as she examined the ornate mirror and then looked around, "Maybe you saw that little girl over there walk through the reflection."

"Can I have it?" The pigtailed little girl asked before pouting and making a sad face, "Please, please, please!"

"How much is it?" Amber asked rhetorically as she looked for the price tag, "Fifteen dollars? Not bad, but where would you put it? It is pretty large."

"What if it was opposite the closet door?" Addison opined hope growing inside.

"That might work." Amber mumbled as she reexamined the mirrors artwork carved into the wood.

The carvings were what appeared to be children crawling from the top to the bottom. The ones on top had decent details for carved figures so small. The size increased only a few millimeters at a time, but the largest figure was an inch and a half protruding off the wreath of wood. There were dozens of different aged children swarming down the brown material towards the bottom. Every now and then, a few children were kind of obscured by flowers. Amber couldn't identify on both sides of the mirror. She found it odd, but her young daughter liked odd things.

"OK, hunny, let's go get a buggy."

~~~~~

Addison couldn't contain her excitement as her father finished putting the mirror up. She was talking a mile a minute about all the little kids on the wooden part of the mirror and how it was fitting for her. She stood in the middle of her room and waved at what she now deemed the 'Mirror Children'.

"I am going to find out what their names are." Addison declared to her parents as they looked into the mirror together.

"You can name them whatever you want, Addy." Her father, William, added.

"I don't think they would like being renamed, Daddy." Addison replied.

"How do you know they already have names, baby?" William asked.

"Cause all kids have names." Was the small girl's response.

"Well, I am happy if you are, baby girl. Give me a hug," the man bent down to receive his embrace, " I had a long day, hunny, and I am going to bed."

"Goodnight, Daddy, love you, see you tomorrow." Addison said her bedtime catchphrase.

"Goodnight, love you, see you tomorrow." Her father replied before kissing the top of her head and headed out of the room.

"Goodnight, love you, see you tomorrow, hunny." Amber echoed her husband before mimicking his actions by giving her a quick hug, kissing on the top of the head and following William.

"That is one weird looking mirror, but she seems to like it." William whispered when Amber caught up with him, and they continued to their room.

Everyone quickly falls asleep.

~~~~~

A few minutes after midnight, Addison began to move. Something felt strange around her, and she woke up with a start covered in sweat. When she looked around her dimly lit room, her eyes found another small girl standing under the mirror, appearing to float just above the floor. She was more silhouette than tangible flesh, but she was there, staring at Addison. They locked eyes.

"What's your name?"Addison asked politely from her bed.

"..." The strange girl seemed to make a sound, but nothing loud enough for Addison to recognize as speech.

"You do have a name, don't you?" Addison asked as the floating little girl slowly crept closer.

"Elizabeth." The silhouette spoke as it became flesh in an instant and stepped forward, showing off a pale little girl with large dark circles around her eyes, in a white summer dress, "Do you want to play with us?"

"Of course, Elizabeth, how many of you are there?" Addison asked as she threw the comforter off of her and got out of bed.

"We are always growing, Addison," a new child, a boy this time, appeared under the mirror, "but there are thirty-five of us."

"Who are you?" Addison asked the new boy that rivaled Elizabeth in paleness and sunken eyes.

"My name is Jordan," the boy, about ten years old, introduced himself, "And I came to play."

"What should we play?" Addison asked her two new friends, "What about tea, and we get to know each other?"

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Elizabeth said as she walked over to the small table and chairs with a set of decorative cups and a pink, flowery teapot.

"That sounds OK," Jordan responded as he walked to the table and pulled out a chair and sat down, "This better not be boring."

"Do you like cookies or biscuits with your tea?" Addison asked as she sat down and pulled out empty plates.

"Everything looks delicious and smells just as good!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"I agree," Addison replied before blinking and there being actual food and hot tea, "This is amazing. Wha … How did this happen?"

"We bring imagination to life," Jordan smiled as he picked up the teapot and poured each of them a cup.

"I guess I will try one of these cookies." Addison said as she grabbed for a perfect chocolate chip cookie and took a bite, "This is better than my mom's."

There were rushed footsteps coming back towards Addison's room. In another blink of the eyes, the bedroom door opened, and the light burst to life. Addison was sitting there, alone, holding an invisible cookie.

"What is going on in here? Who are you talking to, hunny?" William asked sternly once in the room.

"Elizabeth and Jordan were having tea with me." Addison replied.

"Who are Elizabeth and Jordan, Addy?" Amber asked.

"The Mirror Children." Addison said as she finally put the invisible cookie down.

"Well, hunny, it is too late to be playing with the Mirror Children," William declared as he picked up Addison and put her in bed, "Let them know they can't come play this late, OK?"

"Well, Daddy, I think they have to come this late. I don't think they can come out during the day." Addison replied as she stared at the mirror, hoping one of her new friends would appear.

"Then they are weekend friends, Addy," Amber interjected, "You can play with them before bed on Fridays and Saturdays."

"OK, mommy!" Addison said as she hugged her father and then mother goodnight for the second time.

After a few minutes of sitting in total darkness, the dim light from the nightlight started to fill out the room. There, under the mirror, stood the silhouette of Jordan.

"I don't like your parents." And with that, Jordan disappeared into the mirror.

~~~~~

A couple of days went by before the Mirror Children returned. It was a Thursday, so Addison politely told them she could not play until the following night.

"I can't play Jordan," Addison replied to his umpteenth plea, "You heard my parents. I can play tomorrow. My mom even taught me a card game and bought us some cards!."

"But we want to play tonight!" Jordan yelled.

"Sshhh," Addison tried to quiet the boy down, "You will wake up my parents. Please be quiet."

"WE WANT TO PLAY TONIGHT!" Jordan, now backed up by two silhouetted boys, screamed before disappearing back into the mirror with a devilish grin.

Footsteps stomped down the hallway, and the door swung open. The light switch was flicked, and standing just inside the door was William. He was in his boxer shorts and looked half asleep.

"What's wrong, hunny," William asked with a bit of panic in his voice, "Why are you yelling?"

"It wasn't me, Daddy, I swear!" Addison replied, an innocent look sweeping over her face, "It was Jordan."

"Who the hell is Jordan, and how did he get in?" William asked as he walked to her window on the second floor and checked the lock. He then looked in the closet in silence.

"Jordan is one of the Mirror Children, remember daddy." Addison said as she watched her dad's shoulders slouch.

"A Mirror Child?" William asked rhetorically before changing tone, "Hunny, you can't go yelling in the middle of the night …"

"I swear, Daddy, it wasn't me!" Addison exclaimed.

"Whomever it was, it doesn't need to happen, OK?" William said after a heavy sigh, "Now, go to bed. No more playing, or we will have to move that mirror downstairs."

"Yes, Daddy." Addison didn't dare say anything more, "Goodnight Daddy."

It wasn't long before Addison was almost asleep when she felt eyes on her. She looked towards the mirror, once again, and there stood the silhouette of a boy.

"I really don't like your parents." And the silhouette dissolved into the limited light.

~~~~~

The following night, Addison got her room ready for her friends. Amber had allowed her to stay up an extra hour to play with the Mirror Children. The small table was moved into the middle of the room with a few more regular sized chairs placed around the room. Amber even offered to bake some chocolate chip cookies for the little party, but Addison informed her that the Mirror Children could make imagination real. That amazed Amber, "Great, no crumbs." She left with a "Goodnight, love you, see you tomorrow."

"You can come out now." Addison said as she stood a few feet in front of the mirror.

Elizabeth was the first one to show up, still with an upbeat attitude. She said her hello to Addison and took a seat at the table.

"How many are coming?" Addison asked after a few moments of just standing there in front of the mirror.

"Come sit down and have a cookie," Elizabeth said as she offered a fresh looking chocolate chip cookie.

"Well, I don't want to be impolite." Addison said as she walked over and grabbed the real sweet and took a bite.

"No, don't think that. They might not show up," Elizabeth replied, "They are pretty shy. It will take most of them some time."

"Oh, well, my mom taught me a game yesterday that we can play," Addison added, "It's called Uno, and she bought the cards for us to play. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes, we have." Elizabeth responded, "And we love it."

"Where is Jordan?" Addison wondered aloud as she looked towards the mirror.

"You don't want Jordan here," Elizabeth whispered as she grabbed the Uno cards, "He is a troublemaker."

"Do you know if anyone else will show up?" Addison asked, "It will be good for the game."

"Felicia will be here," Elizabeth assured her, "She likes to be fashionably late. And I know Kyle is going to be here."

"That is good to hear," Addison smiled, "I was worried we wouldn't have enough people."

The other two Mirror Children showed up soon after that, and they dealt out the cards. The hour flew by while the children discussed their upbringing and when their family found the mirror. Each only had the thing for a few weeks before, only remembering the newest person, Addison, to find the mirror. When the time came for Addison to wrap up the party, an alarm started to go off in the corner.

"That alarm means it is time for bed." Addison said to her new pale skinned friends as she got up to turn off the alarm. When she turned back around, Jordan and his pale posse were there, glaring at her.

"We want to keep playing." Jordan demanded.

"Then you should have shown up before!" Addison rebuffed.

"I showed up now, and I want to play." Jordan replied calmly, a devilish grin stretched across his face.

"What do you want to play?" Addison reluctantly asked.

"How about ball?" Jordan smiled that evil smile of his just as the silhouette of a ball formed in between his hands.

"No …"

The ball slowly turned from a silhouette to a real ball as it seemed to creep in the air towards Addison's dresser. Jordan had let go of it, and its path collided with her pictures, dolls, jewelry boxes, and assorted jewelry, launching everything everywhere in the darkly lit room. The ball bounced, and the air, materializing into another small boy, caught the ball and threw it towards Addison's bookshelf.

The books on the shelf didn't move much. Nothing really happened this time. The boy's shoulders slumped just before he disappeared, and a new boy caught the ball. This boy, not hiding behind a silhouette, turned towards Addison before laughing and throwing the ball towards the window. Addison didn't think there was enough force to break the window, but if she hadn't seen it herself, she wouldn't have believed the ball pushed against the window until it burst outward. The ball bounced a few times in the grass and ended up rolling to a stop next to the tire of William's truck.

All of the children disappeared, except for Addison, of course. Her heart pounded in rhythm with the footsteps now stomping their way to her room. She knew there was no time to clean anything before the light came on. Seconds pass before her fear becomes reality, and the door opens, and the figure turns on the light. There, standing in the illuminated doorway, were Addison's parents. William was in front and wore a scowl that somehow affected his body, and Amber was on her tiptoes trying to look, scornfully, over William's shoulder.

"What the …" William started.

"What are you breaking?" Amber interjected.

Addison's parents finally walked into the room and noticed the window.

"What the …" William started again.

"What did you throw out the window?" Amber yelled as she turned, and William approached what was left of the window.

"Where did the damn ball come from?" William asked with his head outside the ball hole.

"The Mirror Children brought it," Addison replied, "I tried telling Jordan no, but he didn't listen, and I don't know who threw the ball through the window. I didn't get his name."

"Where did you get the ball, Addy?" Amber asked, suppressing her anger, "And don't say the Mirror Children."

" … "

"Tomorrow morning, I am moving that mirror. I could have forgiven the noise, hunny, but breaking the window is unacceptable." William declared before leaving the room, ignoring the pleas of his daughter.

"Mommy, please, I promise I didn't do this."

"The Mirror Children did it," Amber said with her, "I know, hunny, and that is why we are going to move the mirror."

"Jordan might not like that." Addison almost whispered.

"Well, I don't like that he threw a ball out my window!" Amber steamed.

"Jordan didn't do it."

"I don't care, Addy," Amber replied, hand on her forehead, "Go to bed. Goodnight."

With that, the light went off, and the door closed behind Amber. The dark once again invaded the room only to slowly be fought off by the hardest working nightlight on the opposing wall of the bed. Standing, tall and full of pride, just under the mirror was the boy that threw the ball out of the window. He was just as pale as the others, with dark circles around his eyes, and wore a nice suit.

"It doesn't matter where they put us. You can just come play with us from now on." With that, the intimidating gaze disappeared into the mirror with the rest of the small boy.

~~~~~

The next morning, William did as he had said and moved the mirror downstairs. Addison didn't even protest. She just stood there as he took it down and followed him and watched as he put it up in the den. When he was done, he didn't even stay to look at it in its new home. Addison did, though. She stayed and stared at it before slumping off to finish her day.

That night, Addison stood under the mirror, in the dark, waiting for Elizabeth, but after thirty minutes of waiting, Addison went to bed. She had hoped Elizabeth would have shown up to play. She even had the teapot on the regular sized table in the den. Now, in the safety of her own bed, she quickly drifted off to sleep. Images of the mirror being replaced with fantastical stories of flying.

THE POWER GOES OUT

The air-conditioning came to a stop, and the fans throughout the house slowly stopped spinning. It didn't take long for William to wake up. And then Amber was jostled awake as William angrily got out of bed.

"What in the world happened?" William spat as he put on his robe and slippers.

"What's a matter, hunny?" Amber asked while rubbing her eyes.

"Have to check the damn breakers," William replied as he found and turned on a flashlight, "Go back to bed."

Amber didn't have to be told twice. She curled back up and started to drift off. William strolled down the hall and noticed Addison's door was open. He didn't think much of it until he reached the door, and something strange on the doorway caught his eye. There were eight red lines in total, two groups of four spaced about two feet apart that ran over the grooves of the doorway. When William knelt down, he first thought it was finger paint, but upon further investigation, he found a perfectly manicured fingernail. Addison!

William turned the light on her bed and immediately screamed for Amber. The bed was destroyed. It was down to the mattress, all of Addison's sheets, covers, throw blankets and stuffed animals were strewn around the room, her favorite blanket was in the middle of the floor having been dragged to its spot by a scared little girl. She had obviously given up on the blanket in favor of the doorframe. William was panicking and almost turning in circles while screaming for his wife. When she finally showed up, out of breath, she screamed, "WHAT!". All he had to do was shine the light on the bed and follow the path he assumed was taken by the captors to the doorway. Amber dropped to her knees instantly and started to examine the blood and fingernail.

"Let's go." William said as he moved the light down the hallway and spotted another splatter of red.

The pair jumped from one red patch to the next and quickly found themselves in the den. There, standing under the mirror, was a young and very pale boy in a suit. The light went from his gaunt face up to the mirror. Instead of the light flashing back at them, it kept illuminating. The beam of light was thick and reached far into the hole that was now in the wall. There was nothing that reflected light, and everything in sight was warped. The couch and chairs were twisted to the point of impracticality. Somewhere, a scrambling sound broke the silence just before something crept through the light in the hole. It was humanoid but stretched out backwards and dragged its hands and legs as it tried to run upside down. It paused for a second, and its bulbous head appeared between the elongated arms and legs. Half of its head opened to reveal several rows of shark teeth. Then, just like it appeared, it disappeared from view, the sound of it dragging its legs still permeating the room. The parents were shocked in silence.

"Hello, parents, I am Samuel," the young and malnourished child began, "We have Addison now."

"No!" The parents almost whispered in unison.

"I appreciate the new friend," Samuel smiled, "We all do, but I no longer need you to own this mirror. Please donate me."

William and Amber yelled and screamed at the child as he dissolved into the mirror. William started pounding on the wood of the mirror when something peculiar happened. The wood began to move and on the outside of the wood a new figure bloomed out of the dark material. It was a perfect lookalike to Addison, still wearing her night-time clothes. William stopped hitting the mirror and called Amber over to see the addition. After a few minutes of crying in each other's arms William grew furious.

"Give me my damn daughter!" The father cried out as he started punching the frame.

Nothing happened but him opening up wounds on his knuckles. He paused for a few seconds before balling up his fists again and this time aiming his rage at the mirror. With bloody prints William continued to smash the mirror until it was nothing but splinters. With his knuckles bloodied he wrapped Amber in his arms and began to weep. Giving into the grief and reality of it all, they collapsed into a heap of sobbing anguish.

~~~~~

In the morning, with trepidation and a broken heart, the couple threw the splintered mirror out with the trash. They found themselves staring at the little figure that was their daughter. Both of them trying to hold back the tears and failing, finally falling into each other's arms again. They decided together that it was too much to bear and they couldn't justify doing that to another family, so they decided to throw it out. They positioned it so a passer-by couldn't see it by leaning it mirror side against the trash can. William would have to call the trash company for them to come pick it up, but then it would be gone for good.
A few hours passed and a minivan stopped in front of the trash cans, which were obscured from the house. The nice blonde woman, Helen, in her late 30's, was quick to inspect the piece of furniture thinking it was an ornate headboard for a queen sized bed. When it turned out to be a mirror she was overjoyed. The intricate children on the wood would fit in nicely in the new nursery. And she had the perfect mirror for a replacement. She thought it was kismet and loaded the heavy mirror into her backseat. When she got buckled in and looked in her rear view mirror she saw two little kids holding hands. Both were pale and malnourished, but the boy was in a suit and the little girl was still in her night clothes. They waved at her as she drove away, which elicited a, "Those are some weird children." out of her mouth. Surprisingly the children both scowled as she said this before disappearing around a turn.