The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. I stared at it in shock, unsure of what to make of the face staring back at me. It looked like me, but not quite. The eyes were a little too wide, the nose a little too small. And the smile, the smile was all wrong. It was twisted and sinister, like something out of a horror movie.

I tried to look away, but I couldn't. The reflection held me captive, its eyes boring into mine. I felt like it was trying to tell me something, but I didn't know what.

Suddenly, the reflection blinked. And then it spoke.

"Hello, Emma."

I gasped and stumbled back, tripping over my own feet and falling to the floor. When I looked back up at the mirror, the reflection was still there, still smiling that twisted smile.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I want to show you something," the reflection said. "Something you've never seen before."

And then it was gone, replaced by my own reflection. I scrambled to my feet and backed away from the mirror, my heart pounding in my chest.

For days after that, I avoided the mirror as much as I could. I didn't want to see that twisted reflection again, didn't want to hear its voice. But it was like the mirror had a hold on me. Every time I passed by it, my eyes were drawn to its surface, as if I was being pulled in against my will.

It wasn't until a week later that the reflection appeared to me again. I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth in front of the mirror, when the reflection changed. It was like someone had flipped a switch, and suddenly I was looking at an entirely different room.

The room was dark and shadowy, with a single candle flickering on a table in the corner. There was a figure standing in front of the table, their back to me. I couldn't make out any details, but I could tell that they were doing something with their hands.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking.

The figure turned around slowly, and I saw that it was wearing a mask. The mask was white and featureless, like something out of a nightmare. It was impossible to tell if the figure was male or female, young or old.

"I am the mirror," the figure said, in a voice that was both soft and menacing. "And I have something to show you."

And then the reflection was gone, replaced by my own face once again. I stared at myself in the mirror, wondering if I was going insane.

The next few weeks were a blur of terror and confusion. The mirror continued to show me alternate realities, each one more twisted and terrifying than the last. In one reality, I was being chased by a pack of ravenous wolves. In another, I was trapped in a burning building, screaming for help that never came.

As the alternate realities became more frequent, I started to notice strange things happening in my own world. Objects would move on their own, shadows would dart across the walls. I felt like I was being watched all the time, like something was waiting for me in the darkness.

And then one night, as I was getting ready for bed, I heard a whisper in my ear.

"Come to me."

I spun around, but there was no one there. And then I realized that the voice had come from the mirror.

I walked slowly towards it, feeling like I was in a trance. When I got close enough, the mirror rippled like water, and then the surface became solid again.

I stepped through the mirror, and found myself in a dark, twisted version of my bedroom. The walls were covered in vines and thorns, and the furniture was twisted and gnarled. The mirror itself was now a portal, and beyond it was a world of darkness and despair.

I tried to turn back, to run away from the horror that lay before me, but the mirror had closed behind me. I was trapped in this alternate reality, with no way out.

As I walked through the twisted landscape, I saw things that made my blood run cold. Creatures that should not exist, and places that no human should ever see. And all the while, I could feel something watching me, waiting for me to slip up, waiting for me to fall.

I don't know how long I was trapped in that world, but it felt like an eternity. And then, one day, I saw something that gave me hope. A glimmer of light in the darkness.

I ran towards it, not knowing what it was, but knowing that it was my only hope of escape. As I got closer, I realized that it was a person. A person who looked like me, but not quite.

It was the reflection from the mirror, the one with the twisted smile. But now, the smile was gone, replaced by a look of desperation and fear.

"Emma, we have to get out of here," the reflection said. "We have to find the way back home."

Together, we searched for a way out of the alternate reality. We searched for what felt like days, until we finally found a portal that led back to the real world.

When we stepped through the portal, we were both exhausted and battered. But we were alive, and we were back in our own world.

I smashed the mirror into pieces, never wanting to see another alternate reality again. But even now, I can still feel the presence of that other world, creeping into my own reality, bleeding through the cracks.

I know that one day, it will come back. And when it does, I'll be ready.