The Shadow in the Mirror

Trisha left her busy city life and moved to a quiet village to stay in her grandfather’s old house. As a writer, she sought peace, silence, and isolation. The house had been closed for years — creaky wooden floors, damp-stained walls, and an odd smell of dust in the air.

On the very first day, she noticed something strange — the northern room on the second floor was always locked. The caretaker, Raghuchacha, warned her, “Don’t go into that room, dear. There’s something cursed in there. Years ago, a servant went missing after entering that room. No one goes there anymore.”

At first, Trisha dismissed it as superstition, just another village myth. But curiosity is a dangerous thing. Three nights later, during a thunderstorm and a power outage, she crept up with a candle and unlocked the door.

The room was cold, dark, and suffocating. In one corner stood a massive, full-length mirror with an old wooden frame carved in chaotic, disturbing patterns.

Trisha stood before the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her heart stopped—something was wrong. Behind her reflection, there seemed to be another pair of eyes staring. She turned around—no one was there.

When she looked back, the mirror was empty. No reflection. Just glass.

That night, she had a terrifying dream—she was trapped inside the mirror, and the version of her outside was smiling wickedly at her through the glass. She woke up gasping for breath.

The next day, she asked Raghuchacha again about the mirror. He lowered his voice and said, “That mirror was brought by a sage around eighty years ago. Said it could trap restless souls. Your grandfather’s younger brother, Arunbabu, vanished in that very room. Some say... his soul is still inside.”

Now, Trisha started to believe something was really wrong. She called her friend Ronnie—a researcher who studied folklore and supernatural phenomena.

Ronnie came the next day. After inspecting the mirror for a while, he said, “This is a Sealed Mirror. It’s part of ancient tantric rituals. Spirits can be trapped in it—or worse, shadow entities can form over time, especially if someone spends too long in front of it.”

Trisha told him about her dream and her growing fear. Ronnie pulled out an old copper plate inscribed with ancient Sanskrit mantras.

“I’ll try to neutralize it tonight,” he said.

But as night fell, things got worse.

The electricity cut off again. The doors and windows were shut, but a chilling breeze filled the house. In the candlelight, they saw mist forming inside the mirror — like something moving in smoke.

Ronnie began chanting mantras. The mirror’s surface started to crack. For a moment, Trisha thought they were winning.

But then, the mirror split open—and a shadow stepped out.

It had a human shape, but no eyes, no mouth—just a shifting form made of darkness. It moved slowly toward Trisha.

Ronnie stepped forward to block it—but suddenly his face twisted in pain. His eyes turned blood-red. It was as if something had taken control of him.

Trisha screamed, “Ronnie! This isn’t you!”

But Ronnie’s voice had changed—cold and hollow, he said, “You’ve freed me. Now I own everything…”

Trisha ran downstairs, grabbed a gas cylinder from the kitchen, and returned to the room. She knew this horror had to end.

She set the room on fire. The flames rose quickly. The shadow howled as it began to dissolve in the heat. Ronnie collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Trisha dragged him out just in time. The room burned completely. The mirror melted into broken glass.

When Ronnie regained consciousness, he whispered, shaking, “I can’t remember… but someone… was inside my head.”

Trisha didn’t say a word.

They left the village the next day. The house was reduced to ashes.

But the story didn’t end there.

Two months later, in a dusty antique shop in the city, a man found something odd—an old wooden frame with a broken piece of mirror inside.

The shopkeeper said, “Came from a burnt house in a village. Looked weird, so I kept it.”

The man took it home.

That very night, in the corner of the mirror shard, two black eyes appeared—and a wide, twisted grin.

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The End.