True Reflection

I shuffled through the apartment, flicking lights off as I went along. The darker the place got, the lower my gaze strayed until I stared at the floor as I walked through the apartment. I was entirely cloaked in darkness when I reached my bedroom door. My surroundings began to press in on me as my nyctophobia took hold.

In through the nose, out through the mouth, I told myself.

I reached for the handle of my door and paused. The bathroom was just to the left of my room, and I debated whether I had to pee before bed.

I always feared the things that go bump in the night. Unforgiving paranoia paralyzed me whenever I heard the slightest noise in the dark. The wind blew at the tree outside my window until the branches scraped across the glass. The fridge kicked itself on. A neighbor stumbled about upstairs.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

My bladder decided for me, and I turned toward the closed bathroom door. I dragged my feet as I made my way over, holding my breath as I turned the doorknob.

My biggest fear was the mirror. Say her name three times. The Candy Man. The Lady in White. They all set my imagination ablaze with the worst what-ifs I could ever conjure. Usually, I avoided the mirror’s gaze at all costs in the dark. I even kept it out of my fuzzy peripherals.

Tonight, a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye made me look up without thinking. I stood staring at my horrified reflection, unable to pry my eyes away from the impossible sight before me.

There was another me in the mirror.

The first one matched me entirely, down to my T-shirt's wrinkles. Standing just behind and off to the side of me, the other was dressed to the nines, staring at me with the most eerie smile. Both reflections seemed to glow in the mirror, lighting up just enough for me to see them against the backdrop of the darkness of the rest of the apartment.

Testing them, I lifted one hand slowly. My exact reflection moved with me while the decked-out extra's smile grew more menacing, as perfect as it was.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

While I took a deep breath with my exact reflection, Perfect Me laughed, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably, though no sound penetrated the mirror's glass.

I closed my eyes for a beat to gather my senses. My full bladder was long forgotten as I contemplated when my sanity had run off without me.

When I opened my eyes, Perfect Me was in front of me now, no longer perfect. Its left eye drooped, and blood ran freely from a gash across its cheek. It opened its mouth and let out a terrifying wail. From the sheer shock of it, I clenched my eyes shut and covered my ears.

In through the nose, out through the mouth, I reminded myself when I realized I was holding my breath.

When I opened my eyes, the room looked different… but the same. Slowly, it dawned on me that everything was the opposite, yet I felt like it had always been that way.

Perfect Me was perfect again, staring at me with a smirk. It began to inspect its appearance, ignoring my presence. I banged on the mirror to get its attention, but it kept disregarding me.

Frustrated, I stepped away from the mirror and froze when I saw my reflection. It was different… My left eye drooped, and when I touched my fingers to the gash on my cheek – the gash that hadn’t been there just moments before – my trembling hand was stained red.

Finally, Perfect Me met my eyes and grinned again. “Remember: in through the nose, out through the mouth,” it said with a wink before turning on its heel and leaving the bathroom.