Mirror, Mirror

CHAPTER 1

Darkness surrounds me. It was so quiet I felt suffocated. I slowly moved around with my arms out as I could not see. Then light dazzled my eyes and i could see a door. I started for the door when I felt fingers brush my shoulders.
Chills ran down my spine and my blood ran cold. I couldn’t move. I felt something breathing down my neck. A sinister voice whispered “I got you” in my ear. I screamed so loud I woke myself up.
I sat up out of bed so fast I was out of breath sweating. I looked at my reflection in my mirror. I was pale like I saw a ghost. I looked away but out of the corner of my eye it looked like I was being stared at through the mirror. I did a double take but it was my own reflection.
I was relieved finally catching my breath. My alarm went off.
“Ugh” I was late for work.
I quickly jumped out of bed and got a shower. Another day at the hospital sleep deprived can’t be good. All damn day I just couldn’t get my damn dream out my head.

CHAPTER 2

“Aw, shit girl. Sounds like your in trouble” a receptionist said to me.
A doctor walked in on our conversation.
“Who’s in trouble” he asked?
“Nurse Devlin” the receptionist answered.
I slapped the table to shut her up. The doctor washed his hands seeming interested.
“Why” he asked?
“No reason” I screamed out but receptionist Rhonda wanted to spill the tea.
“Well, there is a dream demon after our girl here”.
“Rhonda” I shouted.
She rolls her eyes.
“Look, all I’m saying is my great German grandmama use to tell me and my brothers a story when we were kids. If we were bad the Draumjan aka the dream demon would punish us. She would always say one bad thing will turn into two and two into a hundred next thing you know you will no longer recognize yourself in the mirror. If I was you I would take a good long hard look at yourself in the mirror to overcome your demon. Believe me or not”.
Rhonda and the doctor both left me alone in the room. I took a second to think before getting up to look at my reflection in the metal fridge in the break room. I had my eyes closed at first. I peeked, then I opened my eyes wide staring at myself.
I laughed cause I saw nothing. Then a face popped up a grayish ghoul with sharp teeth growling. It’s eyes seemed familiar. I screamed interrupted by co-workers walking into the room. I covered my mouth as a ran out of the room in embarrassed fear.

CHAPTER 3

I left work early rushing home. I locked all the doors like that was really gonna save me. I was super tired not getting any sleep the night before. I covered up my mirror with a blanket. I laid down cuddling my pillow as a drifted off to sleep.
I was on a deserted road. Sitting on the yellow lines. I was blistering hot. Sweat was dripping down my face. Then a light shined on me. I couldn’t make it out but the light was coming at me super fast. I tried to get up but I felt like hot melted tar was holding me in place. The light got closer and closer. A loud honk pierced my ears as I screamed awake.
I stood up on my bed and I stared right in it’s eyes. The blanket must of fell cause there it was staring back at me. “Look deep within” echoed in my head. In a flash it disappeared. When it did I realized that whole time I wasn’t even breathing.
I finally took a breath but my chest was tight in fear. I couldn’t do nothing but cry.

CHAPTER 4

It was my day off and I decided to do some research. What did Rhonda call it: Drummer boy the dream demon. No. Dramatized. No. Google auto corrected me. Do you mean : Draumjan. I couldn’t pronounce it so I thought it was right.
WIKIPEDIA explained that Draumjan was an ancient gothic dialect of German. It means mirror. “Ha. Go figure”.
Some Reddit articles popped up of people writing about their experience with the demon. It seems tons of people have been traumatized by the same darkly figure but no explanation on how to overcome it. In some cases people have been hospitalized or even dead.
I’m beyond stressed out. I drifted off in thought. There was nothing useful online. The computer screen went to sleep and I felt it. A hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned around but saw no one. I turned and looked at the computer screen the demon was behind me. I had goosebumps all over.
All I heard was “guilty”. I slammed the lap top shut.

CHAPTER 5

I went to Rhonda’s house. She made me coffee but I was still so scared I kept shaking the mug as a tried to take a sip. She stared at me concerned.
“Okay, girl what’s going on” she asked?
“I’m ready to believe” I told her.
“What happened”?
So I told her everything and I watched her contemplate.
“And the demon said what to you”?
“The first thing it said was look deep within and then said guilty”.
Rhonda stood up and grabbed a LORE book off her mantle.
“Most demons stand for something. That’s what this book says. Do you possibly feel guilty about something?”
I shook my head no.
“Not that I can recall”.
She handed me the book.
“Read chapter 13. The author expresses how demons are metaphorical demons that we manifest through emotions we can’t quite deal with.”
I thanked her for her help and took the book. I walked out of her place and got a text message.
“UGH. Forgot I had dinner plans with my boyfriend.”

CHAPTER 6

I was sitting at dinner across from Chase. I was in deep thought swirling my wine glass. Chase grabs my hand to get my attention.
“Are you okay” he asked?
I smiled and acted like nothing was wrong. I took the last sip and he paid the waiter. I was quiet as we were taking a romantic walk after dinner. His arm was around me but he was feeling ignored.
“Okay, Devlin. I know you. You been distracted all night. What’s going on”?
I take a deep breath and sit him down. I really didn’t want him to think I was crazy but he was pretty understanding.
He studies people’s dreams for a living so, he was fascinated.
“That’s intriguing. What do you think the dreams mean”?
I shrug my shoulders.
“My co-worker believes it is a demon”.
“Demons can be metaphorical. Come down to the office tomorrow. See if maybe we can get to the bottom of this.”
I agreed but I feel weird like a just became a science experiment.

CHAPTER 7

I met up with Chase at his office. I learned officially that he is a Oneirologist. He greeted me with a kiss and introduced me to his co-worker. They had me lay out on a bed. They strapped me up to a machine and gave me some kind of serum to help me fall into a deep REM sleep. They watched as I laid there. I fought it at first but I haven’t had much sleep lately.

Next thing I know I was back on the road. I couldn’t see nothing but darkness around me. I tripped. I hear clinging of what seemed to be a glass bottle. I picked it up. It was an empty bottle of beer.
The loud sound of a car motor came from behind me. The demon was in the car chasing me up and down the road. My heart was pound I’m all out of breath and each honk was unsettling to my ears. The car was on my ass I thought I was gonna get run over then I jumped off to the side.
I was rolling around in leaves trying to get up and then I felt it. The pure ice cold of it instantly turned my blood cold. I didn’t have to feel it anymore to know what it was. I stood up afraid to look. Afraid to confirm what I felt. I look. I screamed. It was a dead body of a young girl. I wasn’t paying attention when I ran back out onto the road. All I saw bright lights and bam. The car hit me. I woke up jumping out of the bed ripping all the shit out of my arms.
Chase ran in to comfort me. Tears were rolling down my face and I took off.

CHAPTER 8

I drove home as fast as I could trying to not look at anything that causes a reflection. It’s so horrible but yet I can’t look away Draumjun pops up everywhere. I get home I run into the bathroom splashing water on my face. I slowly look up.
There he is in the mirror snarling intensely staring at me. This time there was no looking away. Our eyes were locked. All the dreams I had. The guilt that I have been running from came flooding back. Memories I had repressed.

Junior year of college. I was at a fraternity party. God, I was such a party girl. I drank way too much. I was having all the fun in the world until I saw my boy friend at the time hooking up with a girl at the party. He claimed it was a ritual all the fraternity brothers do to pledge. Of course, I didn’t believe him.
I grabbed a few beers and I driving around drinking and crying. I swear I didn’t even see her. I crashed right into her. She flew over on the side of the road. When I got out beer bottles fell out of the car.
I walked over to the body. It was the girl my boyfriend was kissing. I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared. My life would have been over. So, I covered her body up with the leaves and drove back to my dorm.
Senior year was hell but then after I met Chase I just….forgot.

CHAPTER 9

I’m crying and screaming at the top of my lungs I’m so sorry over and over again. When I looked at the mirror the demon was no longer there. It has always been me. I was the demon. I am the demon. I don’t think I could ever look at myself in the mirror again without looking at a complete monster.

What kind of person can hit someone with a car and just drive away? How did I live 3 years with it? How could I forget?
While I was question myself Chase showed up at my place.
“Devlin” he shouted looking all over for me until he found me on the floor of the bathroom.
He stared at my concerned.
“I know what my guilty conscience has been trying to tell me” I told him.

CHAPTER 10

He helps me up compassionately walking me over to the couch.
“Do you want some water”?
With out waiting for me to answer he pours a glass. He tries to force me to drink some but I push his hand away.
“I don’t deserve water” I said.
Chase puts the the cup on my glass coffee table and I precede to confess my dirty secret to him. Unknowing how he was going to react.
“Shh. Shh” he keeps trying to calm me down while I’m admitting I’m a murderer.
“No. No. You did what you had to do” he said.
I was in complete shock. Confused I had to ask him what did he mean. He cleared his throat and said some shit I wasn’t expecting.
“You were a complete wreck when we met. So much so that you broke down and admitted to me what you did. I was in love with you so I did a dream experiment. Dreams are disconnected memory fragments and I shattered them fragments giving you a peace of mind”.
“Yeah, well someone put the pieces back together”.
He becomes out of character in a way I’ve never seen him before.
“Like your dream demon. Demons don’t exists. It is your brain manifesting compressed human emotion. I can fix that”.
He begins to grab me. I smack his hand yelling no.
“Listen, it’s okay your feeling remorse. I can help with that.”
I shout no again. He is agitated I won’t do what he wants.
“Look, we all have demons. I’ve done some things” he admitted with a sinister smile.
He looks down at the table and he sees Draumjan. He comes through the reflection grabbing Chase pulling him hard into the glass table. It shatters sticking Chase multiple times in the chest with huge shards of glass. I screamed. I think he’s dead.

THE END.