Footsteps slowly creaked up the stairs, and the bedroom door handle turned with a shudder. I panicked and headed for my window. Outside there was only darkness, what was waiting for me behind that door was a fate worse than death. Into the darkness I jumped. I remained on the ground there until I could no longer see the shadow that had been creeping around my room. Eventually, I got up and started walking towards the driveway. The front door slowly swung open. I turned around and sprinted to the woods behind my house. The thick foliage hid me from his view, though I was unsure he saw me run away. After what seemed like hours of stumbling around in the dark, I noticed a small pond with a cave next to it: Shelter. I ran to the cave, my legs giving out the moment I entered. Safety! (at least for now). As I drifted off to sleep, the events of the day replayed in my dreams. It was just a stupid game. How could I have known this was going to happen?
It was finally Friday. Once the bell rang, I grabbed all my stuff and headed to my locker. My friend Rebecca met me on the way. “So, are you ready for our sleepover tonight?” asked Rebecca.
“Yeah, I’ve been reading some creepy sleepover games we can play,” I said. Rebecca and I have been friends forever and always been into the supernatural. “Plus my parents aren’t home so they can’t stop us this time.”
“Yay! I’m so excited! I’ll be there around six o’clock,” she said.
“Okay, I gotta go. See you then,” I replied.
“See ya!” At 6 pm, there was knocking at the door. Rebecca kicked off her shoes, and we headed upstairs to my room. “What did you find?” she asked.
“It’s called the Man in the Mirror,” I replied. “The directions say: One person goes into the bathroom and sits in the bathtub with a lit candle and a hand held mirror in the dark. Extinguish the candle with the mirror. Then the smoke from the candle goes into the mirror while you say ‘the smoke will guide you’ three times. This will summon the Mirror Man.”
“Oh, can I go first?” asked Rebecca.
“Sure,” I said. I pulled a small mirror from my back pocket and handed it to her along with the other items. “Let’s use my parent’s bathroom, it has a bathtub.” We went down the stairs and to the bathroom.
“Wish me luck,” she said, closing the door, waiting. Five minutes went by, and Rebecca hadn’t come out of the bathroom.
“Rebecca?” I said, walking towards the bathroom. I pushed the door open to see a black semi-transparent figure hovering over a pale, limp Rebecca.
“It’s the Mirror Man. Run!” she groaned, slumped in the bathtub, as the Mirror Man turned its head towards me, revealing its glowing red eyes. I bolted up the stairs to my room and slammed the door shut. He was getting closer, I could feel it.
*Snap* I jolted awake. Something was wandering outside the cave. My phone, which was almost dead, flickered on- 3:07am. Using the flashlight on my phone, I peeked outside of the cave. there was a person, could it be… “Rebecca?” I called out.
“Who’s there? I’m not scared of you,” she quivered.
“Rebecca! What happened to you?” I asked.
“What do you mean?’ she replied calmly.
“That…thing…from the bathroom, What did he do to you? I thought you were dead!”
“There was nothing in the bathroom. You should come back to the house. We will be safe there.” Blood slowly crept from her lips. And her eyes were turning… wait… no! How? Rebecca, or what looked like Rebecca, took a step closer to me. Her mouth opened and the Mirror Man flowed out. Rebecca’s body fell to the cold stone floor of the cave. He lunged at me as I ducked out of the way. I ran for the exit with his chilling breath beating on the back of my neck. Somehow, miraculously he began to fall back. I kept running and found myself in the dim glow of the streetlight. I turned to find him melting into the darkness. I grabbed my phone then paused. What was I supposed to do? The cops can’t help me, they’ll think it’s a prank. Maybe the article said how to put him back? I scanned until I found my answer.
“To trap the Mirror Man, you must find the mirror he was summoned with and smash it while yelling ‘Go back to the darkness.’” The mirror was back at the house! The sun was rising behind me when I made it back home. The front door creaked open as I stepped inside. The mirror man’s footsteps echoed through the hallway.
All the lights in the house were off. Could light be his weakness? The footsteps sounded closer. He was coming for me. I sprinted to the bathroom and reached for the switch. It was gone! In its place, a gaping hole in the wall. I fell to my hands and knees, desperately searching for the mirror. The room grew suddenly cold. He took a step reaching out for me. As I ducked back, my hand touched the round mirror. Then staring straight into his blood red eyes I yelled, “Go back to the darkness!” and smashed the mirror. He let out a blood curdling screech, then melted into the shards of the mirror. As the lights flickered on, I heard footsteps in the entryway.
“Hello?” said a familiar voice.
“Rebecca?” I ran to the door and saw Rebecca. Her clothes were stained with blood and dirt. “Is it really you?”
“What happened? One second I’m in your parents bathroom then I’m in a cave in the woods. Where did all this blood come from?”
“I have so much to catch you up on.”
