Sky was crying on the day David moved into the house that had been empty for years. He had stepped out of his old but still reliable car and looked at the building and its dark form and somehow it appeared more apathetic now than when he had last seen it. Perhaps it was because of the grey day, it tended to make things seem more gloomy even with familiar and usually bright objects. But there he was, standing in the rain before a house that was rumored to be haunted. And as he stared at its miserable figure, he could understand why such rumors existed, even though he didn't believe them. The last owner of the house had shot himself in the head in the master bedroom, but no one knew the reason why he had done such a thing. There were all kinds of stories running around about curses, demons and ghosts but David deemed these tales as nothing more but complete nonsense. The guy probably had just had a few screws loose in his head, that's all. He didn't give much more thought about it and started to unload his possessions and carry them inside the building.

It was a pretty big house with two floors, a cellar and an attic and with a quite vast property. It was a bit older building so it had some minor issues such as cracked paint and problems with pipes, but David was sure it was quite valuable, he just happened to get it for a cheap price because of its dark past and reputation as a haunted house. But let fools believe what they want, he had thought, and was very much satisfied that he didn't have to pay that much. It was a win in his book.

Getting everything in order took David some time, but little by little the house started to feel like home. All the furniture was in place and his smaller belongings such as books and ornaments found their spots as well. Soon he could walk around the house and let his gaze wander all over the place, pleased with his work. And he had to admit that he had done a pretty good job at bringing some life back to this house. There were still many things that needed to be improved since the building had been empty for so long, but he was convinced that soon he would make the place seem more cozy than what it had ever been. So the next few days he spent cleaning, starting from the bottom.

The cellar had the worst mess, because there had been broken bottles all over the place as well as dust and spider webs. The state of the cellar gave David an impression that someone had been in a total rage there and really trashed the place. There had been so much broken glass that he had had to be really careful when cleaning it. But in the end, he managed to get it in a better condition and moved on to the upper floors.

The ground floor and the second floor were pretty much the same. There had been some signs of vandalism unfortunately, such as spray paint on the walls, torn wallpapers, a few broken windows and cans of beer laying around. Fixing and cleaning everything cost some money and time, but David didn't really mind that as it gave him something to do. He quite enjoyed this little renovation work he had to do in order to make this house a place to call home.

Once he was done with the rest of the building, he remembered that he hadn't even visited the attic yet. He had walked past the hatch that leads there multiple times, but since it wasn't that visible, David had unintentionally ignored its existence. Since it was the last place he hadn't checked yet, he was very curious about it and decided to finally go in there. He sought out the hatch that was located on the ceiling of the hallway on the second floor. A short rope was hanging from it, but David was quite tall so he had no problem reaching it and he grabbed it, pulling it so he could bring out the stairs. But the access to the attic didn't come out as easily as he had first thought, the hatch appeared to be stuck somehow. David kept pulling the rope, using more force until finally, the hatch gave up with a loud bang and the stairs came rumbling down, along with a puff of dust and musty scent. David began to climb the old creaky stairs so he could see at last what the attic was hiding.

It was quite dark, as to be expected. There was a window, but it was mostly covered by curtains, just a tiny strip of daylight was visible. So the first thing David did was walk to the window and open the curtains, letting the light in, even though the window had a pretty thick layer of dust covering it. But just about enough light managed to get through it so David could see around. The attic was filled with various items of the previous owner. Boxes, broken furniture, stacks of books and all kinds of miscellaneous stuff were lying around, forgotten for decades. David also noted that everything looked untouched, even though people have visited the house, it appeared that the attic, however, had remained alone, he was probably the first one to step inside it since the previous owner had died.

David glanced around as he wandered among all the junk, wondering if there were some hidden treasures to be found. Then his eyes spotted a beautiful mirror hanging on the wall and he stepped closer to inspect it. The mirror had an oval shape and it had gorgeous frames made of gold, shaped by a skillful hand. It looked really old, but it was still in a very good condition. There was dust on its surface as well so with his sleeve, David wiped off the dust and stared at his reflection. It looked flawless. He wiped off some of the dust from the frames as well and while he was doing that, suddenly something odd happened. For a blink of an eye, he could swear that he saw a glimpse of a monster in the mirror, it resembled some kind of canine and had rows of razor-sharp teeth as it was grinning at him. But before he could even think about getting a better look at it, it was already gone and he could see just his own reflection – but there was something wrong with it. The face belonged to him, but it was living its own life, grinning at him like a madman.

“What the…?” David was completely surprised by this and he eyed the mirror, trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

Then things started to get even more weird.

“Ah, it's been so long since the last time I saw someone's face.”

David was stunned. His reflection in the mirror was talking to him. For a moment he could just stand there, staring at the mirror. Was he dreaming or something? This couldn't possibly be real.

His reflection in the mirror looked amused. “You don't really believe in anything supernatural or ghosts or anything of that sort, now do you? You think this is just a dream – or that you're going mad. I assure you; I can help with the latter.”

Then his reflection laughed in a very unnerving way. David took a few steps back, staggering a little bit and he looked away from the strange mirror. He felt like he needed fresh air, so he headed towards the stairs because he wanted to get away from the mirror. He was still hearing the laughter behind him as he hurried down back to the second floor of his house and slammed the hatch shut, hoping that he didn't have to see the mirror anymore.

But he was wrong.

As he turned around to head towards the set of stairs that led to the first floor, he saw that the mirror had appeared on a wall of the hallway. David could feel shivers running through his whole body as his eyes met the ones on his reflection.

“Where do you think you're going?” his reflection asked while grinning in a mad way. “We haven't gotten acquainted with each other yet.”

“Just leave me alone”, David said with a little shaky voice since he wasn't sure if he was talking to something real and felt stupid for saying out loud anything. Determinedly he stomped along the hallway, he really needed to get out. And all the while he was making his way through the house, he could hear laughter behind him, as well as some weird ringing noise that was giving him the headache. David was almost expecting that there would be something that would prevent him from leaving the building, but he managed to get to the front door without complications and he yanked it open, stepping outside.

It was raining a little bit again. David walked a few meters before he stopped his going and looked up in the grey sky, letting the water drops fall on his face. It felt relaxing somehow. He stayed in the rain for a while, getting slightly soaked. He took deep breaths; the cool air filled his lungs. It was clearing his mind as he stood there. He didn't really have an explanation for what he had just experienced. But was he scared of the mirror although it was like something from a horror movie? Not really, he was just astounded. He just had to figure out what the deal with the mirror was, even though he had a feeling that it wasn't real. He took a few more deep breaths before he decided to head back into the house.

Once he was back inside, he immediately heard his own voice speak: “Welcome back, David.”

It was so surreal to hear someone else talk with his voice. David looked at his left side where the voice had come from and saw the mirror hanging there at that moment.

David had a serious expression on his face as he confronted the entity in the object. “Just… What the fuck are you? Are you a ghost or a spirit or whatever?”

“Ah, look, we're bonding!” his reflection exclaimed and seemed strangely happy about it.

But David was impatient. “Tell me! What are you?”

“What do you think I am?” his reflection asked back. “But let me say, in the end it doesn't matter. What really matters is why I'm here.”

“And that is?” David inquired.

His reflection smiled widely. “I'm here to help you descend into your madness.”

David couldn't help but laugh out loud; what the mirror had said was just so incredibly ridiculous. “What a load of bullshit”, he said.

But at that moment David didn't know just what kind of days were waiting for him. This was the beginning of a nightmare.

“You know, David”, his reflection said, “it doesn't matter whether you believe I'm real or not. I'm still here, still with you.”

David huffed. “Don't you have anything better to do?”

Now it was his reflection's turn to laugh. “Oh David, we're going to have so much fun together! I have already caught your soul by the second you looked into the mirror. You're mine now!”

“What if I just smash you to pieces?” David asked and he already started to seek for an object that could be used to do the deed.

“That's a bad idea, David”, his reflection replied and suddenly sounded very serious for the first time. “I won't allow you to do that.”

Suddenly David's vision got dark; he could still see around but somehow everything looked as if he had some strange filter in his eyes that caused him to see his surroundings in a dim tone. His vision was also a little blurry and he felt like his sense of balance was off as well. He kept looking around and took steps, however he wasn't sure what direction he exactly had taken. His environment was moving as if he was on board a really rocking ship. It was making him feel horribly disorientated. And all of a sudden, he could hear the laughter of children and they were all aimed at him. What was so funny? Then he could see small hands, black as void, coming out of the walls and they were trying to grab him. Some got hold of his clothes and no matter how hard David tried to break free, he couldn't, and the hands were slowly pulling him closer to the wall, wanting to drag him inside where only shadows could live…

And in the blink of an eye, it was over. All of a sudden David was back to his regular house, his head spinning from the odd experience he had just had. The laughter had faded and everything looked normal again. He kept glancing around, but the shadow hands were gone. Unfortunately, only the mirror remained. 

“Wasn't that just fun?” his reflection asked, sounding quite smug. “It was merely a first taste of what is about to come. I promise, it will get worse.”

David couldn't give an answer. Still baffled by the terrifying experience, he simply couldn't utter a single word. He was a man who didn't believe in anything supernatural so what he had just gone through was something he couldn't explain to himself. It was making him falter mentally. But maybe that was the whole point of what the mirror had just caused him to undergo, to make him doubt and to shake the foundations of what he believed was real. Fear was tiptoeing its way into his heart as he became afraid of what the future with the mirror would bring. But David still had some stubbornness in him when he went to sleep as the night arrived, still trying to convince himself that the mirror wasn't real, even though he heard it sing a mocking lullaby when he was chasing the land of dreams. He saw nightmares that night, but those were just a prelude.

As the morning came the next day, so did the disappointment. As David woke up, he noticed that the mirror hadn't gone anywhere. It was still there, but David couldn't accept it as a real thing. So he tried to ignore it – but that was easier said than done. No matter where he did go, the mirror would appear there and pester him in some way. Mostly it was just trying to mock or irritate him and David was aware that it was just aiming to get a reaction out of him. He did his best to not give much attention to the mirror, but sometimes it was such a challenge. He didn't understand why, but somehow the mirror knew facts about his private life. And of course, it would use them to its advantage.

“You know, your parents loved your sister more. You were a mistake, but she was always wanted.”

“A bottle of whiskey would sound nice right now, don't you agree? Just let it drown your sorrows like you used to do before.”

“They say that somewhere out there, there is the right one for everyone. But I don't think that's true, because in this world, there is no one for you.”

“You have some killer instinct in your brain. Maybe you should embrace it and this time succeed in killing somebody?”

“It's not like anyone cares about you anyway. Your family, so called friends and colleagues… They just keep in contact with you out of pity. Because everybody knows what a useless wretch you are.”

It was so exhausting to listen to all these things the mirror continued to remind him about. The old wounds he had so carefully sewn shut were now being torn open by the mirror. And it just kept going on and on and it was becoming really hard to not care because these topics were in his mind on a constant repeat. It was wearing him down even though he still attempted to ignore what the mirror was saying. But it was striking his weak points and no one had the strength to fight against something like that continuously. Day after day David had to relive some of the most painful memories of his life and it was breaking him down as the darkness was slipping inside him through the cracks. The torment from the mirror was relentless and it was really starting to drain David's sanity.

Although he had found himself standing by the edge of a pit of void, he hadn't had the urge to jump in and let the darkness consume him whole. It wasn't sadness that was filling him, it was more like hatred, and it was aimed right at the mirror. David hadn't attempted to break it again, but he was thinking about it, trying to come up with a plan on how to do it. But unfortunately, the mirror knew about this since it could read his mind and had then tortured him with horrific visions as punishment. They were like glimpses to hell, something a mortal mind was never meant to see. Mounds of mutilated corpses and monsters with disfigured and disgusting bodies, rivers of blood and rotten cadavers dancing around eternal fire… David couldn't describe some of the horrors he had seen. And not only seen, it had felt strangely like he was inside of these visions, he was an involuntary onlooker. It had put another strain on his sanity, but he was still harboring strong hatred towards the mirror and thus, he still had the will to fight back.

Every time David saw his face in that reflector smiling or grinning in a deranged way, it angered him greatly. But perhaps wrath was one type of madness and if that was the case, the mirror was doing a good job at making him mad. However, one day David accidentally figured out how to anger the mirror back. Once again it had been mocking him with vile words to get under his skin and David tried to ignore it, closing his eyes as if that would help him to keep the mirror out of his mind.

And surprisingly, that seemed to work.

“Look at me David!” his reflection was yelling at him. “Look at me while I'm talking to you!”

But David kept his eyes shut. For the first time since the day when the mirror had begun to haunt him, he got a small victory in this little play. It was also the first time he had smiled. And he continued to smile while the mirror was screaming at him. This feeling of satisfaction didn't last for long, however, because he couldn't keep his eyes closed forever. But now he had learned how to somewhat protect himself when the mirror would try to twist his reality. It could try to feed lies to his eyes, but if he can't see, then that's a pretty futile attempt in making him feel mad. That day, David regained some of his confidence back.

David had started to wonder if the grim fate of the previous owner was because of the mirror. He didn't really like to make conversations with the entity that had stolen his face and voice, but he became curious about the matter. Besides, it would give him a moment of peace since the mirror had something else to focus on than tormenting him. So, one day he asked about it.

“Ah, yes, that old man Arthur!” It was weird to see the reflection look somewhere in the distance as if it was trying to view the past again. “I got attached to him, yes. He was never too sane to begin with, poor man. Breaking his mind was easier than yours – thank you for the challenge, by the way. Yes, I told him how to make everything better and he listened, grabbed his gun and pointed it at his head. If you're more interested in the last days of his life, he wrote in a journal. You can find it from the master bedroom under a loose plank on the floor.”

David thought that it was strange for the mirror to be helpful in any way, but it probably had its own wicked reasons. Maybe the content in that specific journal was something that would scare David, maybe it would reveal to him what his fate was going to be and the mirror wanted him to know that. Nonetheless, he was interested in finding that journal, so he headed to the bedroom and began to search for the loose plank. He found it rather easily, it was under his nightstand. He moved the piece of furniture and lifted the plank. Under it he found a small space where a single object was hidden: the old journal. Carefully David picked it up, hoping that it wasn't too fragile to handle. It was a bit dusty so David wiped some of that off and he opened it, ready to find out what happened to the previous owner.

Arthur seemed to be just a regular man. There wasn't really anything interesting in the first pages so David eyed them hastily. Then he found a mention that Arthur had bought a beautiful mirror from an antique shop. And after that, began his fall into madness. David noted that his and Arthur's experiences were quite similar, beginning with small things like mockery and frustration. But gradually things would get worse to the point where he couldn't tell anymore what was real and what wasn't. Day by day he became more isolated, more distant with reality. The mirror found its way to the deepest parts of his mind and caused Arthur to completely detach himself from the people he knew. He was alone and his head filled with awful thoughts. Skillfully the mirror had snatched his sanity, little by little, until the day that unfortunately became Arthur's last. Reading about how he spiraled down into madness gave David a mix of emotions; he was shocked by the intensity of Arthur's last words that were dripping with madness, and he was afraid that he would suffer a similar fate, but he also found some strange peace knowing what the previous owner had gone through. And somewhere in the back of his mind, David began to think that he should find a way to destroy the mirror, not just for his own sake, but also so Arthur could rest in peace.

Some of Arthur's last words really resonated in David's mind: 

[i]I'm too weak, my mind fragile. I'm not a fighter, I'm a wretch. I can't stand the horrors I've seen, I just want a way out. My face is unbearable to see, its eyes always watching me. I sincerely wish that someone stronger than me will destroy this wicked thing, because I can't. Please, somebody kill it… It shouldn't twist more souls, have no more victims! It has to die! DIE![/i]

David did read this paragraph several times. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to grant Arthur's last wish. He had gathered so much hatred towards the mirror so it felt even more justified to destroy the wicked entity within when there had been another person who had harbored the same kind of feelings.

But of course, the mirror was aware of this – it knew everything in his mind and soul.

“Oh David, my dear, stop the futile resistance already”, his reflection had scolded him. “You know there is only one way out of this situation. Do the right thing and follow Arthur's example. Or we can continue this little play some more, that's fine as well. I'll let you decide.”

“Just fuck off”, David had snapped back.

The mirror had just laughed at him. “You're so amusing. I like that.”

It wasn't the first time David went to bed angry as hell, it had started to become quite typical. It didn't help that the mirror had decided to fill his ears with some uncomfortable things that he had heard during his life. All the times when his parents had told him to go away because his sister needed their attention, every mean comment he had got from bullies in school, the fake excuses his girlfriends had used just to stab his heart with words and all the nasty rumors that had circled around his hometown because of his drinking problem. Being reminded of all those memories felt so soul crushing and David couldn't help but feel so lonely again and that nobody in the world truly cared for him.

“But I'm here for you”, the mirror had whispered. “I won't abandon you, don't worry.”

And then he felt angry again. But the roller coaster of emotions was exhausting and after a while everything started to fade, except a feeling of apathy. David lied in his bed, staring at the ceiling. But eventually his eyelids started to feel heavy and he closed his eyes in hopes of peaceful sleep coming. Even the mirror had left him be for a moment and that was a minute of joy for David. He felt so sleepy, but couldn't fall asleep for some reason. He was lingering at the border of the land of dreams, desperately trying to relax and empty his mind. Minutes were crawling but he was stuck in his state of being half asleep, half awake. It felt like an eternity had passed as he lied in his bed restlessly. And suddenly, the dawn was peeking through the curtains and David wasn't sure had he slept at all, the feeling was weird, it was like somebody had caused the time to fast forward. His body felt heavy and he was tired so he tried to sleep a little bit more. He could hear the mirror mumbling something, but at that moment, he simply didn't care. In the end, he successfully managed to sleep a couple of more hours.

When David woke up a while later, he could sense that there was some different feel in the air, even though he was still drowsy. He cranked himself up from his bed and noted that the mirror was silent, usually it would start to blabber its nonsense as the first thing in the morning. David looked around, but the mirror wasn't anywhere near him, which was very odd; this was the first time it wasn't lingering in his vicinity. Maybe he should have been happy about this, but David couldn't help but feel really cautious. He started to carefully stroll around his house to look for the mirror, though maybe he should have just let it be. But he was guided by a strange feeling in his heart, something was telling him that today things would change.

At some point, after David had wandered around the house for a while, he could hear his own voice talking in an agitated way. The voice was coming from the living room. He tiptoed silently towards the room, trying to listen to what the mirror was talking about – and to whom?

“Stay dead like you're supposed to be! No, don't you dare! Just go away, they're missing you in hell!”

The mirror repeated the same kind of words over and over again. After David had listened to this one-sided conversation for a while, he decided to step into the room. He didn't know what was happening in there, but it gave him a pleasant feeling that something was upsetting the mirror, so he wore a smile on his face as he entered the living room.

David didn't see anyone in the room. There was only the mirror hanging on the wall. As soon as it noticed David's presence, it looked shocked.

“David, nobody likes eavesdroppers!” his reflection said. “But it doesn't matter, really.”

“Who were you talking to?” David asked, still smiling.

It gave him satisfaction to see the mirror in a disturbed state. “That's none of your business. Besides, you don't believe in spirits.”

Spirits? A comforting thought crossed David's mind; perhaps he had an ally near him? Somebody he couldn't see or hear, but the mirror could.

“Is it Arthur?” David inquired.

His reflection looked infuriated. “I shouldn't have ever mentioned the existence of the journal, it was a mistake on my part… But it doesn't matter! In the end, it's just you and me here.” It seemed that the mirror started to get back to its old self and was now having one of its unnerving smiles. “Did you sleep well? Perhaps too well? Do you need more nightmares in your life?”

The mirror laughed. And that mocking tone, it angered David once more, but this time, he could feel his rage multiplying. It was like a surge of fury had washed over him, but where was its origin, he didn't know. He clenched his fists while the mad laughter filled the air and suddenly, without really realizing it, David attempted to punch the mirror. However, at the last second, the mirror disappeared from that spot and emerged to another wall behind David. 

“Oh, so you dare to defy me, huh? Well, let's see what you like about this!”

In that instant, David's surroundings changed into a morbid scenery straight from a horror movie. It was like his house had turned into a living creature and he was inside it. The ceiling, the walls, the floor – they all were made of flesh with various body parts sticking out from here and there, such as limbs, teeth and claws and eyes. He could hear a disgusting squishing sound all around him, along with a mad laughter that seemed to come from far away. David could just turn around searching for a way out, but he was trapped in this reality, it didn't matter if it was fake or not. Being stuck inside this place was making him anxious, but he tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths. If he started to panic, the mirror would surely win. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, standing still and focusing on breathing.

He had to destroy the mirror. That was the only way to end this madness.

All of a sudden, he could feel a warm sensation tingling in his right hand. David opened his eyes to see a faint golden glow emitting from his hand. It felt empowering somehow and he could sense that some force was trying to guide him, move his fist.

“Is it you, Arthur?” he whispered. 

The guidance he felt was motioning him towards a specific spot on the wall. Although David didn't see anything special in it, he had a hunch that that was where the mirror was concealed at that moment. So he clenched his fist one more time, hoping that the mirror wouldn't realize that he knew where it was, and he punched the fleshy wall with all his might.

A piercing sound of glass shattering and a horrible, inhumane screech sliced through the air. Suddenly the horrific environment vanished and David was back to his house. That was also when he saw that he had indeed managed to smash the mirror. His fist was still against it, sharp pieces of glass biting his hand, making him bleed. But at that moment, he didn't care about the pain. His eyes were nailed at his reflection and its horrified, shocked face.

“How did you…?” His reflection's eyes were wide and it was in a complete state of disbelief.

Then it let out one more scream before it faded away, it was like it had suddenly turned into ash.

It was gone. It took a moment for David to let that sink in. Finally he retrieved his hand, taking a glance at the fresh wounds he had got. But quickly he looked back at the shattered mirror. Only his regular reflection was looking back from the few shards that were still intact.

David couldn't believe it. He truly had destroyed the wicked mirror. He was free, it wouldn't haunt him anymore. He could feel a wave of joy and relief washing over him.

“We did it, Arthur!” he whispered, for he believed that Arthur's spirit had helped and guided him.

Maybe he was now able to rest in peace. David was so glad that he could now put this horrible ordeal in the past. He had survived, but the memory of these events would probably haunt him for a while. But he was positive that with time they would fade, just like the cursed reflection in the mirror had.