The Haunted Mirror

by Bong Yuen Loong
(Malaysia)

I looked around the old, derelict building and recoiled. I checked my watch. It was already past midnight. Why had I even agreed to be here? Everything, including the house itself, was either dying or dead.

Thick dust crunched beneath my feet as I examined the living room. I lifted a long, greyish rag draped over what was left of a sofa, and a blast of moths and the odour of old age, of dust, clogged up my nose. I coughed and spluttered as I battered away the last of the creatures and continued. The rotting floorboards creaked under my weight as I made my way to the stairs. I clambered up as quietly as possible and as I reached the second landing, I sneezed. The raucous sound echoed throughout the whole house.

As I peered into the hallway, old-fashioned gas lamps sprang into life, illuminating it with a flickering glow. It was eerie, cobwebbed in every corner, the outlines of severed animal heads on the wall casting odd shadows against three doors. I tip-toed towards the last one and placed an ear to the door. Silence. I turned the doorknob. I stuck my head in and froze.

The room was completely empty. I stepped over the threshold and the door slammed behind me! I jumped in fright and twisted around. Nothing there. Turning back slowly, I found myself in front of a mirror. My heart skipped a beat; it wasn?t me I saw.

I stared, rigid with fear and unable to move. It had long, unkempt hair and black, empty sockets. It stretched its arm and touched the mirror. Then it began to write:

D I E

The letters were crimson. I gaped at them, horrified. The pale, dead face stretched into a grin. Suddenly, it lashed out and grabbed my throat! The hands felt cold and clammy. I was suffocating! Then, as mysteriously and quickly as it had appeared, the mirror was gone. I dropped to my knees, coughing and panting. As soon as I recovered, I looked up.

I saw a girl?