Topic: The Mirror Never Lies

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Date: 2007-02-04 08:26 EST
"Eleanor take the dog out now or you wont be going out tonight, I warn you!" Mrs Turnbalm shouted across the spacious kitchen, hands wet and foamy from the washing up. Eleanor remained engrossed in her teenage romance magazine, munching her toast at the kitchen table and wistfully wishing that the pretty heroine in her magazine was her.

"Right young lady, you may as well go to your room, do your homework and then get ready for bed" Eleanor's mother said, wiping her hands on a tea towel. The word "Bed" made Eleanor look up "but mum I will take Oscar out, it's just that...."

"No buts...you either do or you don't", her mother huffed and walked into the living room.

Eleanor sighed, and then looked at the scruffy brown and white mongrel who was woefully wagging his tail, hopeful that a walk was in store for him. She smiled. Oscar was such a lovely dog but why did she always have to be the one to take him out, it was her father who needed the exercise, fat lump!

Eleanor took one last bite of her toast then went to get the dog lead. Oscar jumped around excitedly as put her coat on and hooked the lead to his collar. It was chilly outside. And the wind whipped her sandy blond hair into frenzy. Oscar pulled on his lead, jerking Eleanor's body forward and making her trip on a paving slab. "Oscar, quit it!" she yelled.

They walked towards the park, the wind and chill driving its way through the padding of her puffa jacket. She looked at the park, with its dense bushes and thick tree stumps, anyone could be hiding behind there and she wouldn't know. Even though it was only 5.45pm, the sun was setting quickly on this cold winters evening, covering the whole neighbourhood with a foreboding and eerie blanket of darkness, which rapidly began to spread across the park.

Eleanor walked briskly, which pleased Oscar, as he was impatient to get to the park. "Okay Oscar, this is the deal, we go in you do your business and we're out of there okay?" she said, making her tone sound authorative even though she knew the dog had absolutely no clue what she was saying. She just wished there were people around. There didn't seem to be anyone around, not even the usual group of teenagers that hung around smoking and drinking cheap cider. Tonight was definitely creepsville. The sooner she went home the better.

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Date: 2007-02-04 08:27 EST
Oscar began rooting around the grass, picking up scents and returning the compliment by lifting his leg occasionally, but there was no sign of him doing anything more, much to Eleanor's dismay. She knew she couldn't take Oscar home until he was done otherwise he would leave a very unwelcome present in the hall carpet the next morning.

It was now completely dark, and as Eleanor tried to find her footing amongst the hidden tree stumps she heard a high keeling wail. She turned abruptly to find Oscar running off into the distance, still yelping. "Oscar! Come back! What's wrong!" she shouted, but the dig had no intentions of stopping. As Eleanor prepared to give chase she noticed something glinting amongst the leaves on the ground. She approached with caution and crouched down, straining her eyes against the darkness. She noticed it was an ornamental hand mirror. She held it up in front of her looking at the engraved patterns surrounding the mirror. The design seemed to be made up of elves and fairies in a dull gold colour, peeling and cracked in places. The mirror itself was in fairly good condition. Eleanor giggled. The stupid dog must have seen his own face on the floor and scared himself half to death. She looked up to see if Oscar was within sight, however he was nowhere to be seen, her mother was going to kill her! She stood up, clutching the mirror in her hand and made her way in the direction that Oscar had taken off on. It was getting colder now and she was beginning to become impatient with the missing dog.

"Oscar, for Christ sakes dog! Where are You!!!" there was no sound not even a distant bark. Where the hell could he be? She wondered. As she walked through the thick bushes of the park she noticed that the mirror she was holding was becoming very hot in her hand, so much so that she let out a cry of surprise.

"OW! What the...." She dropped it on the floor and noticed to her amazement that the reflection in the glass was glowing red and yellow, like flames trapped within the mirrors confines. She bent down to take a closer look when suddenly a large flash of light illuminated the whole area bathing Eleanor in a glow as bright and hot as sunshine. Before she could cry out, the earth beneath her feet began to shake and Eleanor found herself toppling to the floor, outstretching her hands for support. She fell right on top of the mirror................................

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:27 EST
The policewoman patted Mrs Turnbalm's hand, as she patted her tearstained face one more time. A neighbour found Oscar and it was then the Turnbalm's alerted the police. That was two days ago. Eleanor was nowhere to be fund and the police feared her dead. The only thing they did find was an old antiquated mirror lying on the leafy path in the park. They took it to forensics but could find no prints on it at all. They had decided to file it under lost property.

The lost property room of Fulchester Police Station was crammed with all sorts of bric a brac. Old key chains, purses (no money in them of course), toys, shoes, the odd bracelet and of course an old antique mirror. The mirror was placed in a plastic bag and consigned to a dark corner of the room tagged lot no; 345. Irving Liste was the elderly constable whom instead of taking retirement decided he would like the chance to work a little longer within the force so they gave him the job of lost property manager. His duties consisted of tagging and logging all new items that came to pass and handing them back to whoever came to claim them, with the relevant ID provided of course.

It was while Irving was logging in the details of a lost watch that he noticed out of the corner of his eye a glint of light flickering in the far corner of the room. He rose out of his chair and walked towards the source. He noticed it was coming from one of the packs in the far corner, and as he got nearer he realised it was a mirror. "Silly old fool I am, it's only the reflection of the mirror" He picked it up and took it out of its plastic pouch. Suddenly the mirror became very hot in his hand and, startled by the sudden change in temperature, dropped the mirror on the floor. There was a crashing sound as the mirror broke into a hundred pieces, but it wasn't that which made Irving scream in terror it was the body of a young girl who suddenly appeared on the floor of the room, or what remained of the body of a young girl. Each and every part of her was dissected into a hundred pieces just like the shards of broken mirror. Lumps of flesh lay scattered around, blood mingling with putrid flesh, muscle and bone. Irving wanted to gag but he was rooted to the spot in shock, the smell overwhelmingly sickening. Suddenly he heard a faint voice coming in the direction of the floor " help me...please help..." Irving got closer to the source, covering his nose and mouth with his hand, eyes streaming from the effort to contain bile. "Over here, down here, quickly..." The voice was getting louder although not much more, it sounded like it was in a vacuum of some sort. The Irving saw something that finally made him give way to the nausea and terror that had built up. He screamed the scream of the damned.

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Date: 2007-02-04 08:28 EST
Lying on the floor next to a sliver of mirror was a pair of lips, held together by skin and muscle. It still had teeth and a tongue although there was no other part of the face near it and the lips moved fervently, pleading for help. Two eyes balls lay nearby moving of their own accord, the optic nerves trailing along the floor.

This was when Irving decided to faint.

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Date: 2007-02-04 08:29 EST
Irving Liste came around with a throbbing pain in his left temple. He was lying face down on the floor of lost property, and his memory was somewhat vague as to how he got there. Then it all came flooding back.....the mirror.......smashing...pieces of glass and....what was it"...flesh"...bone"! He almost fainted again but made an effort to lift himself up off the floor.

His head spun around giddily, but he managed to steady himself. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed something remarkable, the floor around him was clear. There was no glass, no blood, nothing! He looked up at the shelf and saw that the mirror was intact. Could he have dreamed it' Surely not, he may be getting on in years, but he had definitely not lost his marbles yet!

He went towards the mirror but made sure he stayed a relatively safe distance. It looked normal. No cracks, nothing at all. Then suddenly something caught his eye, he looked to one of the boxes stacked on the shelf. At first his brain didn't comprehend what he was looking at, and then he realized. All the words written on the box were backwards!!!

He looked around frantically, and it dawned on him everything was the opposite way round. The door to the storeroom was now on the left hand side where previously it was on the right. Everything that had writing on it was written backwards. It was like looking into a mirror........................he suddenly went very pale.

He turned back to the mirror and decided to look into it. He screamed!!!!

There was no reflection of himself, only the room behind him. Everything on the other side of the mirror was the right way. The door was where it should be, and the writing on the boxes was readable. By some unexplainable means, he was in the mirror or rather the other side of the mirror. Did that mean everything was the same except in reverse" Were the people the same" Or were there people" What if he was the only living soul in this weird dimension"

He suddenly felt very, very frightened indeed. Memories of watching the Twilight Zone in his early years came flooding back. He felt apprehensive about leaving the room, but he had to know. He decided to take the mirror with him. What ever had happened it was down to this thing, so he wasn't going to let it out of his sight. He also thought about the body parts he had seen when the mirror smashed. Where was she"

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:29 EST
Irving picked up the antique mirror carefully. It wasn't hot anymore; in fact it was decidedly cool, like it had come out of a fridge. He walked towards the door of the lost property, feeling disorientated. It was like walking through a fun house at a carnival. Everything was in the wrong place.

As he came out into the corridor the first thing he noticed was the silence. The police station was completely deserted, even the front desk. There was no noise at all except for the sound of his footsteps. He quickened his pace and went out into the street. A perfectly normal, street except for the fact there were no people, no noises and everything in vision was either written back to front or upside down. The bus stop was on the opposite side of the road. The tree, which stood to the right, was now on the left. He also realized there were no birds. No animals. Nothing.......alive.

He held the mirror up and through the reflection he could see people moving around, walking past, reality, normality contained within this small oval piece of glass. He couldn't hear anything, but he knew that the world he was no longer part of was alive and thriving. He on the other hand was, where?.....an empty space. The place in a mirror's reflection that you normally never see...........The place beyond the reflection. "Alice Through the looking glass," yet he didn't think there would be any white rabbits or mad tea parties here. No. He had a dark sense of dread that whatever was here, whatever controlled this empty soulless world would come looking for him.

He decided to walk towards the direction of his home; however he lived five miles away. He didn't own a car, and as there didn't seem to be any chance of a bus coming along (he felt like laughing), he decided he might as well hot wire one of the stationary vehicles parked along the road. He chose a flash little red Mazda MX5; if he was going to be stuck in this hellhole he might as well make the most of it. He wrapped his jacket around his arm and smashed the windscreen, opened the lock and got inside. It took him all of two seconds to start the car (one of the secrets of being a former policeman, you get to learn all sorts!!). It purred to life immediately and he set off, with some trepidation towards home, not knowing what he would find.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:30 EST
Robert Earlsfield left Fulchester Police station seething. He was always getting bloody parking tickets. This was the third one this week and he was sick of it. He marched towards the roadside where his shiny new Mazda was parked, except it wasn't. He stopped more out of surprise than anything else. "Where the hell did I park my car?" He turned his head to the left and the right. His little car was nowhere to be seen. "That's bloody marvelous!!" he boomed. Passers by looked at him as though he were mad. "They've only gone and bloody towed it away, right...that's it.....I'm going to give them a peace of my mind...its in a valid parking space...." He ranted and raved as he made his way back to the police station. However, a mile down the road, Robert Earlsfield's car was moving along the daytime traffic with ease. The only unusual thing was.........no one was in the driver's seat!

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:31 EST
Irving Liste arrived at his home, or what was a mirror image of his home, around 5.30 PM. He noticed that, like everything else around him, there was no sign of movement from within the house. Normally his wife Lydia would be milling around the front garden or cleaning the windows or even chatting to the neighbors, but here was nothing but shadows and emptiness emanating from the house. He shuddered. What if Lydia was in there" But what if it was a different Lydia" The wife he knew was kind, gentle and placid. What if there was a monster waiting for him beyond the doors?

Irving opened the front door and stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was the smell.

Normally the house smelt of fresh pine cleaner and furniture polish where Lydia spent her days cleaning the house like a new pin. But today there was a rancid smell of rotting meat, like a garbage bag left unattended for weeks. It was overpowering and made Irving physically retch. He put his hand to his mouth and covered his nose. As he walked into the hall, he noticed the place was filled with flies, insects, maggots, rubbish and feces of every description. The walls had green mould, which covered the bright floral Laura Ashley print that adorned the long corridor leading to the kitchen. He looked into the reception room and noticed this too was pretty much in the same condition. The upholstered armchairs were torn and dirty, smeared with....heaven knows what! The floor was littered with papers and more unsavory bugs coupled with rotten food and chemical waste. He continued to the kitchen where the door was firmly shut. He could hear movement, like someone preparing a meal, cutlery and saucepans cluttering around. His stomach lurched, he didn't know what he would find or who!

The scene, which greeted Irving when he opened the kitchen door, can only be described as surreal.

Irving's wife was poised over the kitchen sink, her arms bloody up to her elbows. She seemed to be cutting up poultry of some sort, however it was difficult to tell because the whole of the kitchen was in such disarray. There were even more flies in this room and more mess littered about. Excrement smeared generously over the walls, tabletops and floors. Food taken out of packets and left near to carcasses of rotting meat. Cheese white with penicillin and mould covering the normally pristine white kitchen tiles. There wasn't a work surface that didn't contain waste of some kind. Irving threw up onto the floor. His stomach couldn't take much more, and the fact that his wife was preparing food in such conditions made him feel worse.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:31 EST
It was then that Lydia turned to him, and he finally saw what it was she was doing. She had cut the right side of her face off, clean to the bone. Here right eye was just a bloodied gaping hole and her dentures poked through the ravaged flesh, which hung in tendrils. He also noticed she was holding something in her hands. She offered the items to Irving, extending her bloodied arms to him. She gave him a deathly grimace that didn't quite make a smile. He could see in her palms, an ear, an eyeball and lumps of flesh.....the remains of her face.

For the umpteenth time that day Irving fainted.

When he came to he noticed darkness around him. But the smell was the same. He also felt restricted. His eyes became accustomed to the dark, and he noticed he was tied to a bed. He strained his eyes some more and realized it was his own bedroom. Through the gloom he could make out the patterned wallpaper, which appeared torn in places. There was also black mould everywhere. His hands were bound together, and his arms were spread either side, tied to each bedpost. In the darkness he could see a shape moving, gradually walking towards him. He began to scream, his helplessness and fear escalating. As the figure drew nearer he realized it was Lydia or the 'alternative' Lydia. She held in her hand a large kitchen knife, the one she normally used for cutting the giblets off poultry. He knew it was razor sharp. His screams became louder as Lydia hoisted the knife above her head, and then plunged it into his stomach, puncturing his abdomen, which released a geyser of warm blood, splashing onto the walls. Lydia repeatedly stabbed Irving until his screams turned to a gurgle and finally fell silent.

She stepped back to admire her handy work, seeing the blood drip from the bed onto the floor. The whole of Irving's body was covered in blood, his face a contorted mask of agony. Lydia started to giggle, a low nervous manic titter, which began to slowly increase in volume until she laughed hysterically, madness and insanity taking over completely.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:33 EST
Suddenly, the room began to shake and quiver, like an earthquake. Lydia dropped the knife and held onto the bedpost for support, her laughter dying instantly. The house continued to shake for a few more minutes then....stillness. A smile began to form on what remained of her lips. It seemed someone else had looked into the mirror and was paying her and the master a little visit......

Constable Malcolm Liddle arrived home around 8.00 PM. His wife Tessa was busily making the tea for their two boys, Anthony and Kyle. There was a lot of commotion. The 10 and 12 year olds were arguing about what channel to watch on the TV, Kyle being the eldest, insisting he got first pick. They stopped their yelling when they saw their father, and jumped up to greet him. He had a good relationship with both sons and laughed heartily as they both tried to tell him about their day at school, each one shouting over the other.

Tessa came in and said, "Enough boys, leave your father be, he's had a heard day." She crossed the living room and kissed Malcolm lightly on the lips.

"Tea will be ready in five minutes, so wash those hands," she said to her husband before departing for the kitchen once more.

"Eeew," Kyle said in distain, obviously kissing wasn't on his priority agenda as yet, and only viewed girls as nuisances. Malcolm looked at his son, and smiled; he'd soon change his mind in a year or two.

Anthony noticed that his father was carrying something in his hand in a plastic bag. "What's that dad?"

"Ssshh, it's a surprise for your mother, I got it from lost property," he said lifting up the ornate mirror.

"That looks a bit old and knackered," Kyle said, screwing his nose in disapproval.

"It looks antique; your mother likes things like that."

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Date: 2007-02-04 08:33 EST
Malcolm took the hand mirror out of the plastic bag and examined it in his hand. The gilt patterns framed the mirror beautifully. He didn't mean to just take the mirror, but he couldn't find Irving that evening, and he did promise him the mirror two weeks ago. He had left a note for the old boy before he left the station.

"Dinner's ready" shouted Tessa.

The boys ran cheering into the kitchen. They normally had tea at 5.30 but Tessa decided it would be nice to wait for Malcolm and have a family meal together for once. The family all sat down at the table, and the usual banter began, discussions between Tessa and Malcolm about their respective days at work, the boys arguing over the biggest potato on their plates.

"Dad, why don't you give mum her surprise," Anthony squealed.

"Idiot it's suppose to be a surprise!" Kyle replied, slapping his little brother playfully on the arm.

"Surprise?" Tessa said looking at her husband.

Malcolm raised his eyebrows, clarification that he had been rumbled.

"Come on then," she said, "What is it?"

Malcolm got up and went the living room to retrieve the mirror. The boys giggled in anticipation at their mother's reaction to the present, both of them thinking she would hate it because of its age and condition.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:34 EST
Malcolm handed it to her. Immediately Tessa's eyes lit up.

"OH MALCOLM! Its beautiful!"

She leapt up and kissed him fully on the lips. The boys gazed in amazement; they could never ever work their parents out.

"I got it from lost property. I've had my eye on it for ages but I had to wait the required period of time in case someone came to claim it," exclaimed Malcolm.

He and Tessa had put the boys to bed and were snuggling on the sofa like two young lovers. 15 years of marriage and still the spark remained.

"I love it, its great, I've been wanting an antique hand mirror since I was a little girl. I think its got something to do with all the princesses in fairly tales having one to brush their hair," Tessa said, smiling.

She held the mirror it in her hand and gazed at her reflection. As she peered into it she noticed that although she was smiling her reflection was not. The face that stared back had a cold sinister expression. Lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

"Aaaaaaah" Tessa screamed as the mirror dropped onto the carpeted floor.

"What's wrong?!!" Malcolm exclaimed, think she might have cut herself on the handle of the mirror or something.

"The..The mirror...its...I mean it wasn't me..." Tessa stammered, she was physically shaken.

The boys, hearing the screams both came running down the stairs.

"Its OK boys, your mother spooked herself."

"I did NOT spook myself" said Tessa indignantly. "There's something wrong with the mirror, look see for yourself" she said, pointing to the offending item still lying face down on the floor.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:35 EST
Malcolm bent to pick it up, as he did so he noticed the handle of the mirror was very hot.

"Blimey, that's warm, what did you do to it?" he asked, turning to his wife

"Nothing! Why, what?s wrong??"

"Its hot, look."

He held out the mirror for Tessa to take but she backed away

"NO WAY, I'm not going near that thing again, sorry love but its freaky."

Suddenly, a large shaft of brilliant light came shooting out from the mirror, bathing the living room in an unearthly unnatural daylight. Tessa and the boys screamed and huddled together. Malcolm tried to drop the mirror but found he couldn't let go; it was like it was glued to his hand. He shook his hand more.

"Shit, I can't get rid of it! It's stuck. Get the boys out of here," he shouted at his wife. She was rooted to the spot in fear.

"TESSA, GET OUT!" he shouted once more.

This time she seemed to snap out of her trance and pushed the boys out of the room, looking behind her. She shouldn't believe what she was seeing.

Malcolm's arm was being dragged into the mirror's small portal. Already it had him up to the elbow, it was surreal. Tessa ran towards him to try and help, but he backed any, not wanting her to come any nearer. Tessa's screams were drowning out the ones of her husband's, who was slowly and impossibly disappearing into the mirror. First his arm, then the side of his face, then the whole top half of him was dragged straight in leaving the bottom half of his torso and legs exposed, then the mirror zoomed towards the floor, swallowing the rest of him up. Then silence.

Sortas

Date: 2007-02-04 08:35 EST
The room was still. The screams had stopped. Tessa and the boys stood for what seemed an eternity, but in reality no more than a few minutes. Eventually Tessa went towards the mirror.

"Mum don't!!" shouted Kyle; fearful the same fate awaited his mother to that of his father.

"Its okay, I'll be careful," she said.

She bent down and flipped the mirror quickly over. It looked normal now. No flashing rays of light, just reflecting the ceiling above, it was only until she looked into the reflection that she saw not her own face but that of her husband, mouth screaming in agony, as someone behind him cut deep into his throat.

Tessa opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. All she could do was stare in horror, looking at the images as though it were a film being played. There was no sound just rapid movement of her husband slowly falling down, throat bleeding, gaping wound of severed flesh seeping the life blood from him, and from behind Tessa came face to face with her husband's murderer.................it was herself!