The Women in the Mirror

Welcome to the World of Mirror-Deaths. We all look and sound the same, we all wear the same clothes, and we all have the same jobs here but there is no escape. Life here is cold and harsh on everyone, but more so on those of us that were trying to be good for a reason. The one thing that did not change when I arrived is that everyone has a different story. This is my tale of how I came to be in the World of Mirror-Deaths.

It happened the night of my thirteenth birthday party. I was having a slumber party at my house with all of my friends. We were in my room in our pajamas and in the middle of Truth or Dare. "Hey, Susie. Truth or dare?" asked Henley.

"Dare," came my nervous response since I did not know what she was going to say.

"Ooh. Our first dare, guys," Henley said, teasing me in her own obnoxious way. "Makes me wonder what Susie's scared of telling the truth about." I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing. It's just boring when everyone picks truth. It's my birthday and hearing just truth is driving me crazy. I want to have fun tonight," I fired back. "So what's my dare?" I asked, feeling more confidence flood my senses.

"I dare you to go into the bathroom, close the door, turn off the light, and say 'Bloody Mary' three times into the mirror." I felt the blood drain from my face as I looked at her. Everyone knew I had never played that before and that just the thought of it terrified me.

"Y-you want me to play the Bl-Bloody Mary game?" I stuttered out. Henley nodded. "I changed my mind. I want truth," I said quickly, hoping to be allowed to switch.

"Too late. You already chose so there's no going back," she said with a smirk as she pointed at the bathroom door that was in my room. I stood and walked over to it, looking in like I had just heard a strange noise. Turning to look back at the group, Henley wiggled her fingers at me, then pointed to the door again. "Do it or be called a chicken for the rest of your life."

I did not even want to invite you in the first place. Mom and Aunt Liza made me invite you so that you could meet some friends since you are new in town. Why did I pick dare when you were the one calling the choice?

Everyone else was just sitting there watching me and giving me apologies with their eyes, but my best friend Janice came over to me. "I'll be right here when you come out. We'll stay up all night and talk if you want. Okay?" she whispered. I nodded. "You'll be fine, Susie. I'd go in for you, but I can't. You were dared, not me."

"I know. Thanks for the offer though, Janice," I said quietly as I felt my throat constricting around a ball of tears.

"Move it, Susie. Either you're a chicken or you do it," Henley said from her seat, starting to tick me off. Taking a deep breath, I walked in my bathroom and closed the door behind me. Looking at my mirror, I reached to my right and flicked off the light, closing my eyes at the same time. I could feel my tears building and did not want to see what friends had told me they had seen.

A smack landed against the door, making me jump. "Start calling her name, Susie! I'm listening out here and I don't here you playing yet!" Henley shouted through the door.

"Cut her some slack, Henley. Couldn't you see when she went in there that she was terrified? You're her cousin. You should be nicer to her than any of us are and we've been her friends since third grade," came Janice's voice.

"I don't care. The little baby needs to grow up and do this for once in her life. Even if it's for no other reason than to be able to say that she's done it. The best way to overcome your fear is to face it, so why shouldn't she face her fear?"

I am going to get you in so much trouble for this, Henley. Aunt Liza told you to be nice to everyone, including me. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, seeing nothing but darkness around me and my face floating in the blackness in my mirror. "Bloody Mary." Another deep breath to help fight back the tears. "Bloody Mary." A couple of tears slipped out and I took another breath. "Bloody Mary." I stood there for a minute, but nothing appeared in the mirror. I turned to look behind me, thinking that maybe she would appear when I was not looking, but when I turned back to look at the mirror, a movement in the bottom right corner caught my eye.

A chill raced across the back of my neck as the fog fully crept into view. I was so terrified that I could not scream, cry, breathe, or even think. As the fog reached the bottom left corner, a human shape started to form. I wanted to run in terror from my bathroom, but my feet felt like they were cemented to the floor. The mist disappeared as a woman started to move closer to the mirror, making my breathing pick up in anticipation.

She had long dark hair that hung down to her waist, her forehead was split on the left side with a trickle of blood coming from the center of the gash, her skin was so pale of a white that it looked like sun-bleached bones, and her eyes were sunken in and looked like a pair of black holes in her face. There was even a thin trail of blood going from the gash all the way down her face to her dress.

The woman stopped as close to the mirror as she could get and opened her eyes, letting me see her crimson red irises. A slow smile crept across her face and showed her teeth that had been sharpened to a point which made her even more terrifying. I was gripping the sink to keep from falling over and my reflection showed that there was no trace of color on my own face, making me almost the same color as the woman in my mirror while tears filled my eyes.

"You are quite beautiful, child," came her chilling voice. There was a hollowness that was mixed with the soft sound of a gentle summer breeze, making her voice sound airy in a way that was not human. Shivers raced down my spine as my gut knotted in terror when an echo of her voice reached my ears.

"Thank you," I whispered. None of my friends had ever mentioned her talking to them so I was fully creeped out, but also confused.

"How old are you?" came the voice again. The woman was still smiling at me and I began wishing that she would stop.

"Th-thirteen," I stammered out.

"Such a fine age. May I touch your hair? It's so beautiful," she said as she reached up. I leaned more of my weight on my sink to keep from falling over as her hand touched the mirror glass. "I cannot reach all the way through, dear. You need to lean closer, please," she said slowly. Drawing in a deep breath, I leaned as close to my mirror and the woman as I could, letting some of my shoulder-length auburn hair fall in front of me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt vomit rising in my throat as an odor engulfed my senses. It smelled like a wet dog that had rolled in rotten eggs before being sprayed on by a skunk. My hair moved just the slightest bit as another shiver ran down my spine. "As soft as I thought it would be. May I have some?" came her creepy voice.

"No," I said as I tried to back away from the mirror. Her hold on my hair tightened and I started to panic as I fought to pull from her grasp, making her sinister smile grow.

"Please, beautiful child. My own hair is no longer as fine as yours is. Giving me some of your hair will bring mine back to its original beauty."

"No. Let go," I said as my tears finally began to trickle down my cheeks. I pulled hard enough to yank some of my hair from her hand, but she jerked me back towards her with a scream that sounded more like it belonged to a wild animal.

"Susie? What's going on in there?" came Janice's voice through the door. I tried to call out to her, but only a grunt escaped past my lips as I went into full panic mode. The woman in the mirror pulled my hair back to her again with enough force to make my head smash against the border of my mirror, splitting my forehead in the same spot and way hers was. I fell to the floor as the door flung open and a chill seeped into my body, freezing me down to the bone and refusing to leave. "Susie! Oh my gosh. Mrs. Martin! Susie's hurt!" Janice shouted from beside me as I started shivering.

"Now you are marked, beautiful girl. When you die, you will join me in this living death and be a plaything of the living children," came the woman's voice in my mind. I screamed and covered my ears, trying to block out her voice as I felt myself get lifted and carried somewhere to something soft.

"Susie, it's alright. Your mom's getting her first-aid kit," Janice said as I pressed my hands against my temples and started flinging my head from side-to-side to get rid of the voice and sudden presence I felt in my head. "This is all your fault, Henley! If you hadn't dared her to do something that terrified her that much, then she wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

"Oh please. She's probably just being dramatic to be babied."

"You'll be next, Henley. Then you can tell everyone that you are just being dramatic." This time, the chilling voice came out of my mouth while my lips curled into a smile I am sure looked evil as my tears streamed down my face. I did not know what it meant but I did not want to wish this on anyone, even Henley. I saw Janice's face pale as she looked up at Henley.

"That wasn't Susie's voice. You should never play Bloody Mary again, Henley."

"You're not going to scare me off a game as fun as that, Janice. That was probably just a pathetic attempt to make me feel bad for the cry-baby. Watch. I'll prove to you that she's faking it." I watched as Henley went into the bathroom and closed the door. The cold chill sprang out of my body after just a moment, and I finally started to warm up as the presence in my mind disappeared.

"Get me out of here, Janice. Please," I begged, looking at my best friend as my tears finally slowed.

"I can't. Your mom said not to move you. What happened in there?" she asked as she gently pulled some of my hair away from my cut.

"Bloody Mary talked to me. She said that since I'm now marked, I'll join her when I die." A scream tore from the bathroom and everyone in my room jerked their gaze in that direction. "Go save her. Please, Janice," I whispered out, feeling more tears start to build. Janice went and opened the door and the strange chill raced past me, leaving me to slowly warm up a second time. I grabbed my covers and yanked them to my chin. As my mother came back in the room, I told her that I wanted my heavy winter blanket which made her turn around to go get it. Janice came out of the bathroom with Henley, tears streaming down her face and a clump of hair on the left side of her head ripped off halfway down her cheek.

"I told you not to play it again, Henley. That was a threat from Bloody Mary herself," Janice softly snarled as she walked her to my bed. "Maybe now you believe that Susie's not being a baby?"

"I'm sorry, Susie. I'm so sorry. I should've never dared you to play that game. Please forgive me."

"She spoke to you, didn't she, Henley?" I whispered out, getting a nod in return. "What did she say to you?"

"That unless I right all my wrongs, I'll join her in her living death when I die," Henley murmured.

"At least you got a choice. I'm marked and I have no choice."

"Please forgive me, Susie. I don't want to live in mirrors like she does. I don't want to be as frightening as she is," she cried. I shook my head slightly since it made me dizzy and nauseous to move much now.

"I can't. I can't forgive you for what you've done to me. I was trying to live my life like a good girl so that I could see our great-grandpa again when I die. Now, because of your stupid dare, I can't. You've taken away any chance I had of achieving the one thing I've worked so hard for all my life. I can't forgive you, and I won't. I'll see you when we join her in death." I moved my gaze away from everyone and let a couple of final tears slip down my cheeks as my mom came back in, draping my heavy blanket on me before doctoring my Bloody Mary mark and saying that the slumber party was over.

From that night forward, I ignored Henley. I avoided her at all the family reunions and no matter how much Aunt Liza begged me, I never invited Henley over again. I attempted to commit suicide when I was 28, hoping that I would be saved before dying, but I was not so lucky. Bloody Mary brought my spirit into the World of Mirror-Deaths the moment I died.

The next time I saw Henley was at the scene of her death. She died in a car crash at 30 and my job at that moment was to make sure that she came to the World of Mirror-Deaths like she had been told to. I stood there waiting for her spirit to appear and the moment it did, she began begging me to forgive her before it was too late. Little did she know that it already was. Once you are marked by Bloody Mary, you are coming here regardless of anything else. So use caution if you plan on playing Bloody Mary at any parties. We are in every mirror and we come when called. If you see us at any time, whether in your mirror or in your dreams, you are marked and will be welcomed into the World of Mirror-Deaths when you die.