Inside the Company: Chapter 1: Man in the Mirror

We go through life passing many reflections, not truly paying attention to any of them. Why would you? It is merely a reflection of light off a shiny surface after all. However, have you ever looked in a mirror and caught a glimpse of something else, something strange? Perhaps something creeping out of the corner of your eye, just outside your peripheral vision? Which is worse, seeing something or seeing nothing in the mirror at all? Well, it all began about a week ago on that day. The day my life began to change.

It was a normal morning. After a steamy shower, I grabbed my towel to wipe the steam off my bathroom mirror. That was when it happened, a flash of a shadow jumped past the toilet and out the window. Shocked, I turned around to see ... nothing.

Turning back to the mirror was what shocked me, my reflection seemed to appear more shocked than I was. It was minimal but noticeable. His eyes were wide with fear rather than confusion. He has beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. I was perplexed but shrugged it off as my morning grogginess and perhaps some leftovers from my hangover.

The next day, I thought I caught my reflection blink! Mundane, I know, but still rather strange. I tried blinking rapidly to trigger a mistake in my reflection but he matched every blink as if he could read my mind. I snickered a bit at myself, realising how stupid I must have looked and gone back to bed.

The 3rd day was when things got really weird. I saw the shadowy figure again. This time in more detail, lurking in the corridor. It was a tall figure, hiding in the shadows. For a short moment, I caught a glimpse of its eyes, it reflected light like a cat’s eyes. I turned to my right, to look into the corridor on my end. Nothing. When I turned back to the mirror, my reflection made a soft shake of his head. I stumbled back. It seems like he realised that the gig was up as he began to pound on the glass on his side while shouting. However, all I could hear was the silence, a really deafening silence. I couldn’t hear the pounds or his shouts but my heart sank as I felt a fear far frightening than I have ever felt before. And before this, I wasn't exactly a person that would mix with the right crowd if you catch my drift so believe me when I say I understand fear and this... this was something else.

I slumped against the wall, scared. I covered my eyes hoping that whatever was happening would stop. I slowly crouched back to my room, avoiding any reflections.

The next morning, I woke up and went to brush my teeth, shrugging off the previous night as a nightmare. I wish it was. When I looked up into the mirror, I saw the reflection of the bathroom but I wasn’t there. I waved my hand but ... nothing.

I rushed to check every other mirror in the house. Nothing. My reflection was gone! I was definitely panicking as I grabbed my showerhead and flung it at the mirror, breaking it. They say that breaking a mirror is 7 years of bad luck. I had a feeling that the bad luck wasn’t my biggest problem.

A few days passed after I cleared up the shattered remains of my bathroom mirror and as I removed the other mirrors from my house; trying my best to ignore my lack of reflection.

I hid in my room, remembering the monster I saw and how I felt only fear. It was the feeling of looking into an endless abyss, a certain type of void that you feel drawn into, only to be dragged into it and eventually consumed.

Day 7, I had to leave my house. I ran out of food to eat. I couldn't just sit idly by and hope that whatever was going on with my reflection would go away. My biggest concern was that if someone saw my lack of reflection, they would react negatively. I felt compelled to keep my lack of a reflection as much of a secret as I could.

So, I had to go to the grocers for a quick shopping run. The streets were as empty as expected as it was a workday for many, most of the people who live around here would work in the big city while the suburbs would be essentially a ghost town.

While shopping, I needed to go to the washroom urgently. Thankfully, I went during an off-peak hour so no one else could see my lack of reflection. I locked the washroom door, to keep others out. I had to make sure that no one would come in unexpectedly. Who knows if the monster would kill them too?

The grocery store washroom was rather decrepit. One of the lights would flicker periodically. I was already on edge so why the hell not right? Make everything creepy as hell. I swear that God loves messing with me. The washroom was a long corridor with a large mirror spanning across the many sinks. Between the flickers of the faulty light, I saw it again in the reflection. The monster.

This time, I could see him clearer. Or rather I could tell it was a ‘him’. He was tall, pale and bald. He wore nothing, revealing his grotesque, slightly hairy skin. He had a pot belly while having very thin arms and legs. His skin was worn on his face like a mask, leathery and loose. His eyes seemingly sunk into his skull. The most unsettling thing about him was his long, slender fingers. They looked like they had two or more joints too many.

I leaned into the mirror in fear but it didn’t feel hard. It felt more like a liquid membrane but it was too late. I leaned my weight into it and I fell through, landing hard on the ground. Looking up, I saw him. His eyes pierced my soul, I felt every single dark emotion swell up into me, fear, rage, pain... everything. I was numb from my head to toe but my soul screamed into my ear that I had to get up and run. So, run I did.

I ran back to my house. That was when I realised that the world I was in didn’t make any sense. Everything was mirrored. Signs were all as if they were reflected in the lettering all wrong. It felt like I was in a dream where I couldn't read. Everything felt foreign.

It was summer earlier but now the cold air was definitely a winter breeze. All the trees were dead. All the houses looked run down as if by years of neglect. The most jarring difference was that no one was around. All I could see was faint flickers of light jumping from where reflections would normally be. These flickers looked faint like what happens when you light a fire and immediately extinguish it, that lingering shape where the light once was. It is hard to describe. So, sorry if I didn't give a good enough picture.

When I reached my front door, I turned the knob only for it to fall off, severely rusted. I kicked the door open and that was when I smelt something horrible. It smelled like a rotting piece of meat with a sick sweetness to it; like a few drops of perfume on a week old Sunday roast.

That was when I saw it. When I saw it, it broke me. I must have been dreaming, this... this was not possible. What I saw? What I saw was... my body. On the ground. Eyes wide with fear. My tongue hanging out of my mouth. My neck, twisted, contorted, crushed. I was dead. Or rather, what I saw the days prior, my reflection, was dead.

I reached for my own neck before stifling the urge to break down and vomit. I had to find a way back. The monster may have killed my reflection and he may be coming for me next. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I needed to find a safe place. A place with a mirror.

I rushed to my bathroom. Then, I remembered. I smashed my mirror a few days ago. That’s when the door began to creak open.

Those strange fingers began to curl around the door as I got up and proceeded to jump through the window.

“There are no laws in this world as far as I know. So, I guess breaking and entering would be okay,” I thought to myself while running through the neighbourhood.

I chose a house and burst through the door and looked for the largest mirror I could find. I jumped headfirst into it as at that point, it was a gamble I was willing to take.

I crashed to the floor. On the other side. Without time for a sigh of relief, I picked up the heaviest object I could find, a hairdryer, and proceeded to smash the mirror. I guess I made a ruckus as a few seconds later, my neighbour opened the bathroom door. She screamed and ran back to her room.

I was paralysed by my own adrenaline as I rushed towards her, trying to explain what was going on. She pulled out her taser from the cupboard and gave me a jolt. Blackness was all I remembered from that point

I woke up a while after in police custody and began writing this entry on my phone. Why did didn't they take my phone? I don't know. Why don't I recognise any of the cops here? Am I even in the same neighbourhood? The same city? Heck, am I in the same country?

Anyway, watch your mirrors for any irregularities. Don’t try and go through them if you think you can. As far as I know, he can only hurt you if you are on the wrong side.

.ɘbiƨ ǫnoɿw ɘʜƚ no ɘd yɒm uoy ƨɒ ƨɘɔnɘɿɿuɔɔo bɿiɘw ɿoʇ bnuoɿɒ ʞool ƨyɒwlA

---

Alright! Hope you enjoyed the story. Sorry to break the immersion, this is an out-of-character section. Writer notes will be placed here in future chapters.

Well, now onto the fun part! You, the reader, are a character in this story. In what I call "Interactive Writing", you are encouraged to participate in the story. How? You may ask. Well, like I said earlier, you are a character in this story. You may not be directly referenced individually in the story but the main character will respond to your comments (or rather me, as the writer, will be responding as the main character). Your comments WILL influence the outcome of the story in one way or another. Be careful, you may accidentally kill the main character, in which case, the season ends and after that... Well, we'll keep that a surprise for now.

In the near future, there may be puzzles to solve, ciphers to crack and riddles to answer! I will do my best to keep you on your toes!