MIRROR by Catherine Russell

Sebastian had heard family stories about the relic in the attic for years. However, he had always been a curious but sensible child and never believed the rumors of what lay beyond the locked door. Spirits and ghosts had no place in his imagination.

Nevertheless, the large standing object covered by the thin azure sheet had been gathering dust in a disused recess of the attic for centuries, according to family legend. The grandparents of his grandparents had feared the item hidden beneath the heavenly blue, yet feared to let it go; the consequences of its guardianship falling into careless hands might be too great.

In all likelihood, his elders had created the stories to keep meddlesome children from scavenging through old family heirlooms, though Sebastian discovered nothing else of interest except a few scraps of antique clothing and some worn furniture. The secret hidden beneath the sheet would be revealed as nothing more than an ordinary mirror from a garage sale. With luck though, it might be valuable as an antique.

He pulled the silk off in one smooth motion, coughing from the dust born on the air like dandelion seeds. The cloud dispersed, and he gazed at the image of the mirrored-attic. The same wooden walls, crossbeams, old trunks, and debris of generations reflected back in reverse. But the staring face was not his own. The features were similar, high cheekbones, large round eyes and full sensual lips, but there any resemblance ended. Its deep brown eyes stared back at him from within a pale, hairless face. It lifted thin, bare hands to cover its mouth before it ran, screaming from the room.

Sebastian himself stepped back, reeling from the shock, grabbing at his face, his head, his horns. He sighed in relief when he felt his tail swish around his shoulders. He was fine. Who was that then- some demonic version of himself trapped in a mirror world? He wondered if the beast was dangerous. Should he destroy the cursed mirror and rid himself of whatever lurked inside?

In the corner of the mirror, the blue cover was barely visible near the doorway of the looking-glass room. The creature returned to stand before him and Sebastian took a step back. Then, overcome with pity for the poor, bald thing trapped on the other side, Sebastian placed a lone claw upon the glass. The monster’s eyes widened in terror, and it struck the translucent partition with something long and hard.

The mirror shattered.

Sebastian’s last thoughts cut as deeply as the shards of falling crystal. He felt himself break into a thousand pieces.

#

The man’s sigh filled the room.

Grabbing a broom, he hastily swept the fragments of broken glass onto the discarded sheet, then wrapped them tightly in their sky-colored shroud and entombed them in the waste bin. He shoved the bin away with his foot, once more sending clouds of dust into the attic’s stale air. Turning his back on all, he hastily closed the door and locked it behind him.

Later he could tell himself it had only been a dream.