I am you

A reflection of your inner self

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Ha, that’s not even a question.” Adeline smirked as she gazed into the mirror on her vanity. She truly was a beauty. Silky golden blond hair flowed over her shoulders, framing her unblemished face and her naturally full lips. She had a tall, yet thin and graceful body. All the boys at her school were in love with her, and all the girls were jealous of her. There was no doubt in her mind that she was truly the ‘fairest of them all.’

Finally having satisfied herself with a long look in the mirror, she began to turn away.

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the vainest of them all? Well, that’s obvious isn't it?” a voice called behind her.

Surprised, Adeline quickly turned around. However, her gaze was only met by the icy blue eyes of her reflection. Convinced that she was only imagining the voice, she turned around again.

“Aww, being ignored am I? But I guess ignoring things that don’t benefit you is what you do best,” the voice said coldly.

Adeline whipped around, but there still wasn't anything to see. Trying to slow her swiftly beating heart, she forced herself to ignore the voice and leave the room altogether. However, as she turned, she noticed a cruel smile on the reflection as it turned with her.

“Oho, so you finally noticed? I know that there’s only so much brain behind that pretty face, but even so I wouldn't have thought it’d take so long.”

A shiver went down Adeline’s body as she watched her reflection’s mouth move and talk. She put her hands over her ears to block out the malicious words and the reflection followed suit.

“Really now, can you still pretend you don’t hear anything when you can clearly see what’s happening for yourself?” The reflection looked at Adeline in disappointment.

“I don’t hear anything. It’s just a reflection,” she repeated to herself. She was just imagining things, and if anyone saw her like this her reputation would be ruined.

“Is your reputation truly that important to you? ‘Oh Adeline is so beautiful, I could never hope to be at her level.’ ‘Her beauty is like nothing else, I wish she would go out with me.’ Ha, don’t make me laugh. All they see is your exterior,” ‘she’ said cruelly.

“Shut up!” Adeline yelled. She didn't want to hear anything more, but ‘she’ was unfazed.

“I wonder what they would think if they knew the real you. I bet they would leave you once they see you as the deceitful witch you truly are,” ‘her’ words wounded her like knives, cutting into every opening she had.

Adeline began to tremble under the pressure, and ‘she’ did as well, though ‘she’ still had a smile on ‘her’ face. “Who are you to say that about me? You don’t know anything.”

“Oh, but I do. I know everything about you.” ‘She’ dropped her voice to a whisper, “because I am you.”

            “That’s not true!” In a sudden fit of anger, Adeline swung her arm out. It collided with the mirror, shattering it to pieces.

            “Ha, ha. It’s gone now. No, it was never there in the first place,” she said nervously, her anger draining away as she clutched her bloodied hand. A mix of blood and glass littered her vanity. Her hand throbbed in time with her heart, but she barely even noticed.

            “Oh, what a show! Couldn't take it anymore so you destroyed the mirror? As if it would be that easy!” She flinched as she heard the voice behind her. Slowly turning around, she found a full length mirror resting against the wall. Within it, ‘she’ was standing, doubled up as ‘she’ laughed. After a few seconds, ‘her’ laughter finally subsided and ‘she’ wiped a stray tear from ‘her’ eye before looking back at Adeline.

            “Go…go away. I don’t want to hear any more of your lies!” she yelling, covering her ears once again.

            ‘She’ put her hands on ‘her’ hip. “How sad. Just can’t face reality can you? I really wonder how such a weak person could even manage to keep up a façade such as yours.”

            “Shut up…” She said weakly as she crouched on the floor, hiding her face from ‘her’ cruel eyes. She turned her back on the mirror, but that still wasn't enough to make ‘her’ go away.

            “Such a waste. You have such a beautiful body, but that’s not enough to hide what you are. As they say, the prettier the person, the darker the heart, and your heart is pitch black!” ‘She’ raised her voice as ‘she’ talked, emphasizing the words ‘she’ knew would hurt the most.

            “Stop talking about me like you know me. Just go away and leave me alone!” She cried, trying to push away the malicious words. A hand settled on her shoulder as she continued to look away.

            “I know you better than anyone else.”

            “No…”

            “That’s because…”

            “No!”

            “…I…am…you!”

            “No! You’re lying. You are not me!” She screamed.

            Behind her, ‘she’ began to laugh triumphantly. At the same time, the hand on her shoulder tightened. She yelped in pain as it squeezed harder and harder. Then another hand grabbed onto her other shoulder. Together they began to pull on her, slowly dragging her across the floor. By the time she looked up, she had been pulled right next to the mirror, only inches from its black surface.

            “N-no!” she yelled as she shook off the hands tried to scramble back. However, the hands, reaching out from the mirror, were not about to give up. They grabbed onto one of her legs and pulled with inhuman strength. Desperate, Adeline tried to pull herself away, but it was no use. In no time, the hands had pulled her leg to the mirror’s surface, and as they continued to pull, her foot was swallowed up into the mirror. Seeing her foot disappear, she began to panic. She clawed at the floor, trying to find any kind of hold, but the floor was clear of anything she could grab onto. Soon her legs had both completely disappeared and she was up to her waist into the mirror. Her fingers bled as she tore at the ground, destroying her nails she had spent so much time taking care of. With a final tug, her entire body was pulled backwards in one fell swoop. Her world went black as her head was submerged into the inky black surface of the mirror.

            When she next opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by darkness. The only light came from a long, rectangular opening. On the other side, she saw her room. Quickly, she picked herself off the ground and raced to the light. However, as she neared the edge, she was forced back by an invisible wall. She pounded on the wall, desperately trying to get back to her room, but to no avail.

            “Oh, how the mighty has fallen,” came a familiar voice, still dripping with unconcealed malice. On the other side of the wall stood ‘her’, smiling triumphantly as she stood in her room.

            “That’s my room. Get out and give it back!” Adeline yelled.

            “But you see, it’s my room now,” ‘she’ said cruelly.

            She pounded on the wall, hopelessly trying to force her way in.

            “That won’t work by the way,” ‘she’ said as ‘she’ turned away. ‘She’ walked across the room and picked up a metal box that had been sitting on her desk. ‘She’ carried it back towards the mirror with ‘her’ to face Adeline once again.

            As she figured out what ‘she’ planned to do, she began to furiously fight the invisible wall separating her from the room.

            “I think it’s about time I have a little fun. Don’t worry though, it’s not like anyone will know the difference.”

            ‘She’ held the box high over ‘her’ head as ‘she’ looked down. ‘She’ gave her cruelest smile as she savored the moment.

            “Because…”

            In one swift moment, ‘she’ swung the box down on the mirror, shattering it into a million pieces that would never again be one.

            “…I am you.”

Reviews

[M.E.Lyle]

Wow! This is really one weird story. It kept me reading to the end. I got a little confused at times trying to figure out which Adeline was which, but the magic of this story worked great.
Love your work.

[Not here]

great story and great writing :) awesome job

[Mathew Jennings]

BRAVO! That was great. Really good concept and you pulled it off brilliantly.

[xansizi]

I like this. talk about seeing yourself as others see you. I wonder where you are going with this. Is there some form of multiple-personality disorder? You have introduced two potential POV. Are you writing from the perspective of both? i would like to see more of this

[buterfligirl]

This was the whole story as I thought of it. I never actually thought about it the way you did, though it sounds interesting. The point of view is primarily from the POV of the girl. There's never really any insight on the thoughts of "her" What did you think when reading it?