Ethan had always been a skeptic. He dismissed ghost stories and urban legends as mere fabrications of fear and imagination. But one stormy evening, as he returned home from work, he stumbled upon an antique shop tucked away in a narrow alley.
Drawn by an inexplicable urge, he stepped inside, where the air was thick with the scent of dust and nostalgia. His eyes landed on an ornate mirror with a tarnished frame, its glass shimmering with an otherworldly glow. The shopkeeper, an elderly woman with piercing eyes, warned him, “Be careful what you seek in the reflection.”
Ignoring her cryptic warning, Ethan bought the mirror and hung it in his dimly lit hallway. That night, as lightning flashed outside, he found himself drawn to it. The reflection showed his usual surroundings, but something felt off; the mirror seemed to pulse with a life of its own. Suddenly, a flicker in the glass caught his attention. He leaned in closer, and his heart raced as he noticed a figure standing behind him—dark, shadowy, and distorted.
He spun around, but the hallway was empty. Dismissing it as a trick of the light, he returned to his evening routine, but unease gnawed at him. Days turned into nights, and the figure in the mirror became more pronounced.
It shifted, mimicking his movements, yet its expression was twisted and malevolent. He could feel its eyes boring into his back, and soon, he couldn’t shake the sensation of being watched. Dread settled in like a fog, clouding his mind. One stormy night, as the wind howled and rain lashed against the windows, Ethan stood before the mirror, compelled to confront the sinister presence.
“What do you want?”
he challenged, his voice trembling. To his horror, the figure grinned—a grotesque smile that sent chills down his spine. It raised a hand, and Ethan felt a sudden, searing pain in his chest. Panicked, he staggered back, but the figure advanced, reaching through the glass with skeletal fingers.
“You should have listened,”
it hissed, its voice echoing in Ethan's mind.
“Now you belong to me.”
With a desperate surge of adrenaline, Ethan grabbed the heavy mirror and hurled it to the floor. Shards of glass sprayed across the room, and as the mirror shattered, the figure let out a bone-chilling scream, its form dissipating into the air like smoke. Breathing heavily, Ethan surveyed the wreckage, relief washing over him. But as he turned to leave, a cold breeze swept through the hallway. In the broken pieces of the mirror, he caught a glimpse of the figure once more—this time standing behind him, eyes filled with fury, a warning etched in its twisted smile.
Ethan realized, with dawning horror, that the reflection was not just a reflection; it was a portal to something far darker than he had ever imagined. He had shattered the mirror, but the entity was not gone—it had only begun to seek its revenge. The line between his world and the mirror's was forever blurred, and now, it would stop at nothing to claim him as its own.