I hate going to bed, I’m always greeted with nightmares. That’s when I fall asleep, but nowadays I can’t even sleep. Somewhere in the darkness, there’s something with its eyes on me. Something I don’t want to see. It’s not the dark I’m scared of nor is it being alone. I could sleep in the living room by myself without any lights on and not get scared, but something in that room kept me awake. I can’t even blink my eyes without getting anxious that when I open them, it’ll be facing me with its mouth ready to eat me. I asked it not to come out but what if it can’t hear? What if it doesn’t listen? Countless nights passed without being able to close my eyes. I don’t want to close my eyes.

  One day, I told my dad about my room and he mentioned something called the Mirror Monster. A scary beast who terrorizes children and feeds on their fears, which made me its perfect target. My dad also had the same problem when he was a kid like me, always fearing things he couldn’t see. As it turns out though, there was something there lurking, waiting in the dark. The Mirror Monster. One night, the Mirror Monster finally came out of the darkness and rushed towards my dad. If it was any other kid, that would have been the end of them, but not my dad. Something about knowing what he was facing made him not fear it anymore.

  “You weren’t scared?” I asked him.

  “Of course I was. But knowing what I was up against gave me the courage I needed to understand how to beat the Mirror Monster, and I did.”

  My dad is so strong. The thought crossed my mind.

  Being able to beat the Mirror Monster without getting scared sounded almost impossible to a kid like me but the fact my dad was able to do so really shows why I look up to him so much. But still.

  “I’m still scared.”

  “It’s okay. It’s normal to be afraid, but answer this question for me. How can you be scared of something when you don’t even know what you’re scared of?” the look in his eyes gave me a glimpse of hope.

  “Then what if I did see it and I’m still scared?”

  “Then that’s also okay. What matters is you mustered up the courage to know what you were facing. You have to use that courage and keep moving forward. That’s the only way you can stop being scared.” He gave me a smile that calmed me a bit.

  “...Okay.” I hesitated to respond but I was able to gather the words and assure him.

  I walked to my room that night shaking. It might have been the first time I prayed in a long time but even that wasn’t enough to calm my nerves. I opened my door and ran straight to my bed but I was so scared, I couldn’t even lie down. I sat there in the dead of night for what felt like hours. Questions and doubts raced in my head non-stop.

  Am I gonna see it? Will it even show up? Can I even do this? Do I have to do this?

  Before I could get anything straight, a light tap echoed throughout the room and my thoughts went silent. All doubts were erased and only a single question was left hanging in my mind.

  What was that?

  I was about to cover myself with the blanket, but my dad’s words echoed in my head and I hesitantly stood my ground. I walked up to where the sound came from and ended up in front of my mirror closet. I stared at my reflection, frightened of what I might encounter, and behind me was a moving shadow.

  Wait…

  I swiftly turned around and was greeted by a figure without a form. It was Something and Nothing at the same time, but not knowing what it looked like scared me even more. Its presence was daunting and even without a face, I felt that it was staring right at me. Before I could even think, I ran towards my bed screaming and immediately hid underneath my blanket. I closed my eyes and prayed endlessly to whoever may be listening to my cries for help as tears started trickling down my cheeks. I felt so helpless but what made me feel worse was the fact that I couldn’t be the boy my dad wanted to be. I couldn’t muster up the courage to face my fears and here I am now, wailing helplessly.

  “I’m so sorry, dad.” I cried.

  Then, I heard my door creak open, light filled the room, and my dad’s voice asking for me echoed. I lifted my blanket and readied to run towards him but as soon as I opened my eyes, my dad was nowhere to be found. My door was still shut and my room was still dark. I got scared once more but before I could cover myself underneath my blanket again, I noticed something. The monster was gone.

  Where did it go? Is it hiding again? Did I succeed? Questions entered my head but I couldn’t answer them on my own.

  “Son.” my dad called.

  What was that?

  I looked around the room once more but my dad wasn’t anywhere. So what was that voice I just heard? It sounded like my dad.

  “Up here…”

  As soon as I heard that phrase, my hair started to grow. I looked up and there I saw my dad hanging on the ceiling, staring at me with a wild grin. I already knew. That’s not my dad. Those aren’t his eyes. It’s the Mirror Monster.

  Before I could do anything, it suddenly leaped towards me and poked out my eyes.

  “AHHHHHHHHHH!!!” I screamed as loudly as I could.

  My eyes were burning and I couldn’t see anything. I felt it rip off both of my ears without warning. Now, I can’t even hear my scream. It continued to dismember every part of my body starting from pulling off my limbs, then it proceeded to bury its fingers into my stomach and scooped out my intestines. Now I can’t even struggle. I kept screaming at the top of my lungs until I felt it poke them. Now, I can’t breathe.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  How am I still alive? Please just kill me. These were all I could think of as the agony proved to be too much for me.

  Then, it began to lick me in the lips before brutally tearing them off my face. Now, I couldn’t even scream. Even as my consciousness began to fade, it continued to ravage me until I couldn’t even feel anymore.

  The next thing I knew, I was waking up to a beautiful morning but I was drenched in sweat.

  “I can see.” My voice still sounded ragged.

  As soon as I spoke, I realized my mouth was still intact and I could still hear. I immediately patted my body and felt that I still had everything the Mirror Monster ripped apart, but the fear still lingered.

  Was it all a dream?

  I shook off any thoughts that were about form and focused on the fact that I was still alive. I got up and out of my room and went straight to the restroom to wash my face. I splashed my face with water and wiped it off with a towel. I lifted my head and was greeted by a reflection not my own.

  It was still the same body, it was the same face. But that look isn’t mine. It’s the Mirror Monster. It’s inside me. My body froze and stood there aimlessly.

  “Hey, get out. I need to take a bath.” my dad’s voice entered the restroom, breaking the silence.

  “Dad! The Mirror Monster is inside me!” I shouted and ran towards him.

  “What the fuck are you doing?!” He aggressively pushed me aside and I fell to the ground. “We talked about this, you’re too old for this bullshit. If you’re gonna waste your life with this bullshit, just don’t get in my way.” He glared at me.

  My dad slammed the door shut and I was left without anything to say.

  What just happened? What’s going on? I was confused about what was happening. It was like I’d been living a dream this entire time and only now did I snap back to reality. But the question that has been eating me inside the most was,

  Who was that?

  That wasn’t my dad. He looked different. He was fatter, had a beard, and looked very unhealthy. But most importantly, he had the same look as “me,” as the Mirror Monster inside of me. What the hell is going on?

  I looked around my surroundings and realized I wasn’t even in my own home. Chains with hooks decorated the ceilings. The sharp ting they make when they collide makes my ears ache. My head started to spin, and before I could make sense of anything, my vision started to fade. I fell flat on the floor and felt liquid gathering between my hands. I look down to see pools of blood enveloping the entire floor of the house.

  “AAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

  WHERE THE HELL AM I??? WHAT IS THIS?!!

  I made my way down the stairs only to be greeted by naked dead bodies hanging on hooks on the ceiling. More than a dozen of them, more than I could bear to count, lined up the corridors of what looked like the living room of the house. And in between all the dead bodies was a single couch stained by what could only be dried blood. In front of it was a box TV.

  I made my way to the TV to turn it off but only to find the remote missing. It was playing a black-and-white cartoon about kids trapped in a mirror maze. I tried messing around with the antennae to turn it off but it only became static. The noise it made rang throughout the house, which made me close my ears. Just then, one of the bodies started swaying frantically.

  “...no..more....” It was a little girl, no more than thirteen years old. “...home....mommy....”

  “HOLY SHIT!” I immediately went up to the girl to try and speak to her.

  “ARE YOU OKAY?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! DID THE GUY UPSTAIRS DO THIS??”

  The girl couldn’t speak anymore because of her condition. Just uttering those few weak words a while ago had made her mouth bleed. But her bloodshot eyes were wide open as I attempted to speak to her.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out. Damn it, where the hell are we?” I reached out on the hook and saw that she was hooked to both of her feet.

  Who the hell would do such a thing...

  “I’m so sorry but this will hurt.”

  I grabbed her body, pushed up, and unhooked her, but the girl didn’t even flinch from pain. She only wore those eyes that stared deep into my being. I carried her weight, but she was heavier than expected from all that dead weight. I tried to push my way towards the door at the end of the corridor but my legs soon gave out. We both dropped to the floor, but I made sure to land on my back so that she wouldn’t get hurt anymore.

  “Shit.” I whispered.

  I gathered all my strength one more time to bring myself and carry the girl towards the door. But when I tried to take a step forward, my body turned in the opposite direction and started to walk back towards the couch. I laid the little girl on the bloodied couch and I eyed a small wooden desk adjacent to the couch. It had what looked like glass shards scattered on the top. I slowly crept towards it and bent over, then began to smash it into tiny little pieces until it was merely dust.

  What the hell is going on?!

  I opened the drawer on the desk and picked up a makeup mirror placed inside. As I stared at the mirror, I saw a reflection that was not mine. The Mirror Monster. Little by little, I saw it rip away shards of its faceless demeanor, and as it continued it started to take the form of someone familiar. It was me…

  No...NO! THAT’S NOT ME!! THAT’S NOT ME YOU FUCKING MONSTER! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!

  I scratched my face as hard as I could. Skin peeled off the more I tried to rip my face apart, but all it did was put a smile on the face of the man in the mirror. The monster then began to feast on my flesh.

  HELP!! DADDD!!! IT’S EATING ME!! THE MONSTER IS EATING ME!!!!

  A figure walked down the stairs behind me, and it was the fat man all naked from top to bottom.

  “Hey, save me some of her later. A meal after a nice, cold shower is always a delight.” He looked at the little girl shivering on the couch.

  NOOOOOOOOO----

  The Mirror Monster, then, grabbed a machete stashed between the couch and table, before facing the table one last time. It hunched back towards the shards of glass, meeting it with my nose. With one long whiff, I felt all my muscles starting to give and once more everything went dark.

  Now...where were we?

  -End-