Another idea I had!!! (actually this has been sitting around for some now, and I finally decided to work on it and post it) This is another supernatural fiction, although it doesn't contain Vampires or Werewolves or anything. This one deals with the myth of mirrors..and the things that abide on the other side. (...this one scared me to death while I was writing it..seriously) It's a Gundam/Sm fic, or it will be if I decide to finish it. It's Duo/Serena oriented. So, without further adieu, here it is...my second Preview fic, The Mirror
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::The Mirror::
She didn't know how long it had been there. For as long as she remembered, it had always been there, and she liked to think that it was guarding her, watching over her. Her parents had no idea why she spent so much time in her room. It was beyond them why a sixteen year old girl wouldn't be out with her friends instead. She'd never bothered to tell them otherwise. But she liked being here, with it, whatever it was.
It had only been a few months before that she'd actually discovered it. She'd sensed it long before, ofcourse, but she'd never thought to actually sit down and look for it. Up till then, she'd figured it had been her imagination anyway. People always did say she could be rather paranoid. And then one night, it had shown itself.
It was late, around 2am or so, and she'd been asleep. The sleep of the dead as one of her friends might say, when suddenly she'd felt something. Not physically felt, not really, it was more of just a FEELING, as if someone were trying to touch her. Her cheek tingled, and she felt the hair on her neck rise. Her room suddenly felt cold, and she pulled the sheet up to her neck, even though it was the middle of summer. She'd been frozen, paralyzed for that split second, and then, with sudden determination, she'd snapped on her bedside lamp, expecting to see some sort of boogie-man, or closet monster.
But the room was empty.
Her manga were still there, stroon across the floor where she'd carelessly left them earlier. Her cloths were messily thrown across her desk, as if she'd just stepped out of them and tossed them aside. Her cd's were still in that fallen pile she'd left them in last week, when they'd fallen and she hadn't picked them up. And one of her pink bunny slippers was still across the room, where she'd angrily tossed it after not being able to find the other. The room was exactly as she'd left it when she'd gone to bed. She would have been able to tell if someone had been in here...she would have known. Even her mother had trouble navigating through this room sometimes. Only she, Tsukino Usagi, could safely travel to and from it, without tripping over some stuffed animal or slipping on a manga.
Then what was this feeling she was getting?
She glanced over at the mirror across from her bed. It had been her grandmother's, and her mother had proudly presented it to her on her sixteenth birthday.
That mirror scared her.
It was a beautiful mirror, framed in silver with delicate tendrils dipping over it. If you looked closely, you could see faces and shapes. Crescent moons, gothic images of angels and demons..
She personally didn't know why her mother valued it so.
But her mother had been so happy, it seemed, to present her daughter with something from her childhood. And so she'd taken it. And against her better judgement perhaps, she'd hung it up across the room..directly across from her bed.
And that's when the feeling of it had gotten stronger.
That's when she began to really feel the presence of the being. That strange being who seemed to delight in nothing better than watching her. It'd gotten so bad at one point that she'd actually taken to covering the mirror before she went to bed, so that maybe she wouldn't feel so exposed and vulnerable. But now she found herself staring straight into her own reflection.
And it frightened her.
It scared her to no end, that reflection. Sure, it was her reflection...that same blond hair, done up in that odd style, the same split bang, the same wide blue eyes, which now looked a bit clouded with sleep. She looked exactly the same, physically. But something was different, wrong. She couldn't shake the feeling that the reflection she saw in the mirror wasn't hers. And she didn't understand why. It did everything she did, this reflection. It blinked when she blinked. It licked out it's tongue when she did. It did every possible thing to mimick her, this reflection.
And yet she knew it wasn't hers.
And at that moment she'd realized that it wasn't just a feeling. Somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind she'd known all along. This thing that was watching her, it was real.
She'd been scared then, truly scared. To think that someone, something had been watching her all this time... and in her room, the one place that should have been private.
The thought was unnerving.
She'd tried to stay away...she really had. She'd tried to stay as much out of that room as possible. But it was always there, wherever she went. It was always watching, amused. She could tell it was amused by her, but she didn't know how. The thought just popped into her head, unbidded. The thing was laughing at her.
It found every antic she performed amusing. The way she covered, not just her mirror anymore, but all mirrors she came across. She refused to undress in front of any thing that reflected any more, be it a glass, or just a shiny object. She knew better. It was waiting, watching. For what, or Why, she didn't know. She just knew that it scared her.
She hadn't bothered telling anyone about it. Hadn't wanted to hurt her mother's feelings. Afterall, that mirror had been her mother's pride and joy, and before that, her grandmother's. Surely her mother had to have felt it...had to have KNOWN about it...whatever it was. Maybe it wasn't bad...maybe she had no need to be worried about it.
She decided to try to talk to it.
The thought popped suddenly into her head, out of nowhere. She shuddered, pulling the quilt up to her chest. It was pitch black outside. The moon had disappeared, and a slight rain had begun to fall. For a moment she closed her eyes, lulled by it.
The thing wanted to talk to her.
She was sure of it. Why else would she just up and think something like that? She certainly had no interest in knowing it. But now she was angry. Whatever it was, ghost, spirit, or boogie-man, it had no right to terrorize her in her own room! A girl should feel safe in her room...secure! Not dreading to go inside..afraid to close her eyes, to look at her reflection! This had gone on far enough.
Angrily she threw back the quilt, her thin lavender gown riding high as she scooted to the edge, slipping off. She marched over to the mirror, her anger overriding her fear, and glared deeply into her reflection.
"I don't know who or WHAT you are," she declared in a low furious hiss, "and I really don't care. But you have NO right to do this to me!! Now just leave me alone!" For a moment nothing happened, and she felt her cheeks flame pink. Had she been imagining it all? Was it all in her mind? But it couldn't have been..her fear had been very real..there was definately something watching her. For a brief moment she wondered if it could be the spirit of her grandmother..watching over her. But she quickly scratched that idea. This thing...it made her afraid. It made her nervous... Her grandmother had been kind and loving. She would never make her feel afraid. And then without warning, her wandering thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she heard soft laughter.
Before she could stop herself she turned sharply towards the mirror, coming face to face with her own fear filled expression. But it wasn't coming from the mirror. It was inside the room....no- inside her head. She backed away fearfully, regretting her actions.
~I was waiting for you to acknowlege me..~ the voice whispered. It was a soft voice..it caressed her skin, sending goosebumps down her spine. For a moment she was too afraid to breath..too afraid to move. She suddenly wanted her mother, but her voice seemed to have cut off. She couldn't scream, couldn't breath.
"W-who are you?," she finally got out, backing slowly towards the door. The thing laughed.
~I thought you said you didn't care?~ it replied with amusement, throwing her own words back at her. She suddenly got angry again. It was playing games with her..teasing her. She glared, and in her anger suddenly found her voice.
"Why are you bothering me?! Why do you keep watching me!!!!?," a cold sweat had irrupted on her brow, and she wiped it away absently. The thing seemed to laugh again, a light tinkering sound flickering through the air.
~You interest me,~ it whispered gently, ~you intrigue me. You amuse me. You help to pass the time.....is that enough of an answer for you?~ it was playing with her, toying with her mind.
"But why me?! What ARE you?!" You're scaring me..she thought to herself silently. For a moment all was quiet. The thing didn't answer, and at first she thought it was gone. But then that amused tinkling filled the air again, and she was suddenly filled with a sense of dread.
~Come stand in front of the mirror and I'll show you, little girl..~
It was a challenge, a dare. A dare she didn't want to take. What if it turned out to be some hideous monster? Some demon? Some Zombie creature?! She felt tears of terror slip into her eyes. She didn't want to see something horrible..she didn't want to be afraid. So she shook her head, hugging herself and backing against the far wall, silent tears streaming down her face. She wanted to scream..to call out to her mother..her father..even her little brother. But she couldn't.
Moments went past, with not a sound. It seemed to sense her fear..or maybe it could see her. She didn't know. She could feel it's presence wrapping around her, brushing at her face, her hair. It whispered in her ear.
~I can take any form I choose...I can be anything you like....~ it was trying to persuade her...talking softly now, the amusement gone from it's 'voice'. She found herself nodding, the presence pulling her towards the mirror. She felt as if she were in a daze..her feet stepping slowly, as if against her will, towards the antique, gothic mirror.
One step, two step, a half step over that discarded manga... Three step, four step...over that pile of cloths she'd thrown off earlier, until she was finally there, standing face to face in front of the mirror. For a moment she only saw her own reflection gazing back at her. Her azure blue eyes wide and bright with tears, her cheeks rosy from her scare, and her bang plastered to her damp forehead. But then something changed. Her reflection seemed...wrong. Different. Hers, but with deliberate changes. She tried to move away, to run, but something was holding her there. Forcing, her, against her will.
Why had she done this?! Why had she agreed? She squeezed her eyes shut, praying to God to make this end soon. And suddenly she was being prodded gently, and when she opened her eyes, met with the most beautiful violet ones she'd ever seen.