Page 10

October 21,1011

The storm raged on, late into the night. The sky was a moonless black canvas, storm clouds hiding the countless stars above.

Everyone in their right mind would be asleep.

So why was there a light coming from one window of the house on the corner?

Inside her candle-lit bedroom sat Josephine Reitz.

She didn’t move from the edge of her bed as she blankly stared at her closet door.

She hardly breathed, never blinking.

She just stayed where she was. Something was off about the night, she could feel it.

A sudden chill ran through her. Closing her eyes, she took a

breath before opening them again and looking at the mirror on the wall in front of her.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. How strange, she thought. Her

senses had never failed her before. After all, the chills had alerted her of his arrival every time for almost her entire life.

She looked down at her feet, looking for a subtle sign that he was there.

Nothing.She knew what was coming,

even before she looked up; he was showing her that he was nearby. ready to haunt her.

Two bloody handprints were now decorating the space above her ornately carved headboard. For each hand, four claw marks tore deep through the green walls and ran down to the floor, leaving immediate contrast and dark scarlet trails in their wake.

She turned her face to the side and tried to block out the image, only to pause.

Hadn’t her door been closed just before?

In the blink of an eye, a boy her age was suddenly standing there. He was partially concealed in the doorway.

His blonde hair was unkempt,

and his icy blue eyes glowed with just as much taunting horror as his smirk did.

His dark clothes were ripped harshly, as if they had gotten in the way of several murderously savage claws.

Blood – which she had come to learn over the years was his own – covered him; caked his hair, plastered his skin, and stained his tatty clothing.

Scratches, each four lines of claw marks, tore deep into his skin, running downward.

“Help me,” he taunted, the same words and tone as always, for all these years.

He would terrorize her and demand her attention with no palpable intention of moving on to whatever fate the afterlife had planned for him.

He had kept her in the house her entire life – she never left,and never could – and refused to leave her alone.

Even though she had her eyes closed, Josephine knew that he had come closer as another chill shot through her.

She dared to look behind her at the wall once more through the mirror.

No more hand prints, no blood or claw marks; everything was normal once more.

A loud clap of thunder echoed around the almost empty house, and suddenly the boy was right beside her.

His reflection wasn’t seen in the mirror as she stared ahead at it, refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking at him.

“It’s all in your head, Josephine,” he whispered softly.

He watched her as she turned away from him, rising and walking over to the window, staring at the night-covered street below.

“Just give into it... This is your reality...”

Reality: A Reitz Ghost StoryBy Taylor Bogard and Shelby Lammela

Artwork provided by:Insane Smile

The Mirror