The Empty Mirror

A strange house holds an equally strange mirror. WC:1,061

Sam stood in front of the once empty house to find it had been redecorated to a marvelous degree. Everyone in the neighbourhood remembered it as broken and dilapidated. Yet she saw it had now been refurbished in winter colours; the walls a calming blue under the peaceful white roofs. It was beautiful, yet aggravating. She knew the history of the house, the rumours of disappearances that went back to the 1870's. People would live there for years, happily toiling there lives away, then just vanish. No one ever really looked into it, thinking they moved away or died of old age, but they never looked into the details like she did.

"Who's the new neighbour?" Asked her wife, Amber. She was a psychologist, and a pretty good one. She knew her wife's habits when it came to strangers, but never really cared as long as she didn't cross the line into doing anything illegal.

"Alex Mercer. Currently unemployed. Suspected of murder twelve years ago, but no evidence could be found to link him. Personally, I don't think he did it." Being a criminal herself, she knew the look of a killer, a thief, or a rapist just by looking at their history. Living with such people meant she knew what to look out for. So if she even suspected someone hadn't done something, they were likely innocent. Ironically, she distrusted the innocent more than the guilty. In her experience, no one was truly innocent.

Deciding they'd been loitering long enough, the two made their way inside. Being a psychologist, Amber wanted to meet the new house owner and, hopefully, find something that could put Sam at ease. Meanwhile, Sam watched the party going on. It was a housewarming party so Alex could introduce himself to his neighbours. Despite this, she refused to bring a present. After all, what could be a better present that having a private detective, a psychologist, and a lawyer as friends? Amber didn't agree, so they decided she'd focus on the gift.

While everyone mingled and gossiped, she broke away from Amber to see what food she could bring back for Dorian. Being autistic, he wasn't good with large get-togethers. Many thought it strange that Sam had a husband and wife, others thought Dorian was smart in getting two wives, but the three tried not to let those comments get to them. They were happy together, and that's what mattered.

However, as she made her way to the food table, something caught her eye; the dead stillness of the party. She looked around and watched everyone move around, talk to each other, eat food, and two guys heading upstairs with, hopefully, a nosy reason to do so. But behind her, inside the mirror, nothing. Everything was exactly as it seemed. There was wallpaper, furniture, food, lights, even herself, but no one seemed to exist. Something about this was very off. And so very wrong.

"Husband not coming?" Asked the neighbourhood gossip, Cassandra. Of everyone on the street, Sam liked her the most. She was an amazing source of information, when you get past the rumours anyway.

"No. He's finishing up the, uh... the... I think it's the robbery case, or was that last week?" She always played dumb to others. Not just to make them feel superior, but also so that they'd tell her more than they thought. Every detective had their own method of getting information, but Sam found there was no better way to get people talking than to let them think you couldn't understand them.

"Honestly, Samantha. How can you be a detective when you can't remember the simplest things."

"I don't really know. Guess I'm born lucky, maybe? Anyway, I noticed this mirror and thought-"

"Yes, horrid thing, isn't it." She stepped into view and adjusted her collar. But the interesting thing was that she had a reflection.

So, only people standing directing in the mirror can be seen. Maybe as some kind of camouflage?

"By the way, I noticed you gardening the same spot for a few weeks now. Tough weeds?" They both knew that she only did her gardening to discreetly spy on who was coming and going. So, naturally, she gave a fake laugh and excused herself. Which was what she wanted.

Taking another look at the mirror, she stopped looking at what wasn't there, and started looking for what shouldn't be there. To everyone else, it looked like she was admiring herself. But it was important to see the house from every reflected angle. If the mirror didn't show who was there, then any discrepancy was important. A clock that wasn't reflected, an image that didn't belong, or the two glowing red eyes looking at her from the open door.

She was careful not to look at them as she didn't want them to leave. So instead, she jerked around, looking across the room as if her name was called until she found the door. Just like in the reflection, it was open a crack. But when she returned, the eyes were gone. This made she panic. Had she been discovered, or did it just leave? Could she find it again, or would it avoid her now? Was that one of the missing people, or was it something that caused the disappearances? It was better not to look further into this for now.

Returning to the food, she searched for something Dorian might like. But in the back of her mind, she wanted to find an excuse to return so she could better examine the house.

"I just met Alex-" Amber came up to share something, but noticed she was tense. The same she usually is when something happens she doesn't like. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, maybe I was just seeing things." Whatever was staring at her in the mirror, it may still have been around. It was better that she didn't investigate right now, and Amber knew that when Sam doubted herself, it was code for 'act normal'. So that's exactly what they did.

For the rest of the time, she talked, mingled, and kept an eye out for anything weird that might be important next time she came over. People would live in the house for years before disappearing. So, as far as she knew, there was plenty of time to figure something out.