So why is my mirror staring at me?

I’m a 24 year old girl and I think it’s time to move away from my family’s home. I have my own reasons, but I actually had a very happy childhood and loving parents. I was a very happy kid for the most part, but one thing happened to me that I will never forget, and even to this day I still can’t really explain. It happened exactly 10 years ago when I was 14 years old, and it was something that actually made me change my room. See, I used to go to sleep a lot earlier than my parents, and of course I had set up an alarm clock for all of these years. Such an integral part of life in school. It’s crazy how fast it takes for us to realize money is a lot more important than school grades. <br><br>Anyway, most nights I would wake up around 4 to 5am, not because of my alarm, but because I couldn’t feel a presence around my room. I think the first few nights it was just my sleep paralysis. It’s very weird how most kids in my generation seem to have experienced sleep paralysis at least once in their lives. I wasn’t even aware that it was a medical condition for the longest time. I remember telling my parents what happened to me, and them just laughing it off and saying, “Oh, yes, it happens to me too sometimes.” I guess back in their day it was known as hag syndrome or nightmare. <br><br>So yeah, the first few times I woke up it was probably sleep paralysis, but I remember one night that it wasn’t. I woke up because something was just off. I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was a full moon that night, and the moonlight reflected off of my mirror. It was just little things I noticed. Like how you can tell when a person is looking at you. I looked at my mirror and saw my reflection staring back. That’s nothing out of the ordinary. But a few seconds later my reflection was looking to the side. It’s face twisted and contorted in ways a human face couldn’t do. It was very quick, but I remember my reflection looking at me with such intense hatred. <br><br>I actually have a hard time explaining what happened the next few nights. It’s weird, but it’s almost as if my mirror reflection was becoming more human with the passing of nights. It would sometimes look at me, but pretend like it was just looking at the surrounding room when I caught it. It was very bizarre and honestly made me question my sanity. <br><br>I’m not sure how much longer this continued, but I started getting very paranoid around my own mirror reflection. It was actually my birthday that year when all of this culminated in what I can now only describe as my breaking point. To celebrate, my parents arranged for a really nice birthday dinner. They had an early dinner, but my friends and I decided to go out somewhere that night. I didn’t want to be driving, so I took an Uber. When we decided to head home, we realized all of the bars were closed, but one of my friends had a bottle of wine. We were all a little buzzed, so we decided to stay in my car and drink. We were parked on the side of the road, and it was dark. I don’t know how long we stayed there, but the last thing I remember was passing out in my car and coming to because one of my friends was shaking me. I looked at my phone and it was just after 4am. We said our goodbyes and I headed home with a killer headache. <br><br>I won’t go into details, but that night was the first time I had sex. It was weird because he didn’t wear a condom. I had gotten used to my friends all talking about their sex experiences. It’s weird, but we were all still virgins and the topic of sex was still considered taboo around us. So I guess we all found it interesting to listen to their experiences when we were still virgins. I remember a few of my friends telling me that they didn’t use protection the first time they had sex. They all said the same thing. “They came too fast, so it was fine.”<br><br>I don’t know why I let him talk me into it. Maybe he was right, maybe I didn’t want to be a buzz kill. I had always planned on waiting until marriage. Yes, a very old fashioned view, but it was something I wanted to hold onto until the day I died. That night I let a stranger come inside of me. When he was done, I went to sleep feeling empty. For some reason I couldn’t get home and decided to spend the night. <br><br>When I woke up, it was very dark. I tried to check my phone for the time, but it was dead. My head was pounding and I was still feeling hungover from the night before. I didn’t know what was going on, but everything just seemed completely blacked out. At first I thought it was just the alcohol playing tricks on me, but then I realized my room was actually blacked out. I stumbled out of bed and reached for my alarm clock. It was 4:30am. My parents were already gone for work. They left early in the morning, and I had no idea what the deal was with all of the blacked out windows. <br><br>I fell back on my bed and closed my eyes. When I opened them again I could see my room. The moonlight was reflecting off of my mirror, and it was a full moon that night. I don’t know how to explain what happened next any other way than to just tell it how it is. My reflection was getting out of my mirror. It actually crawled out of it like it was a glass cage. I was frozen in place, and all I could do was look at it. I’ll never forget the fear in my eyes as I watched my mirror reflection get out of the mirror. And it was my mirror reflection. It was the spitting image of me. We both looked at each other, but my reflection didn’t seem angry. It seemed even scared. It looked around the room frantically and it looked back at me. <br><br>I don’t know how to explain what happened next. It was a very weird feeling. It was like I was looking at my reflection, but it was also looking back at me. We were both connected and staring at ourselves. And then it all made sense. I saw what had happened the night before, and I felt an intense emotion. It was an emotion that I don’t think I can even put into words. I can only describe it as an emptiness. <br><br>I remember hearing a voice. It was my own voice, but it wasn’t. I guess what I’m saying is that it was the voice of my mirror reflection. It shook me to my core. It spoke in a cold and lifeless tone, but it still touched my heart. <br><br>“When are you going to stop staring at me?” It said. <br><br>I was so scared, but it shook me deep. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just shook my head. I started crying like a baby, and I remember my mirror reflection looking at me with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. <br><br>I don’t know why. I was just so confused and terrified. I think I was experiencing some sort of mental breakdown, because the next thing I knew I was hiding under my bed. I was looking at my mirror reflection, and it was just sitting on my bed asking me if I could help it get back into the mirror. I didn’t respond. I just couldn’t. <br><br>All I remember after that was hearing the police knocking at my door. I don’t know how long I was hiding under my bed. I just remember being cold and angry at my mirror reflection. I should have helped it. I should have done something. I could hear my parents talking to the police. They asked me what happened and I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t even believe it at the time. One of the police officers looked me in the eyes and said, “It won’t do us any good if you don’t tell us the truth.” <br><br>That moment changed me. It was like a wake up call. It was time to move on. I told them everything. I didn’t tell them about my mirror reflection. I just told them what happened with that guy. And yeah, that guy was me. I knew it. Even my parents knew it. That’s why they were so mad at me. <br><br>I stayed with my grandparents for a while. When I decided to come home I told my parents that I wanted to switch rooms. I didn’t give them a reason. It was very strange and they tried to ask, but I just didn’t respond. My mom eventually started talking to me and asking me questions. I actually felt bad for not talking back to her. I should have been more considerate. I didn’t say anything until they were both satisfied that I was okay and ready to move on. <br><br>I’m not sure how much I actually remember about that night 10 years ago. I’ve always thought about it since then. Just random thoughts here and there. I really don’t know what to make of it. Some mornings I wake up and I realize that my mirror reflection is staring back at me. I just smile and say hello to myself, and then go on with my day. That’s life. I can’t change what happened in the past. All I can do is move on and try to be a better person.