Reflection

I've waited so long for this day. Today I'll get even with him.

He's the cause of all my troubles: arguments with my parents, loneliness, failures at work—it's all his fault.

I didn't know how to resist him.

When I was little, he broke my toys and teased my elders, but I was always the one who got it. At school, he continued to exploit our similarities. One gesture, one word—and you're hated.

A month ago, I bought a knife at a hunting store.

When I left my parents' house, I thought I'd parted with him forever. I took out all the mirrors and learned to shave by touch, just to avoid seeing his face. But he wouldn't leave me alone. He stalked me, appeared seemingly by accident, and began to ruin my life. He used every opportunity to scare away the few friends I had. I tried to drive him away, but he was too strong.

 Yesterday I bought a mirror and hung it in the main room. For the first time in years, I smiled at my reflection and covered it with a sheet. It wasn't time yet.

It started with little things. My parents would turn away, he'd stick out his tongue, twirl his finger at his temple, and make funny faces. On my ninth birthday, he broke a window, blaming it all on me. When the guests arrived, they were told I was sick and couldn't come to the table. I sat locked in a dark room and cried, while he sat next to me and laughed. He managed to ruin every birthday since then, too.

I pulled out a knife. It didn't need sharpening. There was only half an hour left until the meeting.

When I was fifteen, he scared Karina so much that she started hiding and avoiding me. That didn't make me any more popular at school.

And all these years, I couldn't hide so he could never find me. Something kept us together—whenever I moved to another city, he'd always appear there.

I stood up, turned on the light, and pulled the sheet off the mirror. It was time. My reflection sat in a nearly empty room. A chair, a lamp, and something covered with a blanket on the sofa—my gift to him. I waited.

Maybe a minute passed, maybe ten—today it didn't matter. Bored, I scratched my cheek with a knife, my hand jerked awkwardly, and I cut myself.

A ripple ran across the mirror; I was no longer there. Although a stranger wouldn't have noticed the difference; he was thinner, his eyes were lighter. If you looked closely, you could find hundreds of differences, but he didn't give anyone time to notice. He'd appear, ruin my life, and then leave.

My weakness was that we were too similar. He smiled, about to step out of the mirror. I took out a knife and ran it down my left arm, cutting the skin. A glint of laughter appeared in his eyes. Weapons don't harm him, neither silver nor steel; I've already tried them. Maybe he thought I was threatening to end my life. Most likely, that's what he was trying to achieve, constantly pushing me to the edge.

But I knew my death wasn't his weak point. With my left hand, stained with blood, I pulled back the blanket. His foot was almost touching the floor of this room when he froze. I approached Lena; she was sleeping. The drugs were still wearing off, which was for the best: I didn't want to frighten her further. I carefully cut the skin, dipped my fingers in the blood, and turned to the mirror.

It's simple. The monster that has hunted me since childhood fears blood. Not my blood. It needs the blood of people in whose lives I mean something—maybe that's why he tried so hard to drive my friends away. 

I ran my fingers across my face, leaving red streaks, and stepped toward the mirror. This was the first step to my victory.

When I finished, the stranger in the mirror lay against the wall, trembling slightly. The connection that had kept me from hiding was now working against him. He paced the room, trying to hide in a corner and turn away, but something drew him toward me. Again and again, he turned, and I simply had to be ready.

One or two more battles like this, and I will be free.

It's a shame Lena couldn't hold out until the end. I'll need more blood. No matter—while the creature in the mirror hides from me, I'll find new friends. It's so simple—smile at a stranger, come up to them, and say, "Hello."

I don't need much. Once or twice, and I'll be free and stop doing this.

Probably.