The Mirror Man

Mary Mershon didn’t like many things. She didn’t like the house she lived in, the woods that surrounded her house that was always eerily quiet, Mary didn’t like her family, but out of all these things, she hated her family the most.

Her two older brothers, James and Arthur, James who was twelve years old and had a fetish for pulling the wings of small innocent creatures, who also made it his life mission to make Mary as miserable as possible, for all throughout her childhood. Her eldest brother, Arthur, who had once locked Mary in the horse stables with the most ferocious stallion who had brought their deadly hooves down on Mary’s back, confining her to her bed for weeks.

Her mother paid no attention to her at all, always knitting or sewing away in her bedroom, telling the house-keeper to keep Mary out of her way. Her father, a man of unrestrained anger, hit Mary for the simplest things such as: not saying ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ or her dresses being too bright or when Mary’s private tutor told him that Mary was struggling with her work.

Her father always took James and Arthur’s sides when they wanted to ‘play’ with Mary. Her father always said, “if they hit you, then they have a good reason”. So, Mary desperately tried to avoid her wretched family by hiding in the attic or her wardrobe or in the small closet in the kitchen where the servants worked. But the stench of stale body odor and the overpowering heat was atrocious and made her hold a cloth to her nose until her curfew. The head cook, a large woman who was always covered in food and stank of body odor, terrified poor Mary. Always having a large dirty knife on her, the head cook scared everyone in the kitchen. Mary had picked up some curse words from the servants though, when they complained about the head cook.

One day, Mary was getting ready for going to sleep when she heard James and Arthur laughing and Mary panicked and hid in her wardrobe. The laughter became clearer and then her bedroom door opened. Mary held her breath, heart racing, not daring to move an inch. Mary could now hear footsteps and then Arthur spoke. “Did you hear about the Mirror Man?” asked Arthur and she heard James laugh. “Billy-Ray and Thomas showed me how to call it but the cowards wouldn’t do it in front of a mirror. His family think the Mirror Man is real” they both laughed and Mary risked a look and saw James and Arthur by her bed. Arthur was holding up a small rectangular box in his gloved hand. “Where’s our little sister? I want to kick something” whined James, picking up one of the cushions on her bed and Mary’s eyes widened. Was that her diary cushion? James frowned and shook her cushion and the diary fell out. A grin slowly spread on James’s face and he picked it up. “Our little sister has a diary” mocked James and Arthur laughed. “Such a pathetic thing to do.” Mary barely held back her gasp when James started to read it out loud. “Dear Diary, I have nothing to do except watch Thomas from my window! Oh, how I love him with all my heart!” Both brothers started laughing again and Mary felt the blood drain from her face. They had found her diary! And they were reading it! She had to stop them before they read about the – Mary’s thoughts were interrupted by more laughter from her villainous brothers. “She wants to marry Thomas! Ha! Can’t wait to show him this to him!” Mary, without thinking, burst out of the wardrobe, shouting, “NO!” Both brothers turned, startled and Mary immediately regretted her actions. Arthur held up her diary and a sly smile crept across his sharp face. “Wait till we show this to Thomas!” James grabbed Mary and shoved her against the wall and Mary rebounded from the wall, James slapped her so hard, Mary went flying, her cheek stinging, tears falling down her face. A shoe slammed into her belly and all air rushed out of her lungs and pain shot through her. James hauled her up and Mary closed her eyes at seeing his fist clenched and a sob broke through her and then- “WAIT! James if you punch her, everyone will know, and father might punish us if her face gets permanently damaged! “Arthur’s voice was low with a warning tone. James hesitated, then let go of Mary who wrapped her arms around her belly, breathing in deeply. Arthur suddenly clapped James on the shoulder. “What if she calls the Mirror Man?” James turned around and looked at Arthur. “What mirror?” questioned James and Arthur motioned towards the full-length one in the corner. “A full-length one should do” said James and grabbed Mary and dragged her over to the mirror and planted her in front of the mirror. “Say, ‘Mirror Man’ three times” ordered James and Arthur was grinning. Mary hesitated, and Arthur grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back until she howled in pain. “Say it now!” demanded Arthur and they stepped away, leaving Mary the only one in the mirror vision. “Mirror Man, Mirror Man, Mirror Man” sobbed Mary, holding her sore arm gingerly, terror stabbing at her heart.

Nothing happened.

Mary was then thrown to the ground and shoes started slamming into her and Mary screamed, curling up into a protective ball and Mary’s scream was cut short by a kick to her back. Mary howled in pain, sobbing. What did she do to deserve this? Why did she have to go through this? Why was this happening to her?

“What is that?” breathed Arthur, and the kicking stopped, but Mary didn’t dare look in case this was one of their tricks. There was the sound of footsteps and the whisper of fabric and then Mary covered her ears when her brothers started screaming, hot liquid splattering her. Mary kept her eyes shut, her heart nearly exploding from terror, her brothers still screaming, their screams ripping through her very soul. When the screaming finally stopped, a cold hand yanked Mary on to her back and Mary opened her eyes to come face to face with a hooded figure, holding an axe.

The screams of Mary’s family as they were slaughtered by the Mirror Man echoed throughout the woods.