On a certain Thursday morning in October, I discovered something unusual as I was standing at the sink. A swift, unaccountable motion caught my attention in the mirror as I was shaving. More specifically, the movement came from something reflected behind me. Although I was alone in my apartment, I paused and leaned forward. I noticed the vintage mirror in the reflection, which was at the foot of the large bed. The slightly upward angle showed the overhead light in my bedroom. I turned around, staring at the old mirror, then shrugged, deciding that the movement effect must be a pure illusion.
Maybe the light flickered.
When I finished shaving, I stepped into the bedroom. Passing by the mirror, I felt the hairs on my neck rise and I stopped again. A closer inspection showed me the big bathroom mirror through the doorways. Yet, the effect caught me off-guard. It looked exactly like staring at an endless, though diminishing, corridor.
Interesting infinity mirror effect!
As I gazed at the vintage piece, I chuckled to myself for getting the heebie-jeebies from a mirror made in the 50s. Angie found the piece covered with dust in an outbuilding at a dusty shop called Ganna’s. The vintage glass had a sticker on the back from a company we never heard of. My girlfriend claimed her research on the Internet found nothing about the odd style of mirror or the company.
I guess that’s why she got it for a song.
Still, I didn’t like the mirror’s location, still half covered in dust and abandoned at the foot of our bed. You could say Angie’s attention span didn’t last long after her initial impulsive purchases. She told me about her big plans for the mirror as I helped haul it out to her Mercedes. Of course, I smiled like an idiot since keeping her happy kept my life comfortable.
After getting out my clothing from the walk-in closet where I had a tiny corner for my storage, I looked over at her curves, barely hidden under the silk sheets. Angie had her back to me, peacefully sleeping even after all the noise I made. My morning routine seldom bothered her since she liked to stay up late for her show. A frown came to my face, but I shrugged and quickly got dressed. Then, as quietly as possible, I picked up the mirror and hauled it to the hallway.
Angie finally decided last night after her show, and she wanted the mirror near her desk. I thought the idea was dumb since her huge, but messy, desk was an old Victorian piece made of dark walnut. On the other hand, the oval mirror I sat down on the gray tile floor looked from the 50s. I think they called it mid-century modern. Looking into the reflection, I could see Angie’s leather couch next to the hallway off to one side. Her HD camera stood on a stand, connected to her gamer PC with the HDMI cable. I knew this since I worked with the camera, at times, and Angie complained about better shots coming from one of her rival’s shows.
It took little to figure out what she was doing. She wanted to show off her backside to the camera. The soft pink devices laying on the couch explained the purpose of her show. It was one reason we had the money to live in an expensive townhouse overlooking Boulder was her soft porn routine. Every night, Angie acted out her sex fantasies on a livestream with several thousand idiots paying to watch.
It wasn’t like I cared much. She got off on it for a couple of reasons. First, it pissed off her wealthy family. Not that they could do much. Angie’s a trust fund kid, so as long as I played the adorable beta male, I got regular sex while dressing in the best clothes and driving an expensive car. Second, her show gave her occasional hookups with porn stars she’s met. Hell, I didn’t care about that if I didn’t get a disease from it. After all, it left me time for my other girlfriends. Life is sweet among the wealthy, bored brats once you get inside their clique.
When I returned in the late afternoon, Angie was out of bed. Dressed in her sweats and tight t-shirt, she sat on her couch in the middle of the messy living room. The woman just finished working out with her dumbbell set. That’s why she looked hot, even with her blond bed-hair still showing along with a dash of sweat. I walked over and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you for moving my mirror,” she said before gulping down water from her bottle.
“That’s going to be a perfect spot.”
A smile came to her face as she walked over to her desk. Her cellphone was ringing with some rap song. She used the tune for her theme song on her show. I walked into the kitchen and listened to her brief conversation while getting a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge. Her sudden muffled voice told me one of her boyfriends was looking for some time.
Seriously girl, I don’t really care!
I got into her clique with my looks and the fact I could sell ice to an Eskimo. But it was a means to an end. Certainly nothing about love. I heard Angie say goodbye, and I started for the stairs.
“Rob, come in here. Hurry!”
With a scowl, I turned back to the living room, where I found her staring at the mirror.
“Something moved in there,” she said, pointing at the reflection.
The bad vibe I got earlier came back when I walked by that thing as I stepped next to her. Looking into the mirror, I saw us staring at our reflections. We both had a spooked expression, but I expected it. As I stood there, nothing moved.
“I swear, I thought I saw something right here,” she went to the silvered glass and pointed at a spot.
Angie crouched down to inspect the glass closer. From my angle, the spot showed the door leading to the basement. The door was closed, and I frowned. Certainly nothing appeared wrong about a closed door in the reflection. Turning to look over at the door by the stairs, I saw nothing out of order. I came over to look at the spot closer and felt my skin crawl.
Obviously, I’m spooking myself, I thought as I shook my head.
“You know, I think it’s something inside the backing. I thought I noticed an infinity mirror when I walked past it this morning.”
“What’s that?” She stood up.
“Oh, it’s one of those optical effect mirrors that has lights in it which seem to sink into the back, making it look like it’s going on forever. Kind of like looking into the abyss, I suppose.”
Angie frowned.
“That’s not what I saw. It was more like a movement.”
“OOOWOOO, we have ghosts,” I said in a spooky voice while raising my arms dramatically.
She glared at me, and I smirked while dropping my act.
“Listen, babe. It’s just an optical effect. Kind of like seeing something out of the corner of your eye. Spirits aren’t real, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Hell, you’ve got a new house, so no creepy vibes here unless we imagine it.”
I felt a buzz coming from my cell phone and pulled it from my pocket. Glancing down at a familiar number showing on the screen, I continued.
“Anyway, you need to shower, and I need to get dinner for you if you’re doing your show tonight. As a bonus, I’ll get your camera ready.”
Her face brightened when I reminded her about her pastime, which she considered a career. Angie came close and grabbed my belt.
“Why don’t you join me? We have plenty of time.”
Despite my need to follow up on the missed call on my phone, I agreed. Keeping my sugar momma happy is always my priority.
~~~
Over the next week, Angie told me about a few strange occurrences when she worked out in front of the mirror. Nothing frightening, she insisted, just strange. Just to double-check, I promised to look at several days of her streaming and I noticed nothing in the video.
A review of the chats coming from those idiots wasting their money to watch her revealed nothing either. Well, it’s not like they were looking at the mirror’s reflection. When I told Angie of my investigation, she frowned, then shrugged.
“Must be my imagination,” she replied uncertainly.
A couple of days later, I arrived home. Angie didn’t respond when I called out, which I thought odd since her car was in the driveway. But I figured someone dropped by and picked her up. That was until I passed her desk. Her cell phone was sitting on top of her desk.
She never leaves without that thing!
Calling out to the next floor, I waited, but there was no reply. I went up, but there was no one around. With a frown, I went down to the main level and opened the basement door.
“Angie, are you down there?”
After finding the area empty, I got nervous. Then it came to me.
A boyfriend showed up!
Sure, she just took off without her phone, I thought. When I got back upstairs, curiosity struck me, and I pulled out my tablet. Our house had a video on the front door and the living room as part of the security system.
Well, let’s see who your latest Romeo is.
Seriously, I’m not jealous. However, I have to protect my interests here, can’t have a rival push me out of the way. I pulled up the app and ran back the video feed from the front door. Then I cocked my head when I saw nobody coming to the front door after I left that morning.
Strange! Maybe a neighbor from the backyard?
Well, you can’t get past the living room, I decided with a grin. So, I brought up the video log from inside the house.
The tablet display showed me leaving the house, and about an hour later, Angie came down the stairs. She went to her desk while tapping away on her phone before setting the phone down where I found it. After checking the PC on the desk for a few minutes, she got up and did a few stretches in front of the mirror.
Angie turned away and picked up her dumbbells, then started her exercise routine. I watched it for a while, trying to figure out how to fast forward the video in the app. Then, I looked up, and she was gone from the screen.
“Crap, did I miss it?” I mumbled while using the cursor to move the bar back.
When I replayed the video, my eyes homed in on Angie. Unconsciously, I leaned forward. My girlfriend did a couple of curls, then she turned around like she heard something behind her. There’s no audio, so I couldn’t be sure. Still, her reaction showed me something caught her attention.
In the video, Angie initially backed up, while dropping the dumbbell. She glanced around, then sat the other weight down on the floor. I watched with growing interest as she appeared to call out to someone, looking upstairs. A moment later, she slowly took a step toward the mirror. Angie leaned sideways, getting another angle of the mirror before carefully lifting her hand and reaching out to touch the glass.
Then she disappeared.
“What the fuck!” My voice croaked out while hitting an octave higher.
Several rewinds later and slowing down as much as the software allowed, I saw Angie jerked inside the mirror. Well, nobody’s going to believe it, but my view definitely showed something coming out just as she vanished.
The chills going down my back weren’t coming from the air conditioning. Disbelief turned into shock, and eventually, I got up from the chair. Stepping over closer to the mirror, I carefully moved around side-to-side until I noticed something strange in the reflection.
In one particular spot, intricate patterns in the glass seemed to converge like a bundle of strings held together and stretching outwards. Gradually, I got up enough never to move closer. But the angle changed. I could no longer see the strange spot. It only appeared at certain angles.
Then, I discovered a part of the mirror didn’t even reflect anything at all. I continued staring as my brain scrambled for a logical explanation. As I glanced away, I saw some sort of movement. I twisted my neck back and finally, at a specific angle, the pattern thing once again caught my eye. The subtle motion was now clear and certain — like a spiral or a whirlwind, just on a smaller scale. With a little imagination, it looked like a tiny tornado or a cluster of fall leaves twirling in an eddy of wind on a flat lawn. While I stared, I realized the movements combined — one rotating around and around, while the other spiraled inward towards a point inside the glass.
“Holy crap!”
The words escaped, and I stepped back while taking deep breaths. Alarm bells rang out in my mind as I considered my options. I’m in a bind. Angie controls everything. I have access to some things like my credit card, but she’s the breadwinner. Worse, if I put in a missing person report on her, I’m the immediate prime suspect. Who the hell’s going to believe she disappeared in a mirror? I’ve seen the shows. Any freaking DA can get a grand jury to string me up on charges, even without a body. Don’t even get me started on justice. That’s only for those with money and connections in the USA. I’ve got nothing like that.
I’m so screwed!
My initial urge to look for plane tickets to Mexico immediately stopped when I knew I couldn’t survive long on a credit card. Stumbling back to the chair, I slid my fingers through my hair over and over until a desperate thought came to me.
Can I get her back?
Despite the ridiculous notion, I’m thinking logically here. If I accept the premise she went into the mirror, then it’s probably haunted, or cursed, or something along those lines. That doesn’t mean it’s one way. Yeah, it’s freaking crazy, but I’m out of options here. I can’t wait around in the hope she comes back or I’m just seeing things.
Going into the kitchen, I pulled out a bottle of beer. I flipped the lid on the counter after opening it and downed half the bottle in a couple of gulps. Walking back into the room, I made a wide arc around the mirror and moved the desk chair to the spot where I found the strange anomaly.
I sat there, adjusting my position until I found the intricate patterns again. Then I considered various plans to find out more about this cursed glass in front of me. By the time I finished the bottle, the vague outline of my next steps came together. I stared at the spot for another twenty minutes, but nothing appeared beyond the spiderweb effect as I called it.
Obviously, I didn’t sleep well overnight. I tried calling the shop where Angie discovered the mirror, but they were closed. I was up late researching anything related to mirrors and curses. All I got were a couple of vague creepypasta possibilities. I’m pretty sure I can discount those.
However, I crawled out of bed and checked the house for Angie, just to make sure she didn’t show up. Her car was still in the driveway and her phone had plenty of text messages. I replied to them, saying she was out, and left her phone at the house. That should buy me another day or two, but the pressure is on.
Arriving at the building right as they opened, I instantly remembered the old place. A large, hand-painted sign, Ganna’s Stuff, sat above the weathered awning. When I stepped inside, I encountered an unfamiliar woman sitting behind the counter. Her mesmerizing eyes looked up, and I stopped, unable to think for a few seconds. She stood and extended her hand. As she introduced herself, I shook her hand, finally coming out of my trance. The woman wore a black blouse along with tight tan slacks which revealed a body that made Angie’s look pedestrian. Her raven-like hair and pale complexion gave her a natural vamp look.
“What can I do for you?”
Her words made me grin, but then I remembered my predicament. After I explained Angie’s purchase, she nodded as I finished. When I questioned her about the mirror, she lifted her hand for me to stop. When she smiled, I felt a strange sense of relief. It made no sense.
“Wait, I have something for you.” She turned away and stepped past several boxes filled with items. My eyes followed her figure going into the darkness in the back.
“Yes, I was out that day,” she called out from the back of the room. “But we found something for you which was attached to the mirror.”
She came back to the counter holding a yellowed envelope. The woman handed it to me.
“Someone stapled this letter to the back of the mirror. We found it on the floor after you left that day.”
I took the letter, then gave her a confused expression. She smiled.
“Your girlfriend paid with cash, so we didn’t have an address. You can see the staples still embedded in the paper. It just rusted away over the years and fell off when my men moved it. It’s from the manufacturer since they shipped it directly. Kind of unusual for the time. I’m guessing you wanted provenance about your item.”
“Oh, I get it. Thanks.” I replied as I quickly tore open the envelope.
Inside, I found the original bill of sale.
“Say, do you know anything about this Sheol Company?” I showed her the paper.
The woman leaned over and I caught the whiff of musk. The scent made me want to get closer.
“Oh, yes. They only manufactured that mirror for a few months in the 50s. The 1953 North Sea flood destroyed the company offices in Denmark.” Her eyes met mine, and I noticed a twinkle as she told me more about the company.
A few minutes later, she answered my questions. Her macabre description of the disaster left me uneasy since I wasn’t wanting that information. However, the answers didn’t lead me to the reasons for my girlfriend’s disappearance. As I thought about it, I guess I was hoping against hope.
“Interesting. I wonder why Angie didn’t find that on the Internet?” I frowned as I mumbled out the question.
“Well, Rob, we have information about the past that isn’t available there,” she reached over and patted my forearm. “Sometimes, it’s difficult to find information about small companies. That mirror is quite unique. Your girlfriend got it for a song. Personally, I’m glad you came back. You should always keep the documentation with your mirror. That said, did something happen?”
I almost gasped at the question. When I caught her mischievous look, my brain froze.
“N — no, it’s just a spot — on the mirror that Angie… Well, she said something appeared to move,” I stammered out.
“Oh, I see,” the woman replied and leaned forward.
“Don’t worry, it’s not haunted!” She smiled. “You really shouldn’t cover it.”
“Yeah — um — I’ll remember,” I raised my eyebrows at the comment.
As I turned away after thanking her, she reached over and caught my sleeve.
“Rob, when you get back, I highly recommend you put that envelope back in the same place. And here’s my card. I’m sure you’ll want to call me soon.”
Taking her card, I looked it over. It had her name only. I flipped the card over, but nothing else was on the cardstock. Obviously, she knew nothing about marketing.
Katen Ganna
Without thinking about it, I walked away and placed it in the old envelope. While I caught the suggestive nature of her message, I wasn’t in a place to think about it. Angie was still gone, and I was running out of time.
When I returned to the house, I found more messages on Angie’s cell. My worries wrapped around me like lead weights, and I sat on the couch by the mirror. Looking at the envelope in my hand, Katen’s words came back to me.
Like I care about the provenance of the damn thing!
With a sigh, I pulled out the paper inside and looked over the bill. The language appeared to be Dutch, but I figured out the mirror sold for fifty bucks in 1953. Getting up, I walked to the mirror while stuffing the billing paper back into the envelope when I noticed something in the reflection.
The letter contained a red symbol on the back. Confused, I turned over the paper and found nothing. When I turned it back and lifted the paper to the mirror, the red symbol appeared again. I flipped the letter over again, shocked by the fact I couldn’t see it when I directly looked at the back of the paper. Curiosity got me and stepped forward while holding the back of the paper out toward the mirror.
The symbol reminded me of an old German flag I saw once in a museum. A two-headed eagle with wings spread, if I recall correctly. However, the red emblem I saw in the reflection looked far more sinister, with two-demonic human heads on the body of a winged serpent. As I stood there close to the mirror, I noticed what looked like blood flowing from the red emblem.
Shocked, I twisted over the letter but, again; I saw nothing on the paper. A sound coming from the mirror caught my attention, and I looked up. There, standing in the reflection, was a bleeding, naked woman. Her desperation filled her swollen face as she clawed at the glass.
Angie!
I reached for the reflection and a freezing pair of hands grabbed me. Instantly, I’m on the floor, fighting for my life, trying to hold off a snarling creature. I know it’s Angie, but it’s not. The thing I’m desperately trying to push away has a mouth with only four needle-like fangs trying to get to my neck. One of my hands grips her greasy hair while the other is holding on to the wrist that grabbed me.
The stench of the body odor struck me, and the face of my insane girlfriend pushed closer.
What the fuck happened to you? My mind screamed when I fully realized she wanted to kill me. I’m losing the battle as my arms shook from her strength. The drool coming from her teeth felt cold when it struck my neck. Just as Angie’s mouth closed in on my throat, I heard an enraged voice in the background.
“Verlassen Ihm!”
Instantly, Angie jumped away from me, retreating into the shadows.
As I lay there, trying to catch my breath while I stared at the partly hidden Angie. Her hungry gaze shook me. I suddenly realized I’m not in the living room. Instead, I’m lying on a cold black floor. The space around me is dark and I’m unable to see any walls. The only light comes from behind me. Glancing back, I see a long window showing the living room.
“Is that the mirror — what the fuck?” I struggled to sit up.
“As I expected, you discovered the gateway key,” a vaguely familiar voice came from the shadows.
As I turned my head, I noticed a woman’s figure step into the light coming from behind me. My focus on the four elongated fangs sticking out from the woman’s upper and lower lips made me almost not recognize her. But I couldn’t remember her name at the moment.
“Wh — the lady from the store?” I stammered out loud while backing away.
The creature continued to come closer, and I suddenly felt the cold glass as I pressed my back against the mirror.
“For a mortal, it’s a one-way trip inside my realm,” she smirked.
Those ugly teeth, looking razor sharp, made the chill on my back fill me inside.
“Are you a demon? What’s have you done to Angie?”
The woman sighed slightly as her eyes held mine.
“The woman is now mine, a pet to feed me. You’ll soon become like her soon enough.” She kneeled in front of me. “Although I’m not fond of having two pets. They’re troublesome when they continue to want blood. It’s such a waste of my time.”
The demon looked over at Angie.
“I suppose I could let you feed upon this man with me,” her tone sounded like a person speaking to a dog. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Watching in shock, Angie growled happily and came into the light on all fours. The fear keeping me quiet rose a notch more when I saw my girlfriend’s excited expression as he looked at me like a fancy dinner. I looked into the creature’s eyes and saw the stony stare of a hunter as her mouth opened. Desperation filled me as the reaper loomed over me when a trickle of an idea came through.
“I — I believe this pet can help you. Maybe we should chat before you bite into me. What’s your true name, master?” My best salesman’s voice finally came to me.
Leaning my head back against the glass of the mirror behind me, I gave her a tired smile, as I suspected my charisma wasn’t enough.
She’ll never go for it!
Her eyes widened slightly at my changed attitude, and she cocked her head slightly.
“Seriously, you’re unbelievably great and powerful.” I let out a forced exhale with my statement. “But I can give you more than a couple of pets.”
The woman gave me an odd look, then a sneer came to her contorted lips.
“Katen gives you a minute to speak.”
~~~
A few weeks later, a couple entered the front door of Ganna’s Stuff, I stepped out of the shadows, stepping to the counter.
“Let me know if you have questions on our items. This week we have a sale going on for our mirrors over on the north wall!”
The couple nodded appreciatively and started to look through the items on the shelves.
I stepped back into the shadows and closed my eyes while standing there. My sensitive hearing listened in on their conversation as I forced myself to remain calm. Katen was correct. The smell of their blood made my mouth water.
However, the couple is lucky today for I’m full, as is my master. Obviously, I made a deal with Katen, who rests inside the mirror that stands next to me. And I have big plans after learning the extent of her powers.
Katen Ganna was once called Aurinia the Seeress. Venerated by the ancient Germanic tribes as a seer who carried powers of foresight and prophecy. Her need for blood sacrifice could not stand against the increasing power of the Church, and they hunted her. The holy hypocrites called her a demon or a vampire. They were incorrect. In truth, Aurinia is a powerful witch. To escape her pursuers, she entered the demon realm through the reflections of an antique mirror. Katen Ganna only returned during the flood of 1953 in Denmark.
I learned the day she took my blood why demons and vampires can’t show their reflection in a mirror. It’s not what you think. A mirror is a one-way door into another realm. You can’t see your reflection in a door only you can open. My master discovered a way to use a cursed mirror salvaged from a tragic flood to re-enter our world.
With such knowledge, how could I not make a deal with her?
Over the years, the people who purchased the mirror would disappear just like Angie. They became substance pets for Katen, who would enter the world to buy the mirror back from the family of the missing people.
After realizing my master hung onto such a haphazard method to maintain her precarious existence in our world, I convinced her of a better way. When I invited several of Angie’s friends to our place, my master discovered my planning was pretty solid. Watching her rip out the throats of Angie’s sex partners provided me with entertainment, and it helped win over Katen to my plans.
Over the past week, I discovered my lovers provided prime sacrificial benefits for my master. Of course, I’ve gained from it as well since I’ve become like her. Our trade gave me power along with a paler complexion. That’s the reason I run the shop now. A master should remain happy and content without the worries of a business.
I’m such a wonderful boyfriend!
Angie’s appearance is back to normal with the proper spells and blood. She still does her streaming channel. But she remains a pet to provide nourishment any time for my master. She’s also a bed companion since Katen enjoyed Angie’s shows as she watched from behind the shadows.
Who knew that playing a beta character to a created the perfect setup for me? I have a few more ideas to really kick this thing off. My goal to support the greatest witch in history is to expand our supply of pets and increase our subordinates. After all, I intend to create more of my kind and have a choice of fine ladies with an interest in design and antiques. Our shop now has a wall filled with mirrors. Each mirror contains a spell from my master.
I find cursed mirrors a great opportunity.
As for the future, you might remember that mirrors are inside nearly every building in the world. Using my master’s abilities, you’ll see an increase in the number of missing people. It’s like giving a serial killer to key to your entire house.
Do you think a sorcerer might take advantage of that situation?
I certainly do.
FINIS
