Prompt(s): Mirror, Mask & Cover.
There were two possibilities. And only two, as far as Tyler was concerned.
The mirror was haunted.
Or... He was going insane.
Tyler did not like the idea of him going insane. Insanity, he felt, would not suit him well.
And so the mirror was haunted. It had to be.
It started in early fall. September sometime, when summer still clung to the air and leaves with a ferocity that caused many impromptu pool parties between him, Jenna, and Rosie.
He had stayed in on one of those days. New music was calling to him, so he braved the house's heat for the sake of his art. He had left Jenna and Rosie splashing in the pool, and had descended into the basement. Luckily, it was cooler down in the studio than the rest of the house, and as he flicked on the lights he was grateful for his past decision to make his studio in the basement.
He remembered walking past the mirror, just as he always did, thinking nothing of the way his reflection seemed to lag.
He remembered sitting down at his computer, putting his headphones on, and making sick beats. He remembered getting up an hour later to check on Jenna and Rosie, remembered the way he had paused this time in front of the mirror.
He had frowned, leaning forward slightly to take a closer look at the mirror. Something was off, though what exactly, he couldn't quite name. It was as though the refractions of light bouncing back toward him were not his own. He raised his hand, and his reflection had followed suit, but not in sync.
Whatever action he had taken, his reflection had repeated, seconds later. Smile? His reflection surely did smile back, but in a delayed manner, as though it was struggling through molasses. It was not... natural.
He had shaken the thought off just as quickly as it had come, however. Jenna was probably wondering where he was, and he wanted to see Rosie. Whatever oddity was occurring in the basement was surely something that could be resolved with some sleep.
The human mind is quite resilient, and quite stubborn, when it needs to be. And right now, even if Tyler did not know it consciously, his mind was being both stubborn and resilient. He gave it no more thought, instead returning to his family and enjoying the sunny day.
It wasn't until a week later that he noticed the reflection again, this time in the bathroom mirror. He had had plenty of sleep that night, so it wasn't a matter of sleep deprivation. And this mirror was a totally different one from the one he had in the basement, so perhaps it wasn't a question of haunting. That only left...
Insanity.
Great.
No. That was neither great, nor something he'd succumb so easily to. Not now. Not when he had a family and Josh and-
Josh.
If there was one person he knew could talk some sense into him, it was Josh. His reflection seemed to watch as he got out his cellphone, pressing the speed dial for Josh and waiting as the phone rang. He leaned forward once more as he waited for Josh to answer, frowning. It was strange. This time, his reflection seemed less clear. Almost like he was trying to stare at himself through a steamed up mirror, or a layer of water lay between them. It was blurred, ever so slightly.
He leaned closer, trying to see what could be betraying his vision. Nothing else was blurry, he could see the tile and the sink and even out the window to his left, so it was not a question of going blind.
He paused, eyeing himself in the mirror. The reflection seemed to be eyeing him back. And then it did the scariest thing yet.
It smiled.
But Tyler's lips hadn't even moved. In fact, he was frowning.
"Tyler, what's up?"
"Josh!" Tyler exclaimed, surprised. He jumped back from the mirror, and once again his reflection followed suit - but this time, it was perfectly in sync. No strange delay, not even a hesitation. He stared at it, and realized it was once again perfectly clear.
"I..." He shook his head. "You're in the area, right?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm in Columbus all of October... Why?"
"Do you think you could come over?"
Josh was silent for a moment. Then: "Yeah, sure, I'll be there in fifteen."
***
True to his word, Josh was standing in Tyler's basement fifteen minutes later, staring at the mirror. "I don't get it," he said at last.
"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.
"It's a mirror, Tyler. It shows our reflections," Josh said carefully.
"No, this was different. It... It wasn't my reflection. It was something else. It was me... but it wasn't me."
Josh looked at him, not quite sure if he believed his friend or not. He thought for a moment, then spoke again. "Okay, what do you want to do about it?"
Tyler shook his head. "I... I don't know," he admitted. "I just... I'm not crazy."
He whispered the last bit, looking defeated. Josh nodded, walking over to his friend and giving him a hug. When he pulled back, he looked Tyler in the eye. "Okay," he said. "We'll sleep down here tonight, and if anything weird happens you'll let me know."
"Okay," Tyler agreed.
***
The night came quicker than either would have expected. They had chosen to take shifts, sleeping for an hour or two before waking the other up.
It was late, well past midnight, when Tyler took his third shift. He watched Josh as he drifted off to sleep, peacefully unaware of the utter madness of this entire situation. If it weren't for the absurdity of it all, perhaps Tyler would have enjoyed this experience more. How long had it been since they'd last had a sleep over, after all? Sure, they slept in close quarters on a tour bus - but that was different. They hadn't had a proper sleep over, complete with Mario Kart and insane amounts of snacks in several years.
And now that they were as close to that as they'd ever been, it was because of some mental breakdown of his.
Tyler glared at the mirror. He could already see the face that glared back beginning to change, to blur and morph into something else. He watched, a mix of dread and fascination warring in his head, until he realized who it was that haunted him. Who it was that stared back at him.
Blurryface.
Well, Tyler realized, it was him. Tyler, but made up in his Blurryface persona, complete with black neck and hands, red beanie, and red eyes. He shuddered, but his reflection didn't so much as flinch. It stared at him, slowly cocking its head as it observed him.
"J-Josh..." Tyler choked out.
The Tyler-that-was-not-Tyler's face slowly cracked into a small, mischievous grin. Tyler turned to Josh, shaking him awake, and then turned quickly back to the mirror.
Blurryface was gone.
"W...What is it?" Josh asked groggily, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "What's wrong?"
Tyler stared, wide-eyed at the mirror in front of them. The Blurryface-Tyler was gone, but another figure stared back, more distant than that of Tyler's twin. Even with the figure's distance, he knew who it was. What it was.
"He... He was there. Staring at me. It... I don't think it was a reflection anymore. Josh, look-" Tyler whispered sharply.
He glanced at his friend, saw the surprise on his face as he, too, recognized the figure in the mirror. "Is that... Me?" He whispered back.
"I... I think so." Josh, red haired and red eye makeup smeared across his face, stood watching them in the mirror. Josh blinked, and so did his counterpart, with the same delay as before.
"Now do you believe me?" Tyler croaked.
Josh couldn't speak, he just nodded.
"I think it wants me. It... It wants me..." Tyler couldn't even speak, the words just stuck, spinning around and around his brain.
Suddenly, Josh stood, walking over to the mirror and grabbing the side of it. "Help me," he called to Tyler.
Tyler stood, grabbing the other side of the mirror. They pushed, slowly turning the mirror towards the wall. Once finished, they both fell back to their sleeping bags, staring at the back of the mirror.
"If we can't see it... If it's covered up, it can't get out," Tyler realized. "It's masked behind the wall."
Tyler glanced at Josh. "Right...?"
Josh nodded, a feeling of unease settling over both of them. They sat in their sleeping bags for some time, staring at the back of the mirror. Waiting. Listening. Praying that they were right.
Finally, Josh looked at Tyler. "Get some sleep," he said softly. "You look like you need it."
He was right, of course. Tyler nodded. "Are you... okay?"
Josh shrugged. "I'll be fine. I'll wake you if I need you."
"Okay..." Tyler replied. "And Josh...?"
"Hm?"
"Thank you," Tyler said. He reached out, squeezing his best friend's hand for a second before slipping back into his sleeping bag and drifting off.
***
The morning came. Tyler woke, the events of last night feeling like some sort of strange dream. He glanced at Josh, realizing that his friend hadn't woken him up again to take his turn watching the mirror.
But Josh wasn't there. His sleeping bag lay crumpled, next to his, just as it had been last night. Tyler frowned. Perhaps he had gone upstairs to help Jenna with breakfast. Both she and Josh had always been early risers, getting up far earlier than Tyler had ever been able to.
Tyler stood, stretching and taking the steps up from the basement two at a time, calling a good morning to Rosie and Jenna as he closed the basement door.
He did not see the man standing in the shadows, behind his computer and hidden between the speakers, mask pulled tightly over his face and black neck hidden by a black hoodie. The same hoodie Josh had worn the night before.
He did not see the mirror, now situated against the opposite wall, facing once more to the outside world. Uncovered. Unmasked.
He did not see the man in the mirror, banging desperately (but without any real effect) against the glass.
He did not see Josh trying to warn him.
He never saw Josh again.
ns 172.70.130.125da2