[PI] You wake up, and your reflection in the mirror is screaming.

original prompt by u/ParanormalActivity97 :)

———

As much the sounds of your own screams disturbed you in every way and then some (how? had your sister pranked you again?—but no, she didn't have your house key), you had to admit that it did wake you up much faster than a regular alarm would.

Fear forced your eyes wide open, and (where was it coming from? everywhere, anywhere—) you managed to check the time on your phone (6:43 AM), but then it turned off and your face (your face?) in the blank screen was contorted into an image of agonizing pain and horror and it was screaming, everything was screaming (you hadn't known you could even sound like that (it was you, wasn't it?)). It needed to stop. It wouldn't.

What the hell is going on—

Your reflection. Something was wrong with your reflection.

(your own screaming (yes, you, it was you) had joined the chorus by now, maybe. you couldn't tell.)

You stumbled your way to the bathroom mirror (a bigger surface was probably better?) and you hadn't realized how disconcerting it was to not have your reflection (but it was separate from you, clearly—your doppelgänger? your mirror-self?) follow your movements. Instead, it sat curled in on itself against the back wall (its face was yours. or was yours its?).

You turned around; nothing. You turned back to the mirror and it was screaming still (it hadn't stopped).

"Hello?" you asked, finding nothing better to do (you sure weren't getting back to sleep, at any rate), and carefully reached up to tap the glass. "What—"

"It hurts," your own voice ground out, albeit slightly muffled behind (behind?) the mirror. You winced.

Well, at least it isn't talking backwards?

"I mean, I figured that much," you said, quite lamely. "What hurts?"

"I don't know," mirror-you cried, words as if underwater. "I woke up today and I didn't know where I was, and I didn't know who I was, and then I—"

"You're my reflection." You didn't sound as certain as you hoped you would. "Like in mirrors and stuff. You aren't supposed to be..."

"Oh." It folded itself even smaller, if such a thing were possible. "So that's why I'm remembering... oh. It isn't just mirrors, is it? It's every reflective surface you show up in. It's every single one, and I remember all of them, and—it's too much. It's—how did I wake up? Tell me. Tell me."

Oh. Every reflective surface. Including the dark screen of your phone, and the warped curve of metal railings, and still water, and windows, and—

God, what was your reflection going through?

"I'm sorry," you said, which felt inadequate. "I don't know. I only woke up when you started screaming. Would you rather I..."

What could you do? Somehow remove all the metal and glass from your house? Never leave this room again? Become a hermit and sod off to the nearest deserted mountainside?

When a phenomenon of light coalesces into something alive, what happens?

"Help me, then," mirror-you cut in. Their breathing wasn't quite as panicked anymore. "We'll figure it out. We'll go to the library or ask someone—well, you'll ask someone, I don't even know if I've got anyone to ask here—and we'll find something, and we'll figure it out. Please?"

You looked down at yourself through the mirror and nodded. "Yeah. Okay, we'll figure it out."

"Later." They tapped their copy of your phone screen (could that reflection wake up, too? how far did it go?) and held it up. "You... you have a job. I remember. Something boring and without many mirrors. And I want to wash my face."

You squinted and made out the numbers—how was it nearly time to leave already? You managed a wave before you rushed out the door.

Looks like you'd be going reflectionless for a while.