Two hours away, John sat on his front porch with a coffee in his left hand, his cell phone laying on the table next to his chair. It had been two days since he heard from Greg and Laura and he was starting to worry. He knew how excited they had been to move into their new house and Greg was supposed to call him once they got there but now there was nothing but radio silence and it did not feel right. He finished his coffee and headed back inside, packing a small bag, left a note for his wife and headed out to his car. The drive was intense as he gripped the steering wheel, frantic thoughts running through his mind as he tried to focus on the road. When he finally pulled into the driveway, he saw that their car was still there with the trailer still attached to the back of it. He parked carefully behind the trailer and got out. As he looked around he caught a glimpse of the neighbors curtain twitching then turned his gaze back to the front of their house. He walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door but there was no answer.”Greg? Laura?” he shouted. “ This isn’t funny.” From inside the mirror they could hear him calling their names but there was nothing they could do to get his attention. He walked around the side of the house to where the living room window overlooked the side of the house and leaned in close and saw scattered boxes on the floors and something covered in the corner but he was not sure what it was. He banged on the glass but it felt like he had hit his fist against a brick wall.
Greg and Laura ran to the living room window inside the mirror, pressing their faces up against it hoping that John would see them but all he saw was his own reflection. Confused he walked back to the front of the house and stood there and that is when he heard it. It was the faint click of the deadbolt on the front door being slid out of place. He gripped his phone tightly in his hand, hesitant but determined. Grasping onto the door knob he slowly turned it and pushed the heavy oak door open, hearing it groan as if it had never been oiled. He stepped inside and the house was eerily quiet, too quiet. He reached up and ran his right hand through his hair as he headed into the living room where he saw the scattered boxes through the window and stopped as he saw a sheet covering what appeared to be a large mirror. It seemed like an odd object to be in the house since he knew his brother and wife did not own such a monstrosity of a mirror and as he stepped closer to it he could see that it was securely bolted to the wall.
Greg and Laura screamed till their voices were raw, banging against the glass seeing John standing there in front of them but right now all he could see was the sheet that was covering it. He was not very trusting of things he did not understand so when he saw the paper attached to it, he grabbed it and slowly opened it. “Do not touch the glass” was the first line on it. The second one sent chills down his spine “Welcome home” The note had not been written by a human hand. The ink seemed dark and the words seemed to vibrate on the page. This is not something that they would have left behind and if they did it seemed like a horrible prank to be playing on him. The words on the page suddenly disappear and he hears the sound of the dead bolt as it is clicked back into place. He dropped the paper and rushed to the front door, struggling with the lock and the knob but neither would budge. “This isn’t funny guys” he shouted before he ran back into the living room and picked up the poker from the fireplace and ran at the window, swinging it as hard as he could.The glass rippled but it felt like he tried to break a concrete wall forcing him to drop the poker on the floor. Panting, almost out of breath he looked back at the sheet once more. “I am sick of these games” he muttered to himself as he grabbed the edge of the sheet and tore it off the mirror, letting it pool on the floor at his feet.
He staggers back as he looks at the glass which was pitch black and swirling, focusing his eyes on it till his mouth dropped open a look of complete shock and horror as he could finally see two images inside of it. It was Greg and Laura and their mouths were moving but he could not hear what they were saying. His first instinct was to reach out to them and he reached both hands out ready to touch the glass but then the note flashed across his mind about not touching the glass and he stopped, his hands mere inches away from it. The note said he could not touch it but it did not say it could not be broken. He was on a mission to save them. He ran through the house searching every crook and crevice till he found something that might help. The glass could not be touched and if it was like the living room window, simply hitting it with something would not accomplish much. Tucked away in the back of a drawer in the kitchen he found a small screw driver and he knew what he had to do. It was risky and he knew that he might lose them forever but he did not have a choice. Returning to the living room he got to work and started with the first screw that held the massive mirror in place, being careful not to touch the glass. The bolts were large and the task was intense, each turn of the screwdriver caused the glass to bubble and hiss as if it was trying to scare him into backing off. It felt like hours which it probably had been but he was focused and he was finally working on the last one when he heard the all too familiar click of the deadbolt. He did not look up because he knew deep down that if he stopped there might not be any hope left for them.
“You really shouldn't be messing with that. It is part of the foundation of the home”a voice spoke, one that was not familiar to him but was to Greg and Laura. They stepped back into the void and covered their ears, eyes wide as the grin on the agent's face grew unnaturally wide. John turned to look at it, his hand the only thing keeping the mirror upright. He saw how black her eyes were, unblinking, the mouth now painfully wide open and he knew what he had to do. He pushed the mirror forward then jumped out of the way as it hit the ground with a crashing sound, the frame around the glass splintering. When it hit the floor it did not morph, it did not repair itself, it shattered into a thousand little pieces and the agent let out an inhuman blood curling scream that filled the air. The trap it had so meticulously devised was now destroyed. The face contorted into a hideous monstrosity and John covered his head as he lay on the floor afraid to look any longer. Everything in the house went black for a few moments then light slowly began to stream through the windows and John could hear coughing. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Greg and Laura sprawled out on the floor where the shattered glass used to be and now it was only them. The remnants of the mirror had vanished along with the agent.
They all struggled to their feet and for a brief moment they just stared at each other. It was Laura who was the first to find her voice.” John, how did you know..” her voice was hoarse and it trailed off but he knew what she was asking. “ I remembered the note. It said I could not touch the glass but it did not say I couldn't break the damn thing” They looked around the house briefly before John spoke again.” I don’t know what happened but we need to get out of here before whatever that thing is returned.” They did not care about the few boxes they had already brought into the house because it all could easily be replaced. They rushed out the front door leaving it wide open and John jumped into his car and they got into theirs. The tires peeled as they pulled out of the driveway, heading down the road towards John's house where he offered to let them stay til they were able to figure things out.
Back at the house, the silence was broken by the sound of the door closing which no one was there to hear or notice. The curtain of the neighbors window fluttered as a shadow passed in front of it. The soft click of heels against the hardwood floors as some one or something entered the living room unnoticed. There was movement of a heavy object being dragged then soft persistent banging before there was silence. In the corner of the living room, a sheet now covered yet another mirror with a simple note attached to it "Don' t touch the glass”
Greg and Laura were lucky and managed to escape but the foundation still needed to get stronger. They were 2 hours away from the nightmare, from the house of their dreams that tried to swallow them and they would do their best to move on from the hell they had been put through.
The house though…it was waiting.
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