Snippet #1485313

Hana was correct. No one, no normal family anyway, would put a mirror at the end of the hallway. Or ropes. The whole hallway just gave her a chill. She wasn't cold, yet her skin began to get goosebumps. The small hairs on the back of her neck, she could feel them raise. She wasn't shivering, but the whole room seemed to be a few degrees lower than the rest of the house. There was a static feeling, like something was pulling on her. Saiyu took a step away from the wall, inching forward carefully. Her gaze rested on the mirror at the end, watching herself move towards it slowly. She turned her head towards the rope that she was walking past. The girl did not want to get any more closer to those ropes than she already was.

Saiyu brought her attention back to the dust-coated mirror. The reflection was hazy, and at first, she thought she was just hallucinating when she saw the other person in the mirror. She was just imagining things, all of the people in the hallway, with the darkness and random streaks of light that were able to filter through the small circular windows at the top of the wall. With all the different values and shades in the room, it could easily trick the eye. Saiyu stopped moving, raising her flashlight up to the mirror. There was a human shape, tall, with arms extended out beside it, almost like something was supporting them. There was long black hair, shielding the eyes and reaching down to her elbows. She could make out the shape of a woman-like body, covered with a gray kimono. Ropes were tied around the woman's wrists and neck. As soon as she realized this, she knew right then that it was some illusion. The lights were just tricking her mind.

She was startled no more. She began forward yet again, lowering her flashlight as she weaved around the ropes. Only now a few feet away from the mirror, she halted very suddenly, focusing once again on the mirror. The woman, wasn't gone. She had moved away from a part of the hallway, gotten rid of some of the light and still, that shape was there. The woman in the mirror seemed to tilt her head questioningly, and then steadily, it began to warp. The figure got bigger, larger as it seemed that she was coming towards her. Saiyu glanced over her shoulder, checking it maybe the woman was over behind her, but no one was there except Hana, near one of the hanging ropes. Hastily, she checked the mirror again. The surface was in waves, like a pool of water once you touched it. It was rippling, as a single hand seemed to come through the glass of the mirror slowly, almost cautiously.

The rope from her wrist dangled down to the floor, and eventually the sleeve of the kimono was pushed out of the mirror as well, surrounded by more waves on the surface. Her black hair seemed to blow forward out of the mirror, like a breeze was pushing towards it. Saiyu opened her mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. All she could focus on was the milky white skin of the woman, the ropes around her neck and wrists, the dirty kimono stained with some other dark liquid. Blood was the first possibility that came to her mind.

Saiyu took a single step back, the heel of her foot slipping on the floor. She suddenly let out the breath she had been holding, as she fell to the ground with a loud 'thump'. The flashlight rolled away from her hand as she slammed onto the hardwood suddenly. She propped herself up onto her elbows, struggling to yank her foot away from the hole in the floor. The lace of her boot was caught on a sliver of wood leftover from the remaining board. She tugged suddenly, as hard as she could, and almost slid backwards from the force of it. The pale woman was out from the mirror completely. Saiyu felt light-headed and dizzy. Every thought that came to her mind was never there for long. She couldn't think straight, not with her flashlight, her only salvation, the only light in this darkness, rolling away from her down the hallway.

She scrambled to her feet hastily, leaning up against the wall to keep her balance as she watched the woman near. The mirror showed the reflection of all that was happening in the hallway, including the beam of the flashlight, still on. That was her only safety in the hallway, the one thing that she needed and wanted throughout this whole thing. It was a huge risk, but....

Suddenly, the brown-haired girl dove towards the ground, lashing out towards the flashlight when she neared it. She fumbled with in her grip for a moment before gripping onto it tightly. Without even meaning to, she rose to her feet suddenly. The bright beam swept across the hallway, right towards the woman coming towards them. Her outstretched arms were raised defensively across her face, and the woman seemed to retreat for a moment. The ropes around her hands faded. Saiyu moved backwards suddenly, towards the safety at the end of the hallway. She breathed out suddenly, the only thought on her mind being two words.

Get out!