Mirror Mere by Marie O'Regan

Everything was so bizarre.

“God, you really don’t know anything, do you? Where did you buy your mirror?”

“I didn’t. It was an anniversary...” She stopped then, as everything clicked into place. He smiled again, but it was a more predatory expression this time.

“Exactly. I bought mine myself, and I’ve been here for a while now, probably a couple of weeks.” He looked down at himself, or what was left of him, and his face wrinkled in disgust. “I don’t look too good now, do I?” There was no answer to that.

“There must be a way out. If we look together...”

“We will get absolutely nowhere. Believe me, I’ve tried.” He took pity on her, then, and started to explain. “The sisters trap people through their mirrors. I don’t know how they do it. I don’t know what they are; or how old they are. They feed off our energy, until we fade – and become those wraiths that lurk in the shadows here. Once that happens, we’re completely theirs.

The wraiths seem to do whatever they’re told.”

“You’ve seen them? Up close?”

“Yes, just once.”

“What did they say to you?” He had the decency to look a little ashamed of himself.

“Nothing. I turned a corner and there they were. I turned back around and ran like hell.”

“Didn’t they come after you?”

“They didn’t have to, did they? There’s nowhere to go. This place has so many twists and turns, but I don’t think they really lead anywhere.” He paused then, looked around, and his next words were so quiet he could have been talking to himself, as if he had forgotten she was there. “They laughed.

They knew it was only a matter of time before I was one of them.” He looked down at his hands, and then held them up so she could see them properly.

“That must be why you’re here. I don’t have long left. See?” His fingers didn’t look right, she noticed. They were very pale, of course, but it was more than that. They looked too long, too thin, and oddly flattened. He drew them back - 31 -