***She didn't know why
she was drawn to it.
In fact, the only thing
she knew for certain
about the mirror,
was that something
that ugly shouldn't
even exist.***

Alexandra Mason, or Alex, as her colleagues called her, stepped into her new house on Gulliver Street, Cambridge.
It was a too-big, double storey Victorian era styled building, complete with ivory pillars and wrought iron lanterns on the sides of the front door.

It was perfect.

Stepping over the threshold, she reached for the light switch, but when her hands met the pebbled surface of the wall, she remembered the estate agent telling her that she had to pull a string hanging from the chandelier in order to switch it on.

He had said it like it was a major inconvenience, but Alex didn't see it that way. She loved everything that indicated to the older times, and personally would've liked it even better if the chandelier was lit by candles.

She shuffled out of her black loafers in the dim light spilling through the door, and placed them neatly against the wall, before walking further into the dark entrance hall.

It was roomy, with a small umbrella stand in the corner, and a few wooden cabinets lining the far wall. When she reached the center of the room, she looked up, spotting the string easily, as it glowed like a bright pink worm in the darkness. It seemed someone stuck a glow-in-the-dark sticker on it, which Alex debated on peeling off.

She eventually decided to leave it, and gave the string a gentle tug. The light flickered behind the crystal, before brightening and bathing the room in a soft glow, the darkness slipping away like a wave in the tide.

Alex smiled, turning to scan the room in the light, but stopped short when she caught her reflection in a mirror above the cabinets. It was weird, but she was almost certain that she hadn't seen the mirror while checking the house.

Nor did the estate agent say anything about it. But then, why would he? To him, it was just a mirror. Intrigued, she walked towards it, examining the golden-bronze frame closely.

It was bigger than she had originally thought, and oval shaped. The reflection was spotless and clear, like looking into the unbroken surface of a lake.
The frame, which she had at first thought was a woven gold plaid, was actually..faces?

A frown creased her forehead as she ran her fingers over the intricately detailed carvings, which were indeed faces, twisted into horrific expressions of agony.
Right at the bottom, there was a small inscription; 'Hoc est Daemonium Speculum. Caveo.' Which Alex managed to translate with her limited knowledge, as; 'This is the Demon Mirror. Beware.'

She drew back with a shiver, and only then did she notice the head at the top of the mirror, just below the ceiling.

Contrary to the other faces, this one was definitely non-human.
It looked more like a demon, with long, twirling horns protruding from it's bald head. A hideous grin pulled it's lips upward, it's pupils thin and slanted, like that of a cats. Only Alex was quite sure no cat eyes she had seen looked that...malicious.

It's the ugliest thing she'd ever laid eyes on, and yet, she couldn't pull them away from the grinning face. It repulsed her, but drew her in at the same time.
She had the sudden, undeniable thirst to know more about this mirror, and the creature that sat, grinning atop it.

***

Alex yawned at the moth-eaten table, her chair creaking as she leaned back, sipping her morning tea and gazing out the kitchen window, at the dead tree in the courtyard.

She decided to get some gardening done after she returned from the school, where she spent her time teaching brainless teenagers history, (her favourite subject) despite the estate agent's many warnings that nothing ever grew here, or anywhere else up and down the street.
He even joked about it being called the 'dead street' since everything that was planted here eventually died.

But Alex had green fingers, and whatever she had grown on the country farm where her grandparents lived had thrived, blooming all over the place, and even got her into trouble a few times with her grandmother, who claimed that all she was doing was bringing bees into their house. So she'd had to limit her planting to things that didn't attract that many bees.

But now she could plant whatever she wanted. She already had her vegetable garden planned, and was working on a herb one.
She couldn't wait for the summer, when she saw her efforts come to fruit. It was her favourite time of the year; plucking the fruit and eating it that same morning.

She let out a wistful sigh and took another deep gulp of her tea, which was already cold, before looking down at her watch, startling when she realised that she had about five minutes to get to the school.
It took nine.

Still holding her teacup, she searched her pockets frantically for her car keys, her teeth snapping together when she came up empty.
She wracked her brain for where she might've put it, rushing to the hall to grab her coat.

Placing her teacup on the cabinet nearest to her, she slipped on her beige coat, still hanging from the hook where she'd left it the night before.
She turned to retrieve her cup, a sigh of relief escaping her when she saw her car keys beside it.

Snatching both, she slipped her keys into her pocket, before glancing up, to meet the reflection of herself in the mirror.
It's quite convenient, actually. She couldn't help thinking, as she straightened her short brown hair.

She gave herself a quick once over before running out the door and getting into her car.
While trying to navigate the early morning traffic, she had almost forgotten about her tea, sitting in the cupholder.
Picking it up, she took a sip, wincing when it touched her tongue.

It was boiling hot.

***