The Mirror: Reflections Dark

I: Black Swan

Pain. The first thing Lee felt was pain. The yellow light in the old bathroom gives their features a haunting essence. Brown orbs stare back at them as the dark figure smiles. "Just let yourself fall," is all it said. "Be absorbed into the void." For a mere moment, both of them are quiet. The buzz of the almost burnt-out bulb in the ceiling is nearly annoying.

The sound grew louder, pulsating in Lee's ears as they locked eyes with their reflection in the mirror. "Lee!" Their mother's voice pierced through the room, causing them to startle. "The bus is waiting downstairs. Are you going to miss it again?" They quickly straightened up, clutching their bag tightly. "No, sorry, Mom," Lee replied, rushing past her. Her furrowed brows told them she was not pleased as they hurried to catch the bus.

"Have you seen him again? He's in your dreams, isn't he?" Her hand rests on Lee's bicep in a gentle, loving manner. "No, he's not. I'm fine, Mom.". She hesitates a moment before letting go and allowing them to go by. Lee rushes by and down the stairs. The cool air of the new spring day kisses their skin as they narrowly make it to the school bus. The bus ride isn't particularly loud or quiet. It is only seven in the morning. Their phone buzzes in their pocket, and as Lee picks it up to check, pain shoots through them for a moment. The black screen hadn't lit up fast enough. "Lee..." There it is again.

Lee's mouth opened to speak, yet their words were suddenly interrupted as the bus abruptly came to a stop. Lee, focus and go to class. He can't get you if you're in class. As they walked down the school hallways, their mind was filled with swirling thoughts. It almost felt like Lee was running. They could sense the darkness creeping up on me as my feet softly hit the floor, their worn-down Converse squeaking here and there. As Lee rounded the corner, they accidentally bumped into their biology teacher. She raises a brow slightly.

"Kalicon, were you just running?" Miss Gerald's tone is almost firm. "No, Ma'am, I wasn't.". She doesn't seem to believe Lee for a moment before letting them pass into her classroom. "Please take your seat. We will be watching a presentation on ecosystems and how they are affected by global warming." It doesn't take Lee long to find their seat by the window, the only proper source of light in the classroom when the lights aren't on. The chattering of the other teenagers around them is nearly as annoying as the buzzing of the bathroom light at home.

As the lights dim and the twenty-minute video starts playing on the projector, a student loudly addresses Miss Gerald. "Can we shut the curtains? I can't see from the sun's glare!". No. No, God. Please, don't shut the curtains. "Of course, but raise your hand next time. I don't tolerate blurting in my classroom.". Miss Gerald shuts the curtains, leaving the whiteboard to reflect
Lee's body slightly. Their heart races as sweat begins to form on their face. They can sense a presence next to them as Miss Gerald kneels by the desk. It's not her reflection on the whiteboard, though.

Miss Gerald's black eyes lock onto Lee's as she speaks softly. "You thought it was that easy, Lee?" With a swift movement, she retrieves their phone from their pocket, dims the brightness, and opens the camera. Before Lee can react, their consciousness is pulled to the back of their mind. Lee is floating in the sea of subconsciousness as the one they tried to hide flies past them
and sits in the chair of their self-control. What Lee fears most fronts and takes hold of their entire being while they're forced to watch. Trapped in their mind and unable to stop it. That sinister smile is the last thing Lee sees before being consumed by darkness.

***

Cicadas are loudly screaming disrupting the only peace of the humid, summer night. Lee sat next to their mother, Arizona Kalicon, on the porch of their new home. Boxes are still lining the floors on the inside of the house. The older woman had a glass of iced sweet tea in hand, and a book in the other. A crime novel she had bought earlier on their drive to their Iowa home. Arizona is wearing a light but extravagant blouse, with jeans, a pair of step-in sandals, and earrings that
look like they could be from Pandora, but are ripoffs from the fifteen-percent off section in Walmart. Arizona's curves are reflected by the way her jeans hug her hips, and the way the shoulders of the flowing shirt dip at a slight angle.

"Hey, Ma'?" Lee's voice was soft but had a hint of a rasp from the delayed changes that were stopped early on. Puberty blockers are a wonderful thing. They set their book down as they leaned forward a little, causing the porch of the older building to creak a little. Though it's more of an echoed whisper if anything. Arizona peeks over at her child, a hint of a dimple on her cheeks when she hears their voice. "Yes, love?". She puts her glass down on the flower coaster
she got out earlier from one of the boxes of kitchenware. "I thought you said you would never come back to Iowa, that the people in some areas are too judgmental?" Arizona looks a little off-put by the sudden question.

She sets her book in her lap before patting the seat beside her on the porch swing. Lee moves swiftly and quickly making the older woman chuckle at the eagerness of their child's need for physical contact. It's endearing really. She knows how hard it is for them to accept any form of contact if it's unwanted, Lee's been that way since they were young. Arizona takes a moment to
look at her baby. All she can do is admire how they've grown so fast. Lee's skin, a mix of caramel and milk chocolate, shines gently as the last bit of evening sunlight kisses it. Brown eyes now golden honey in the sun, a perfect nose bridge with a button nose at the end, and a perfect mixture of masculine and feminine features. Any parent would be jealous of how one could have a child as beautiful as Lee. She's wondering how a woman like herself could have a child who's
like Lee, they're nothing but the epitome of perfection. Arizona wasn't popular growing up.

She graduated early at the top of her class, was a first-generation college student like her father, and became a successful neuroscientist by the time she was thirty.
"We moved here because it's better than what we used to have. Especially with some of the politicians these days. I'd rather have my baby in a state where there's little to no chance of something happening to you. To us. Because if someone decides to show their hatred towards us, we're protected and can take legal action for the sake of our safety." she pauses for a moment. "Florida wasn't safe anymore. It never truly was. You could've been taken from me at any
moment if someone truly had that much hate in their heart. Unfortunately, there are people like that. I don't want that and God wouldn't want it either. That's not how God wants people to function. God wants love. Not hate.". Lee lets Arizona's words sit for a moment, her words swirl around in their mind.

"That's fair..." There's a moment of comfortable silence between the pair. Streetlights kick on as the sunlight dies out on the horizon. Cicadas scream out once more filling the quiet space making Arizona huff in annoyance. "Damn screamers, they just don't know when to keep quiet." Lee
cackles out for a minute enjoying their mom's hatred for the loud insects. "Jeez, Ma', when were you gonna say that you hate bugs with a passion?" Arizona rolls her eyes and gently flicks Lee's earlobe. "Hush it, little lamb. You don't like bugs either.". The pair's attention is caught by a delivery car pulling up to the front of the home. Lee jumps to their feet only for Arizona to clear her throat. She waves her card around for a moment, causing a sheepish smile to cross Lee's lips. They take the card with a dramatic bow and dash off to pay for the pizza, wings, breadsticks, and drinks Arizona had ordered for dinner that night. After four hours of unloading boxes, nobody
was in the mood to cook. Arizona shakes her head softly as she grabs both books, her glass, and coaster before heading inside to get out some paper plates she had gotten earlier in their drive to their new home.

"Don't drop anything, Lee! I'll make you eat it like the gremlin you are." Lee just waves her off as they carry everything in their arms. Arizona almost snorts as she watches Lee come up the steps through the window of the living room. The main area is quite large and has an almost Victorian-Era feeling. She's already smiling at the thought of how she's going to decorate for Halloween. Lee will be wearing a Victorian suit with a few touches that Lee would add on their own, while Arizona will be wearing a classical Victorian dress. One that would have frills that would be reminiscent of a nimbus cloud. The elegance it would take to pull off that kind of look wouldn't be easy. But Arizona knows she could do it in a heartbeat.