The Boy In The Mirror

Ten

The night had brought misery onto Hazeh, she repeatedly turned and cried in her bed so much that her parents heard her, but they decided to not interfere. Only demons wandered into her mind, replaying the memories she wished she could forget, reliving the experiences again and again. The storm was what finally woke her, unfortunately, storms weren't any better than her demons. Panting hard, she curled up into a tight ball and whimpered, the loud thunder only brought back the sounds and vibrations of bombs, the sharp lightning only brought back the sensation and fear of bullets. Her head was swirling, she knew she could never escape this curse of remembrance, the only exit is death. Looking at the window, part of her wanted to jump off but a quick memory of the bird and it's neck made her look away. Hazeh only wanted this to all stop just for a minute, to have a cleansing of what it could be like to have a normal mind, to not be able to break down into tears every minute of the day, to be able to smile freely without any force and to give and receive love. Her sobs became louder as she finally let go of herself.

Heavily sobbing, Hazeh swung her shaking legs over the bed and stood up, she pushed back the small cupboard she had used to hide the door and without hesitant she climbed inside. As soon as she was inside the light came on, but this time it was dim. Jimin was sitting down playing with a yoyo, until he heard Hazeh sniffle, his head snapped up and his smile fell. Not saying a word, Jimin sat down and rolled his yoyo away, he put his hand against the mirror and stared at Hazeh. Quietly, Hazeh walked to Jimin and sat in front of him. Smiling softly, she placed her delicate hand against the mirror, onto Jimin's. Silence filled the room, but it was neither uncomfortable or tense, Hazeh had stopped crying and Jimin had begun to smile again. Breaking the comfort, thunder broke out a loud roar, Hazeh squealed and pressed herself against the mirror. All Jimin wanted to do was to hold her, instead, he pressed himself as much as he could against her.

"What's wrong?"Jimin hushed Hazeh, his face full of pain and frustration. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I-I am scared, Jimin," Hazeh sobbed, her face etched with sadness and fear. "They're going to find me and take me back!"

"Who?" Jimin asked, wanting to comfort her with more than words. "Who is trying to get you?"

"Soldiers," Hazeh replied, wanting to be comforted with more than words. "If I go back I'll be killed."

"Why would anyone want to take you?" Jimin's eyebrows furrowed, he wanted to stroke her hair and lie to her that everything will be okay. "Why would anyone want to kill you?"

"Because my home is now infested with rats!" Hazeh cried, she wanted someone to put their hands through her hair and to make her believe that everything will be okay. "And those rats have bombs and guns and planes and bullets and-"

"Calm down," Jimin whispered, his hands clenching. "Talk to me."

"My family are from Syria, people came and killed most of us in our town. They don't care whether you're an elderly man or a newborn baby, they'll murder you in cold blood and tell themselves it was for Allah." Hazeh mumbled, her knees tightly closed into her chest. "It's not just them that will try and take me back, the British government might find us and send us back, even if we have all the paperwork they will find a reason."

"You will never go back there," Jimin told her, his head against the mirror. "Trust me."

"How can you be sure?" Hazeh snapped, her cheeks beginning to become sore. "Do you really think I can believe they're not on their way right now?"

"They're not coming for you," Jimin's hand releases itself and slides down the mirror. "You're safe, I promise."

"How can you let your promises break so easily?" Hazeh leant her head against the mirror. "How can you lie to me so surely?"

"I've lied before but this sure isn't one of the times." They're heads were only centimeters away, yet to both of them it felt like a universe was between them. "They will never find you nor your family as long as you live."

"You are such a bad liar," Hazeh laughed coldly. "I am not as gullible as you think, I don't believe unless there's proof."

"I don't have any proof except the future." Jimin answered, he wanted to tell her the truth but it would only end in more lies. "Can't you throw away your pride and trust me?"

Hazeh looked away from the floor to Jimin, she didn't know if it was the look in his eyes or that she was tired, he convinced her that he was trustworthy enough.

"I," Hazeh breathed in, not sure if she was making the correct decision. "I want to trust you, I will trust you, but if your promise breaks I'll hold you responsible."

"Of course," Jimin sighed, he was glad she trusted him. "I don't promise someone if I'm not completely sure."

"I'll take your word for it," Hazeh smiled slightly, she was glad she could trust someone. "I can't really do anything else, can I?"

"True," Jimin replied coolly. "Let's talk about something fun!"

"Your mind certainly changes quickly." Hazeh wiped the remainder of her tears and sat opposite Jimin. "My favourite topic to talk about is death."

"Well, aren't you a bright person to talk with." Jimin laughed, crossing his legs. "Okay, why do you like death so much when you fear it most?"

"Actually," Hazeh scrunched up her nose, in return Jimin did too. "Being interested in what scares you is completely normal."

"Death has always been a mystery to me I don't want to solve," Jimin stares at Hazeh. "But once in a while I dig up the clues and try to put the pieces together in the puzzle we call life."

"Isn't it exciting?" Hazeh's eyes lit up, it was the first time in years. "No one knows what's after life, as a child I was always scared I would come back to life as a vampire when I die after I got bit like a bat. I guess vampires are pretty cool, they live forever, they have powers and they sleep for however long they want, but vampires need to kill people to survive. My father was the one who sat me down one day and told me there were no such thing as vampires and that there's nothing to be scared of. If by any chance I do come back as a vampire after I die make sure to kill me. I feel as if death is an adventure into the unknown- wait, why are you crying?"

"You keep on talking about how you want me to kill you before you turn into a vampire after you die," Jimin laughed slightly and sniveled. "But I don't like thinking about you dead!"