It was night. Abigail was lying on her bed in the dark; she was supposed to be asleep, but how could she be? Ever since her conversation with Carli that afternoon had gone awry, she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that happened, everything that had gone wrong since she had come to this place. This retched place, where it seemed as if nothing could ever go right. Each memory that flashed through her mind pierced her heart and made her want to scream. Abigail’s life was so filled with loss now. And that’s all that Abigail was thinking about. Losing the seemingly unbreakable bond with her mother. Meeting, then losing Jake, the only person that really mattered to her at school. Losing her father, the solid rock that she never would’ve thought to see crumbled. Losing Carli, her best friend, the one she would always turn to. But not anymore, none of them existed anymore.
In her depressed state, Abigail wasn’t able to think logically, her brain had lost its ability to distinguish between reality and everything else. So she came to the conclusion that, all the horrible things that had happened, had happened because she was a bad person. She was being punished, simple as that. Maybe if she was a better person, she wouldn’t be suffering right now. If she had never, in her life lied, or forgotten to say “thank you”, or didn’t hold open the door for the person behind her, these things wouldn’t be happening. And there, as Abigail sat in the dark, with her thoughts, that same feeling of hatred at herself erupted inside of her, it was becoming more and more frequent now.
She fell asleep with these thoughts still fresh in her mind. And she dreamed.
~§~
She dreamed of a life that was the complete opposite as it was now. Jake was her best friend in school, Carli was her best friend back home. Her father was still alive, he visited every weekend. Her and her mother had never fought a day in their life and their bond was stronger than ever. There was no Cindy. Everything was wholesome and wonderful. But as it always is, just when everything seemed right, everything went wrong.
Cindy was the new girl this time, and she immediately stole away Jake, no problem. Then, Carli decided that she preferred friends “close to home” and stopped talking to Abigail all together. Her father didn’t die in her dream, but he abandoned her. Again. But not before he introduced Abigail to the child he had had with his new wife, he called her “the daughter he never had”. And instead of comforting her through it all, Abigail’s mother grew increasingly distant. It was everything that Abigail had dreaded most. There was no one left, no one to turn to. Abigail was alone. So alone.
The dream changed. She was in a darkened room, a single spotlight lit up a long mirror in the middle of the otherwise empty room. There was nothing she could do except look into the mirror, and when she did, what she saw made her cry out. A strangled, pitiful sound. Staring back at her in the mirror was a faceless image of herself. It was flickering as if the slightest ripple would make her disappear.
Abigail wanted to stop looking, but she couldn’t, the mirror seemed to command her to keep looking. There was a certain quality about it that drew her gaze towards it, like a moth to a flame. And then there was something, someone, a shadow of sorts, neither human nor spirit, in the background of her reflection in the mirror. Something about it made her feel on edge. She whipped around to get a better look at the intruder but when she stared hard at the place where it should’ve been, there was nothing. She turned back to look in the mirror in time to see the figure draw back its arm as if it were going to throw something. She blinked and its arm was lowered. It was then that Abigail could hear a high-pitched whistling, the sound of something breaking through the still air. And suddenly, something hit the mirror. In an instant, Abigail knew that the figure in the corner of the room had done it, for it was gone now. She watched as seven cracks snaked their way across the face of the mirror, distorting her reflection. And suddenly, Abigail felt a searing pain across her chest where her heart was, as if someone was slicing her open with a sword. Then another, and another, and then was nothing she could do to stop it, nothing she could to do defend herself. She screamed in pain, and didn’t stop screaming until it had happened a total of seven times. Seven, one for each crack in the mirror.
And suddenly, the figure was behind her, she could feel an ice cold draft where it stood. But as it had been before, when she turned to look over her shoulder, there was nothing, no one there. She watched in the mirror as the figure slowly raised its hand to its head and pulled back a sort of hood that had been concealing its face, or what should’ve been its face. Well it was a face, but it was the face of everyone that Abigail had lost. It morphed and changed from Carli to Jake, her mom, her dad. Abigail started to shake in fright, the seven slashes still burning deep inside of her. She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, this dream would be over, she would be back in her bed.
But when she opened them, she was still in the same room, with the same mirror, with the same seven cracks and the same shadowy figure standing by her side. Except now the figure only portrayed one face, Cindy’s. But when it spoke, it spoke with the voices of all her loved ones, as if they were contained inside of Cindy, under her power and rule.
“Who is Abigail?” the voices echoed throughout the room.
“Yes, who is Abigail?” The figure asked, in just Cindy’s voice this time. It turned to stare at Abigail, a piercing gaze that bored straight through her. And then "Cindy" smiled that fake smile that had haunted Abigail ever since she had met Cindy on her first day of school. And as the figure smiled, the mirror shattered, the pieces falling to the ground and exploding into sharp, miniscule shards. And then Abigail was on the ground, pain shooting up and down her body. It was unbearable. She didn’t understand why the dream hadn’t ended yet, she was the mirror, and it had shattered, so she should be shattered too.
But she saw it then, a single fragment still remained, and she braced herself as she saw it start to teeter on its edge. She watched it fall, as if it were happening in slow motion, and maybe it was. The moment it touched the floor, she screamed.
~§~
And she was awake, her heart pounding. She was drenched in sweat, tears streaming down her face. If it had been different circumstances, Abigail would just tell herself it was a dream, a nightmare even, but nothing more. But she couldn’t, not this time. Because everything that had happened had been real, in a way, and it made Abigail feel weak and vulnerable. But she knew that she would never forget that dream, not now, not ever. Because it was true. She was alone. She was the mirror. The broken, defenseless, misshapen girl depicted in the mirror was her too. And now, the question that had been bubbling under the surface all this time had been spoken aloud. She couldn’t get away from it now; it was pounding in her head, whispering in her ears, all around her. Who was she? Who was Abigail Scarlett?
YOU ARE READING
(You are Never) ALONE
Teen Fiction"Sometimes, when you're trying to find yourself, it takes more than just yourself to do it." It's a story about love, about hardships, about hope, but most of all about finding yourself especially when you never thought it was possible. Because ever...
