Vanity

Matthias Green

Matthias looked straight into his mirror and thought he looked stunning. He couldn't help it. He was attractive, by many people's standards. However, the irritating thing was that his personality was not nearly as great. In fact, he was what many people would label as a 'jerk'.

He was athletic, popular and had a gorgeous girlfriend, and consequently he was either fiercely envied or bitterly detested. On top of all that, he was a bully. And like a lot of bullies, he had his favourite victims. One of those victims just so happened to be me.

My name is Celeste, immortal sorceress and strong believer in (and enforcer of) fate and karma. However, I was going undercover at an American high school. Partly because I was bored. Mostly because I wanted to track down people like Matthias, and watch them. And make them pay dearly for their appalling deeds. 

So to the mortals at the school, my name was Annabelle Moore.

However, let's not go into that too deeply. This story is not primarily about me and I would hate to seem self-absorbed. I'm not the vain one in this story.

I was on my way to my last lesson that day when he crept up behind me and pulled hard on my backpack. A familiar feeling of anger crept into my chest and I turned to face him. He laughed humourlessly.

"Sorry Annie, did I hurt you?" he said sarcastically.

I smirked. I knew that I had a plan and that was the only thing stopping me from incinerating him on the spot.

"What're you smiling at? Is it because you know how awesome I am?"

"No," I said softly. "I wonder how 'awesome' you'll feel by this evening."

His features displayed utter confusion. I smiled subtly before turning my back on him. Goodness, this was going to be fun. 

I set to work immediately after. I gathered all the necessary ingredients for the potion and prepared my cauldron. And no, dear reader, I do not live in an underground lair, nor do I wear a pointed hat. I live in the vast vacuum that you mortals call 'Space'. The burden of needing to breathe does not apply to me.

The potion was ready within a matter of minutes. I willed myself back on Earth, made myself invisible, and followed Matthias home. 

He went straight to his bedroom, to my dismay. He didn't get changed, shower or sit on his bed. He stared into the mirror, admiring his appearance from every angle. It disgusted me. After staring for a considerable amount of time, I crept downstairs, where his mother was making dinner. I waited.

Finally, his mother called him downstairs. Before he could sit, I made sure to slip some of the potion in his drink. A smile played on my lips. Justice was finally going to be served. 

I followed him back up to his room. It was no surprise to me that he went straight for the mirror. I was practically beaming from ear to ear by now. 

Matthias twitched. Then squirmed. Then he started writhing on the floor. I made myself visible again and placed a sound barrier around the room. 

He started to transform. His head shrank. His legs turned into a tail and his features rearranged themselves.

I started to laugh. Blood poured out of his eyes like tears. His face was swollen in some places, yet wrinkled in others. 

But I didn't just twist his appearance— oh, no— I twisted his mind, his sanity, the very thing that made him human. I was laughing uncontrollably by that point— nothing was better than teaching a vile creature like him a lesson. Nothing.

He stopped writhing.

Matthias looked straight into his mirror and thought he looked stunning.