The Lurking Reflection

In the heart of a bustling city, nestled in a quiet, old apartment building, lived a woman named Eliza. Her days were filled with the humdrum of office work, and her nights were a quiet respite from the chaos of the world outside. Eliza had always been a creature of habit, and her apartment was a sanctuary of order and routine.

One evening, as Eliza was putting away her groceries, she noticed a peculiar reflection in the kitchen mirror. It was a woman, her eyes wide with fear, and her expression contorted in a way that seemed to carry a message. Eliza's heart skipped a beat, but she dismissed it as a trick of the light. She was alone, and the reflection was just a trick of the shadows.

The next day, the reflection returned, this time in the bathroom mirror. The woman was different, yet the same. Her hair was longer, her clothes different, but her eyes and the fear in her expression were unmistakable. Eliza began to feel a strange sense of unease, as if she were being watched.

As the days passed, the reflections became more frequent and more intense. The woman's face was twisted with terror, and her eyes seemed to pierce through the glass. Eliza's life started to unravel. She couldn't concentrate at work, and her sleep was plagued by nightmares.

One night, Eliza decided to confront the reflection. She stood before the mirror, her heart pounding in her chest. The woman looked back at her, her eyes filled with a plea. "Help me," she whispered.

Eliza's mind raced. Who was this woman? Why was she appearing in her home? She reached out, touching the glass. The mirror shattered, sending shards of glass flying. The woman vanished, leaving behind a trail of blood that seemed to seep into the floorboards.

In the aftermath, Eliza's apartment was a mess. She cleaned up the glass and the blood, but the woman's presence lingered. She began to research the apartment building's history, hoping to find answers. She discovered that the building had once been a psychiatric hospital, and that the woman's name was Emily.

Emily had been a patient at the hospital, known for her sanity slipping away. She had been institutionalized for years, until one night, she vanished without a trace. Eliza realized that the woman in the mirror was a ghost, trapped in her apartment by some unseen force.

Eliza's life became a constant battle against the ghost. She would see her in the mirror, hear her whispering to her, and feel her presence as she moved through the apartment. Eliza tried everything to rid herself of the haunting, but nothing worked.

One night, as Eliza was lying in bed, the reflection appeared again. This time, she was different. Her eyes were no longer filled with fear, but with determination. "I need your help," she said.

Eliza was confused. "Help you with what?"

"I need you to find my body," Emily replied. "I can't rest until I'm buried properly."

Eliza knew that if she helped Emily, she would be freeing the ghost from her apartment. But what if it came back? She had to make a choice.

Eliza spent days searching the old hospital grounds, looking for Emily's remains. She finally found her, buried in an unmarked grave. As she placed a small cross over the grave, she felt a sense of relief.

The haunting stopped. The reflections in the mirrors were gone, and Eliza's apartment was once again a place of peace. But she couldn't shake the feeling that Emily's spirit was still with her, watching over her.

Eliza's life had changed forever. She had faced the darkness and come out the other side, but she knew that the past could always come back to haunt her. She had learned that some reflections are more than just a trick of the light—they are a window into the dark side of the soul.