Bloody Mary in The Mirror

After Mary's Grandmother passed away, she inherited her silver hairbrush and matching mirror. Mary had played house with the set as a little girl. She had pretended she was all grown up, ready to go out on the town. She brushed her auburn curls with the beautiful silver brush while holding the matching mirror with her other hand.

''Mirror, mirror, in my hand. I'm going to marry the handsomest man.'' Mary would playfully chatter as she looked at her pretty face in the silver mirror.

Now Mary was twenty-one. She had just recently moved into her own apartment the week before. Her new job as a kelly girl was starting the next day. Alone in her apartment, she sat cross-legged on her pink bedspread, rummaging through the box of paraphinilia her mother had given her several years before, after the death of her beloved Grandmother.The box had been stored in the closet under the stairs at her parents house. Howver, when she moved out on her own, her mother reminded Mary to take the box of things with her.

First Mary came across some old cards and letters Mary had written herself, from summer camp as a child. Then there was the usual costume jewelry which was popular in the mid 1900's. Mary remembered the jewelry too. It was all part of her MIRROR, MIRROR game she had loved to play.

Mary slipped on the colorful jeweled necklace she had always loved. Then the matching bracelet. Finally, with the earrings clipped to her ears, Mary picked up the silver brush and mirror set. Holding it in front of her beautiful face, Mary recited her old poem.

''Mirror, Mirror, in my hand.I'm going to marry the most handsomest man.''

Suddenly, the face in the mirror was covered with blood. It was still Mary's face, but to Mary's horror, it had slash marks all over it, as if from a knife. Mary screamed and tossed the silver mirror on the floor, as if it were burning her fingers. Placing both of her hands, palms opened, on her cheeks. They felt wet and sticky. She was afraid to remove them to see if there was any blood on her palms. Instead she walked over to her dresser to gaze into the larger mirror. To her relief, Mary's face was clean and dry. Howver, the look of pure horror remained on her face.

Mary called her Mom. Her mother convinced Mary she was just tired and stressed out from adjusting to living on her own. Wanting this to be true, Mary then went to bed, hoping she would see things more clearly in the morning.

Mary did not show up for work the following day. Or the next! Her boss to be called Mary's mother. Her number was on the application as an emergency number. Remembering Mary's enthusiasm and eagerness to began her job, the boss felt something might be wrong.

Mary's father drove to her apartment complex, ready to argue with the manager to let him in Mary's ground floor apartment. However, he found it unlocked.In her bedroom, still under the pink bedspread, Mary was found, laying on her stomach. She had been slashed across her face several times, then stabbed to death. Her eyes were wide open, staring down at the silver mirror on the floor.

Was it possible that Mary's Grandmother was trying to send her a message, through the mirror itsself? A message warning her to lock her door and windows at night?

The End