Demon in the Mirror

2. Chapter One

Chapter One

CHERYL squeezed her eyes closed in an attempt to shut out the outside world, but she still couldn’t shut out the music pumping through her mind. The incessant disco beat seemed to crowd her thoughts at the most inconvenient times. Her head pounded. She opened her eyes to see Adam and their new client, Janet, staring at her. They both looked concerned.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked. He walked over to her and put his hand on her arm as if steadying her.

She shook her head. “I just have a bit of a headache.” She looked at Adam, hoping he would understand. She didn’t want to tell a new client that a ghost had been harassing her with an annoying disco beat, and she’d been unable to concentrate on anything for what felt like weeks now. “I’m sorry.” She looked at Janet, who had a friendly, round face. “Continue with your story.”

Janet cleared her throat and twisted around, glancing behind her as if checking to make sure no one else was listening. “It’s hard to explain. To tell the truth, I feel like I’m a little batty.” She looked at the floor before making eye contact with Cheryl again. “I’ve been seeing strange things around the house, but I can’t really explain what they are because they always happen on the periphery of my vision. Maybe I’m imagining things. I’m not sure.” She tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. “The bathroom mirror has really been freaking me out recently. I keep covering it up, but when I go in there, the sheet I put over it is gone.”

“Why have you been covering the bathroom mirror?” Adam asked. He had let go of Cheryl’s arm now and stood next to her with his hands casually in the pockets of his khaki pants.

“I think I saw something in it. I’m not sure. Every time it happens so fast that...” She shifted on her feet. “Do you know how they used to put frames of disturbing images into scary movies? Rumor has it they did that with The Exorcist back when it first aired. That’s why people were so terrified. Women fainted, and people had to get up and leave the theater. It was because they had inserted single frames of much more disturbing images than what you were seeing on screen into the movie. Your conscious mind doesn’t pick up on it, but your subconscious does.” She paused for a moment as if giving them time to digest what she had just said. “Well, that’s kind of what has been happening to me, except it’s not a movie; it’s my real life. Every time I look in the mirror, I see flashes of something that isn’t my reflection.”

“What else are you seeing in the mirror?” Cheryl asked.

Janet pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “I’m not sure because it happens so quickly, but I think it’s a man. He’s scared, or he’s trapped. I don’t really know, but I do know that it terrifies me.”

The music in Cheryl’s head began to fade, and she was grateful for the relief. She couldn’t have her client’s story drowned out. Maybe now she would be able to sense something if there was actually paranormal activity in the house. She took a deep breath and looked around the crowded living room. It was packed full of dark wood furniture carved with intricate designs. Some of the pieces were quite nice, like the dark wood hutch that sat against the wall next to the front door. She liked the detailed carvings of flowers and vines trailing along its edges. There was too much furniture in the house for her taste, though. “Are all of these antiques?” she asked, trailing her hand along the top of a solid-looking dresser.

“Yes.” Janet smiled. “I just love old furniture. I can’t stop buying it.”

“Do you remember if the activity you describe happening in the house started after you bought an antique?” Cheryl asked.

Janet shook her head. “I haven’t bought anything since Frank’s been ill. Honestly, I don’t have the extra money, and”—she gestured around the room with open palms—“I don’t think I could fit anything else into this house. I should probably try to sell some of it.” She let out an uncomfortable laugh. “My husband would love that. Too bad...” Her words trailed off.

Adam took a step toward her and reached out a tentative hand before pulling it back as if realizing he shouldn’t be trying to physically comfort a stranger. “I’m so sorry about your husband’s illness. Did this strange activity in the house start when he got sick?”

She thought for a moment. “Yes, I think so. It started about the time he started hospice care.”

Adam nodded knowingly. “It’s times like these when you are emotionally vulnerable, or you have chaos in your life, that you are most susceptible to being haunted.” Adam looked at Cheryl, who had begun to wander around the room, looking at the various pieces of furniture. “Are you picking anything up?”

The way he asked the question made Cheryl laugh inside. Sometimes it was like she was an antenna searching for a certain radio frequency. She shook her head. “Are you?”

“Not yet.” He turned his gaze back to Janet. “That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s nothing here. Sometimes it takes a few visits before any spirits will show themselves to us.”

It all seemed so strange. When Cheryl ran away to Florida, she never imagined this would be how things would end up. She didn’t really even believe in ghosts, let alone think she would be communicating with them and dating someone who could see into parallel worlds. Life had become so strange.

Janet’s face flushed, and she turned her head to look behind her again. Cheryl wondered what she was checking. “I have been tired recently. Maybe this is all in my head.” Her voice broke, and she raised her hand to her mouth.

“That’s not what we’re saying,” Cheryl said. “Everything you’re experiencing could be real. We just haven’t seen it yet. That takes time, and we’ve only been in this room. Why don’t we go upstairs to the bathroom and take a look at that mirror that’s been giving you problems?”

Janet nodded her head, but her shoulders slumped. “Follow me.” She turned and walked toward the hall behind her.

The thumping of the music in Cheryl’s head stayed at an acceptable volume. It was quiet enough to be annoying but not so loud that it prevented her from working. She wished it would go away, but it had been relentless all day. She followed Janet through the living room to the back corridor with Adam close behind her. The staircase was off a small, dark hallway. To the left, the door to another room was open just a c***k, and Cheryl caught sight of the hospital bed where Janet’s husband lay resting. She could only see a sliver of the room—the top corner of the hospital bed and a bit of the spotted skin on his bald head. She fought the urge to reach her hand out and push the door open.

Noticing Cheryl looking into the room, Janet said, “He gave me a scare the other night, but it turned out to be nothing. He’s up and down a lot these days, but mostly down.”

Cheryl remained stopped in front of the door, looking into the room. “Have you noticed anything strange in his room?” She wanted so badly to go inside.

Janet started to speak, but changed her mind. Then she shook her head. “Do you need to look inside?” Before Cheryl could answer, she walked over and pushed the door all the way open. “How is he doing?” she asked the nurse who sat on the sofa at the far side of the room, reading a paperback novel.

The woman wore navy blue scrubs. She looked up from her book, her face stern. “He’s been sleeping.” She glanced at Cheryl and then at Adam before returning her gaze to her book.

Cheryl looked over at the thin man lying in bed, snoring. His light blue pajamas were draped across his skeletal frame. A thin, mint-colored blanket was pulled up to his shoulders. As she looked at him, she saw something behind him. A man so tall his head nearly touched the ceiling with long arms and a narrow face flickered into view for only a second before disappearing completely. Cheryl reached out and grabbed Adam’s arm. “Did you see that?”

The nurse looked up from her book.

Janet looked at the nurse, her face tense. “Sorry to bother you, we were just checking in on Frank.” She rushed Adam and Cheryl from the room.

“But I saw something in there. We need to check it out,” Cheryl said as she was shoved through the door.

“What did you see?” the nurse called from her place on the sofa.

“Nothing,” Janet replied over her shoulder as she rushed them from the room. She pulled the door closed and then leaned into Cheryl and Adam and whispered, “I haven’t told anyone. I would much rather you didn’t talk about this in front of the nurse or Frank.”

Cheryl wrinkled her face. “I need to talk to as many people as possible to make sure we know what’s going on. I saw something in that room. They both spend a lot of time in that room, so they might’ve experienced something too.”

Janet shook her head emphatically. “I realize I might be losing my mind. I don’t want anyone else to know. Frank is going through enough right now. He doesn’t need the burden of worrying about what his crazy wife is doing.” She spoke in a loud whisper. Determined, she walked past them to the stairs.

“If you really want us to help you, we need access to everything.” Adam knew just as well as Cheryl that limiting who they talked to or what rooms they could investigate might make this case impossible to wrap up. Cheryl wondered if he was thinking what she was thinking. They might not even be able to help Janet.

“Follow me. I’ll show you the bathroom.” She started up the steps without looking behind her to make sure they were following her.

The music in Cheryl’s head began to rise again. The thump-thump in her brain made her head ache. The music grew as if someone had turned up the volume to full. Cheryl stopped on the stairs and put her hand to her head. She closed her eyes again. When she opened them, Adam had stopped next to her and was looking at her. Janet was still walking up the stairs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Adam asked.

This time, Cheryl shook her head. “The music is so loud I can’t even think straight. I think I might need to wait in the car. I’m starting to feel a bit sick.”

“Janet,” Adam called up the stairs.

Janet stopped suddenly and turned around.

“Cheryl’s not feeling well and needs to wait in the car. I’m going to take her out there, and then I’ll come back in to see the bathroom.” He didn’t wait for Janet to answer before taking Cheryl by the arm and leading her down the stairs.

“I’m sorry,” Cheryl called to Janet.

Janet’s face softened. “You don’t have to sit in the hot car. You can wait in my living room.”

Cheryl didn’t want to wait in the cramped living room. She needed privacy in case she had another vision of the dance floor. The last thing she wanted was for them to come back downstairs and find her dancing in the living room. “That’s okay. I’d rather wait outside.” If her head wasn’t hurting so much and the music wasn’t playing so loudly, she might’ve tried to sneak another glance into the room where Janet’s husband lay sick. But she wasn’t feeling well enough for that, so she hurried past the door and walked with Adam outside.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay out here?” he asked as he handed her the car keys.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Her voice was weak, but that was all she could manage. “Just a few minutes alone in the car should help a lot.” How she wished that were true. The problem was that no matter how much time passed, she didn’t seem to be able to escape this. She needed to figure out what this ghost wanted so she could have her life back, but it was challenging when the ghost refused to talk to her. She’d have to make a better effort to communicate with him because she couldn’t live with this music in her head forever.

“There it is.” Janet nodded to the closed bathroom door. “I like to keep the door closed. It freaks me out a bit.”

“Do you mind?” Adam motioned to the door.

“That’s why we’re here.” She took a step back.

He turned the knob slowly, feeling a bit of trepidation himself. The door swung open to reveal a perfectly ordinary bathroom. A white sheet covered the mirror over the sink. He stepped inside. Humidity hung in the air, and the bathroom had a damp, earthy smell. Adam looked around, hoping to feel something, but nothing in the room made his senses tingle. “You usually see something in the mirror?” He pointed at the ghostly white sheet.

Janet nodded. She still hadn’t entered the room, but she cautiously stepped near the doorway. “Yes, that’s where I saw it. He shows up quickly, just for a split second. Long enough to scare me but not quite long enough to really register what he looks like.”

Adam wondered if it was the same ghost Cheryl had seen in Frank’s room. He wished she could be up here with him. He tugged the sheet, and it slid off the mirror and puddled into the sink. His reflection stared back at him. He stepped close to the mirror and leaned in, hoping to see the phenomenon Janet described. “How often do you see him?”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen him a few times.” She looked at Adam, and he noticed she refused to look at the reflection in the mirror. If she did, would she see something he couldn’t?

“Does it happen right away, or do you have to be looking at your reflection for a long time?”

Janet laughed. “Do I look like someone who would be looking at my reflection for a long time?”

Adam shrugged. “I’m just trying to find out what you see and when you see it.” He looked back at his reflection and waited.

Janet remained in the doorway with her hands gripping the doorjamb.

“Where are you?” he whispered at his reflection.

Nothing happened.

Adam picked up the sheet and covered the mirror again. “I’m going to set up some cameras around the house to see if they pick up anything unusual.”

Janet crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s fine, but you can’t set anything up in Frank’s room. I don’t want the nurses to think I’m spying on them.”

Adam grimaced. “Since that’s the room where Cheryl saw the ghost, it would be most useful for me to set the camera up in there.” He really did want to help her, but she was making this difficult. “Can’t you tell the nurses what’s going on or make up something else as an excuse?”

She shook her head. “I’d rather not.”

Aware of Cheryl waiting in the car, he decided not to argue with her about this point. “Okay. I’ll get the cameras, then.”

After all the equipment was set up, Adam got back into the car to find Cheryl sitting in the passenger seat with her head in her hands. “Is the music still going?”

She nodded but didn’t bother to look up at him.

“Is there anything I can do?”

She uncovered her face and looked at him with frustration in her eyes. “Find out what this ghost wants from me.”

“I wish I could.” He started the car.

Her phone lit up in her lap. She ignored the call. “I wish they would stop bothering me.” She put the phone in her purse and dropped it to the floor.

“Who?”

“Debt collectors, who else?” She frowned. “I didn’t have the money yesterday, so what makes them think I’m going to have it today or even tomorrow. I still don’t have it.” She shook her head as she spoke.

“I can help you out. If you need to borrow some money, I have some put away.” He had made this offer before and already knew what she would say.

“Borrowing money from you is still borrowing money. That’s what got me into this mess. I have to find a way out of it myself.”

“But if you borrow it from me, you won’t have to pay interest on it.” Jules, Adam’s sister, wouldn’t approve of him even offering to help Cheryl pay off her debts. She always told him that loaning money to a girlfriend would be a terrible mistake. He’d made this mistake before and never saw a dime back, but with Cheryl, things were different. They were business partners, and he had a feeling their relationship would last a very long time. He would gladly settle her debts to help her live a better life.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat. “My head hurts too much right now to think about money.”

“Okay, but you don’t have to suffer. I just want you to know the option is out there.”

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. “I know you’re trying to help me out, and I appreciate that, but I have to learn how to stand on my own two feet.” She parted her lips like she was about to say something, but then pressed them together without speaking.

“What?”

“I’ve spent most of my life feeling like I can’t get anything right. I’m the kind of person who keeps messing up again and again.” She sighed. “I got myself into this mess, and I want to get myself out.”

“But it isn’t all your fault. What about the part Mark played in all of this?”

“He didn’t make the decision to start a whole new life on a credit card.”

“No, but he put you into the position to have to make that decision.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and stared at him like she was thinking about something. “I guess you’re right. I still want to find a way out of this myself, though.”

Adam dropped her off at her apartment. He sat in his car and watched her walk into her building. Anyone watching would’ve mistaken the bounce in her step for a sign of joy, but Adam knew she was walking in time to the beat that had been tormenting her for too long now. He hoped one of them would be able to figure out how to stop the music in her head before it drove her insane.