Reaper's Image Assignment

It has been a week and three days since dad left us. At least, according to mom he left us. “He loves you baby, never forget that. He loves you,” she muttered in between vodka soaked sobs. I could not handle listening to her anymore, so I excused myself from the couch and made the trek up to my room. Peace could be found there. That was just like her too, turning to the bottle rather than bucking up and moving on; or even considering the fact that he did not leave us, at least not intentionally.
Dad had always taken on every opportunity to obtain the best art. He even went as far to own his own gallery. So when the rare chance to take in the DeIver mirror from the Samuel Claggert Memorial came, he jumped on that quicker than a dog to a steak.
The day that thing arrived Dad insisted it should become apart of our decor, this would soon be something to regret.
I personally questioned why the private museum would not want to keep such a priceless antique. It was apparently worth a pretty good chunk of change, so why give it up?
“Mister Carlin, the owner, felt it was inappropriate to keep. He claims it is a haven for hell.”
”Are you serious?”
”Very, he claimed it has stolen too many lives and wants nothing to do with it any longer.”
“Wonderful, so let’s bring it home because that is what everyone does these days. Forget the dog or hot tub let’s sport the killer mirror!”
“You are such a comedian love, how would we get through the days without your brilliant sense of humor?”
The gaper itself was immaculate; there was no doubt about that. Hand crafted and bordered with wood, the reflection it gave off was three dimensional like. It was quite the mirror. However, something wasn’t right. It gave off this eerie feeling, some sort of deranged perception. Even the movers seemed out of ease while handling it. I almost wished they would drop it. Dad was equivalent to a little kid on Christmas day, his eyes beaming with joy.
“Oh! Be careful; watch your step, here come some stairs! If we could bring this to the living room that would be great!” The moment it entered though our front door, the whole atmosphere of the house morphed from welcoming to hellish
“What do you think babe?”
“You know how I feel about it.”
“Lila please, it is just a looking glass, imager, speculum, a mirror.”Stop getting yourself worked up over nothing honey; I promise there is nothing evil about this piece of glass.”
A smile had slipped from his lips that day; I could not help but feel the warmth and take comfort in it. Little did I know that his promise would be left broken and that smile would be lost forever.
Just as quickly as the men had come, they left and we three were left to gaze upon the “masterpiece”. Mom did not say much, she gave it a glimpse, complimented it, and went on about her day. I refused to actually look into it so I looked at what was by it. Dad though, he just stood there, in awe. Then his face turned from bright to disturbed.
“What is this? It’s damaged! Oh for Christ’s sweet sake, really?” His voice boomed with irritation and blood drew to his face making him turn slightly pink.”What is wrong with it?”
“Don’t you see that black splotch in the corner? God I thought there was only a small crack no one said anything about there being some sort of substance on it.””I don’t see anything dad…” I was only lying a little but in all reality there did not appear to be anything on the mirror, besides everything it reflected.”I am going to give Mister Carlin a call, this is ridiculous.”He made a quick stride to the kitchen hand already out to take grasp of the phone. With him out of the room it left me with the new wall accessory. Comfort evaporated away almost immediately and so I took my exit through the front door. Fresh air sounded like a god send and I really needed to be away from that thing. A few minutes went by and dad stormed out of the house, his black leather jacket at his side.”He didn’t answer so I am just going to go see him myself. I’ll be back in a little while love.”
“Bye daddy.”
An hour went by, and dad still wasn’t home. One hour turned into two and before we knew it, the clock struck midnight. This was not like him, to just leave and not give out any word as to where he was or when he would be home if he was running late. My stomach was in a knot and I could read the worry in mom’s eyes. Where was he? I snuck outside to steal a cigarette. Nothing else would bring calm to my world except the nicotine. The air had grown crisp and the sun was starting to peak from behind the Rocky Mountains. Mom had fallen asleep on the sofa, the lamp beside her left on. It was almost like it too was waiting for him to turn the lock on the door and walk in. But it never came.

The next day I made a phone call to Mister Carlin; perhaps he had seen or at least heard from dad. The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity until finally a raspy voice answered.”Hello?””Mister Carlin! Hi this Lila, Travis Kellick’s daughter.””Oh Lila! Hello dear how are you doing?””Ahh, I will be a little better if you could just answer a few questions for me.””Oh… what is on your mind?”
“My father, he never came home last night. He wanted to speak with about the DeIver mirror. It apparently had a splotch on it… He tried calling but there was no answer. So he came down to see you at the museum. Have you heard from him or seen him?Silence was all that came from the other end of the line. ”Mister Carlin?”There was still no word and a sense of aggravation lit up inside me. I wanted to know where my father was and this guy was possibly the last person he talked to. Why the hell was I not getting any answers?”Mister Carlin please, it is very important.””Lila… oh god.
“I don’t even know how to say this.””Spitting it out works.””The DeIver mirror, did he look into the DeIver mirror?””Of course he did, why would he not? He was practically in love with it.””Do you know the history of the monstrosity?””Somewhat… why?””It kills people Lila; it chooses people like picking names out of a hat. When they look in the mirror they see a flaw. Whether it be a crack or tape on it they see this and in some bizarre way it is like a symbol for the… the grim reaper. I think your father… he…”The phone fell to the floor and my body went into shock. There was no possible way that the stories were true. They were only superstitions, scare tactics. How in God’s name could some sort of demonic presence take over a mirror and target people like a sniper? This was nonsense, out of the norm. I hung up the phone and made more phone calls. I called every hospital in the Evergreen, Golden, and Conifer areas. He was not at any of them. I went as far to call every jail that was nearby, but no one had them. He had just disappeared. Poof, gone, out of sight, like a magic trick gone wrong. I could not bring myself to believe what Mister Carlin told me.
A few more days passed, but dad still never came home. Mom was sprawled out in the living room, draped over the couch like a fleece blanket. An empty glass lay tipped on its side by her open hand along with a bottle of McCormick’s that had a dash left in it. I gagged thinking about her throat tolerated it. Surprisingly she was still conscious. Her head jolted up and all I could hear was her breathing, heavy and slow. She cocked her head and had this dumbfounded expression across her face.”What the- Who the hell are you?”Alarm could be heard in her voice.”Lila! Where are you baby? Oh my god!” She fell from the sofa landing on the glass, I could hear it shatter beneath her and feel the fragments drive into her flesh. For the first time in my life, I saw my mother straight scared. ”Mom I’m right here it’s alright I’m here.” I took her in my arms and tears fell from here eyes, leaving a streak down her cheek.
“Didn’t you see that… please tell me I haven’t lost my mind I saw someone…? In the mirror I saw it!”I felt like a ton of bricks had just fell on me, and all the air to give me the capability to speak had left my lungs.”What did you see mom…?””A… A figure… In a black cloak…”
Oh Jesus… Not her too. ”I am going to look around the house baby. You stay right here, take the phone. If you see him… it whatever the hell that was.””NO! Please do not leave me mom please!””Lila please I will be right back I just want to check.”Stupidly, I did as she said. I listened intently to her footsteps as they trailed away. I sat there on the couch, waiting for her to come back. But she never did. My heart was broken. Everything I knew, had, and loved was gone. I was standing upon a pile of ruble that had once been my life and now I had nothing. The DeIver looking glass stole it from me. Whatever it was, whatever it wanted, had to be stopped. I retired to the garage and began to rummage through all of its components. There, I found a sledge hammer. Grasping onto its dirty, wooden handle, I lifted the 12 pound tool and made my way to the living room. I traced my eyes along the ground, studying the lines and marks on the floor, doing anything possible to not peer into the devil’s mirror. Slowly I raised the hammer, taking it at a curve like a baseball bat, and with one full swing I slammed the metal into it. Hundreds upon thousands of shards of glass flew through the air, breaking the quiescence of the room. I gathered up the broken pieces, frame and all and threw every last bit into the fire place. Dousing it in paint thinner. I was not going to let a centimeter of this survive. I watched it erupt into flames and the yellow and orange glows danced upon my face. It felt like peace and harmony had fallen all around. The looking glass was of no more, it did not bring back my beloved parents but it brought back a sense of humanity to me. I will never know how or why the mirror did what it did. What I do know though, is that evil does exist.