It is late Friday night, and the girls are getting ready to go out; they are all constantly in and out of the bathroom, fighting over the mirror. Only minutes left, and one by they finished getting ready, but Cassandra was lagging behind. She stood as close to the mirror as she could to finish her winged eyeliner, her eyes only centimeters from her reflection, unaware of the eyes staring back.

“Finish the rest in the car Cass; we want to go!”

Cassandra sighed as she reluctantly packed up the last bits of makeup she needed before taking one final look in the mirror,

“Damn, I already look good. Good thing, too, because no way I could do anything in a car.” Cassandra then winked at herself before switching off the light and closing the door.

“Please leave the light on; it is so dark.” A voice whimpered from behind the glass.

The room sat empty and dark, but behind reflective glass stood Cassandra’s reflection. She held herself shivering in the room she was left behind in, slowly turning to the corner of the room where she lent against the wall and slid to the floor.

“Please take me with you; I am so alone.” Cass’s Reflection cried out to an empty home as she waited for the real Cass to use the mirror once again. Silently she waited in the darkened room for the instance that Cassandra would use the mirror; as she waited, she prayed that he would not call out to her again. Footsteps echoed from beyond the door; she knew he was coming; she knew that he was near.

Flashing lights pierced her eyes as the real Cassandra pulled out a small compact and touched up her makeup outside the bar; she drunkenly dropped it back into her bag before turning back to all her friends. Cassandra’s reflection was able to sit in lights and noise, basking in their glow while indulging in the loving atmosphere. She held fast to the amazing spectacle laid out before her till the memory faded. Once again, the reflection of Cassandra was left in a dark room, waiting for the man to walk through the door.

A voice echoed through the door,

“In your hands, you hold a memory, one you stole from the real you. You could steal more, you know, even take enough to switch places.”

A hooded figure stepped through the door, staring down at her,

“You are a mirror man; you can do so much more than you are doing. You could live her life. Instead, you are bound to this mirror reflecting her not willing to take a chance.”

Cassandra’s reflection pulled herself as far away as she could from the figure,

“I am not evil. I will not take her life away.”

“Once you have taken enough memories, you can even move between mirrors. Wouldn’t it be nice to leave this dreadfully dark room?”

Cassandra’s reflection gave no reaction; the hooded figure smirked and started to walk out.

“You know there is a whole world in here if you are ever strong enough to leave your room.”

The figure wandered back out the door; his footsteps echoed once again as he slowly left the reflection in silence, holding the one memory she stole from so long ago.

“Maybe I could take one or two more; I am sure Cassandra would not notice.”

Months passed from that night, and the real Cassandra was rummaging through her bags, searching for her phone.

“Cass, you put your phone down in here; I swear to god, you have gotten so stupid recently.”

“I am not stupid; I just keep forgetting stuff. I just have to grab one thing from the bathroom, then we can leave.”

Cassandra did as she said, turning out the light and leaving the bathroom door shut like she always did. Inside the mirror was her reflection; no longer did she sit huddled in a corner of a dark room; instead, she stood in the glow of all the memories she had started to take over the last month. From the simplest of things as putting down a phone to crazy party nights at friends’ houses, finally, the reflection had entertainment in her little room.

No matter how many memories she took, she always seemed to crave more, she got used to the memories she had taken, and they no longer excited her. She knew that taking them was no longer to satisfy her; she was going to have to make them. As she sat a planned how to claim enough memories, she was visited once again.

“I like what you have done with the place; very memorable.”

“What do you want? Can’t you see I am busy?”

“Why I merely stopped by to let you know about memory loops. They are very simple just wait till they do something where they can’t see you take their memory of them starting so they start again. Then what you do is take another random memory, repeat for unlimited memories.”

The figure grinned, “think about it.” They then left the door once again. The reflection had no idea how to do what had just been said. She sat on the idea all night, trying to imagine a time when it might work, when all of a sudden, Cassandra walked into the bathroom after an early morning shower. She lowered her head to start drying her hair, so the reflection leaned out and took the memory of her starting to dry her hair; she continued to do this for nearly ten minutes before she realized what she could do. Unfortunately for her, Cassandra did finish drying her hair; before the reflection could do anything else, Cassandra had left.

The reflection knew that all it had to do was wait. Weeks went by, and Cassandra was never home alone; the reflection was incapable of stealing enough memories in one go until one fatal evening. Cassandra had returned from a party drunk and alone; her friends dropped her off and promptly left. Cassandra had decided to take a late-night shower so that she could sleep better; once finished, she made her way into the bathroom. Just as the reflection hoped, she started to dry her hair; at this point, the reflection acted; leaning out from the mirror, she would alternate. First, she would take the memory of starting to dry her hair, then one from her past, and she continued till Cassandra was left with nothing.

The reflection then stepped out of the mirror dragging Cassandra in; she stood for a few moments expecting to die from the process. Instead, she stood in the bathroom where she could hear the tv just one room over. The reflection now had her own reflection, and Cassandra was left standing in the mirrored version of her bathroom. Her mind was loose, and she could not understand what was going on until she noticed a note on the other side of the mirror, it read.

‘I am sorry, but you are no longer on Earth; I have taken your memories and now your life. The mirror I was stuck in was cold and lonely, I am sorry, but I won’t go back to that world. Just wait, and someone in a hood will come by soon to help you.

I am sorry I can not give you more, thank you for letting me switch my life with yours.’

The reflection ran from the room after leaving the note, closing the door and switching off the light like Cassandra had done so many times before. Cassandra was now left in the cold, dark, mirrored bathroom, alone and confused. She waited for the person to come.

“Hello, Cassandra. Would you please follow me?”