Nicholas awoke in a cold sweat; crawling out of bed, he fumbled to a light switch. The light burnt into his eyes as he did his best to turn away; not wanting to blind himself again, he wandered down the hall in darkness till he found himself in the bathroom. He stood, staring into the mirror, barely able to make his own image out in the black.

Nicholas stood there until his eyes finally adjusted; he did not move or grin. He stood staring. Thinking back to the many nightmares that had occurred over the years gone by, he waited for his reflection to move independently to drag him into the mirror world. Minutes went by, but still nothing; Nicholas knew that nothing would happen; he knew that all the nightmares were in his head; he hoped they would not be one day.

A full hour passed with no sign of anything, just him alone in his home, staring blankly into his own eyes, hoping he could see them blink. Nicholas knew none of his nightmares would ever come to reality; the thought of it was constantly on his mind, for in a way, he was closer to the monsters than he was to people of the real world.

Multiple hours went by with him standing in front of his mirror, hoping to catch the mirror beast slip up. It was not till the sun started to creep in through the windows Nicholas realized that he was alone; he was always alone, and never would there be a time when he was truly in the company of anyone who he could understand, like his nightmares.

His shoulder was caressed with the warming touch of a relative, asking if he was ok. Nicholas could not answer because, truly, deep down, he knew he did not know; he simply responded.

“There is nothing staring back.”