It was Phil's fault, Dan thought. His boyfriend, being an extremely clumsy person, tripped over his own feet and landed on the floor with his elbow through Dan's bedroom mirror.
Dan was worried about his injured boyfriend, of course, but he really liked that mirror. So, when the pair walked around Tesco, Dan refused to purchase the mirrors Phil suggested just to spite the older man.
"Really, Dan, this one is exactly like your old one. This one just has a regular framed edge instead." But Dan wasn't cooperating.
"The color is all wrong," he waved his hand in dismissal. Phil rolled his eyes and walked over to a check-out counter to ask an employee for assistance.
Phil made a few hand gestures and mumbled something, but Dan couldn't hear much from across the isle. What Dan did hear, though, was something along the lines of annoying and captious. The assistant smiled and pointed to a particular mirror.
Phil disappeared and quickly reappeared, now holding a large mirror. Phil tripped slightly as he walked, and Dan couldn't help but chuckle quietly.
"There." There seemed to be a smug grin on Phil's face as he gently set the mirror down in front of Dan. "This is an exact replica of your previous one."
Dan scrunched his nose. "I don't like it."
Phil seemed to deflate a little. "It's literally exactly the same thing as your other one. No one can tell the difference."
"I can. One's shattered and the other is not."
"Just get the damn mirror," Phil growled.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. I was just joking."
Phil scowled. "Yeah, well, no sex for you tonight, then."
"Oi, that's harsh."
"I might change my mind if you, well, I don't know, carry this for me?" The darker-haired man batted his eyelashes cutely
"Oh, whatever. It's not even that heavy."
Dan was wrong. It was extremely heavy. Especially when you had to carry it up a flight of stairs. Hell, Dan could barely make it up the stairs normally. Adding extra weight didn't help.
By the time they both entered Dan's room, Dan was a sweating, panting mess. To Dan's dismay, Phil appeared to be enjoying Dan's torture.
Dan demanded that Phil should make the dinner tonightas Dan was currently wheezing on his bed from exercise.
After only recovering slightly, Dan turned towards the mirror. He placed it exactly where the old one used to be, and if it wasn't for the scar on Phil's elbow, there was hardly any proof that the shattered mirror even happened.
That's when he noticed a handprint on the lower left corner of the glass. He could have sworn he only touched the frame.
He got up and picked up some glass-cleaner, and sprayed it on the print. He swiped it off with a rag, but after the blue liquid was wiped off, the messy handprint still remained. Dan squinted, inspecting in closer. Dan was sure he didn't see the stain at Tesco.
He noticed his reflection was off. He glanced at his face, but it somehow seemed malicious. He smiled, thinking his scowl from trying to spite Phil earlier had somehow locked into place, but to his horror, his reflection remained malicious when he smiled.
He shook his head. He didn't know it was possible to hallucinate from exercise, but then again, he never did so he wouldn't know.
Dan lined his fingers with the handprint's on the mirror. His hand matched the size of the mirror's print. This was his handprint. He glanced up at his reflection.
"Hello, Daniel," the reflection greeted, inspecting his nails.
Dan dropped the cleaner on the floor, the contents in the bottle spilling out. He retracted his hand from the handprint but the evil reflection didn't seem to leave.
The reflection didn't say anything, but rolled his eyes and made a silent huff that Dan suspected was a scoff.
"Dan, are you okay?" Phil's distant voice could be heard.
"Yeah, fine. Just dropped the glass-cleaner," he called back, eyes still locked with the reflection's.
"And you made fun of me for being clumsy," Phil said. Phil didn't seem to be walking near Dan's room, to Dan's relief. He did not want Phil thinking he's a nutter for hallucinating.
Was it really just a hallucination, though? The reflection still seemed vicious.
"Hello?" Dan whispered to the reflection, hoping Phil couldn't hear. The reflection rolled his eyes and pointed to the handprint. Dan stared. The reflection pointed again, this time with more enthusiasm.
Dan understood what the reflection was trying to communicate, and he lined his hand with the handprint once more.
"You'd think that after over twenty years of seeing yourself in a mirror, you'd be used to your own features. Wouldn't blame you, though, you do look hideous," the reflection drawled.
Dan jumped back as if burned. The reflection raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Dan pressed his hand against the print.
"I understand you're not too bright, but come on. It's painfully obvious we can't communicate without lining your hand against the handprint."
Dan's eyes bulged. "Who are you?"
"I'm adding more emphasis on not too bright. I'm you, you dimwit. But stronger."
"I gather that much."
"Did you really?" The reflection actually seemed genuinely surprised. "Give me a prize."
"What do you want?" Dan snapped. The reflection shook his head.
"Temper, temper. Always straight-forward, aren't we?"
Dan growled lowly until the reflection held his hands up defensively.
"Alright, alright. What I want, Dan, is your life."
Dan stepped back and loosened his touch on the mirror, but didn't completely let go.
"Don't try to defend yourself, Dan. I know too much about your world and you know nothing about mine. It'll be entertaining to watch you. And trust me, I will be watching."
Dan had so many questions, but he couldn't even open his mouth before a sudden force pulled him closer to the mirror. Nearer and Nearer until he was falling through the mirror itself.
Bright light surrounded him, forcing him to close his eyes. It felt like he was staring at the sun, except maybe he was on the sun. Then the light died down and everything was dark. Black.
And suddenly Dan was falling. Maybe it wasn't everything was dark. Maybe he himself was dark.