Clock Tower: Ghost Head
Just Look In The Mirror
It didn't seem to matter what she did, Yu just couldn't stop crying. It had started the moment she had thrown the door to the upstairs bathroom closed, a sudden, crippling surge of emotion that left her curled up and weak on the tiled floor. Tears streamed from her eyes and her entire body shook with adrenaline and fear. But she held her sobbing tightly inside her chest, terrified to make even the slightest noise, in case they heard her.
She wasn't sure how it had happened, but the whole house had gone insane. A normal day at school had turned into a nightmare the moment she had stepped through the door, and now her home had become an abattoir. It had only been a couple of hours - three at most - but already she had forgotten what it was like to feel safe. This place was strange and dangerous to her now.
She thought back to times past, when the only darkness she had feared had been within her own mind, a savage, bloodthirsty spectre - one she had named Bates - lurking just out of sight. When she'd been a child, her father had assumed an imaginary friend. As she grew older, the doctors diagnosed a multiple personality - a dangerous multiple personality. They hadn't been able to fix her, but a friend of her father had given him a paper charm that seemed to keep the monster at bay.
But now his madness seemed to have been projected onto the family she had been staying with. Now they were stalking the corridors, baying for her blood, voices raised in shrieks or lowered in sinister whispers.
She couldn't hope to survive. They were trying to kill her, but they had been as close to her as her father. There was only so long she could run and hide before they cornered her, and then how could she fight them? They were strong and relentless, and wore the faces of those she loved, no matter how much she told herself that they were no longer those people.
A thought came to her though. What was it they said? Fight fire with...
She pulled herself up, using the basin as a prop, and looked into the mirror. Her own reflection stared back at her, eyes ringed darkly, messy hair hanging loose around her head, clothing ruffled and ripped. There was a wild, hunted look in her gaze. Knowing what she had to do, she reached to the charm around her neck and held it out in front of her. Then, with trembling fingers, she took it by its ends and, squeezing her eyes shut, tears beading once more at their corners for what she was about to do, ripped it in half.
And nothing happened.
Surprised, Yu opened her eyes to look around, and found herself staring into a face that was not her own. She recoiled, slamming into the bathroom wall, but her reflection didn't move. It simply watched her, crimson eyes fixed on her own. It wore her blazer, tie and shirt; it had her dark, unkempt hair, but its jaw was firmer, stronger, more masculine, and there was a cold confidence in its gaze.
"Bates," she whispered, keeping her voice low, half in fear of being heard, half in fear of him.
"Miss me?" he asked, his thin lips curling up in a bloodless smirk, "you're more beautiful than ever, Yu. That's the face I want to see when I wake up after a long, long sleep."
She didn't answer him, but her whole body started to tremble involuntarily. Suddenly, she was getting the feeling that destroying the charm wasn't the best idea.
"Hey, now. What's the matter, little Yu?" he purred, "afraid of your own reflection? It's me, remember? You never have anything to fear from me."
"You poisoned my dog," she hissed, once she had finally found her voice, "you stabbed my third-grade teacher."
"The world's a dangerous place, full of dangerous things little girls don't notice like they should."
She froze in place, letting his words sink in. Was it true? Had she been in danger? Had he taken over to protect her, or was he simply playing with her, confusing her, making her forget how evil he really was?
"If you've been protecting me all my life, then you'll protect me now."
"I didn't leave. You sent me away, remember?" he pointed out, his tone harsh, before his features softened slightly, "what do you need me to do? Name it."
"Keep me safe, while I find out what's happening. I have to know what's going on, but if I leave this room they'll kill me. Can you ... take control - like you used to - when I need you to?"
"That's all I ever wanted to do," he insisted.
She studied him critically, looking for any sign of deceit, even as her hand sank to the pocket of her blazer.
"I found this," she told him, slipping the stainless steel revolver out into the open air, and glancing up to find him holding the same weapon in his own hand, "I don't know how to use it..."
"No," he agreed, "but I do."
He snapped the cylinder out, span it around, whipped it back into place, and then returned the pistol to his pocket. She felt her hands mimic the motions and felt a cold shiver of dread pass down her spine. He obviously thought nothing of using it on the house's occupants. In that respect, she supposed, he was her perfect partner.
"It's not going to be this way forever, Yu," he told her, as she turned to walk towards the door, trying to control her trembling as she prepared to venture out into the house again, "one day, I'll be there for you for real. You and I are gonna be together. It's just a matter of time."
She paused with her fingers around the handle. Part of her was frightened by what he had said, when she thought of what he might do with a body of his own. Another part, most likely the part that had thought of using Bates to begin with, felt a thrill of anticipation at meeting him in person. He was dangerous, yes, but he'd never done anything to hurt her - exactly the opposite, in fact. He was her guardian angel - stoic, dependable, perhaps even attractive, in a dark way.
Even so, she pushed the thought out of her head. She had other things to think about right now.
"Until then," she heard him say, "you ever need to see a friendly face, just look in the mirror."