Tim backed away from the figure coming down the steps. As it got closer Tim saw his mother. He screamed, frightened by her appearance. Her short ginger hair was in knots with mats of dried blood. Blood also ran down from her mouth and dripped onto her nightgown. Tim knew it wasn't real, that the mirror was playing with his mind, but he just couldn't look away from her mirror-like eyes.
"Get away from me!" Tim yelled. "You're not real!"
"You can never escape from the terror of the Lesser Glass," the spirit said in its raspy voice. "We've taken away your whole family. You'll be next."
"No!" Tim screamed and slashed at the spirit with his hand. It dissolved into thin air and Tim was left standing in the middle of the floor. He looked around for his friends. Patrick was standing by the stairs, watching something of his own, but Luke was nowhere to be seen.
"Patrick," Tim said cautiously as he walked up behind him.
Patrick turned and looked at him. "It's not real," he said as he held out his phone.
"What did you see?" Tim asked.
"A young woman. Long ginger hair. There was blood running down her neck, making pools on the floor. She was walking down the steps, leaving a trail of dark red blood," Patrick explained, looking at the stairs again. "Her eyes were flashing white, like the reflection of a mirror. I took out the camera on my phone and looked through it. She wasn't there anymore."
"Kaylie," Tim said softly. His friends weren't seeing just anything the mirror cooked up; they were seeing Tim's past. "Where's Luke?" he asked suddenly.
"He went back in the office," Patrick told Tim. "Luke and I ran in here when we heard you scream, but then Luke walked out again and told me to stay here."
"We need to keep him out of that room!" Tim exclaimed. "That mirror drives people insane. It makes them kill or harm others… even themselves."
Tim and Patrick hurried back into the office where the mirror hung. Luke was standing in front of it, staring longingly at its glass.
"Luke," Patrick said warily. "What are you seeing?"
Luke turned to look back at them, but someone else was with him. It was Marisol, the woman who had influenced Tim's father. Her mirror-like eyes were shining brighter than ever.
"Who is that woman?" Patrick shakily asked as he backed away.
"Marisol. She's the one that drove my father insane," Tim answered, holding his ground. "Patrick, it's not real."
"You sure about that dude?!" Patrick exclaimed as Marisol took a step closer.
"Hold up your phone and look through it," Tim told Patrick.
Patrick's hands were shaking as he retrieved his phone from his pocket, but he managed to hold it up.
"She's not real," Patrick observed.
"Then don't be scared of it," Tim said. "Luke, you need to snap out of it right now."
"Why? The mirror is so peaceful," Luke said slowly.
"No, it's not. It's messing with your mind," Tim said, taking a step towards him. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Tim, just calm down," Luke said. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm at peace."
"No, you're not bro," Patrick stepped in. "You need to snap out of it right now!"
"Shut up, Patrick," Luke snapped. "I need to deal with Tim first."
Tim knew how the mirror could shape people's minds, make them see and believe things that weren't real. He knew that it was time to go or none of them would make it out alive.
"Run!" Tim yelled to Patrick.
The two men raced outside and out on the lawn.
"He shouldn't come out here… none of the spirits ever did leave the house," Tim told Patrick as he watched the door.
"Tim, Luke isn't a spirit. He's a possessed human," Patrick said. "He could easily come out of the house."
Tim realized Patrick was right. Luke wasn't a spirit, but he was close to it.
"We have to go back inside," Tim said.
"Why?" Patrick exclaimed. "We're still safer out here, right?"
"The Lesser Glass has been distracting us. We've never done what we came to do – destroy that thing. It's keeping us sidetracked. We need to destroy it now, or none of us are getting out of this alive," Tim told Patrick. Patrick sighed, digging his foot in the ground, then following Tim.
The men slowly walked back inside the house, looking around each corner. Luke was nowhere to be found.
"Where did he go?" Patrick asked as he peered around the next corner.
"He's somewhere," Tim said. "We can be sure of that."
They only had the moonlight streaming in the windows to guide them around the dark house, and Luke could be anywhere in the shadows. Tim walked around the next corner, Patrick following him closely behind. They now stood in the kitchen. Tim looked around the dark walls. There was nothing out of the usual, and still no Luke.
"We need to find him," Tim said.
He knew that many people had been driven insane because of the mirror and Luke was becoming one of the many. All of the people who had had the mirror in their house had committed suicide or murdered other members of the household. Then Tim noticed it, one of the kitchen knives were missing. He had no idea why there were knives still left in the house, but the missing blade could only mean that Luke was somewhere in this house… with a knife.
"Patrick, are you prepared to die?" Tim asked, realizing the intensity of the situation.
"Why are you asking?" Patrick asked, terror flashing in his eyes.
"No one escapes this mirror without dying, I've seen it firsthand," Tim started to explain. "I thought we were just coming here to shatter the mirror, but it's turned into the fight of our lives. I've come out of it twice; I don't know if I can a third time."
Patrick stared at him with bewildered eyes.
"We need to find Luke," Patrick said shakily, grabbing a knife of his own. Tim did the same, and together they set off through the house.
The living area was next – no sign of Luke. They went up the stairs, knives at the ready, but no Luke. Tim and Patrick looked at one another, knowing that Luke was somewhere in the rooms they were about to look in next.
"Take the room on the left," Tim told Patrick. "I'll take the one on the right."
Tim walked into the master bedroom, where his mother had been chained to the wall.
"Luke?" Tim called as he stepped inside.
He saw Luke, crouching alone, engraving something in the wall with his knife. As Tim stepped closer, he saw the word Marisol over and over, just like his father had drawn a hundred times on a piece of paper.
"Luke, put the knife down," Tim told him. He had his own knife stuck in the back of his pants where Luke couldn't see it.
"Marisol," Luke whispered. Luke stopped carving letters in the bedroom wall and turned on his feet to face Tim. Tim saw the evil spirit, looming over Luke, influencing his every move.
"Put the knife down," Tim told Luke again. He knew how little control one could have over themselves when influenced by the mirror.
"I'm not alone," Luke said softly. "They're here with me."
"Luke, snap out of it!" Tim yelled. Somewhere inside him he knew that Luke wasn't coming back, but he had to try.
"Tim, don't worry," Luke said as he raised to his feet. "You won't have life much longer. You won't have to suffer anymore with the death of your family. You can be at peace."
"No, Luke," Tim said as he backed away. "You're possessed; you're not thinking straight."
"Then kill me," Luke said as he walked closer to Tim, Marisol behind him each step of the way. "Oh right, you wouldn't kill me. Just like you claim that you wouldn't kill your sister. But you did. We all know it. There's no hiding from the Lesser Glass. So, kill me, just like you killed your sister."
That was the last straw for Tim. Anger raged inside him at the mention of his sister's death.
"You're wrong," Tim said, the two men circling each other. "I didn't cause Kaylie's death, the mirror did. You killed Kaylie." Tim realized that the Luke he had walked into the house with was long gone. He was talking to another one of the spirits. Even though Luke was still in his body, his mind was with the mirror.
"Luke, you need to stop this. Right now," Tim said as he drew his knife. "Or I will kill you."
"Then do it," Luke urged him. "What's there to lose?"
"Someone who I considered my friend," Tim growled. He was going to keep his promise to Kaylie, whatever the cost.
"I'm tired of all this talking," Luke said suddenly. "I'll just kill you now."
Luke lunged forward; knife pointed directly at Tim's heart. Tim dodged and Luke ran straight into the opposite wall. Marisol was nowhere to be seen, she must've disappeared when Luke had lunged for Tim, knowing she had done her part. Luke lunged again for Tim, this time barely missing him.
"Luke!" Tim yelled while dodging Luke's continuous attacks. "This isn't you!"
"It is me," Luke snarled. "You can't escape!"
Tim shoved his knife against Luke's incoming attack, knocking the knife out of his hand. Luke looked at Tim and grabbed his neck. Tim tried to get Luke to let go, but he had a grip of steal. Tim didn't want to let the mirror consume another soul, but if he didn't stop Luke, Patrick would be killed too. Tim's eyesight became blurry, and he knew that this was his only chance. He stabbed his knife into Luke's back, and Luke released him. Luke looked at Tim, the possession in his eyes replaced with pain.
"You... said... we'd... all.. g-get... ou-ut… of... this... a-alive," Luke stuttered, blood dripping down the back of his legs
"Luke," Tim nearly choked on his words. "W-we'll destroy the mirror. We'll avenge you."
"Luke!" Tim screamed, but Luke had fallen to the floor dead, blood pooling around his body.