Chapter Two- The Face in the Mirror

Alex slowly opened her eyes to the sound of her alarm clock. She was thankful that it was a Saturday, because she really did not feel like going into college. The first thing that caught her eye was the fencing trophy that she had won. The happiness that she had felt came back to her in a sudden rush, but it quickly faded at the thought of the dream that she had the previous night.

She gave her head a little shake to clear this thought. Surprisingly she did not feel like staying in bed, which was unusual as she did not get very much sleep at all. Quickly getting out of bed and getting dressed she made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

For some weird reason she felt wide awake as she went into the bathroom. She went over to the sink and put toothpaste on the brush, as usual. Something happened then which made Alex freak out completely. After about thirty seconds of brushing, she looked in the mirror to see not her own face, but someone else's, and she had a terrible feeling that she knew precisely who this someone else was.

She started to gag on the toothpaste which had hit the back of her throat when she saw the face. Leaning over the sink and coughing violently, Alex quickly recovered and looked back into the mirror. To her relief she saw only herself. I am going to need to see a shrink… She thought. …I'm going mad…

Alex then cupped her hands and filled them with cold water to splash her face with. Little did she know that as she did this she was being watched. She stared at her face in the mirror, as if seeing whether or not it was going to change again. Fortunately it stayed the same…

-

"Saturday…" Josh said to himself, "…thank god…"

Saturday had to be his favourite day of the week. Nothing much to do except sit around and be lazy, which had to be one of the things Josh did best. Today however he felt like doing something completely different, after all, sitting around and doing nothing can get boring after a while.

He thought about ringing Alex, but then remembered that she would probably be asleep because she was so tired form the match. All of a sudden however, his mobile started to ring. Looking over at the name that was displayed he was surprised to see that it was none other than Alex.

He answered it, confused. "Hello…?"

"You are not going to believe what just happened to me!" Alex said in a very weird tone of voice.

"You just woke up…?" Josh joked, his bad sarcasm kicking in. "Because that is perfectly believable."

"No you idiot!" Alex snapped. "I just brushed my teeth…"

"Still believable…" Josh cut in, he could tell that she was going to get very annoyed if he kept interrupting her like this, "…I'm not bouncing off the walls in surprise yet…"

There was silence between the two of them. Alex was having second thoughts about telling him what she saw. After all, she had already said that he would not believe it, and this was probably true. Come to think of it, what was the point in bothering him with a stupid hallucination that she had after just waking up?

"Doesn't matter, I'm being stupid…" Josh was going to say the same thing to her when he remembered the very short temper that she had, "…so what are you doing today?"

"Nothing much…" He replied, thinking it best not to mention that he was in an extremely energetic mood, "…don't suppose you fancy meeting up and just doing…" He had no clue what he wanted to do, "…whatever…anything…"

"Could go shopping?" Alex asked, glad that she could get her mind off of things with this subject.

Oh god no… Josh thought to himself. This had to be one of his least favourite things to do ever. It was always the same when he went shopping with Alex. She would drag him into some clothes shop, get him to try on half of what they had in there, and then force him to buy half of what he tried on. However given the fact that Alex seemed to be acting very strangely indeed, perhaps doing this for her would be the right thing to do.

"Yeah, sounds good…" He replied after thinking this through, "…meet you at the shopping centre in an hour, ok?"

"Ok, see you then." There was the 'beep beep beep' sound you hear when a call is disconnected, and Josh put down his phone.

He noticed that he was still not dressed, and had to get ready to go out in the space of an hour. This was going to be one hell of a task. Fortunately however, he managed to just about get though his normal morning routine and have fifteen minutes left to run to the shopping centre and meet up with Alex.

It was fortunate that he was in such a rush. If he was taking his time he may have actually noticed the pair of greyish green eyes staring at him menacingly. It was luckier still that he did not take the unusual dream that he had so seriously, perhaps that was why it wasn't as clear in his mind as Alex's dream was in hers.

He rushed out of the front door as fast as he could. If he ran it was only a ten minute trip, but if he walked then he would be late, and he hated to be late for anything, except for lessons. If he was ever late for lessons at college, he just didn't bother going to them, not because he did not like them, but because walking in late always made him look stupid. It was lucky he had good stamina, otherwise the running would have probably killed him.

-

Grrr, why the hell didn't I tell him…? Alex thought to herself whilst waiting outside the entrance to the large shopping centre. He's my best friend, he wouldn't have laughed at me…or would he? She hated it when she had arguments with herself in her mind, which did not happen very often at all.

She spotted Josh running down the stairs towards her. It was clear that he had rushed to get there. Alex tried to look as calm as she possibly could, which was much easier now that she was doing something to keep her mind off of things.

He finally reached her. "Sorry…I'm…late…" He panted, getting a lot of very strange looks from passers by. He didn't really care though.

"You're not late…" Alex informed him, "…come on, let's get going."

"Can't I have a moment to catch my breath?" He asked, almost as though he was pleading.

"Nope." Alex replied, very bluntly indeed. "I'm eager to get some weight out of my wallet."

Josh was very envious of her. It was lucky for her that she had so much money to spend without even having a job, where as he had to work for his money. They immediately made their way to Alex's favourite shop in the whole place. It was the same usual routine that they usually went through, Alex shoved shirt after shirt, jeans after jeans and jackets after jackets into Josh's arms to go and try on.

For once however, she actually handed him a Jacket that he liked the look of, and went to try it on immediately. He stood in front of one of the mirrors that were dotted around the shop, unfortunately the jacket did not go with the shirt he was wearing. Alex was quickly on the case however, she went and picked out one that she thought would go.

"Go and put it on then!" She pestered him.

Josh made his way to one of the changing rooms. All of them were empty. He went in the one nearest to him and shut the door. It was very lucky that he shut the door, because anyone who saw the look on his face when he looked in the mirror that was in there would have thought that he was some sort of lunatic.

He was transfixed at the image he saw in the mirror, convinced that he was hallucinating. He shut his eyes tight and looked back in the mirror, the image was still there, the man in the mirror still looking at him menacingly with his misty eyes. Josh shut his eyes for a good ten seconds this time, sure that it was something to do with him being in such a hurry not that long ago. When opening them once more, the man had gone, and he could only see himself in the mirror. He looked extremely pale and scared looking.

Josh left the changing rooms straight away, not even bothering to try on the shirt, but then who can blame him. He went straight over to Alex, speechless.

"What happened to you?" She asked, concerned for him.

"I…" He couldn't say 'Just saw someone in the mirror that wasn't me', she would either laugh at him or call him crazy, "…looked terrible, sorry but your fashion sense didn't work this time."

Alex gave him a quick jab in the ribs, obviously thinking that this was meant to be some sort of stupid joke, not a quick cover up for the real story.

"I feel sick…" Josh said, truthfully. This was a very sudden change in attitude.

"Go to the toilet…" He had already ran from the shop before she had time to finish her sentence, "…then…"

Alex quickly left the shop. There were a bunch of teenagers near her laughing, but Alex didn't care, they looked like the typical bunch of idiots that you saw around anyway.

She made her way to the public toilets that were in the centre. It was a good ten minutes before Josh came out of them. He looked terrible, as though he had just seen a dead relative's ghost.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"I need to go home…" He said straight away after she had finished asking her question, "…I must have pushed myself to much to get here on time, I don't feel so good."

He couldn't tell her the truth of why he wanted to go, she wouldn't believe him if he did. The only thing he could do was to go home, lie down and sleep, then hope that when he woke up everything would go back to normal.

Pathetic, you are so weak minded… He thought to himself, but then wondered why he thought such a thing. He shook his head, which must have looked very peculiar, as Alex then asked.

"What did you do that for?" Josh did not really have a decent answer for this.

"Have you…" He started, wondering the best way to phrase his question, "…have you ever had that feeling where you just think the most random thoughts?"

"Only when I'm trying to sleep." She replied, surprising quicker than he had expected her too.

"I must be tired then…" He said, glad that they were off the topic of his sudden sickness, "…I know we haven't been here long but I just need to go and lie down…"

Alex looked quite upset by this, but then again she knew that this wasn't really his favourite thing to do. Yet then again she knew that he would not fake illness just so he didn't have to go shopping with her, which definitely was not like him at all.

"Ok…I'll give you a call later, hopefully you will be feeling better." Josh didn't say anything, just gave her a big hug and left.

She stood there on her own, then for some unknown reason felt dreadfully sick. It was lucky that she was standing outside the toilets, otherwise she did not think that she would have made it to them in time.

-

Josh walked slowly down the road towards his house. He was still a fair distance away from it, and it was slow work considering how bad he felt. After about another minute of walking he had to stop. He leaned against a garden wall and started coughing very violently. It sounded as though it was a smoker's cough, but Josh definitely did not smoke.

His vision started to blur. He thought that he was going to pass out, but he didn't, he just kept walking towards his house, determined to get home and rest. Josh thought that rest was all he needed to clear his head of whatever this was.

It was as though he was half blind as he walked down the empty street. Come on…nearly there… He just had to keep thinking this to himself to get the motivation to make it home. This was a bit of a stupid thing to think though, at the pace he was going it was going to take at least ten minutes to get there.

His sight started to get a little bit better, though not by much. He struggled onwards in this terrible state for what seemed like a lifetime, until at last he found himself outside his front door. It was unlocked, which was good as he did not think he would be able to manage to get the key into the lock. As soon as he was inside he pulled himself up the stairs and went into his bedroom.

He collapsed on his bed immediately. Absolutely pathetic…I mean honestly, I think the last time I saw someone as pathetic as you was two years ago…Wherever these thoughts came from Josh didn't care, all that mattered was that he was in bed, resting. Sleep eventually came to him, which was exactly what he thought he needed to clear his head.

-

"Hey dad, could you come and pick me up from town? Cheers, see you in a few minutes…love you too, bye…" Alex put her phone away and waited.

All she could think about were the strange things that were happening all of a sudden. She did not want to think about what had happened this morning with the mirror, she was sure that was just tiredness getting the better of her. Then again, she wasn't tired at all, so this couldn't be right.

It's all in your head…Alex thought, trying to convince herself that this was true, …it's all in your head…

Too true… Said a voice in her mind. Alex was feeling too ill to really take any notice of this, ...if I had my way though, I would be talking to you face to face, but when I tried to do that earlier you seemed a little shocked.

Alex closed her eyes to try and find an ounce of sanity within her. "I'm turning skitso…" She muttered to herself, "…It's all in your head…"

You are not turning skitso! The voice shouted at her angrily. Though I can't really say for sure what it is that has happened to you…The voice put a particular emphasis on the word 'has', …or me for that matter.

Her vision started to blur, her legs started to go completely numb. Alex then fell to her knees and started to heave violently. She heard her name being called by a man who sounded like her dad. Giving in completely to whatever feeling this was, she passes out.

-

And who are you exactly? Alex couldn't hear or feel anything, all that existed was blackness and the voice in her head.

I thought that you worked that out by now…The voice said to her, giving a small laugh …I mean I am inside your head you know, and I do remember you thinking my name when seeing me…

You're reading my thoughts!? Alex thought angrily, thinking that her privacy was now completely invaded by this unknown person.

In a sense…yes! Otherwise how would we be communicating now if we could not read each others thoughts, eh? Alex thought that this was common sense. You can see my thoughts as well you know. Here…let me show you…

The blackness went to be replaced by the same town that she had seen in her dream. This time however, she could see the woman instead of just hearing her…

"Welcome to my home town." She said to her, brushing her long black hair out of her face.

Alex looked around the town. It was exactly how she remembered it from her dream, though still she thought that she had seen this place before. "What is this place called?"

"I know that you don't need me to answer that…" The woman said, evidently reading her mind again, "…the name is fresh in your mind, so why are you asking me?"

"Just to make sure I'm not dreaming…" Alex replied, her voice shaking.

"But you are dreaming, that's the problem…" This did make some sense, after all Alex had just passed out on the street, "…how else am I meant to talk with you face to face?"

Alex did not reply. She could not think of anything to say, the whole thing was just too surreal to be happening. In the end she walked closer to the woman. "I thought you were going to tell me the name of this town?"

"Fine…" It was clear she didn't really want to waste her breath on this, "…even though you know the name already, I will confirm it, this town is called 'Nibel'."

Alex was right after all. "And what is your name?" She knew perfectly well what her name was, but just needed to hear her say it for some reason.

"My name is…"

-

Alex woke up. She was in her bedroom, lying down. Nobody else was in the room, just her. Alex remembered everything that just happened very clearly, as though it was real. She did not want to sleep again for fear of returning to that same place, all she could do was lay there awake, trying to keep her mind as blank as possible…