Mirrors

Joseph Vargas - Nov 2

Back in my freshman year of college, I thought I was a pretty level-headed guy. I never even considered something like epilepsy or some severe health issue. It was a time of adventure and camaraderie, sharing a dorm room with a kickass roommate. Life was good. But as we got closer to the end of the first semester, something changed, something hard to put into words.
The dormitory was like any other, a place where we mixed studying with making friends and having a blast. But as those final exams got nearer, it was like this heavy cloud of tension settled in. It was as if the walls had eyes and ears like they'd seen all our late-night cramming sessions and heard all the whispered fears. Even the mirrors, you wouldn't believe it; they started acting strange, reflecting back something you couldn't quite recognize, like a funhouse mirror that messes with your head. It was like the whole building was part of the stress, making everything more intense. It felt like the stress of finals, the anxiety, all of it created this thick, oppressive atmosphere that hung in the air.

The entrance, you know, used to be a symbol of our ambitions, but now it was like the gates of a prison, with these big, imposing steel doors that just gave off a vibe of 'watch out.' For someone who wasn't living there, it might've seemed like typical end-of-semester stress. But for us, it was something more profound, like it was messing with how we saw the world.
And then there were changes in me, too. I started having these minor hallucinations, seeing weird things, and having strange experiences. Out of the corner of my eye, I'd catch a glimpse of shadowy figures, but they'd vanish when I turned to look. Whispers in the hallways, saying things I couldn't understand, would leave me on edge. Even the mirrors, you know, the ones that just used to show your reflection, they started messing with my head. My own reflection didn't look quite right like it was a distorted version of myself.

So, as the days went by, things got weirder in that dorm.
It was towards the end of that year when things really took a turn. I've always been someone who liked to find logical explanations for stuff, but this defied reason.
So, I'm there in the bathroom. I'm trying to shake off this weird feeling, thinking it's just the caffeine and late-night studying messing with my head. But then, things take a creepy turn.
That faint shimmer I saw? It's moving closer, like jumping from one mirror to the next, and it's speeding up. I'm starting to freak out, like my heart's racing, and I can't move. As it gets closer, I see it's this dark, shadowy mass with what looks like long hair. But the closer it gets, the more I can make out some details, although they could be more apparent. It's like a long, flowing veil, see-through on top but solid black from the waist down. And the face... man, I can't even describe it. It's human, but not at the same time. The eyes are black but somehow glowing. Then, from its black body, a grin appears, only showing its glowing eyes and yellow teeth for its head. I only see this for a split second, but it's burned into my brain forever.
And then, just as I'm about to turn away, the lights go out. Pitch black. I'm trying to open the door, but it won't budge. Then, this intense smell of blood hits me out of nowhere, and that's the last thing I remember.

I woke up in the hospital later, and my resident advisor was there. He tells me he was on his way to the bathroom and found me in the shower stall, my shirt soaked in blood from a massive nosebleed. I try to tell him what happened, but all that comes out is, 'It saw me,' and I'm losing it. So, he called an ambulance, and they had to sedate me to calm me down.
My parents show up, super worried. The doctors say it was a seizure, but the scans don't show anything, and I've never had anything like that from taking Adderall. But here I am, three years later, and I can't stand being near a mirror for up to a minute. Therapy's been helping, but those memories still haunt me. It's like it was just that one isolated incident, and no one else in the dorm ever had anything like it.