Riya moved into the old rented house at the edge of town. The landlord had given her only one warning before handing over the keys:
“Don’t look into the mirror at midnight.”
Riya had laughed at the superstition. She was a modern girl, practical and stubborn, and old wives’ tales didn’t scare her. But as she unpacked her bags that evening, she noticed the antique mirror in the bedroom. It stood tall in the corner, its surface covered in dust, its golden frame carved with grotesque faces — mouths wide open as if frozen in a scream.
She shivered for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s just an old mirror. Nothing else.”
By the time she finished arranging her things, it was close to midnight. Outside, the town was silent, and the wind howled through the broken window frames. At exactly 12:00 a.m., the power suddenly went out. The fan stopped spinning. The room fell into heavy silence.
“Great timing,” Riya muttered, turning on her phone flashlight. The weak beam cut through the darkness.
As she turned, the light flickered against the mirror. And in that moment, her heart froze.
Her reflection didn’t move.
For several seconds, she thought it was just her imagination. Slowly, she raised her hand. But the reflection stayed still, staring back at her with lifeless eyes. Then, with a slow, unnatural motion, it smiled.
The smile stretched wider… and wider. The lips tore, splitting open to the cheeks, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Blood dripped down the glass, though only on the inside.
Her reflection’s mouth moved, forming silent words. Riya felt the blood in her veins turn to ice.
“LET ME OUT.”
Terrified, she stumbled back, her flashlight shaking in her hand. The glass of the mirror rippled like water. A pale, bony hand pushed through, its nails long and sharp, scraping across the wooden floor with a sound that made her stomach churn.
She tried to scream, tried to run, but her legs felt frozen. The thing inside the mirror dragged itself halfway out. Its eyes were black pits, its smile stretching up to its ears.
“Give me your place…” it whispered in a guttural voice. “You can stay inside now.”
The room grew icy cold. Her breath fogged in the air. The lights flickered back to life for just a moment, and the mirror once again showed Riya standing there — normal, untouched.
But when she turned her head to look at the bed, her reflection didn’t turn with her.
It just kept staring.
Then it raised its hand.
And waved.
The creature stepped out of the mirror.
Riya tried to scream, but no sound escaped. Something yanked her backward with brutal force, slamming her into the freezing glass. On the other side, she saw her reflection — no, the monster — walk away toward her bed, wearing her face.
She pounded the glass from inside, but her cries went unheard. All around her, she saw other faces — hundreds of them — trapped behind the mirror, their mouths open in eternal silent screams.
Now Riya lives behind the mirror, waiting for the next midnight… waiting for the next victim foolish enough to look.
