The Family In The Mirror

The curtain is pulled back slowly to reveal a face of a small child pressed against a window. A young fragile girl, with flaming red hair and freckles that match , scattered over her tiny porcelain face. Her name is Chloe, who is seven years old. She lives with her biological father:'Stephen', who works for an insurance company, and step-mother:'Carole' that loves maintaing the home and who is devoted to Stephen very much and adores Chloe dearly as if she were her own child.

Chloe's biological mother: 'Miranda' died horrifically in a boating accident two years ago, to this day. She had suffered from manic depression and was also diagnosed by her Doctor as being mentally unstable, which had led her to crash the boat that killed her and injured Stephen and Chloe.

A recurrent nightmare had woken Chloe from her deep sleep; that she is taken by a monster with no face and that she is submerged in an overwhelming amount of water, which suffocates her.

She stares endlessly into the midnight sky, which displays an eerie trail of clouds that appear to drape around the full moon. The wind is howling continuously into the night, just as a lone wolf would, if separated from its pack. Condensation is covering the icy-cold window pane, from her panting breath of anxiety.

Suddenly Chloe hears a creaking sound. Her bedroom door slowly opens. A figure stands in the doorway...
"Why aren't you asleep Chloe?" Carole whispers with a concerned tone.
I'm having these ...nightmares, again".Chloe replies with immense fear in her crackling voice as she struggles to take her breath.
Carole moves in closer to comfort her. She kisses Chloe gently on her cheek, which tickles her face with her caramel- brown wavy hair that causes Chloe to smile.

There is a sudden tapping noise on the window, which is coming from a prehistoric tree that dominates its territory. They both look with horror. There, drawn in the condensation on the window are the words...I WANT YOU BACK!!

There came an almighty loud knock from the wardrobe. Suddenly the wardrobe door rips itself open. Carole slowly paces herself over to the wardrobe. She can feel her heart pounding into her throat and her legs wobble uncontrollably like a bowl of jelly. Carole stops as she peers slightly through the wardrobe door. She turns to walk back, then, a violent force grabs her throat, throwing her like a piece of discarded rubbish, out of Chloe's bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Stephen emerges from the bathroom, which is at the other end of the hallway, after grooming his neatly formed moustache and receding hair. He stares in disbelief...
"What the hell happened?" He screeches.
"I don't know!" Carole screams with terror as she forcefully regains her strength to lift herself from the harsh wooden floor.

Chloe bashes hard on her bedroom door to be let out and at the same time screaming and crying with fear.

Stephen dashes over quickly to Chloe's bedroom. He anxiously forces her bedroom door open and races in to rescue his distraught daughter.

Carole races for the phone, knowing this is no ordinary happening. She calls and summons over Reverend Buckmaster.

The light bulbs start smashing one by one and the walls tremble as if they were trembling with fear.
"Let's get out of here now Stephen!!" Carole cries with a piercing scream.

Carole grabs Chloe. They cling onto each other tightly. The family, run for their lives, down the stairs. Light bulbs are still smashing in turn and the walls are still trembling. Carole takes the lead with Chloe and Stephen protectively follows behind.

Carole tares open the front door, still clinging tightly onto Chloe. She lets out a piercing screech as she is faced with Reverend Buckmaster clutching a book that read, 'Holy Bible'. He is as tall as a tower, which dwarves over you. His charcoal- black straggly hair and unkept beard , is smudged over his profound face. Reverend Buckmaster is accompanied by a petite woman that seemed older than him. Her mousey- greyish mane flowed vigorously against the gust of wind.

As they enter the house, Reverend Buckmaster interrupts the commotion...
"This is my friend, Rosemary and she is a spiritualist at my church", Rev Buckmaster says as he looks with great concern at the family.

The trembling continues to get more intense. Suddenly the temperature plummets in the house, which feels icy as it makes their breath a fog-like vapour. A foul, pungent stench that smells of rotten eggs,overwhelms their senses, causing them to feel sick.

Without warning the front window in the living room implodes inward and shatters into a thousand splintering pieces, showering Rev Buckmaster.

Rev Buckmaster proceeds to bless the house as he quotes verses from his 'Holy Bible'. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small bottle of water. As he continues around the house splashing this water, there is sizzling noise. He looks in horror as it singes into the material of the curtains, furniture,the stone build walls and wooden floors. Pictures that display the family on the wall are thrown off violently towards Rev Buckmaster as if it resents his presence even more.

Rosemary looks pitifully at the family...
"There is a disturbing presence of a woman. Her name is 'Miranda', your late-wife. She is not leaving until she gets Stephen and Chloe back", Rosemary says with great concern and with a creased expression on her sincere face.

Moments later the trembling of the walls ceases, the house warms up and the foul stench subsides.

Rev Buckmaster returns to the family and announces that he has now cast out the violent entity from their home.

"The Presence now seems very peaceful, it feels as if she has gone from here", Rosemary declares as she lets out most of her breath.

The following morning Chloe is disturbed from her peaceful sleep by the sound of birds singing in harmony. She briskly walks towards her window and is blinded by the tremendous beam of sunlight that lights up the whole room. Chloe notices her father and Step-mother loading up the car. She runs excitedly down the stairs and outside to greet them.
"Where are we going?" asks Chloe curiously.
Carole smiles at her with a menacing look in her eyes, which are glaring straight at Chloe...
"We are all going camping for a few days, just like we used to, like one big happy family", Carole's sardonic smirk broadens with satisfaction.
"But?...You have never been camping with us before!" Chloe replies with a tremor in her gentle voice.

TO BE CONTINUED...
~By MICHAELA.