The Cursed Mirror (Ages 13 and up)(Rachel) Meridian looked at the calendar. It was May 12th, her mother's fifth death anniversary. The house was very quiet, the air filled with an uncomfortable silence that marked her mother's absence. It had been five years since Meridian had a proper family, and today, her family was off to the cemetery, praying for her mother's luck in the afterlife.
Meridian missed her mother's cuddles and her soft, gentle voice that filled the air when the house was eerie and sad. She missed going to the theme park with her mother and father every weekend along with Joseph, her little brother. She missed the sight of her mother, looking at herself in a round, silver, Victorian-styled handheld mirror decorated with gems of pink flower and the reflection of her mother in the mirror. She also missed the delicious meal her mother cooked every afternoon with her hands. Meridian was also feeling very bored and thought about rummaging in their mother's box of possessions to see if she had anything cool or even better, wills that her family has been hiding from her for the past 5 years. Meridian knew that Mother's box of possessions was way down in the attic so she would need her brother's accompany.
[...]
"Meridian, are you sure it's a good idea to go rummaging in someone else's box?"
The pair was at the trapdoor leading the way to the attic and Joseph wasn't sure they could go rummaging in because he always had been such a jumpy boy. Meridian smiled and patted his back.
"You never know if Mother had left us wills or not" She smiled
"But if she had a will, Daddy would have told us, right?"
"What if he was hiding the will from us," Meridian said, "Then you will never fulfill Mother's will!"
"Oh, but I heard that some of Mum's stuff are cursed..."
"Ha! Cursed?" Meridian laughed, "How the heck are her stuff's gonna be cursed?"
"Daddy told me" Joseph shivered
"That's just a lie!" Meridian laughed, "C'mon! Down you go!"
Meridian grasped her brother's sweaty hand and started to drag him up the steps of the attic's trapdoor.
"Meridian! No!" he cried as she led him up the attic.
Meridian ignored his plead and continued to make their way up to the house's ancient attic with a strange mixture of excitement and fear bubbling inside her. She grinned ear-to-ear as she saw the end.
"We're here!" she announced, "The attic! A room storing mysteries that are waiting to be found!"
"I think you explore by yourself-"
"Shut up!" Meridian snapped, "You think your sister can go rummaging alone without her trustworthy assistant?!"
"Well-"
"I'll take it as a yes!" Meridian said, "Now, let's find Mother's box of- Oh! There it is! Mother's box of possessions which had been waiting to be opened by the hands of her children!"
Meridian ran over to the box. It had a beautiful, slant writing saying "Kelly Tyne's Possession. Do not open". The box was decorated with a beautiful floral pattern that Mother once favored and had colorful graffiti written across the cardboard. The box was caked in a thick layer of dust.
"Alright! Time to do the ultimate "unmasking"!. Joseph! Let's start!"
Joseph nervously crouched down and looked on with fear as his sister peeled the tape off the box. One by one, they started to take the possessions their mother once had outside. A sweet, crocheted teddy bear with her mother's name sewn on its ample belly. A recipe book. A few numbers of unfinished crochet works. Her wedding photos. A ring box with a diamond ring in it. But as much as she tried, Meridian couldn't find her mother's handheld mirror.
Just as Meridian fished her mother's dusty diary out from the box, a mischievous glimmer sparkled her eyes.
The mirror. Just what she wanted.
Meridian took the mirror delicately and looked at her reflection in it while Joseph was sitting in a corner and reading his mother's diary.
"At last! May I present, Mother's Mirror!" Meridian pronounced happily as she raised it in the air, "Just what I need to find!”
Meridian examined the mirror. To her, it looked like the most beautiful mirror she had ever seen. She raised it in the air, admiring it in every direction as it glimmered in the faint attic light.
Just as she was about to examine the mirror more closely, she noticed a little door knob on the mirror. Intrigued, she took the knob and opened it.
A note flew out from the little space that was hidden behind the mirror. Meridian saw the note flutter down on the attic floor.
Meridian picked up the note and peered at it. She recognized the beautiful, slant handwriting on the note which was her mother's handwriting. The note looked as if it had been written years ago. The note wrote:
"To whom that is reading this will
I, Kelly Elizabeth Tyne got this Victorian handheld mirror as a possession. If I ever die, the heir shall take it as her possession. If I die, I would hand it over to my daughter, Meridian River Tyne whom I love the most."
Meridian gasped.
"Oi Joseph! I found Mother's hidden will! "she cried happily
Joseph ran over to his sister and peered at the will.
"I can't believe it!" Joseph cried, "In all these years, Mother left us a will and Daddy never told us?! Oh, I'm mad- Wait, there's more!"
Meridian peered down at the bottom. The same slant handwriting printed the letters "With cost" at the bottom of the page. Meridian laughed as she read the final words but Joseph looked worried.
"C'mon... I think it's best to put mum's mirror back in" he said nervously, "You never know if it's a curse to pay..."
"A curse?" Meridian hollered, "Nonsense! Now shut your mouth up and get back down to Mrs. Cheryl's homework!"
"I've warned you" Joseph repeated before walking slowly down the stairs of the trapdoor.
Meridian smiled and admired herself in the mirror. She tidied Mom's possessions up and walked downstairs, holding the mirror and admiring herself. Joseph got worried when he saw her admiring herself in the mirror in vain and Joseph was pretty worried that she might be possessed.
"Merry?" Joseph stuttered
"Whatz itz eet?" Meridian asked, her words now harder to make out
"Stop looking at the mirror!" he cried and tried to twist Meridian's head over to his but she wouldn't budge
"Meridian! Meridian! Are you possessed?! Tell me!" Joseph screamed
"No... I'm not possessed dear" Meridian replied ghastly
"But get your gaze off that @$!%& mirror!"
"For the last time, NO!" Meridian cried and flung her brother off her shoulders. He landed with a loud thud and blood was now erupting from his head.
"Woah... me look soooooo beautiful" Meridian muttered, "Just...Wanna... Break...it..."
Meridian looked at herself deeper. As she was admiring her amber eyes, she swore she saw it as a black eye with a red iris and a black pupil.
"ARGH!" Meridian cried as she nearly threw the mirror in the air. Meridian looked at herself in the mirror again. Back to normal Meridian, she is.
A few hours later, Meridian cannot pull her eyes off them. She locked herself in the cupboard under the staircase when her family came home. Poor Joseph was taken to the hospital to treat his bleeding head.
As Meridian's eyes began to stick to the mirror, she swore she could see the same terrifying pair of eyes looking back at her. But this time, her hair flared like a snake and her skin became white and pale!
"ARGH!" Meridian cried and she flung the mirror in the air. The mirror was moments from being shattered. Thinking quickly, she seized a nearby cushion, and the cushioned, cushioned the mirror's landing so the mirror didn't get damaged. But horror upon horror, when she stared into the mirror again, her eyes had become two dark pools that were staring lifelessly back a her! Wait! It isn't her reflection, but someone else!
"AH! AH!" Meridian gasped as she let go of the mirror. It fell to the floor but didn't break. The girl that was in the mirror suddenly popped out from the glass, hissing like a snake.
"OH NO!" Meridian cried, "Show me mercy! Show me mercy! Please! I'm too young to die!"
But the girl didn't reply. She stretched her body out and tried to catch Meridian by her ghastly hands but failed to do so. The ghost girl then summoned her flaring snake hair and it wrapped around Meridian's arms and neck. The next thing Meridian knew was that she was being dragged into the mirror. She screamed for help, but everyone was out in the hospital so no one could hear her.
"NOOOOOO!" Meridian cried as her leg got into the cursed mirror.
At last, her head was now bobbing out from the mirror, screaming for help. But the force of the ghost girl was so strong that she got whipped down in the mirror and disappeared, leaving no traces of her.
What could happen next?
All of that will be in Part 2!

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