Into the Mind
“Did you finish setting up the candles?” I asked my girlfriend, Lindy.
She blew out the last match. “Yeah.”
“Do you have an alarm?”
“Set the one on my phone for an hour. It’s also recording everything.”
“Cool. Cool.” I replied, slightly nervous.
She gently stroked my arm. “Are you sure you want to play ‘Doors to the Mind’?”
“Yeah. Yeah. It’s just kind of creepy to think about.”
“Don’t worry. It’s totally safe. Just remember, your mind isn’t always your friend. Don’t let anyone lock the door. Be wary of rooms with clocks, old ladies, and men in suits.”
“Yeah, business men are scary.”
Laughing, Lindy sat down and placed a pillow on her lap. “Okay, you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
I laid my head down and closed my eyes. Gently, Lindy began to rub and temples as she spoke. “You are at one end of a very long corridor. There are numerous doors on both sides of this corridor, spanning the entire length. I want you to explore these doors, and the rooms behind them. Describe to me what you can see, hear, touch, and feel with great detail.”
Suddenly, I faded from the physical world and was standing in a hallway full of doors. I took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
I reached for the first door. The knob was cold to the touch. I cranked it open. Inside was a silver mirror that adored the entire back wall. “Wow.” I echoed as I stepped closer to it.
I traced my finger over my reflection. I pressed my hand up against itself. As I gazed into my grey eyes, my reflection blinked. “What the…”
My reflection grinned at me and reached through the mirror, locking onto my wrist. Alarmed, I tried to yank it back, only to yank the upper part of their torso through the mirror. I heard the door lock behind me.
Panicking, I tried to peel their fingers off my arm, but they stretched out like glue and wrapped further around my body. “Let go!” I shrieked as I tried to back pedal from it.
“Hold on.” It mimicked in a shrill voice.
By now, half their body was free of the mirror. “What are you?”
“Who are you?” It echoed.
A growing pit of unease consumed my stomach. Just as it began to stretch one leg over the mirror, it froze. An expression of terror manifested on its face—and mine.
The room’s temperature lowered to nearly freezing. My shaky breath clouded in front of me. Beside me, a man in a pinstripe suit was smirking. He reached with long, gloved fingers and clasped around the reflection’s wrist. Instantly, it recoiled from his touch and sunk back into the mirror. Once it was fully emerged, the reflection became mine again, coping every movement I made.
Before I could exhale in relief, the increasing unease took my breath away. I wanted to ask him who he was, but something within me warned me to refrain from talking—least he steal the very words from my mouth.
With a wider smile, the man stared at me, soaking in my entire appearance. He laughed, mocking me. Then, he stopped and he silently walked back to the door and snapped his fingers. I heard the door unlock and quickly ran out of the room.
Seconds after I reentered the hallway, I heard Lindy calling my name. The door slammed shut behind me and the hallway dimmed into darkness.
Then, emerging from the darkness was a single candle. I heard the pinstripe suit man laugh in the distance, hidden by darkness. The candle flickered a few times before the entire void was replaced with my living room, Lindy stared at me with a frightened look on her face.
Suddenly, she embraced me in a tight hug. “You really scared me for a minute, Luke! You didn’t wake up and I started shaking you and—“ Her words choked. “I’m just glad you’re finally awake!”
Just as I was about to say ‘I’m glad to see you too’ or tell her about the pinstripe man, something caught my eye in the window. Standing there in the light snow storm, was the pinstripe man. I heard him laughing, his sharp teeth bared at me. Then, he turned and walked away from my house.
That was the last time I ever saw him.
To this day, I wonder: is he in my world, or am I still trapped in his?