It was 11:00 pm on a November Friday.

The sky had a few patches of clouds and, the waning moon shone brightly amidst a few twinkling stars.

On this lovely Bella Notte, I wanted to be at home, watching reruns of my favorite Disney movies in my PJ's. But, my friends had different ideas.

They had decided to play a prank on me by faking the dark mirror ritual. So, they convinced me to perform the dark reflection ritual.

So, on a dark and cold night, with only a single candle burning in the center of the basement, we sat in a circle around it. There were six of us- my best friend Julia and her boyfriend Jake, Max, Laki, Sean, and myself.

We were at Julia's house. Her parents were out for the night. So, they decided to perform the ritual there.

My friends had placed tricks all around her house so that they could fall for it purposely and me, accidentally.

The main idea of the ritual was to endure bad luck for a whole night so that you had great luck for the next few days.

So, just as it struck 11:00 pm, we began the ritual.

Julia held a mirror in her hand while Laki read us the rules.

"To begin the ritual, you must look your reflection in the eyes, transferring your negative energy into the mirror. Then, you need to lean forward and breathe onto the mirror, making it fog up."

I felt a shiver run down my back. I looked at Laki and, she continued to read.

"Everyone in the group needs to repeat this step. Then, we use the candle to burn the mirror until there is a black mark. After this, the final step is to break and run. Then, we have to survive the night," she read as she turned off her phone and looked at us.

"So, we stare at our eyes, breath on it, and pass it on?" Julia asked and, Laki nodded.

Max glanced at me real quick before turning back to Julia.

If I had known their plan, their smiles were of excitement.

Excited to watch my blood curdle and listen to me scream.

Julia looked at us with an evil twinkle in her eyes and looked into the mirror for a few seconds. Then, she fogged it up with her breath and passed it on to Jake, who did the same.

Then, he passed it on to me. I looked at everyone and then into the mirror.

I looked into my hazel-colored eyes. My dilated pupils looked endless. I was left dazed, as though something within the mirror was pulling me in.

"Cassie!" Jake called me, giving me a gentle push. Hard enough to bring me back to reality.

"Sorry," I muttered and breathed on the mirror.

"You okay, Cassie?" Jake asked as he looked at me. It was as though I was in a trance. Something in that mirror felt wrong.

"Ye...Yeah," I said. I had a bad feeling but, I kept quiet.

I watched Laki breathe onto the mirror and keep it in the center next to the candle.

"Shall we burn it?" Laki asked with a slight smile on her face.

Jake looked at me once again and turned to Julia.

"Jules, I don't think we should do this," he said.

"There is no way we are backing out now... do you know how long it took me to convince Cassie to join us?" she asked.

"Cassie doesn't look too well, Julia," Jake said. But Julia completely ignored him.

"Burn it, Max," Julia said with a grin.

"On it," he said and picked up the mirror. He placed the glass over the mirror. About a minute later, a black smudge appeared on the glass/

"And now," Laki began. "We break it."

"I'm doing this part," Sean said with a grin. He grabbed the mirror, placed it on the ground, and hit it.

The mirror shattered and, a piece of glass pierced through his middle finger.

"Shouldn't we run?" I asked them.

"Nah... I mean, what's the fun in performing a ritual if we don't break the rules?" Julia said.

"Well, you guys stay here then... I'll go wash my hand," Sean said, getting up. He walked up to the stairs and turned on the lights on the way out.

"So, now what?" Max asked.

"We survive bad luck tonight and have good luck for the next one month!" Julia said excitedly.

"What makes you think it's gonna last that long?" Laki asked.

"Because that mirror belonged to my grandmother. It's over fifty years old."

I looked at the broken hand mirror that lay on the ground, broken. I smiled at it and looked at my friends.

According to the ritual, our bad luck would begin a minute after we break the glass. Since it was an old mirror, it would mean terrible luck and escalate from there.

Suddenly, the light began to flicker.

"Guys, what's happening?" Julia asked. She pretended to get scared and, Jake put his arm around her.

"It's just the beginning," Laki cooed.

I just sat there, silent.

"It's prob...ably an old light bulb. Maybe, we should go upstairs," I suggested.

Julia agreed as though she were hoping I'd say that.

My friends walked to the door and, I followed. But, before leaving, I took a final glance at the shattered mirror and walked out.

I followed the others to the dining area as Jules had suggested we eat something.

She took out a box of frozen pizza and put it in the microwave.

I sat there silently at the table.

Suddenly, we heard a shatter and a yell.

"What is Sean up to?" Max asked and went to check on him in the bathroom.

"Cassie, are you sure you're doing okay?" Jake asked once again.

"I'm feeling quite... alive," I said with a smile.

Jake looked confused but shrugged and walked away.

"GUYS!" Max yelled. "You have to see this!"

My friends ran to the bathroom and, I followed.

Laki covered her mouth, trying not to scream. She was horrified and, so were the others as they watched Shawn lying on the ground, bleeding from his head. Around him, there were broken pieces of glass from the mirror in the bathroom.

That was two mirrors broken in one night.

His eyes were wide open and, he stammered, "At... Attack B By..." but he couldn't complete the sentence.

The poor boy was hyperventilating.

He was beyond scared. He couldn't move because of his injury. But, when they helped him sit up, he tried to scramble backward.

Then, he hit his head on the corner of the bathtub and, his head fell.

He was out cold.

"I... I think we should call 911," Laki said, scared. She went up to Sean and signaled to Max to help her take him to the couch.

Their voices were trembling.

"Yeah... his wounds seem grave. Cassie, can you call 911?" Jake asked while Julia looked frightened to death.

"I don't have my phone," I said.

"Julia? Where's yours?" Jake asked his girlfriend. His voice was trembling too.

They were gifted actors.

"In- In my room," she stammered. She turned around and smiled to herself before walking away.

She walked to her room to get her phone while Laki, Max, and Jake helped an unconscious Sean to the couch.

I just walked behind them. But, instead of going to the living room, I went to the kitchen and opened the cutlery drawer.

I picked up Julia's dad's favorite knife and slowly stroked its blunt side on my finger with a smile.

"Julia!" Jake yelled. But, he didn't hear a response. So, he called out once more.

"JULIA!"

Nothing.

So, he went to her room to check on her. He looked inside and was horrified. She was also bleeding on the ground like Sean was. But she wasn't breathing.

Jake was horrified as it wasn't a part of the plan.

He ran to the Laki and Max about Julia. But, they too were dead on the ground.

Their throats were slit and, their eyes were wide open as they bled on the carpet. They had already lost Sean.

He ran back to Julia's room to get her phone. He picked it up and suddenly, he noticed an unread message.

CASSIE: SORRY JULES..., CAN'T MAKE IT TONIGHT. GOT GROUNDED FOR BREAKING MY MOM'S FAV MIRROR T-T

Jake's blood ran cold as he felt a presence around him.

He turned towards the door to see me standing there, a bloody knife in hand.

"Who.. Who are you?" he asked as he walked backward, tripping over Julia's corpse.

"Mirror Mirror on the wall..., Who's got the worst luck of them all" I sang.

Just as his eyes widened in horror to yell, the knife flew at his neck and, he collapsed.

I wasn't Cassie.

I never was.

She broke the mirror, I escaped.

I was her reflection.

A/N -

HEY PEOPLE!

IT'S ABOUT TIME I PUT THIS OUT LOL XD

This is my entry for August contest! I'm really hoping it gave you the chills lol XD

I'll be posting a little more frequently on this coz I wanted to participate in a few many of these short story contests lol XD

Well, until next time! Hope you are VERY uncomfortable and not so alone after this :) XD

Love,

Felicity