3:07 AM.
The time glowed on my phone screen like it always did.
3:07.
Every single night.
I didn't set an alarm.
I never needed to.
Something else woke me.
Tonight, it wasn't a sound.
It was breathing.
Slow.
Careful.
Right behind me.
I kept my eyes closed at first. Sometimes, pretending to sleep makes things go away. That's what I used to believe when I was a child afraid of shadows.
But this breathing wasn't imagination.
It was warm.
Close enough that I could feel it against the back of my neck.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Not my rhythm.
Not human.
I forced my eyes open.
The room was dark except for the faint streetlight slipping through the curtains. My door was closed. My chair sat in the corner. My mirror stood directly across from my bed.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Slowly, without moving my head, I shifted my eyes toward the mirror.
At first, I only saw my bed.
Then I saw myself.
Lying still.
Eyes open.
Frozen.
But something was wrong.
In the reflection… the blanket was slightly lower than it was on me.
Just a few inches.
Enough to expose more of my shoulder.
I didn't move.
The reflection didn't either.
The breathing continued.
Right behind me.
I gathered every bit of courage I had and whispered, "Who's there?"
The breathing stopped.
The silence that followed was worse.
Thicker.
Heavier.
Like the room was waiting.
Then—
The reflection blinked.
I didn't.
My stomach dropped.
Very slowly, the version of me in the mirror turned her eyes.
Not toward the ceiling.
Not toward the door.
Toward the space behind her.
Behind me.
Her eyes widened.
And she smiled.
Not a normal smile.
It stretched too far.
Too wide.
Too slow.
I couldn't breathe now.
Because I understood something terrible.
If she was looking behind her…
And she is me…
Then something was standing behind me.
I felt it again.
That warmth.
That presence.
Closer now.
Almost touching.
Don't turn around.
Every instinct screamed at me not to.
But the reflection raised her hand.
Slowly.
Shaking.
She pointed.
Directly behind her.
Which meant—
Directly behind me.
My body wouldn't listen anymore.
I turned.
Fast.
Nothing.
Empty room.
Door closed.
Chair in the corner.
Closet shut.
I exhaled sharply, almost laughing at myself.
"Stop it," I whispered. "You're losing your mind."
But something felt wrong.
The breathing was gone.
Completely gone.
I turned back toward the mirror.
The bed in the reflection was empty.
Empty.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I was still sitting on my bed.
But in the mirror—
There was no one there.
The blankets were slightly crumpled.
As if someone had just gotten up.
Slowly… the reflection door creaked open.
But my real door stayed closed.
I stared in horror as the reflection version of my room began to change.
The walls looked darker.
Older.
Stained.
The air in the mirror seemed thick, almost gray.
And then I saw movement.
Something stepped into the reflection room.
Tall.
Too tall.
Its head almost touched the ceiling.
Its body bent at strange angles, like joints weren't placed correctly.
It didn't have a face.
Just smooth, pale skin where features should be.
It walked toward the reflection bed.
Toward where I should have been.
Then it stopped.
Its head tilted.
Slowly.
Mechanically.
And even without eyes, I knew—
It was looking at me.
Not at the reflection.
At me.
In the real room.
The mirror's surface rippled slightly.
Like water disturbed by a stone.
And then—
I saw her.
The other me.
Standing behind that creature.
Her eyes were black now.
Completely black.
She placed her hand on its shoulder.
Like she was guiding it.
Controlling it.
And she mouthed three words.
"Switch with me."
The mirror cracked.
A thin line down the center.
But no sound.
No shattering.
Just a silent fracture spreading like a spiderweb.
The air in my room grew cold.
Painfully cold.
I tried to stand, but my legs felt heavy.
Like something was holding me in place.
The creature in the mirror stepped closer.
Each step made the cracks spread wider.
And then—
It lifted its arm.
And pressed its hand against the inside of the mirror.
Long fingers.
Too many joints.
The glass bulged outward.
Like it was soft.
Like it wasn't glass at all.
My reflection self stepped closer too.
Until she stood face to face with me through the broken surface.
Her smile returned.
Wider.
More confident.
"You're weaker," she whispered.
But her voice wasn't coming from the mirror.
It was coming from behind me.
I didn't turn this time.
I couldn't.
Tears blurred my vision as I stared at her in front of me.
"If I stay there," she said calmly, "I fade. I become nothing."
The creature's hand pushed further through the mirror.
The tips of its fingers slipped into my room.
I could see them now.
Real.
Solid.
"I've been waiting for you to notice," she continued. "Waiting for you to be scared enough."
The cracks reached the edges of the mirror.
The entire surface trembled.
"You opened the door," she said softly. "Now I can open mine."
The breathing returned.
Right behind me.
But this time—
It wasn't hers.
It was mine.
I slowly looked down.
My chest was still.
Not rising.
Not falling.
I couldn't feel my pulse.
My hands felt distant.
Like they didn't belong to me.
And suddenly I understood.
I wasn't in my body anymore.
I looked back at the mirror.
The creature was halfway through.
And on my bed—
I saw myself.
Sleeping peacefully.
Breathing slowly.
Unaware.
The "me" in the mirror stepped fully into my room.
She inhaled deeply.
Smiled.
And climbed into my body.
My body jerked once.
Then stilled.
Her eyes opened.
She sat up.
Flexed her fingers.
Turned her head slowly toward the mirror.
Toward me.
Because now—
I was the one trapped inside it.
The creature stood beside me in the reflection world.
Tall.
Silent.
Watching.
And the new "me" in the real room looked directly at us.
Grinned.
And whispered—
"See you tomorrow at 3:07."
The clock beside the bed flickered.
3:08 AM.
And I could finally breathe again.
But only inside the glass.