Chapter 60: Reflections of Deception
As the echoes of my confrontation with the mysterious voice still reverberated in my mind, I found myself grappling with an overwhelming sense of confusion and unease. The enigmatic words that had passed between me and my own reflection in the shattered mirror haunted my thoughts.
"I have no idea what is happening to me. I have no idea what those sentences meant that I spoke to that unknown voice echoing in my ear. Everything feels different, as if I’ve become a different person all of a sudden," I mused, my mind whirling with uncertainty.
Unable to contain my distress, I pressed my hand to my forehead and glanced at the broken mirror, which now lay in shattered pieces on the table. The reflection that had once gazed back at me with a mocking smirk remained fragmented, each shard reflecting a distorted version of myself.
"Is this an illusion?" I wondered aloud, my voice tinged with disbelief.
A chilling response emerged from the fractured mirror, as if the shattered pieces still held a semblance of sentience. "How does it feel to see the changed you? Is it a good feeling?"
My heart raced as I stared at the remnants of the mirror, my own voice now a source of eerie discomfort. "W-who are you?"
The broken pieces of glass seemed to mock me further as the voice replied, "I am you!"
"No, you are not me. I’m not like you. I’m not strong. I don’t mock. I’m only here to survive; that’s all I want," I protested, my voice quivering with fear and denial.
But the voice persisted, its eerie tone unwavering. "I too think that way. I’m not strong. I don’t mock, and I want to survive. That’s how you were born, Bernice. Because you and I are the same. You are me, and I am you. That is our destiny."
Overwhelmed by the confrontation with my own reflection, I could no longer bear the unsettling presence of the shattered mirror. With a surge of emotions, I slammed my hand onto the table, causing the remaining fragments to scatter and the mirror to shatter into even smaller pieces before me.