Captured Reflections

A moment later, and Brian was on the floor next to them. The sensations did not all disappear right away. He still felt what it was like to have a pussy, to be penetrated, to be so incredibly horny, the thrill of being controlled. But the anger of how it had all happened overrode those sensations and rage was all that remained. He slowly got to his feet and looked down at Justin who was still seated on the floor. He extended a hand to pull him up. Justin accepted the hand and was pulled to his feet. Then Brian snatched the mirror out of Justin's grasp with his left hand, and with his right hand he delivered a forceful punch to Justin's face. Justin went down hard.

Sam and Eric were on their feet but Brian was already at the front door. "I'm going to destroy this thing. Don't follow me. As far as I'm concerned our friendships are over." He slammed the door behind him.

Sam and Eric made to chase after him, but Justin yelled, "Don't. It's okay. We kind of had that coming."

"But the mirror!" Eric said panicked.

Sam gave a melancholy smile. "I'm almost positive he won't be able to destroy it and unless he uses it, we'll have it back tomorrow." The brothers exchanged looks, clearly clueless as to what he meant, but didn't pursue it further.

Brian was a man on a mission. Upon pulling into his driveway, he opened the garage and went straight to his father's work bench. He laid the mirror on the hard surface, grabbed a large steel hammer, and brought it down with all his might onto the mirror's surface. He expected to hear the tinkling sound of glass breaking and the sight of shards flying in all directions. But neither of those things happened. When he moved the hammer, not a dent, not a scratch was anywhere to be found.

Undaunted, Brian procured a flat head screwdriver. He would wedge it along the edges and pop the mirror out of the frame and go from there. Try as he might, this also proved futile. He grabbed a hand held saw to see if he could at least saw the wooden handle off. The jagged teeth of the blade chipped and gave out before the handle showed any sign of damage. Completely flustered, he brought it in and set it on the table. He was getting a drink when his father walked in. He had completely forgotten that his mother had said he would be home early, but didn't think he would react at seeing the old mirror on the table. He was very wrong.

"Son," Steve Patterson said calmly but with an edge to his voice, "where did you find that mirror?"

Brian recognized his father's questioning tone. It was the one he used when he expected a response to a question he already knew the answer too. No use lying. "I found it in the attic buried in a trunk."

His father studied him. "Does anyone else know about it?"

Brian did not want to answer that question at all, but it seemed of increasing importance to his father. "I found it with my friends."

Brian's father sat down, looking like he'd be sick. "Tell me the truth. Did you, did any of you use it?"

Brian waited a long moment before saying a soft, "Yes."

"Do you know if anyone has said the last word yet?" he suddenly demanded, slamming his fist on the table. His anger quickly abated as a thought occurred to him. "What am I saying, if they had, you wouldn't know. At least you were able to carry the damn thing in here so I know you haven't said it yet."

"Dad, you're really starting to freak me out."

Now his dad looked like he really would be sick. "I hoped it would never by anyone in my family. I hoped I would be dead before it happened." He looked at Brian with eyes that eked misery. "Sit down. I need to tell you a story."

As Brian sat, he realized that his father knew all about this mirror. He was probably about to learn things he didn't want to ever know.

"When I was in my early twenties, my best friend Curt Buchanan and I loved to go to estate sales whenever we could get the chance. One day, we came across this box, nothing special about it but what you've seen before and know contains that mirror. I bid on it during the auction and won it. I took it home and discovered the words, or at least the first one that night. When Curt came over the next day, I showed it to him. We both wondered what it could mean. Then Curt saw my cute next door neighbor walk by my front window. He knew I had a crush on her but had rejected me on more than one occasion. As a joke, he grabbed the mirror and ran out to her and said capture, and that's what it did. You know, you've seen it. We were both mystified at the red light and it's temporary stunning effect on my neighbor."

"He brought it back inside and we looked in the box and saw the next word. We both came to the same conclusion as to what might happen, and flipped a coin to see who would become her copy. I lost the toss, but Curt, seeing the look of disappointment on my face, tossed again, and this time, he lost. I didn't know it at the time, but he, in a way, saved my life right there. He transformed into my heart's desire right before my eyes. After making sure he was okay, we looked to see if there was another word. We didn't think about stopping because we assumed the box would show us a word to undo any changes."

"We were sitting on the couch together, and before I had said the next word, Curt's hand, her hand, was already on my knee. Right there I should have known the changes weren't just physical, but internal as well. The mirror was pushing Curt, making him accept who the mirror had transformed him into and cranking up his sex drive. After I said the next word, he seemed to become her. He knew everything about her. How she walked, talked, how she didn't like me. But her hand didn't leave my knee. The look on her face made it seem like she was having some internal struggle before I had read the next word. She was in the process of telling me that even though she didn't have feelings for me, maybe she'd let me see her naked, and then I said control. I made her...do things that I will not go into detail about with you but...I definitely took advantage of my friend's loss of free will. Curt was lost in this new identity. When the final two words appeared, I let him know he could go back, that I could undo it all. He begged me not to do that, to let him stay as he was, that he'd do anything I'd ever ask of him if I would let him stay her. So, I said the last word instead of saying cancel and changing him back."

Brian felt like the story was coming to some shocking conclusion. He thought he already knew what it was but was terrified to ask.

His father took a deep breath. "The change became permanent. The original copy of my neighbor disappeared, as in completely ceased to exist, and so did my best friend. The copy that was now in my room was for all intents and purposes, the new original. One that I was in complete control of and who would do whatever I said whenever I said it and also had a raging libido. When I asked her, she had no recollection of the magical process. She only remembered being in her house, then there with me, and was sorry she had never given me a chance and wanted to get married and be together forever."

Now it was Brian's turn to look sick. "Please, please, please tell me that you're not talking about Mom right now?"

His dad looked at him ashamedly. "Have you ever seen your mother and I have an argument? Have you ever wondered why she'd always do whatever I said without any hesitation whatsoever? She waits on me hand and foot. All because of this mirror."

"My mom was your best friend, this Curt guy?" Brian exclaimed suddenly overwhelmed. "You did that to your friend?"

His dad leveled an accusatory gaze at his son, "You said you'd used it. Was it you that transformed? Was it Justin or Sam or Eric? Did it go well for you and they didn't ask or beg to not go back to who they were? This mirror wants someone to say that last word. It wants the changes to be permanent. That's its curse."

Brian threw up his hands and asked the obvious. "Then what the hell is it still doing in this house?"

"Well let's see, judging by the sounds I heard earlier from my garage, you've just learned that it can in no way be destroyed. Here's something else. It will always stay with the person that used it last. I had your mother try burying it, throwing it in a lake, putting it in a safe deposit box, and it would always show back up inside our house near the front door. Once I realized I couldn't get rid of it, I had your mother try locking it up in a safe in our bedroom. Nope, found it at the front door the next day. I briefly tried renting another residence to see if I could keep it there. Also no. The only thing it will allow is to be hidden in the house that I sleep at night."

Brian was confused. "Why did you have Mom do all those things?"

"Oh," his dad said with an eye roll, "forgot to tell you that part. After I said the last word, I wasn't able to touch it anymore. Look." He reached for the mirror. The minute his fingers should have touched it, they passed through. It was as if the mirror was a hologram to him. "Since your mother does whatever I want her to do, this hasn't been an issue. I'll tell her to get rid of it or hide it and then I'll tell her to forget about it."

"So," Brian asked worried, "what should I do with it now?"

"Is it in your possession? Were you the last to use it?"

"No," Brian acknowledged. "Justin was."

"Then it'll go back to him unless you use it."

"I'm never using it again," Brian said firmly.

His father gave him a very concerned look and stood from his chair. "You might not have a choice. The mirror wants to be used. Your friends won't forget what it was like to be someone else. It was all Curt could talk about during the first two phases. And if it's ever a choice to who says the last word, you or someone else, make sure it's you. Now go hide it before your mother or sister sees it. I'm sorry you've become entangled in this but I don't want either of them involved. Thank goodness that hasn't happened."

In retrospect, Brian realized he should have gone with silence, or moved the conversation elsewhere. Anything would have been better than the awkward, "Um..." that escaped his lips causing his father to sit down again.

"Are your mother or sister already involved?" his dad asked nervously.

"Not really," Brian tried to assure him. "What started this mess was I accidentally captured Casey's image and then copied her onto Eric and, well then it kind of spiraled like you said when Casey, um, Casey..."

Brian unable to finish that statement was all Mr. Patterson needed to hear. "Understood. Yes, but you somehow managed to cancel it out. Great. Great. Well, this is going to have to play all the way out isn't it?" He was on his feet again, pacing, talking out loud. "If your friends show up here, they can't be around. I've got to get them out, somewhere far away." He stopped and looked at Brian. "Son, I've got to protect your mother and sister. I don't know if they'll come back to capture Casey, or hell, your mother, but they might. If Eric felt a connection to Casey, it might be strong enough for him to want to try again and she can't be here when that happens."

Brian looked appalled. "Well, I don't want that either, but it sounds like you're going to leave me here."

His father nodded solemnly. "You're right. I am. If they show up with that mirror, I can't take it from them, you can. All I can do is get your mother and sister far away until this is done, and believe me, it will be done soon, one way or the other."

"I told them to leave me out of it. I don't want anything to do with them anymore."

Mr. Patterson thought about this. "Maybe, but not a chance I'm willing to take. Here, we'll do this as a litmus test." He took a piece of paper from a drawer and wrote his friends' names, Eric, Sam, Justin in pen. Underneath, he wrote, '3 names, if there are ever 2 names, tell parents to come home.'

"I don't get it," Brian said quizzically. "How's that supposed to work?"

Mr. Patterson sighed. "The mirror alters reality if you say the final word, did I not make that clear? Curt ceased to exist. I went to his parents to try and explain in some way what happened and they had no idea who Curt was. Any memory of him was erased from the minds of everyone who knew him except for me. With that in mind, three names on this paper. If they use it, and mind you, I bet one of them will very soon, one of these names will disappear. What shouldn't disappear is the message underneath it, theoretically."

"Wow Dad, sounds like you've really given this some thought."

"I thought about it all the time years ago, about what would happen when and if somebody stumbled across it and used it. I pushed it out of my mind when you kids came along, like it was a bad dream. Now the nightmare is back and I'm sorry you're in it, but you're smarter and more capable than you know. If they show up here, don't let them in, let them make the mistake of using it until one of them disappears. They can deal with the curse from then on. I'll have your mother and sister out of the house tonight. I'll tell them it's a last minute family vacation but you can't go because of work. Be careful." He hugged his son, then left to have everyone pack.

Brian put the mirror in a drawer in his room, and the next morning it was gone, along with his parents and sister. That day he had called in sick to work, locked the doors, and waited for someone to come. No one had. No one called except his dad a few times to check in. He checked the piece of paper regularly but it hadn't changed. By the next day, he was already stir crazy from hiding in his house and not knowing what the other guys were doing with the mirror. Determined not to be a prisoner in his own house, he went to work. It wasn't that he wanted to go, but he knew he'd see Stacey there, and that prospect made the risk seem worth it. Maybe it was the notion of being in potential danger, but he thought he might have the courage to finally ask her out on a date.

Brian hadn't been smitten with Stacey right away. They worked the same shift, in the same position, moving freight and restocking shelves for a major retail store. Brian had always struggled talking to girls, but his proximity to Stacey at work made it comfortable for him to engage her in conversation. He had always appreciated her body, but finding out that they had many common interests and could talk effortlessly for long periods of time was what made him fall for her. But he had chickened out so many times when it came to asking her out on a date. He didn't want to ruin what they had, but he didn't want to stand still either. Earning some extra money had been his big push to finally make it happen. He would wine and dine her and tell her all about how she made him feel and did she feel the same way? But he had found the mirror instead.

All this was swirling in his head as he punched in and started moving freight. He worked mindlessly for a an hour before Stacey came up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head. "Hey Brian! You mad at me or something? You haven't said two words to me yet? And what's this whole you were sick yesterday? You made me work an entire shift without you and you know how I feel about that."

He turned around and looked at her, appreciating her beauty every time. Even though her words had bite, she was giving a half smile, letting him know she was teasing. She wore her long brown hair up and in one of the work provided hats that he thought increased her cuteness factor. The polyester shirt did not hide her large breasts, and seemed to cling to them in a very complimentary fashion. And the standard black pants just looked better on her than they did everyone else. He realized that if he stared a second longer he would be venturing into creep territory. "Sorry, yeah, I know. Here's a secret. I wasn't really sick. Family stuff. My parents left on a vacation and they wanted to hang out with me one day before they left."

Stacey looked surprised. "They left you behind? What's up with that?"

"It's my fault," Brian added quickly. "I told them I had work responsibilities and, you know you couldn't do this job without me for a week."

She smiled causing Brian's heart beat faster in his chest. "It is a little less awful when you're here, but responsibilities, really?"

Brian straightened his shoulders. "I'm trying to impress management with my work ethic. There's a promotion coming up in a few weeks that I was thinking of applying for." In reality he hadn't, but it seemed like the thing to say to impress her.

"Wow, well I think they'd be stupid not to give you the position. You're a good guy."

Brian took a deep breath. This was his moment. "Stacey, do you, would you ever want to, I don't know, want to hang out outside of work sometime?"

Her smile was back, bigger than before. "Like a date? Are you asking me on a date Brian Patterson?"

"No I mean..." he saw her eyebrow arch subtly, "yes, yes a date where we go out and, I treat you to someplace fancy and I tell you how good you look and then maybe, I don't know, romantic things..."

Stacey giggled. "That was really hard for you, wasn't it?"

Brian let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Yes! I'm sorry, I've wanted to ask you out for so long because I think you're so amazing and, oh crap, you haven't said yes yet. I'm going to shut up now."

She batted her long lashes at him and then said sweetly, "I would love to go on a date with you. How about next weekend? Can you wait that long? I have plans with my family this weekend."

Brian was on cloud nine. "Absolutely, next weekend, sounds great."

Brian's productivity drastically increased and the rest of the day seemed to fly by for him. Everything was great and as it should be. But when he got home, the paper that he had left on the fridge hadn't changed. How long would this go on? He needed something to happen. He purposed to stay alert, to stay home or be at work and nothing else. Hopefully this would all be over long before his date with Stacey. He finished out his work week without incident, and without any changes on the paper. Other than calls from his parents and one from Stacey, his former friends had not made any contact with him. He hoped that was a good sign and that they had moved on.

The weekend was upon him and he was lazing about with his doors locked, on alert but feeling safe in his castle. Late that afternoon from right outside his house, he heard the slam of a car door, then two more doors in quick succession. He assumed it was friends of the neighbors who would often park along the street, but a few seconds later, his door bell rang. Thankfully he was fully dressed, something that was uncommon for the weekend, but this was an unwanted surprise. He didn't know if a magic mirror could work through the peephole of his front door, but he decided to chance it. To his surprise, it was Stacey. He immediately opened the door and gestured for her to come in and closed the door behind her. "Stacey? I thought you had plans with your family this weekend?"

"I did but they canceled. I thought we could have a predate before our actual date. Sort of take the tension out of the next one by just being casual for this one."

She looked anything but casual. She was wearing a short, silver sparkly dress that showed off her perfect legs. She had elegantly applied makeup, just enough to accentuate her finer features. She looked like she was ready for a night on the town or trying very hard to catch a man. Either way Brian made every effort to stuff his eyeballs back in. "I, that sounds great. I am a little under dressed for the occasion though."

"Oh, sorry," Stacey apologized. "This is what I was going to wear out with my family tonight. Probably shouldn't have picked out such a short skirt now that I think about it. Do you think it's too short?" She gave a slow twirl for him, watching as his eyes drifted all over her, lingering at her legs.