Haunted Mirror Ch. 07

"Come on, Abigail, talk to me!" she whispered. "What do you even want me to do?"

"Oh, figure it out," she finally responded, but said no more.

"You know I can't do the usual 'thing' to get free, not here! Not in public! That actually would be illegal!"

"What are they going to do, arrest you? The police might find it difficult to carry you away at the moment. I'd love to see them try!"

Vivian opened her mouth to continue pleading, but before any sound came out, she heard a voice to her left: a male voice with a slight New York accent.

"Hey, lady! What do you think you're doing?"

Shit! Vivian turned, and saw a middle-aged, mustached man walking out of a small corner store.

"Seriously, Abigail!" she squeaked frantically in a tiny voice as he approached. "Free the nipple! Like, literally!"

But it was too late. He was already next to her.

"Lady, are you all right?" he asked, sounding equal parts concerned and annoyed.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, just a little situation here. A little hard to explain. I'm going to need a minute, but I'll be fine."

"Are you drunk? What happened to your shirt? Do you need something to put on?"

"Just a couple of drinks. And my shirt's fine! Well, I mean, I lost it, but I don't need another. I'm fine like this. Really, I'm fine! But thanks!"

"Okay. Look, I'm glad you're fine and all, but, and no offense, I'd rather not have you hanging out in front of my store like this. Are... are you on anything? You take any drugs today?"

"No, like I said, just a few..."

But at that moment, Vivian lost her balance and stumbled backwards a step. Once again, her nipple was yanked outward as it stayed firmly stuck against the pole.

"Oh, geez!" he said as he winced with imagined pain. "What happened to your, uh... are you snagged on something? That doesn't hurt, does it?"

"I'm fine! Like I said, I'd rather unsnag myself on my own! Just let me..." Vivian tugged a few times, pinching her nipple in her fingers. The damn thing still wouldn't budge!

"Careful! Don't hurt yourself! That doesn't look like it's going to come off. Are you going to need an EMT over here?"

By now, Vivian had drawn quite a crowd. The shopkeeper's concern wasn't doing a single thing to disperse the growing circle of onlookers.

"NO! No, I don't!" she protested, trying to shoo him away. "Everyone just leave me alone, and I'll be on my way as soon... as... HERRRGHHH... I... can!"

As she said this, Vivian put her hands against the pole and pushed off as hard as she could. In her somewhat inebriated judgement, all she wanted to do was yank the thing loose so she could run off and disappear under the nearest rock. But, of course, her human strength was no match for the power of an ancient curse. The only result was to stretch her tit out like elastic as she struggled.

"JESUS! STOP THAT!!!" yelled the horrified shop keep!

"Oh, that is soooo fake!" laughed one of the onlookers.

"Yeah, this has got to be some candid cam prank or something," another agreed.

"ABIGAIL!!!" Vivian screamed, humiliated and infuriated! "ABIGAIL, LET ME GO!!! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!!!"

"Who's Abigail? She do this to you?" asked the shopkeeper.

"She's a dead whore!" Vivian growled through clenched teeth as she continued yanking. But before she could continue her description, Abigail's voice boomed in her head loud and angry enough to scare her!

"Don't EVER tell anyone about me! That is my first rule, and I will make you suffer if you ever break it!"

Vivian had stopped tugging. Only slightly calmer, and still well within hearing of the crowd of onlookers, she replied.

"Then let me go! Or how else do you want me to explain this to everyone?"

"I don't care. Figure it out!"

"Dammit, Abigail..."

"I said shut up about me!"

"Who the hell's this 'Abigail?'" the shopkeeper asked again. "Did she do this to you? You got her on an earpiece or something?"

Vivian turned to him, and began to explain, defiantly. "Like I was saying, Abigail is the ghost of a dead prost..."

"SHUT UP!!! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" Abigail tried to scream over her.

Though it was hard to hear her own thoughts with Abigail's deafening screams in her head, Vivian continued. Ironically, Vivian unintentionally raised her voice to be able to hear her own words.

"She's a dead prostitute who won't get out of my head."

"Yeah... Okay, sure. Look, if you can just tell me how you got your... uh... skin snagged on this pole, we'll get free, and then I'll make sure you get any help you need," he said, clearly beginning to think this half-naked girl stuck to a streetlight wasn't just drunk, but completely nuts!

But it didn't matter what the store owner thought. He could think she was hopped up on meth for all she cared. This was for Abigail. And judging by her continued screams, unheard by everyone but Vivian, her plan was working. So Vivian did her best to ignore the screaming tantrum and continued on, slowly and deliberately.

"So here's my situation: I've been possessed by her ghost, and she's been playing all kinds of nasty tricks on me with her magic, just like this."

"STOP IT! STOP IT! THEY WON'T BELIEVE YOU ANYWAY!"

"Magic tricks that she learned from an old, cursed mirr..."

"DON'T SAY IT, YOU GOD DAMNED WRETCH!!!"

At that moment, Vivian felt her mouth shut itself, cutting off her sentence. She tried to open her mouth again, but her lips felt like they were super glued shut.

"Hmmm! MMMM!" was all she could say.

Even the shopkeeper took a step back with alarm. He didn't seem sure what was going on, but something definitely didn't seem natural about how she was acting.

"Lady? Are you all right? Talk to me, nice and slow. What's going on?"

She was muted, but maybe Abigail could understand her thoughts. 'You're backed in a corner, bitch! If you try to silence me with your magic, they're just going to see your influence with their own two eyes! The only way to keep our secret is to let... me... go!"

All of a sudden, her nipple popped free of the streetlight with a 'thunk!' and snapped back to her chest like a released rubber band. Her mouth opened freely, as well. The screaming in her head had also stopped, and it felt like a hurricane had just passed.

"Ah, there we go!" Vivian said with a smile. "See? I told you I'd be fine!" She turned and began pushing her way through the crowd, stumbling a little from the alcohol that was still soaking into her bloodstream. "Excuse me!"

"Ma'am, are you sure you're fine? Don't you at least want to borrow a shirt or something?" the shopkeeper yelled after her.

"This is LEGAL!" she yelled back, as she departed the scene for good.

...

After that, Vivian wanted nothing more than to go home. That had more than enough adventure for the day, anyway. She went into the next souvenir shop she passed, bought a t-shirt with a picture of the Statue of Liberty from a wide-eyed and dumbstruck young man, then made for the nearest subway entrance. Abigail neither said nor did anything to stop her as she pulled the shirt over herself. It was funny. After finding confidence in herself she never knew she had, she had actually been considering daring the entire return trip topless, including the last few blocks through New Jersey. But after the most humiliating experience in public she could ever remember, not to mention nearly being sexually assaulted, she wasn't sure if she was ever going to do this again.

Vivian made a few attempts to chide Abigail for breaking her promise on their way back, but Abigail ignored her. After a while, Vivian was wondering if she had finally rid herself of her unwanted guest. But the moment she finally stepped through the door of her apartment...

"Off. All of it."

"Huh?"

"You broke the single, most important rule! Now you don't get to wear anything at home! I told you there would be consequences!"

"And you broke a promise! And for no reason that I could tell! I don't owe you a damn thing after that bullshit!"

"If you don't strip down to your skin right now, I'll do it for you. You know I can!"

"You know what? No! Fuck you! I complied willingly all damn day, and you broke your word anyway! I'm done complying with you!"

"Then we'll do it my way. I don't care."

Abigail took control of Vivian's arms. She pulled Vivian's shirt off and tossed it on the couch, leaving her topless once again. She had been topless so long that day that it actually felt normal to her now. But the fight wasn't about comfort anymore. Maybe it never had been.

"See? Now the rest, or we'll do it the same way."

But Vivian only reached for her shirt.

"NO!" Abigail yelled.

Abigail took control again just before her hand had reached her shirt. Her hand froze in the air, then slowly forced itself back to her side. This time, Vivian fought with all her willpower. She struggled to move her arms, but it was like her brain was hitting keys on a frozen computer; her body wouldn't respond at all. She felt her fingers curl around her belt buckle before Abigail returned control again.

"Now do it! Unbuckle your belt!"

But Vivian went for her shirt again. This time she darted as quickly as she could, and actually managed to pick it up before her hands stopped responding.

"NO! STOP IT!"

Her arm threw the shirt across the room.

"Now undress! Now!"

"I won't. Why don't you do it? You clearly can."

"Because I told YOU to do it!"

Vivian walked across the room to pick up her shirt. Even as she bent down, Abigail screamed at her, but didn't take physical control until she had stood up straight with the shirt in her hands. This time, she found her hands clenching the shirt by the collar in either hand. Her hands pulled apart, stretching the neck until she heard seams pop. In a second, two rips formed down the front and back, splitting Lady Liberty's face and almost tearing the shirt clean in two. Abigail threw the ruined garment into a corner.

"Take... off... your... clothes!"

"Fuck you!"

Vivian marched into her bedroom and opened the shirt drawer of her dresser. She pulled out one of her least favorite t-shirts, and almost had it over her head before Abigail ripped that one in half as well. She grabbed another shirt, and almost got it around her neck before it met a similar fate.

"Or we can keep doing this until you HAVE nothing to wear! I swear I'll rip every last garment you own to shreds!"

"Yeah, but it'll be you that does it, not me."

"Why do you even care who does it?"

"Why do you?"

There was no answer. Another shirt was destroyed.

"Better question: why the hell did you break your promise to me? I did everything you wanted! I even fucking owned it! And for that you stuck my tit to a pole where everyone could see! It was the most humiliating moment of my life! Why should I be afraid of disobeying you when even obeying you gets me punished? Huh?"

"You have no idea how much worse it can get."

"Answer my question! Why did you punish me? Why were you angry after I did everything you asked?"

Another shirt was destroyed. By now she was getting into some of the shirts she sort of liked. This one she had managed to get down over her shoulders.

"I said answer! Were you jealous of something? Jealous that people were fawning over me like they never did to you? Were you jealous that I actually started to enjoy it? Maybe you thought you were the only woman in history brave enough to be naked in public without shame? Did you think that make you special? Did I burst your bubble on that?"

"Hardly!"

Vivian held another shirt in her hand: a pretty, sparkly one she would have been sad to lose. But that wasn't why she didn't try to put it on just yet. The battle seemed to have moved onto words by now, and she was starting to realize something. Shirt still in hand, she took a few steps over to Abigail's mirror and stared into it. So far, only her own reflection greeted her, but if Abigail had a physical face to stare down, this was probably it.

"Or maybe... maybe the whole thing never was about your little topless fantasy at all! You just wanted to humiliate me! That's all any of this was ever about! You think if you keep me beaten down, I'll stay submissive to you! And every time I learn to actually enjoy one of your games, you have to move on and find something worse. So, when you saw me owning our little topless adventure instead of trying to hide my tits like a damsel in distress... hell, when I started speaking my mind and getting results, did that make you feel like your power over me was slipping away? Oh, nothing scares a narcissist more than losing control! Am I onto something? Am I getting warmer?"

"You think you enjoying having your tits gawked at intimidates me?" Abigail scoffed, with so much incredulity it had to have been fake.

"Yeah, I actually do! Or more accurately, me acting confident and in charge is what intimidates you!" Vivian declared, while staring her reflection in the eye.

"That's preposterous!"

"Then show yourself! If you're not intimidated, then stop hiding and let me see you!"

Suddenly, Abigail's image replaced her own. She was as naked as the last time she had appeared, and while she looked anything but intimidated, the prideful, arrogant demeanor she usually wore was gone. She looked like a madwoman: her mouth was clenched in a hateful scowl, and her eyes looked almost psychotic! More notably, Abigail's arms were crossed tightly just underneath her breasts. It was the same posture Vivian had taken when she had wanted to cover herself, but had been too afraid of appearing defensive... of showing a sign of weakness! Could it be? Had she made Abigail want to cover herself?

"Why?" Vivian demanded. "If what I said isn't true, then why did you break your promise and punish me?"

"BECAUSE I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT TO YOU! THAT'S WHY!" Abigail screamed.

"Like make me take the rest of my clothes off? Then why are they still on, Abigail?"

"Oh, they're GOING to come off!"

Vivian put her right arm through the sleeve, then her left through the other. She brought the shirt up toward her head. Then, she felt her arms defy her. Her fingers tightened around the neck and began to pull.

"I'll rip this one just like all the rest!"

"Then I'll get another. And another. Maybe you didn't know this about me, Abigail, but I have a lot of shirts. Bras... blouses... jackets... dresses... Clothes are kind of my thing. Are you willing to keep playing this stupid game all night?"

"Absolutely!" she retorted with venom in her eyes.

"What kind of prostitute were you, even? Aren't prostitutes supposed to be submissive and agreeable? I can't imagine you had many repeat customers with a shit attitude like that!"

"I've taken more men on a Sunday than you've taken in your life!"

"Yeah, right."

Vivian lifted her shirt back toward her head. Again, her arms defied her and threatened to rip the garment in half.

"STOP IT! I said stop it, or I'll make you regret it! Severely!"

"No! And not because I'm ashamed to be naked. Because it's MY body, and what I wear, in public or at home, is MY choice! Not yours, not anybody else's... mine! From now on, any great ideas you have for what I can do with MY body... you can phrase it as a fucking suggestion!"

Vivian pulled the shirt down over her head, and finally felt no resistance. As she pulled it down to her midsection, Abigail screamed at her, almost beside herself with anger!

"FINE!!! SEE HOW YOU DO WITHOUT ME, THEN!!! Let's see how dear, sweet Olivia thinks of you without my gifts, when it's just your dull, stupid self! Let's see if she still loves you when you can't even get wet for her anymore, let alone get stuck to her skin!"

With that, Abigail's image winked out of existence.

For a minute, Vivian just stood there, looking at her reflection and trying to process what had just happened. It seemed like she had just won a major victory over Abigail, but why didn't she feel very victorious right now? For one, she doubted she had heard the last from Abigail.

But why hadn't Abigail just controlled her body completely? Had Vivian really beaten her at a battle of will? Or there a reason she couldn't assume total control? Maybe she only had so much energy to use for her magic tricks. She wasn't big on hard science, but she remembered the basics from high school. Were supernatural forces bound by things like conservation of energy just like the physical world? Maybe Abigail had vanished just now because their struggle had left her utterly exhausted. It would be dangerous to assume she had such a weakness, but it was clear now that Abigail did not have absolute power over her. Yes, Abigail would be back, and she would continue to fight her tooth and nail until her victory was complete.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. The shirt she had picked was brighter and flashier than her usual attire. The dark gray, almost black shirt with silver sparkles looked like the night sky, which she thought fit her image rather well. Without a bra, her swollen nipples made large, impressive bulges in the thin fabric. Abigail had threatened to take her 'gifts' back. Did that mean her nipples were going to shrink back to their normal size? She hoped not, because she was starting to like this new look. She wondered if Instagram would allow photos like this. Bare nipple shots would get removed, but what if they were technically covered?

As she stared at her assets, she found herself starting to get wet. She felt a sudden urge to take her shirt off again and bring out her nipples so she could stare at and play with them. Dammit, this was probably the mirror's allure. She turned away from the mirror. No, she would be keeping her shirt on for now.

...

Later that evening, as Vivian was finishing up a healthy snack, she got a call from Olivia.

"Hey, love! How'd your meeting go?"

"The meeting was good! Lots of ideas for some future projects. But enough about me. Vivian... Are... you... fucking... serious?" she asked, sounding impressed, even elated! "Topless in Central Park like a confident badass? I mean, I already knew you have a commanding presence, but I had no idea I was dating a free the nipple warrior! That's awesome!"

"Wait, you found out about that?"

"Well, yeah! You only made the freaking news today! You didn't forget having an interview with a journalist, did you?"

Vivian laughed, embarrassedly. "No, I didn't forget. I thought it was just some local student paper, is all. I didn't know how many people would see it."

"Viv, sweetie, I work for the media. Remember? We keep our ears to the ground. And my co-worker was like 'Hey, Olivia, isn't this your new supermodel girlfriend, here?'"

"Supermodel? I don't know if I'd go that far..."

"Well, maybe I've been talking you up a little. It happens when you're love-stricken like that. I can't help it! But for real, you knocked that interview out of the park! You were amazing!"

"You think? Honestly, I don't really know much about free the nipple stuff. I just kind of said whatever came to me. I didn't know if I was right about all of it. You think it was good?"

"You were stating your opinion. Nothing about this stuff is factually true or false anyway. But what you did have to say was thought-provoking. Dammit, even inspiring! And that's what matters!"

"Inspiring, huh? Aww, shucks! Wait a minute... inspiring enough for you to do it with me next time?"

"Uhh..." she began and laughed nervously. "Maybe you're still a little braver than I am. I might have pass on that offer for now. But, my lord, that picture of you! You look just... wow! Oooh, it's got me all hot and bothered!"

"THEY ACTUALLY POSTED IT? UNCENSORED?"

"You wouldn't believe the things they print these days!" Olivia answered with mock disapproval.