Haunted Mirror Ch. 09

"I'm sorry..." she whimpered, as tears began to pool up in her eyes.

"And who the fuck... or more like what the fuck... even is this 'Abigail?' Some kind of demon? Jesus Christ, I can't believe I just asked that in all seriousness. Because you looked literally possessed back there!"

"No, not a demon. She was a living human. She's the ghost that's haunting that mirror. And, yes, possessing me."

"And if you had let me touch that mirror..."

Vivian looked away from Olivia in guilt and slowly nodded. "Yeah."

"Normally, this is where I'd say I need some time alone to process the truckload of information you just dumped on me, but..." she tugged at her wrist for emphasis, "fat chance of that happening."

Vivian began to snivel. Olivia sighed, and seemed to take pity on her.

"Is she going to do that to you again?"

Vivina shook her head. "Not for a bit. She only has so much energy. I don't know if it's actual energy, or just emotional, but after we fight like that she disappears for a few days, like she's recharging or something."

Olivia tugged at her wrist again. "Then why are we still stuck together?"

"I don't know. The sticking thing is part of the curse on the mirror. She just knows how to control it. Maybe it's fueled by a different power source than her own abilities."

"So... if the only one with access to the on/off switch is out on a mental health break for the foreseeable future, how long is the battery on this going to last?" she demanded, giving a sharp yank for emphasis.

"I really don't know."

"God, damn it!"

There was a silence, as neither of them knew what to say. Vivian realized they were still hanging out in her doorway.

"Let's at least shut the door before we attract the attention of my neighbors." She started to lead Olivia back inside, but Olivia would not follow.

"Uh, no way am I going back in there with that... thing! We need to get as far away from it as we can!"

Olivia pulled Vivian outside rather forcefully. She looked down and remembered her blouse was still unbuttoned. She seemed to have figured out their skin could slide against itself so long as they weren't pulling, so she moved Vivian's hand up to her elbow to give her the freedom to button herself up.

When she was done, she slid their hands until they were touching palm to palm, took one look around to make sure nobody else was watching, and tried to pull away. Their palms and fingers held fast. The two of them struggled harder to pull themselves apart, leaning away from each other in a practical tug-of-war, until they were both groaning with effort. It was hopeless! Their palms were worse than glued together, they were practically welded!

And when they finally let up, gasping for air from their struggle, their skin slid effortlessly against itself. They lowered their hands until they were holding hands like any other pair of young lovers.

"So, if we're not going back inside, then where do we go?"

"Back to my place, I guess. We figure it out there."

"It's late. I'll need to get my stuff..."

"You can buy new stuff on the way. I am not going back in there!"

"But you've got a roommate! How are we going to explain this to her?"

"Better than what you've got in there!"

"Fair point."

"Damn it... how am I even going to go to work tomorrow? If we're really stuck together until she comes back... if she even comes back at all..." Olivia let her sentence trail off, and let out an exasperated, hopeless sigh. "Whatever. Let's just get as far away from that thing as possible. We'll figure it out one step at a time."

The two of them began walking down the hallway, hand in hand, though not at all voluntarily.