Mirrored

Have you ever walked by a mirror and feel your heart skip a beat because you thought you saw someone but it's really just your reflection. Don't lie, we've all done it, it's just a matter of whether or not it really was just your reflection. Our story is that of a woman named Elise Strande who meets her "reflection."

Elise sat where she always sits in the hours between 9 and 5 watching blankly at a computer screen waiting for her next idiot to deal with. She leaned back into her chair which, at one point, was soft and comfy, worn down by 2 years of constant use. Their office couldn't really afford a new chair, mostly for the same reason Elise was waiting on her next call, UTech wasn't exactly the most popular choice for help. They've tried to put out their image, but they just get overshadowed by other ads, specifically for competing companies. She thought about going ahead and starting her break early, but she was already on the company watch list and didn't need to get fired. Not because she couldn't get a job, but that she doesn't want to try to adjust to something that could be even worse. Elise was afraid of change and meeting new people and all things of the sort. She could probably trace it back to some childhood incident, but she knew it wouldn't help anything, it's not like she could go back and change it, she just had to deal with it and keep to her schedule.

'That is, if my schedule gets me near Tiffany Burleque' The classic office feminazi. You'd think as a woman in a workplace with mostly men, she'd enjoy someone on her side, but Tiffany was to be avoided at all costs. She is always just so loud and energetic and driven by unrivaled unjustified hatred for men of all kinds. Elise more or less just found it more annoying than anything. Especially since last christmas. She didn't want to think about that incident. Either way, ever since then everybody has avoided her and no one likes to think about that time. Sighing at the memory, she started to log off for her break, until she noticed she had a customer. 'Just my luck.' She put her headset back on and did her normal routine of "Hi! Welcome to..." and all those other things her boss drilled into her head. After that ordeal was over she waited for him to list his name and problem. But she didn't hear anything. This wasn't the first time she'd been prank called, in fact, it seemed like there were more pranks than actual customers. But this one felt different. Faintly, she could hear breathing, but ragged and inhuman sounding. 'What the hell is this creeps problem? Calling a tech support hotline to get his rocks off." At least, that's what she thought he was doing. But as she was hanging up, he spoke up.

"Elise? Is that you?" The strangely familiar voice said.

"How do you know my name?" Elise asked, her hand ready to dial her manager.  She was unawares that this was the first glimpse into her new life.