Across Worlds with You, Part 1 by Kit Campbell

Across Worlds with You, Part 1
Kit Campbell

Will was six before he realized his reflection was wrong. Oh, sure, most of the time it was nothing, but every now and then his reflection misjudged what he was going to do, and would have to flail a bit to catch up. And once, when he was about ten, his reflection sneezed when Will did not.

At first he’d tried to point this out to the adults in his life—his parents, his teachers. But his reflection was always perfect when someone else came along, and after a while Will had stopped trying. It wasn’t hurting anything, after all. As he got older and into college, he came across stories of ghosts and other paranormal entities and mirrors, but his reflection wasn’t like that at all. Will came to think of it as a slightly-confused but mostly well-meaning friend who just happened to look exactly like him.

Well, mostly, he didn’t really think about it at all. It just was.

On his twenty-second birthday he woke up, rubbed his eyes, and stumbled into the bathroom. After splashing water on his face, he toweled off and looked into the mirror to find…nothing.

His reflection was gone.

The towel dropped out of Will’s hand.

He could see the dingy tiles of his apartment’s shower, the mismatched towels hanging haphazardly on the towel bar, the toilet which leaned subtly to the left. But he—or his reflection, at least—was conspicuously absent.

Will rapped gently on the mirror. “Hello?” he called. “Hey, where are you? Did you miss the alarm?”

There was no response. Why had he expected one, honestly?

But if his reflection wasn’t a separate being who lived in his mirror—what did it mean that he didn’t have one?

Back in his room, Will’s own alarm went off. Cursing, Will ran a couple of wet hands through his hair and hoped it looked okay before hurrying out to get ready. He had two finals this morning, and then an afternoon shift at the coffee shop, which goddamn Clarice wouldn’t switch with him so he could have his birthday off, so there was no time to worry about this.

Maybe his reflection would show up later. Maybe he’d been turned into a vampire in his sleep. Who knew? Dr. Frobisher waited for no man. Or vampire.

Throwing on a clean-looking pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Will grabbed a bagel out of the kitchen and stuffed the appropriate school binders into his backpack. It was drizzling slightly when he got outside. So far his birthday was amazing.

His great luck continued as the bus pulled away just as the bus stop came into sight. It was faster to walk than wait for the next one. Will peered into the puddles as he passed, but if he was reflected in them, he couldn’t tell.

As he neared campus, his hair starting to drip unpleasantly, he trailed to a stop, peering behind him. Some sort of strange noise, a cross between a scrape and a hiss, lingered in the air, but there was nothing to be seen. Probably a cat.

He glanced up at the clock tower and cursed again. He only had five minutes to get all the way across campus.

He made it, but barely, collapsing into a seat in the back just as Dr. Frobisher stepped up to the lectern.

For the next half hour, Will concentrated on his differential equations. Not his favorite form of math, but you had to do what you had to do. As he neared the halfway point on his exam, he heard it again—the sound he’d heard outside. Will glanced up, but aside from the backs of his classmates’ heads, all bent over their own exams, and Dr. Frobisher, glaring at the lot of them from the front, there was nothing to be seen.

Shaking his head, Will looked back down at his next problem. y + dy/dx = 3x…no, there it was again.

Was it getting closer?

No one else was that close to him. Maybe it was the sound of someone’s scratchy pencil. Not his concern. He frowned down at his equation and forced himself to read it again.

The chair on the far end of the row tipped over.

Several people looked up, Will included. No one was sitting there. No one was sitting next to there. Will glanced at Dr. Frobisher, unsure what to make of this development. The professor had his normal frown on his face, but didn’t seem inclined to do anything else.

Okay, so back to math. y + dy/dx = 3x…

Another chair, the next one in the row, tipped over. Getting closer to Will. And above it all, that sound, inching closer.

Will had the sudden vision of something pale and grasping crawling along the floor. But when he glanced over, there was nothing.

He raised his hand. “Dr. Frobisher? May I go to the bathroom?”

Dr. Frobisher focused his glare on Will. But, to Will’s surprise and relief, instead of telling him to hold it until he was done, the professor came and retrieved his test paper and waved Will off.

The hallway was blessedly quiet. Was he going crazy? That had to be it, right? People’s reflections didn’t just disappear. Chairs didn’t tip over by themselves. And obviously no one else was hearing that noise.

This birthday was going swimmingly. So much fun.

He’d better actually go to the bathroom, in case someone checked. It was just down the hall. Will hurried inside and leaned against the door, taking some deep breaths. Still quiet. Maybe he could retrieve his test and sit right down in the front, where there were more people. It was a ridiculous thought, but whatever was tipping chairs and making that noise wouldn’t dare do it in front of Dr. Frobisher. You didn’t sneeze in front of Dr. Frobisher. He’d be able to finish his exam and then…

Movement caught his eye. Will looked up to find his reflection gesturing wildly at him from the mirror across from the farthest stall.

Will’s brain stalled. That was his reflection, but it wasn’t even trying to follow him. It was in the wrong place, and—Will checked just to make sure he hadn’t lost control of his body—not doing remotely what he was doing.

Tentatively, Will pushed off the door, approaching the mirror in question. His reflection was mouthing something at him. Will squinted, focusing on the reflection’s mouth. …get…? South? Cow?

Oh. Get out.

Behind him, something slammed up against the bathroom door. Will twisted and stumbled back, hitting the sink. Beside him, his reflection also turned toward the sound, fear written across his features.

God, what was he going to do? That was the only way out.

His reflection gestured wildly once more, then disappeared off the left side of the mirror. Will tilted his head, like that would make it so he could see farther into the mirror, but of course it didn’t.

Another slam on the door. Okay, options. He could rush the door, and maybe knock whatever was out there out of the way. And then what? Run back to the classroom? That could be a bad or a good idea, depending on what was out there. How fast was it? Would he be putting his classmates in danger? Would even Dr. Frobisher be able to do something?

The door really was the only way out. No windows, no secondary exit. Not even a supply closet. Just three urinals and two stalls, and a random shower right next to the door. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to hide in the shower, and sneak out when whatever was out, got in.

He’d still have to worry about potentially being chased down in the hallway by whatever, but nothing else was coming to mind.

Will crept to the shower and pulled the curtain half closed, pressing himself against the wall behind it. From here, he could hear the dragging, hissing noise just outside. Slowly, so slowly, the door crept open. There was still nothing to see, but again Will got the impression of something slinking in, low to the ground. Will waited, heart hammering, while it crawled all the way in, moving toward the stalls in the back. He reached out, keeping the door from closing all the way.

As soon as he sensed the creature had reached the stalls, Will inched out the door, holding it so it closed gently.

And then he ran.

Ahead of him, on the plexiglass of a display case, his reflection appeared, pointing to a hallway to the right. Will turned, skidding on the linoleum. Behind him, a sound that was part scream and part unholy screeching came from the bathroom. Will sped up, aiming for the door at the end of the hallway.

The drizzle had turned to rain. Will kept going, occasionally catching sight of his reflection on the gray windows on the buildings around him, always pointing forward. Behind him, the dragging noise grew, definitely catching up. He risked a glance over his shoulder, only to find the rain sliding off something low and fast that he could not see.

His reflection popped up on a window in front of him, gesturing “come here” wildly with his hands. Whatever was behind him was definitely getting closer, but Will’s breathing was becoming ragged and his chest burned. After today, after whatever this was, he needed to start going to the gym more regularly.

His reflection stopped gesturing and instead pointed down. Will glanced down at a puddle in front of him. The puddle stretched across the entire sidewalk, its surface pocked by the falling raindrops. No way for Will to avoid it.

He could hear the breathing of the creature now. He was going to die. His foot hit the puddle. Will glanced down at his reflection reaching up and fell through the water.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9