THE MIRROR

Here's a short horror story for you:

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### **The Mirror**

It was a stormy evening when Claire moved into her new apartment, a cozy but old unit in an aging building. Among the few furnishings left by the previous tenant was a tall, antique mirror in the bedroom. Its frame was ornately carved with twisting vines, and the glass was pristine despite its age.

On her first night, Claire noticed something odd. As she got ready for bed, the reflection in the mirror seemed slightly... off. Her movements matched, but there was a delay so slight it was almost imperceptible. Shaking it off as her imagination, she went to sleep.

The next day, Claire avoided the mirror, chalking up her unease to moving stress. But by the third night, she couldn’t ignore it. This time, when she looked, her reflection smiled before she did. The smile was wide, unnaturally so, and didn’t reach the reflection’s eyes.

Terrified, Claire covered the mirror with a bedsheet and tried to sleep. But as the storm raged on, she heard a faint tapping. It wasn’t coming from the window. It was coming from the mirror.

Gathering all her courage, she peeled back the sheet just enough to peek. Her reflection wasn’t there. The glass was empty, showing only the room behind her—except for a dark figure standing just out of sight.

She turned quickly. Nothing.

When she looked back, her reflection was there, perfectly normal again, except for one small difference: its lips moved, forming silent words.

“I’m watching.”

Claire didn’t stay another night. She left the mirror behind when she moved out, but every now and then, she swore she saw her reflection smiling in ways it shouldn’t in every mirror she passed.

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Let me know if you'd like a longer or different type of horror story!