Cecelia Ahern: Girl in the Mirror

‘Well now I’m going to really enjoy it. Might even do it in front of a mirror, just so you can watch. Jeremy would like that, wouldn’t he? Come to think of it, you would too. Vincent, was that his name? In the toilet? Honestly, Lila, I didn’t know you had it in you. I wonder if Jeremy knows about him. Maybe a wedding night is a good night to confess all secrets.’ She winked.

‘If you think I’m going to let you take over my life you’re wrong.’

‘Of course. You don’t think I’d just take your life without asking, do you? That’d just be rude.’

‘Well then my answer is no.’

‘I haven’t asked you yet. You haven’t heard the option. You have three chances to say yes.’

‘There is no option. I’m going back through that mirror,’ Lila said with steely determination.

‘You can give me your eyes,’ the girl said, deadly serious now.

‘What? No!’ Lila took a step away from her.

‘Lila!’ She heard Grellie again, anger in her voice now. ‘Come here at once. Where are you?’ She heard Grellie’s bedroom door open. It would take her a while to feel around the room, realise she wasn’t there.

‘I’m here, I’m in here!’ she yelled.

‘She can’t hear you,’ the girl sang. ‘Now give me your eyes.’

‘No!’ Lila shouted now. ‘This is not funny. I want to get out of here. Let me out!’

The girl took a deep breath. ‘You’re not listening closely enough, Lila. You have one more chance.’

‘Are you crazy? Why would I give you my eyes?’

‘The price of freedom,’ she said simply.

‘Oh my god,’ Lila whispered, her heart hammering. ‘You took her eyes.’

‘Yes, it’s a bit messy,’ the girl said screwing up her nose. ‘Not very nice. That’s why I refused when I was in your position, but your grandmother, she was clever. She chose freedom. I don’t know about you though. You. You’re vain. Might not do it. But you’re my only chance. It’s been a long time waiting. She hasn’t made it very easy for me.’

‘How long have you been here?’ Lila asked.

‘I’m not here for polite chit-chat, Lila. I’ve been here long enough. Now you’ve one more chance.’ She took a deep breath as though her life depended on it.

‘You hurt my grandmother,’ Lila said angrily. ‘I will never let you do the same to me.’

‘So what’s the answer? Yes or no?’

‘No,’ Lila said defiantly.

The girl’s face softened, she smiled and let out a long breath as though she’d been holding it for years.

‘Thank you,’ she said simply, her voice had softened too.

‘What?’

‘Take care. It gets cold in here. See you around.’

The girl stepped towards the mirror and in a rush of cold air she disappeared through to the other side. Lila chased her but once again slammed into a cold, icy nothingness. She watched as the girl looked at herself in the mirror. Lila felt herself automatically move in time with her. She fixed her hair when the girl did, wiped her smudged mascara when the girl did. She took a deep breath. Winked.

‘I’m coming, Grandmother!’ she called sweetly.

Grandmother, Lila heard. Grellie would know. Surely she’d know. Then the girl replaced the black sheet over the curtain and there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just blackness. The chair, the bed, the door, the picture, the bedside lockers. It was all gone. It was silent too, all she could hear was her own breathing. And it was cold.

Ellie was at her wits’ end. She had searched everywhere, had felt all along the walls and floors of her bedroom in case Lila had collapsed. She was about to ring Jeremy when she had a thought. A desperate thought. She wouldn’t have. God Almighty, please let her not have.

She felt her way along to the spare bedroom.

It was a long time since she had even passed through that door. A lifetime since she had entered it. She was a different woman then. Having inherited the house from her husband’s mother, she had been exploring the place. They had just arrived, they were excited. Their first day in their first house together, they split up and looked at different rooms. She had chosen this one. He had left her after that. Her and her baby daughter. Couldn’t deal with her after the incident. A nervous breakdown they’d called it. Self-harming.

She stood outside the door, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch the door knob. She felt nauseous. Her knees trembled so badly she could barely stand.

Then she heard the voice.

‘I’m coming Grandmother!’

And she knew. She knew straight away. She felt sick.

The door opened.

A presence stood there, stood there watching her for a spell while she backed away and reached out for something to hold on to. To keep her up. A cold blast of air hit her. Then finally.

‘What’s wrong?’

Ellie, ever the survivor, pulled herself together. ‘Lila, my dear,’ she panted. ‘My heart pills. Get me my heart pills.’

‘What’s wrong? Where are they? I’ve forgotten.’

‘Remember what the doctor said,’ Ellie continued.

‘I know, I know you have to be careful. Where are they?’

There was nothing wrong with her heart.

‘My bathroom.’

She moved to Ellie’s bedroom, a good guess that it was her room. She would have heard her feet move from the bedroom rug to the tiled bathroom floor but there was no sound. She was still in the bedroom.

‘I can’t find them.’

‘Are you in the bathroom?’

‘Of course.’

Ellie’s test was complete, the girl wanted Ellie dead, she knew that. Well she didn’t give up over fifty years ago, she wasn’t about to start now.

She quickly made her way downstairs.

‘Where are you going?’ Lila asked, appearing at the stairs.

Panicking but trying to hide it Ellie reached the front door. She opened it knowing the car was at the end of the garden outside the gate.

‘The driver’s here, we have to go.’

‘Oh,’ her voice relaxed. ‘Time to get married!’

‘You go ahead to the car, I just want to make a phone call,’ Ellie said easily.

‘Who are you calling?’ Lila was very quickly beside her. That cold air came with her.

‘Jeremy. I just want to tell him we’re leaving.’

‘I’ll come with you.’

She knew. She knew Ellie knew.

‘Jeremy,’ Ellie said, without excitement now, ‘we’re leaving the house now.’

‘Is everything okay?’ he asked, worried.

‘Why?’

‘You sound … you just sound down.’

Ellie left a silence. She wanted him to think there was something wrong. She wanted him to realise Lila wasn’t standing beside him in the church.

‘Grellie?’

‘Yes?’

‘Don’t worry, you’ll be okay. We’ll take care of you today. Okay?’

Ellie swallowed hard. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

They didn’t speak in the car. They didn’t speak when they got out of the car. Then, just as they arrived at the church and the doors were pulled open, the girl whispered in Ellie’s ear, ‘Imagine, poor Lila stuck in that black nothingness all on her own. And look at us here.’

The wedding march started up.

Ellie whispered back, ‘Yes, but she won’t be there for long, so why don’t you enjoy your moment and walk up the aisle alone.’

Ellie felt the girl’s surprise. She had probably thought Ellie would go along with it but she wouldn’t, she never would. Ellie stepped aside, had no idea where she was but felt the girl’s presence disappear and knew she had taken the steps and was walking up the aisle.