Jersey Devil

Nestled deep in the woods in New Jersey's Pine Barrens is a large white house. The place has been there as long as anyone can remember yet the house has never aged. It never needs repair and remains as pristine as the day it was erected, protected from the passage of time by some ancient magic spell.

A large ornate mirror hangs in the great hall. Built into the wall, it can not easily be removed. The glass cannot be broken, though many have tried.

The mirror also carries a terrible curse. Demons live inside the glass and came out to play at night. If you are unfortunate enough to gaze into the eyes of a demon, it will possess you.

The rumors of the mirror were the stuff of urban legends. Everyone knew someone who knew someone affected by its curse. Old man Jones hazarded a glance one fateful night and instantly went mad. Lady Katherine was found in the morning by her attendants transfixed, staring unblinking at her reflection. When the chamber maid tapped her shoulders, Lady Katherine broke her gaze. The Lady's eyes were fiery red. Nails grew into claws as she growled for them to get away from her. Then poor Lady Katherine threw herself off the balcony to the hard, cold marble below.

Every owner of the house met with a tragic accident or some inexplicable evil befell a member of their family. Death. Suicide. Murder. Insanity. No one could contend with the evil which resided inside the mirror.

The house remained vacant for a long time. The town breathed a collective sigh of relief. It had been fifty years since the mirror claimed its last victim.

Then one day, a carriage arrived in front of the house. A young couple stepped down into the sunshine, laughing heartily. They embraced and the man scooped up his bride, carrying her across the threshold. Rumors of the new couple spread like wild fire. The townspeople felt it their duty to warn them of the mirror's dangers. A small group of them went to the house.

The minister spoke first, explaining the evils that resided within their home. The couple looked at him like he was mad and burst into hysterical laughter. The seamstress was distraught and plead with them to hang the special cloth she made before the mirror. It would keep the demons at bay, she explained. The thatcher offered to hang the fabric for them.

The couple dismissed them all as raving lunatics, throwing them from their home. The couple's first week in the house was unremarkable. No bizarre noises in the middle of the night. No inexplicably odd occurrences. Nothing even remotely out of the ordinary. They continued to laugh off the town's mutterings that they lived in a haunted house.

Then, one night the wife heard strange noises coming from downstairs. Voices, calling her, beckoning to her to come closer. Her husband rolled over, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer. She resisted the urge to find the source of the noises, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

A thunderous crash forced her to spring out of bed. She raced down the winding staircase and threw open the doors to the great hall. The mirror loomed in front of her.

The glass was so strange. Swirling colors of smoke gray and vibrant red. The wife found herself drawn closer, involuntarily moving across the floor until she stood before the mirror.

Its surface suddenly went black. Then two red eyes appeared. Small little beady eyes, which grew larger and more haunting as the wife stared unable to break her gaze. Soon, the eyes filled the entire mirror and wicked laughed rang through the great hall.

It was the laughter that roused the husband from his bed. He immediately noticed his bride was not laying next to him as she should have been. Again, that evil laugh. But slightly different this time and higher in pitch.

He raced from the room, slowing only to grab his pistol. He threw open the doors of the great hall, expecting to find all kinds of horrors inside the room. Instead, he only found his wife standing in the middle of the room.

He lowered his weapon, once again marveling at her beauty and his luck. She looked so small and fragile standing in the middle of the large room, staring at her hands as if they belonged someone else. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he stepped into the room.

She whirled around, eyes blazing red. Her nails lengthened before his eyes, each one becoming a dangerous razor-sharp weapon. She was on him before he could blink, moving with superhuman speed, claws wrapped around his neck.

He had whispered to her softly, trying to reach the woman inside the beast. Even as she squeezed the life out of him, claws piercing his flesh, he still tried to bring her back to him. But the woman no longer existed.

His eyes hardened and he reached for her face. Looking straight into her fiery eyes, with his last breath, he cursed her. Cursed the Devil.

When his corpse hit the floor, the demons inside the glass cheered her first kill and motioned for her to rejoin them, to come home. Arms reached out to greet her, pull her back inside the mirror.

She fled from them. From that cursed mirror. From that damned house. She raced into the woods and was never heard from again.

The legends say she resides there still, deep within the Pine Barrens. And late at night, when the moon is full, the still demon comes out to play...

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Check out the other Theme Thursday mirror posts here.