She steps into the bathroom and doesn't bother to lock the door behind her, no need for that. She turns on the tap in the bathtub. While the bathtub fills up she removes her bathing gown and lets it fall on the wooden floor. She stares at herself in the large mirror on the wall as she removes the hairpins and lets her hair loose.

A shadow.

She suddenly turns around, there is no one. The sound of hair pin hitting the wooden boards. Her ears strain but all they hear is the sound of water filling up the bathtub, just a half a minute more. She tiptoes to the bathroom door and locks it, just to be sure, cutting off the aroma of the coffee brewing in the kitched. She rushes towards the bathtub and turns the taps off. A reluctant hand dips into the bathtub, perfect temperature. She steps in, right leg leading the way. A little water falls out of the tub. Second leg follows and she eases in. Lot more water gushes out and begins to flow towards the bathroom door, picking up one of the three hairpins along with it. The hairpin refuses to go under the door, water continues its journey.

She takes a deep slow breath and slides further into the water. A tiny bubble escapes her right nostril and breaks on the surface. She closes her eyes. She can hear her own heart beat echo all around her.  Her eyes pop open and her right hand reaches for a brand new blade and places it on the edge of her tender left wrist. She closes her eyes and lets steel splice flesh. And the lights go out.

They say when you are about to die your whole life flashes in front of her eyes. But all she sees is darkness, and a pair of white eyes. A dark black shadow sitting on top of her with white eyes and a white smile. She can feel its hand on her chest. She tries to get up but is unable to. She tries to scream but only bubbles escape her lips. She tries but can't move herself, as if paralysed. And now as her life flashes by her, she makes one final push.

A shrill scream.


I suddenly wake up in my bed, gasping for breath. Same dream again. A shrill scream drilling into my head. It takes me quite a while to figure it out and when I do I turn the alarm clock off. Its all dark. The laptop's screen, half closed, casts an eerie glow. I am all covered in sweat, cold sweat, as if just taken a bath. I wipe it all off with already wet bed sheets. The split AC tells me its only 18 degrees.

I get out of bed and reach for the laptop. I open the lid and the clock running on screensaver tells me its already 01:00am. Damn! I overslept, again. I type in the password and same old blank white screen with a blinking cursor next to letters "A R C A N E" awaits me. I have to finish this chapter by this weekend. But first, I need some coffee.

I put on the gown and walk down the corridor towards kitchen, unaware of wet footprints left on the wooden floor by my bare feet. When we bought this apartment they said it was haunted. Some woman died in here. Some say suicide, some say murder, some say killed by another ghost who had a similar past of its own. No one knows for sure. I liked this place for its sinister sense of calm and lack of any distractions. A house with secrets of its own, secrets its reluctant to reveal. Perfect setting for a budding writer of mystery novels like me, a place like me. I expected this place and its history to be a muse for my novel, tentatively titled "Arcane" and inspired by a dream I once had. Also, most importantly, it looked very much like the home we moved into after our marriage, down to the last window. So to me it had all the good memories but none of the baggage of past.

I walk to the kitchen, think of turning on the lights but decide not to. My hands find the sugar cubes in the darks as I wonder if my ex-husband is... wait a minute... suddenly it hits me that the shadow in my dreams looked very much like my own ex-husband. But then... my head hurts as confusion throbs within. I reach for the coffee jug on the coffee machine and my wrist almost gives away under the weight. Wasn't it supposed to be empty? There is already some coffee in the coffee machine and its still warm. I don't remember brewing any. Hair at the back of my neck stand up as realisation runs down my spine.

"Who's there?" I turn around.

The creaking of the wooden boards catches my attention. My ears strain hard, but can't hear a thing. I can hear the tick tock of the wall clock as my heartbeat tries to outrace it by three beats to one tick. I stand frozen like that for almost forever, or so it seems. Suddenly I realise my nails are digging too deep into the base of my palm. I unclench my fist and a sugar cube falls to the ground. I heave a sigh of relief and turn around. Suddenly a cold wave hits me and chills to the bones.

Wham!

The kitchen window is open and flailing in the cold breeze. Beyond that I can see the wind howling through the trees. Full of nervousness tethering at the edge of fear, I run to it and shut it tight. And finally I hear a sound other than my own heartbeat and the tick tock of the clock.

Drip. Drop. Drip Drop.

Its coming from the bathroom. I take slow heavy steps towards the bathroom. With every step I can feel the air around me get heavier, colder. As I walk past the closet door I feel a cold breath on the back of my neck. I suddenly turn around. No one. I take a few more steps towards the bathroom and... wait. My heart almost stops and then starts to beat harder than it has ever before. I take a few steps backward and stare at the mirror on the closet door. I find myself staring back at me, hair framing my face, face covered in dark shadows of the night. I swear I had seen a black shadow in that mirror earlier. I look around.

There it is, a soft black shadow on the wall. My hand covers up my mouth instinctively, anticipating a scream that never came. Shadow does the  same and I realise its my own shadow. Heart takes a while to go calm. The sound of dripping water gets louder, as if calling me. I take a few more steps towards bathroom and then...

STOP!

This time my heart does stop for a few seconds as I realise there is no mirror on the closet door. I fight with myself to turn and check. Iron fist of fear holds my heart in its grip. I am not sure what will be scarier... finding a mirror on the closet door or not finding any. I opt for the comfort of ignorance and brush it all off as tricks of a scared mind. I take two lefts down the corridor and finally reach the bathroom door.

Water.

That’s the first thing I notice seeping from underneath the bathroom door as my hand touches the cold knob. A sinister fear is the next thing creeping up my spine as water collects around my barenaked feet. I turn the doorknob and open the door. A small wave of ice-cold water rushes out and wets my ankles.

Its so dark in here. My hand reaches for the light switch. The lights flicker for a while... the lights continue to flicker.

The buzzing of the flickering lights. Splashing of water around my nervous bare feet. And the drip-drop of the water.

I reach for the shower curtain and pull it away. The bathtub is full of water, its color I can't make out. All I know is I can't see its bottom. Water is dripping drop by drop into the bathtub. Each drop sends out a ripple. In the momentary flashes of light and darkness it all plays out in chaotic slow motion. The water drop leaves the tap, next moment it hits the water and turns dark, next moment it suspended in mid air. One moment the water is crystal clear, next moment it is dark. The buzzing of lights seems to grow louder and louder. I close my eyes tight and shut my ears.

"Stop it" I scream.

All goes silent. The lights are on when I open my eyes. There is no water on bathroom floor anymore, only wet footprints of my bare feet. I turn towards the mirror on the wall. I see a pale reflection, rather a reflection of my pale self. A dark shadow forms behind my reflection. I turn around, there is no one. I turn towards the mirror, the dark shadow has a white smile and a pair of white blank eyes. The shadow grows around my reflection and seeps out of the mirror. I see the shadow grow larger around the walls. It creeps up the ceiling and heads for the lights. They begin to flicker again as shadow fills the lights. I try to getaway from it, door is locked. Soon the shadow engulfs all the walls, its everywhere except for the mirror. My reflection calls out to me. I feel the cold grip of the shadow on my shoulder and I run from it. I trip and my head hits the mirror on the wall.

And all goes silent and dark. Again.


I open my eyes.

Lights are steady now, the shadow is gone. My reflection in mirror looks just the way it should, not a pale shadow of me. A crack runs up the mirror. A few shards of mirror fall off. A cold wind hits my face from the small hole in the mirror.

I grab the plunger and start hitting at the mirror, taking out the wall behind it too, I don't know why but it seems to be the most natural thing to do. They both soon give away, the mirror and the wall, or what I thought was a wall. A fake wall. And behind that fake plaster wall the answer to the mystery stares back at me. The plunger hits the ground as all strength deserts me.

This time its no reflection. Its as real as it gets. I find myself staring at my own pale self... my own corpse.