Fear

 The sound from the next room struck him with horror — it seemed that even his lungs had forgotten how to breathe. Fear crawled like a nasty cold snake down my spine, made its way to my head and froze there, disabling control over my entire body. And if Kostya hadn't been lying on the couch, he probably would have fallen to the floor because of his weak legs.

That sound couldn't be real. No, it wasn't a scream, a growl, or a child's laugh, which is so popular in horror films, it was the sound of something falling out of wood. And nothing wooden could fall, even if all the windows were wide open, simply because there was only furniture in that room, and the sound of furniture falling would definitely not be like that.

Kostya, a ten-year-old boy, didn't really like it when his parents left him alone in this huge apartment. It wasn't that he was afraid of anything, it was just that he didn't like it, and he couldn't explain why. The only thing Kostya could do after he closed the door behind his mother was to read a book. Neither the TV nor the computer could lure him with their screens. Kostya was lying on the couch and completely immersed in the "King Solomon's Mines" when this sound was heard.

The boy's fingers were covered with sweat and no longer wanted to hold the book. Turning his head with difficulty, Kostya looked through the doorway that led to the corridor:

"Who's there?"

Silence. The child's brain began to cling desperately to reality: "Yes, something fell from the neighbors... What nonsense... there's no one there..."

The only way to check was to go and take a look. Tears began to form in my eyes, and I wanted to scream and hide in a corner. But the fear did not go away, and even at the age of ten, Kostya understood that the best way to calm down was to go into the next room.

Kostya clenched his fists and went to the door. I should have gone out into the hallway and turned right. By the fact that it was dark in the hallway, Kostya realized that the door to the next room was closed, and since he did not hear the sound of the door opening, he most likely could safely leave the room.

That's what the brain said, but fear rarely obeys reason. Kostya walked towards the door on trembling legs. Listening to every rustle, the boy could only hear the beating of his own heart. Half the distance to the door has already been covered, and the fear is becoming more insistent, rejecting all rational explanations... Kostya, on bent legs, began to look out into the hallway towards the next room. Nothing. Everything is as usual. There's the door. Kostya froze, straightened his legs, and then, for some reason, laughter began to rise in his throat. Kostya began to calm down and, almost without fear, reached the closed door leading to the room from which the sound had come.

Kostya grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. The wave of fear returned, but it was too late to do anything else. The boy entered the room. There was nothing wooden on the floor, and anyway, the room was almost the same as always.

Almost. Something was wrong. A nervous laugh escaped Bones's mouth. What's wrong?..

His hand reached for the light switch. The light only reinforced the impression that something had changed. Kostya's gaze stopped at a large mirror hanging on the wall, and his eyes began to widen in surprise — something was reflected in the mirror that was not in the room. Stepping to the right and realizing what it was, Kostya screamed in horror and, stumbling, rushed to where he hid when he was very young — to the toilet.

There was a coffin in the mirror in the middle of the room.

His legs gave way, and Kostya fell before reaching his hiding place. The horror was so overwhelming that for a moment Kostya lost all ability to move. Looking back towards the room, the boy realized that no one was following him, and this gave him strength for a moment. The bathroom door was ajar, and light was streaming in — it was at least some kind of salvation, although subconsciously Kostya wanted to lock himself in the toilet, which was a little further away. He always did that when he was a kid. The small bathroom always gave him some peace of mind. But now there was no choice: the toilet was closed, and it was dark in there —and it would take precious seconds to turn on the light. All these thoughts flashed through Bones's subconscious in an instant, and he rushed into the bathroom.

The gray veil of fear receded a little as he slammed the door behind him. Kostya slid to the floor on weak legs and, afraid to make any sound, began to cry softly. "This just can't be happening," his father's reasonable voice sounded in his head. "It's impossible." But the details of what he saw began to surface in his head.

The coffin, upholstered in red velvet, stood on stools in the middle of the room. There was a lid on the floor next to him, and Kostya realized that its fall had made the sound that started this nightmare. As far as Kostya could see, there was no one in the coffin. At the thought of where, exactly, the one who was there, the boy began to tremble. His mind refused to process anything, and for twenty minutes Kostya huddled and shivered on the floor near the sink. It was quiet outside the door—so quiet that it seemed as if the whole world had disappeared somewhere. There was only the little boy and the reflection of the coffin in the room.

Mirror.... There's a mirror in the bathroom too! As soon as this thought occurred to Bones, the trembling immediately disappeared. His whole body went limp, and Kostya felt like he was going to die. His heart skipped a beat, but after a couple of seconds it started beating again, and Kostya found the last of his strength to look at the mirror. Actually, it was poorly visible from below, from the floor. Anyway, even standing on his feet, Kostya couldn't see himself in it, because he hadn't grown to that level yet.

To see herself in this mirror, Kostya had to stand with her feet on the edge of the tub. He had strength from nowhere, and he forced himself to stand on his feet.

The reflection in the mirror was ordinary — the ceiling and part of the wall. Kostya leaned against the sink and began to climb onto the edge of the tub. Standing up with weak legs, Kostya began to climb the wall with his hands, peering fearfully at the view in the mirror. Nothing... everything is as usual. It reflected what should have been reflected. Here's the washing machine, here are the towels, here's the door.

And then my heart stopped beating again. The latch tab in the reflection was in the "open" position. Kostya blinked and looked at the lock. Closed. In the mirror. Is open...

And then the light went out.

Kostya bit his tongue until it hurt so as not to make a single sound. The light bulb didn't burn out, the light was turned off outside — a moment before dark, Kostya heard the switch click. His chin trembled treacherously. In another second, Kostya would have screamed. But then something happened that made him lose consciousness — the door in the reflection began to open...

Falling from the height of the bathtub and hitting his elbow on the sink did not prevent Kostya's consciousness from shutting down. His adrenaline-soaked body was given a few minutes to calm down.

It was still dark in the bathroom when Kostya came to his senses. Turning to the only spot of light, Kostya realized that this light was coming from the mirror — the light from THAT reflected corridor was coming through the open reflected bathroom door, and it was Kostya who saw it as soon as he came to himself. So the door had opened after all.

The boy didn't care what was in the mirror anymore. Curled up, he pressed himself into the corner between the bathroom and the wall like a cub. His chin was shaking, his teeth were chattering, and his mind was having a hard time understanding what was going on around him. After ten minutes of this state, Kostya began to come to his senses. Covering his mouth with his hand, he began to roar. All the fear of the last hour began to come out in those tears. With tear-stained eyes, Kostya stared at the streak of light in the reflected bathroom ceiling. Suddenly, the strip narrowed slightly, as if someone had appeared in the passage.

The boy's heart was about to jump out of his chest. He pressed both hands to his mouth, afraid to make a sound. Nothing changed for five minutes. Kostya closed his eyes and tried to stand up. It was scarier with his eyes closed, and as soon as Kostya opened them, his gaze immediately fell on the mirror. An old woman stared at him unblinkingly. In a shroud, with a piece of paper on her forehead, she looked straight into the boy's eyes.

Kostya, not realizing what he was doing, rushed to the door, opened the latch with numb fingers and rushed out of the bathroom. In the first moments, daylight blinded him, and it was enough for the boy to stumble over the threshold. Getting up, Kostya rushed into the room, the one where he had seen the coffin in the reflection. There was a mirrored wardrobe in the hallway, and Kostya saw out of the corner of his eye in the mirror that the old woman was coming out of the bathroom, inexplicably still looking at him.

Suddenly, there was a creaky old man's whisper: "Why didn't you close the mirrors?.. Why didn't you cover the mirrors with sheets?.." Kostya barely heard it. He could only see the window and the blue sky behind it...

"City News", March 12, 19.. of the year: "A terrible incident occurred today on N street. A ten-year-old boy broke a window and jumped out of an eighth-floor window. No traces of a crime were found in the apartment. A criminal case has been opened. The most likely cause of the incident is suicide, as the apartment was locked from the inside. An investigation is underway."