Reflections by Cate Masters

Heat Rating: Zero Fire

Content Warning: None

For Lissa Halloween will never be the same.

When Lissa removed the pan of popcorn shrimp from the oven, the tiny forms reminded her of mangled body parts, twisted and mutilated. She scraped the image from her mind as she transferred the shrimp onto a serving platter. Such thoughts had plagued her since Selena had set her grandmother's old crystal ball on the dining room credenza and hung the matching mirror above it.

"Did you remember the cocktail sauce?" Lissa called to her roommate, who was still fussing with her costume in the bathroom.

"It's in the bag on the counter." Selena's voice carried across the living room like a disembodied spirit.

A chill passed over Lissa. She had to stop this, it was ridiculous. She shook off the chill as she carried the platter to the table, but halted in fear. Out of the corner of her eye, dark shapes moved inside the mirror, escaped its confines, then soared to the ceiling. When she gasped and whirled to face it, the mirror was flat, static. The only image in it was hers.

That scared her more than anything.

She wasn't even ready, and people would be showing up soon.

Selena walked into the living room. Spiky tendrils of hair snaked about her neck. She'd heavily outlined her dark eyes, Goth style, making her pale skin more striking than ever. Her silky black top was cut low to show off her deep cleavage, enhanced courtesy of Victoria's Secret. Her skirt, if it could be called one, hung in strips from her waist to mid-thigh, leaving a long stretch of leg until her platform shoes.

Selena held out her arms and slanted one leg across the other. "What do you think?"

"Wow. You'll knock 'em dead." Lissa headed upstairs to her bedroom to throw on her costume--a one-piece Queen of Hearts gown--whose satiny red bodice revealed only the top of her bosom without being outrageous. Wide red hearts trailed the center of her gown to the floor. A black choker around her neck and fake tiara atop her blonde hair, swept up into a French curl, completed the outfit. When she descended the stairs, her regal air deflated as the mirror captured her image. Her head buzzed with dizziness as her reflection appeared to diminish, then disappear. She averted her eyes and hurried out of its view.

Selena clapped and whooped with glee as Lissa returned to the kitchen. She bowed with a flourish of her hand. "Queen Lissa, breaker of hearts." She cracked an ice tray into the bucket. "Which reminds me--any word from Brad?"

Careful not to smudge her red lipstick, Lissa popped a chip into her mouth. "I didn't even invite him. I am so done with him."

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