The Mirror

"Are you sure that you want to move into this place?" A boy with sandy blonde cow-licked hair asked, setting a cardboard box filled with nick-knacks down on the hardwood floor of the living room. "I mean, c'mon Roxas, even the realtors who are selling this old thing aren't going near it, besides the occasional tidy up for prospective customers." His brown eyes looked around the Victorian living room, eying the dark interior.

"I'm sure, Hayner," a voice called from another room, hearing his friend's list of concerns. He walked into the large room, dusting his hands onto his baggy jeans. "Just because a few people say a place is haunted doesn't give another person a reason not to buy it and live in it."

Hayner shook his head. "But its haunted, Roxas. Haunted as in ghosts roam this place and will scare the ever livin' shit out of you when they get the chance," he said exasperatedly, waving his hands about to prove his point.

The blonde gave Hayner a pointed look. "If they were going to 'scare the ever livin' shit out of me'," he quoted, giving air quotes, "they would've done it already. We've been moving boxes in here for two days, man. Two days, and I've been sleeping on the couch until my bed gets here. Nothing has come to spook me to death or prod at me during the night when I'm trying to sleep."

The brown-eyed man sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly annoyed that his point was being ignored by his friend's stubbornness to stay at the haunted house. "I give up then," he said, shaking his head. "If you want to live here, then fine. But if evil ghosts or monsters come at you late at night I'm not going to come up here and get you." He paused. "I'm going to call the Ghostbusters Hotline and let them handle it, telling the fictional characters to tell his best friend Roxas 'I told you so' for him."

Roxas rolled his clear blue eyes. "And I'll tell them to leave and that my best friend Hayner is a nutcase," he retorted, cracking a grin as Hayner pretended to be offended.

"Oh whatever, man. I'm leaving. You have all of your boxes accounted for, and you won't need any help from me when your furniture comes, as there are movers helping you and all that shit," he said, waving his hand about in a dismissed fashion. The two friends walked to the door, Hayner turning to Roxas.

"See ya later, Hayner." Roxas chuckled, giving his friend a one armed hug.

"See ya," Hayner replied, returning the hug before walking out of the door. "Don't get eaten or exorcised on, ya hear me?" he added as he walked down the walkway, turning around to wave at his friend before continuing his descent down the long driveway to his car.

Before he closed the door, Roxas watched his friend drive off, waving a small wave that Hayner wouldn't see before closing the big wooden contraption. He sighed a big breath out, groaning once his gaze landed on all of the boxes stacked in the living room floor that were waiting to be opened and emptied.

Well, better get to work, he thought as he grabbed the box cutter near the boxes and began opening the cardboard cubes, emptying the contents inside onto the floor. Once a huge mess was made, he began bending down to pick up the items and put them in temporary places for now until all of the furniture got there.

The Living Room furniture was the first to get dropped off, and he was thankful for that. He'd at least have a couch to sleep on until the bedroom suite came in tomorrow. The Kitchen furniture like the Kitchen table, stove, and fridge came in earlier today, and was quickly set up by the movers before they left just as quickly. Scaredy Cats, Roxas had thought, when he saw them practically running down the driveway with their metaphorical tails between their legs.

He shook his head as he remembered the earlier event, placing a picture frame of him and his friends onto the mantle. The smiling grins of him and Hayner, Pence, and Olette stared back at him, all of them covered in Chocolate from going to a Chocolate Factory a few years ago. Hayner dove into a tub of sweet Chocolate - with permission from the workers - and got it over everyone, including himself. Olette's already brunette hair was sticky for a week after that, and Pence had to dry clean his red jersey, it was so filthy with the sweet confectionary.

Roxas smiled before continuing picking up items and stowing them away, putting up the Living Room items wherever he pleased in the room and moving the items for his bedroom off to a side wall and the items for the Kitchen near the Kitchen door. He left fragile things like plates, cups, and silverware in the boxes to put on the table and put in the cabinets later.

Once everything was put away aside from the Bedroom and Kitchen items, Roxas plopped down onto the couch, tired from the days work of loading and unloading. He groaned as he slid down the length of the couch, getting into a more comfortable position before deciding to take a small nap. He'd get the Kitchen items after his nap.

He closed his cerulean blue eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

_________________________________________~~~

A figure watched the boy sleep, her short dark hair getting into her eyes as she leaned as far as she dared over the stairwell railing, watching his chest rise and fall. The involuntary action pained her to watch. Her chest hadn't done that in several years.

She was an apparition, doomed to haunt the house for all time. As of right now she was to do the biding of the one in control of all of the others. The one that brought her and the other spirits here to the house, never to leave and always reside here.

The mission he gave her was simple, really. It was to watch the young man sleeping on the couch. Watch his every movement without being in his personal space or feel like he was being spied on. She had to be sneaky with her movements and try not to make a sound when she moved across the creaky floorboards.

She was to scare him, make him feel as if she was an evil spirit so he will seem like a good guy. So the blonde boy sleeping will be sucked into this afterlife too.

She needed to obey for her own sake. The red-haired man would do bad things to her if she didn't. Terrible, horrible things. She shuddered, her ghostly body shimmering.

Her sigh was a whisper as she laid her arms on the wooden railing, resting her head on her arms as she played the role of watchdog. The blonde boy stirred suddenly, and sat up, the blue eyes like her own opening from slumber.

_________________________________________~~~

Roxas woke up, rubbing his head. The nap was short, but effective. He felt more refreshed, more rejuvenated. He got up and moved towards the boxes with the plates, utensils, and other Kitchen cutlery, picking them up and setting them onto the table. He opened the boxes up and started stacking what little plates and cups he had up into the cabinets, sorting them by bowls, saucers, and plates on one level, various cups on another.

Everything had to have its place in the kitchen so he would actually be able to find it when he needed it. He hated not being able to find the can opener, or forgetting where he put the strainer. He got done putting all of the kitchen items up, going to plug in the coffee maker, microwave, and toaster before deciding to get something to eat before retiring for the night.

He had leftover burritos from the lunch he had with Hayner earlier that day, not really caring that he had it for lunch. After he was done eating, he trudged upstairs, opening the bathroom door and closing it, doing his nightly ritual of brushing his teeth and washing his face before sluggishly walking back down the steps, ignoring the cold spot he felt near the railing.

It's just a ghost, he thought. It's harmless.

He moved over to the couch, grabbing the blanket at the end as he took his shirt, as well as his belt off, leaving his baggy jeans on to sleep in. Roxas lay down on the couch, pulling the blanket over him as he shifted his weight around to find a comfortable sleeping position. His eyes drifted closed, Roxas falling into a deep slumber.

Rays of light woke him up, and he buried his head in the blanket, mumbling, "I don't wanna get up. Not now." His voice was groggy with sleep, his mumbling incoherent.

A knock on the door proved otherwise, and Roxas groaned, sitting up and pulling the shirt he wore the day before over his head as he shuffled to the front door, rubbing away the sleep that inhabited his eyes.

He opened the wooden plank, revealing the movers, here with his bedroom furniture. How late did I sleep? Roxas thought, as he ushered them in, leading them up to his bedroom. He opened the door to the bedroom, the Movers going in before him with the bedpost.

"Where do you want this? In front of the mirror?" one of the movers, a brunette, asked.

Mirror? Roxas thought, his face scrunched up in confusion. He didn't bother exploring the house while he unpacked everything, and hadn't bothered looking into his bedroom until now. He walked in to find the room a stark white. Nothing on the walls except a beautifully crafted mirror. He was puzzled as to why a nearly full-length mirror would be on the wall. Before he got too carried away with his thoughts, he replied, "Yeah, in front of the mirror is good."

The men placed the bedpost in front of the mirror, setting it on the hardwood floor before walking out of the door, going to get the mattress and the rest of the furniture.

Roxas took the opportunity to go look at the mirror a little closer, a curious expression on his face. The mirror had a beautiful black design on it, weaving in and out around the reflected glass. A horned face was at the top, red jewels encrusted in it for eyes. The mirror itself was old; scratches and use were evident on the sketchy exterior of the reflected glass.

He tried to take it off the wall, but it was permanently stuck there. It wouldn't budge from its spot at all. He tried to see if there was a nail attached to it, hanging it there, but there wasn't. It was like it was welded into the bedroom wall, permanently glued to the house.

Roxas shrugged it off and put his attention back towards the movers. They had put the mattress on the bed, and were now hauling in the dresser. "You can put that over here," Roxas instructed, moving out of the way so the movers could move in between the bed and the wall, setting the large dresser against the wall adjacent to the doorway. "Do you need any help with any of the other furniture?" he asked.

They shook their heads. "It's our job to move your furniture, and you to tell us where. If we let you help move them, then we're not doing our job," the other mover, a gray-haired man, replied.

The blonde nodded. "Fair enough." And he sat on the bed, glad that they only have to move a few more pieces of furniture before he had to lug his bedroom items up the stairs. He groaned silently when he thought about it, knowing his legs were going to be screaming obscenities at him at the end of the day in protest.

Soon enough the movers were gone, and Roxas lay down on the mattress, his legs dangling off the end. He did not want to get his things for his bedroom. Having to walk up and down, up and down, and up and down the stairs was going to be torture. He sighed, knowing it had to be done.

He hauled his body upward, stretching before walking out of his bedroom door and down the stairs. He walked into the Living Room, and picked up the closest box, noticing that it wasn't that heavy. Better take the heavier stuff up first, he thought, and weighed each of the boxes in his hands before finding the heaviest. Must be my stereo.

He took the box in his hands and took a deep breath before raising it upward, steadying himself before walking towards the staircase. He took the steps one at a time, careful not to let his body tip over from the weight. Halfway up the staircase he was muttering curses, wishing that it were lighter.

"Dammit this box is too heavy. Why in the hell did I decide on carrying the heaviest first? Shittiest idea ever," he muttered to himself as he moved forward up the steps, his cursing getting more profound the higher he went up the steps.

He was relieved when he reached the final step, and thought suddenly, Those ghosts must be laughing up a storm watching me haul ass up the steps.

What he didn't know is they were laughing, well two of them, anyway. They were ridiculously amused at his antics and cursing.

Roxas shuffled forward, bringing the box to his bed before collapsing beside it, trying to catch his breath. "One down, a million more to go," he said, exaggerating the number of boxes because of his tired state.

He walked a little faster down the steps, grabbing another box to haul to his room, and setting it down. Wash, rinse, and repeat. He did this until all of the boxes were finally in his room, Roxas collapsing from tiredness and lack of food in his system.

He needs food. He knew this much. He remembered having some non-perishables he packed away for the first few days until he could actually go to the store. Yeah, those sound good. He went downstairs and fixed him something to eat from what he had bought and rested from the hauling of boxes.

The rest of the day he spent putting up clothes, nick-knacks, and general bedroom items in his room away. Once it turned dark, he slapped the comforter on the bed and decided to go out to eat, picking a close burger joint. He ate his food of choice on his way home, so as soon as he walked into the door he could just go straight to bed.

He was beat. Didn't care about the brushing of his teeth for the night or washing his face. He had a date with his pillow that he didn't want to miss. He shuffled tiredly into his bedroom, kicking off his shoes and stripping down to his boxers before climbing into the bed.

He lay there for a moment, relishing the feel of being in his own bed. Roxas missed sleeping in a bed the past few nights.

His eyelids started to close, and he could've sworn he saw a flash of red in the mirror before shutting them completely, his system shutting down for the night.