老大恐怖小说一则

老大的处女作，纪念一下，2021年发表于Mailer Review，时年14岁。

The Mirror

She was already drifting off to sleep, eyelids drooping. The lowered sound of the TV in the background and the continuous pattering of rain on the roof seemed to fade as the world went fuzzy.

       Just as she was about to doze off, a sharp knock on the door awakened her from her reverie. She flinched violently, jumping up from the couch, heart pounding. Her eyes shifted over to the door, where another knock followed.

       “W-who is this?”

       A pause. Then, a voice spoke. “Hello? Is there an Amelia that lives here?”

       The voice from behind the door was faint and muted, but it was quite high-pitched and obviously a girl’s. Amelia’s mind whirled as she wondered who could have come to her house.

       “Yeah...what do you want with her?” Her voice was shaky, giving away her obvious discomfort.

       The girl behind the door stayed silent for a little while. The only noise was the consistent drumming of rain. Then, she spoke again. Her cheery voice rang through the empty house. “I assume this is Amelia I’m speaking to. Uh...it’s kind of hard to explain. Once you open the door, it’ll be obvious. The best explanation I can give is that we look...kind of similar?”

       “What?” Amelia furrowed her brow, confused. We look kind of similar? What kind of excuse is that?

       At this point, the knocking grew more impatient. “Hurry up, I’m freezing out here. And don’t you dare think of leaving me out here after I gave up everything for you.” This time, the voice had a malicious edge to it. Amelia shivered as a draft of cold air seemed to come from nowhere.

       “Excuse me, I have every right to leave you out there. You’re a complete stranger.” But even as she said this, she edged closer to the door, albeit staring at it warily.

       There was pounding on the door this time. “Let me in.”

       Then silence. It seemed like the girl had realized she was acting quite weirdly, because she had quickly corrected herself. “Please? It’s actually really important, and I’ve been waiting for so, so long…”

       Against her better judgment, Amelia put her hand on the doorknob. It was freezing cold, and she winced. “Alright. I hope this is worth my time…” she muttered to herself.

       Although she only pulled open the door a little bit, a gust of wind caught the opening door and it swung backwards, hitting the wall with a loud thump. A burst of lightning flashed across the sky, dancing between the clouds. In that moment, Amelia saw something...quite curious.

“Who...are you?” Amelia froze. There was no way that this could be possible. Standing in front of her was an exact replica of herself. She seemed to be looking in a mirror. The same, sparkling-brown eyes that she saw every day staring back at her in the bathroom mirror was right in front of her. Soft, brown locks fell from her shoulders, and she even had the same short ring finger on her right hand.

Amelia’s heart jumped up to her throat, and she started to shut the door. The girl hastily stuck her foot inside the doorframe. “Wait, wait! Hear me out. Hi, I’m Cassandra! Can I come in and talk for a while? Please? I have nowhere to go tonight, I was really hoping you would let me stay over.”

She tried to pry the door open, and seeing as that wouldn’t work, sighed and stepped back. Her foot, however, still kept the door open.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but if you would just let me in, I’ll explain everything.”

There was a pause as Amelia considered it. Then, with a heavy sigh, she opened the door once more and beckoned the girl who was soaking from the rain to come inside. Cassandra beamed and bounced in. It seemed that they were the complete opposite; Amelia was silent and observant, while Cassandra seemed to not have a care in the world, always happy and bubbly.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, you can just call me Cass. All my friends do.” She plopped down on the couch as if she already owned the place. Amelia frowned. That movement perfectly copied hers; it reminded her of many afternoons coming home from school, casually throwing her books onto the table.

Sighing once again, and going to the other chair, Amelia asked, “So, why are you here? And how do you know me? Or my address?”

Cass’s eyes shone so bright, they were like stars. “Well, I found your picture on this website! And I was, like, so amazed that, like, you and me were the same! I just had to do a bit of digging around and I found you! I have school off back where I live, so I decided to come meet you. I mean, wouldn’t it be so cool to meet your doppelganger? This way I can tell ALL my friends back home that I got to meet another me!”

Cass said this all very fast, so it was hard to understand, but Amelia got the gist of it. So that’s what happened, huh? It makes sense. Cass seemed like a nice person, so she’d let her stay a couple of days.

“Wait, you decided to travel all this way by yourself to meet me? I’m flattered,” Amelia cracked. Cass giggled hysterically, as if that was the funniest thing ever. “Why wouldn’t I want to see what my doppelganger’s life is like? It would be so cool!”

“Well Cass, it’s your lucky day today. I don’t have school either, so you’re free to stay.” Amelia grinned, happy to have someone to spend her lonely days with. Cass squealed, hugging Amelia like they were already best friends despite only meeting just a couple moments ago.

“Come on, let’s have an official welcome party!”

 

It’s been six days already. Every day the girls had lots of fun, visiting all the places around the area, sleeping late and waking up late. They ate whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted, whatever they wanted. Cass had asked many, many questions, both about her personal life and about everything around her. At this point, Amelia was pretty sure Cass had the passwords to pretty much everything she had.

“Hey Ami, I’m going to go to the bathroom. Be right back!” Cass called over her shoulder as she headed out, closing the door softly.  The light in the room flickers and then stabilizes again. Amelia didn’t spare it a second glance; it had been winking on and off all day. The weather was turning bad again; that’s why they were inside today.

The weather was oddly reminiscent. Amelia looked up through the window, where the cold, dreary sky seemed to mope around, dripping tears all over the ground. The rain, buffeted by the heavy wind, seemed to rain down like little pellets on the glass of the window.

She leaned back, shutting off her phone and placing it on the table in one swift motion. Her eyes shut and she sat there, thinking about everything that had changed this past week.

Come to think of it, how did Cass even find her? She didn’t think she’d ever given her address out anywhere on the internet...even if she had a massive fanbase on social media, didn’t mean she wasn’t careful with personal information on the internet.

Just then, Cass came back. “I’m back,” she said offhandedly, and plopped down on the floor, picking up her phone.

“Hey...Cass?” Amelia wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask this question.

“What’s up?”

“Can I ask you something?” There was a pause.

“Sure, anything!” Cass put down her phone slowly, swinging her piercing gaze to Amelia. They made eye contact for almost a full minute, and Amelia was slightly unnerved. From day one, she had noticed that Cass had an unusually intense stare. Her brown eyes were much sharper than Amelia’s soft, hazel eyes.

“How...how exactly did you find me? I don’t recall having given my address anywhere…”

There was a tense silence as both girls looked at each other with such distrust. Then, Cass beamed. “Oh, silly, I should have told you! Here, come over to this room, and I’ll show you.” She stood up, beckoning Amelia over.

Amelia sighed, relieved. If Cass was treating it like no big deal, then maybe it was just her overactive imagination acting up again. She stood up, following Cass to the other room.

In that room, there was a giant mirror. It hung above the bed like a humongous painting. The bed wasn’t small, and on both sides of it there were small tables with lamps on each one. There was a closet off to the right.

Cass was already on the bed, studying the mirror closely. When she saw Amelia had followed her, she tugged her onto the bed, staring at the mirror, one hand reaching out to lightly touch the pristine surface of the reflective glass.  “Do you see that? It’s our reflection. We look exactly the same. Now look closer.” She pushed Amelia closer to the mirror. Amelia, her nose an inch from the surface, frowned. She started to straighten up again, but Cass’s hand stayed at her neck, firm and unyielding. Amelia could see a sinister grin on her face. “Do you see this? This mirror…it will take you someplace else.”

With one hard shove, Cass pushed Amelia into the mirror. The mirror seemed to shift around her, encompassing her, enveloping her, drawing her close. Amelia screamed, twisting back, trying to get Cass’s hands off her. But what she hit was not flesh. It was the hard, cool surface of a mirror. And Cass was on the other side.

Shrieking, Amelia banged on the smooth surface of the glass. She tried kicking it, punching it, scratching it; doing everything she could to try to break it. Nothing worked. And on the other side of the mirror, faintly, she heard Cass say coldly, “I’m terribly sorry. If you put up that much of a fight, I might even start feeling guilty about what I’ve done! But you know, it feels awfully good to be here. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand; all your life, you’ve been coddled. You have no idea what it’s like for people who grew up in more...unfortunate circumstances.”

Amelia tried to reason with Cass with tears in her eyes, but Cass shook her head. Her mask of indifference had started to crumble as she revealed a manic smile. “A pity, really, that it was you. Perhaps if it had been someone less kindhearted, I wouldn’t feel this pang in my chest that I do now. But what’s done is done, and I can’t say I regret it.”

Cass had gotten off the bed, maliciously waving goodbye to Amelia. By this time, she had already started wailing against the clear glass, no longer trying to escape. She knew there was no hope.

“Goodbye, Amelia. It was nice knowing you while it lasted.”

Click. The light went off, and there was the faint sound of the door closing and the lock sliding shut.

                                                 

                                                             镜子

        她渐渐睡去，眼皮耷拉着。背景中低沉的电视声和屋顶上连续不断的雨滴声似乎随着世界的模糊而逐渐消失。

       就在她快要进入梦乡的时候，一阵急促的敲门声把她吵醒了。她猛地一惊，从沙发上跳了起来，心怦怦直跳。她的目光移到门上，又是一阵敲门声。

       "你--你是谁？"

       敲门声停了一下。然后，一个声音说话了。"嗯~ ，有一个叫阿米莉亚的人住在这里吗？"

      门外传来的声音微弱而低沉，但显然是个女孩的声音。阿米莉娅脑子里转了转，她想不出谁会到她家来。

       "是的......你找她做什么？" 她的声音有些颤抖，明显听得出她的紧张。

       门外的女孩没有作声，一阵沉默，只听到持续的刷刷的雨声。然后，她又说话了。这次她换作了欢快的声音，"我想我是在和阿米莉亚说话吧？呃......这有点难以解释。不过如果你打开门，你一看就会明白了，很多人告诉我说，我们看起来......就像是一个人。"

       "什么？" 阿米莉亚皱起了眉头，感到困惑。我们看起来像一个人？这算什么借口？她迟疑着。

       门外的敲门声又响了，似乎越来越不耐烦了。"快点，我在外面都快冻僵了。你知道码？我为你放弃了一切，你可别想把我关在外面。" 这一次，这个声音里彷佛有一股恶狠狠的味道。阿米莉亚打了个寒颤，似乎不知从哪里来了一股冷空气。

       "对不起，不过我完全有权利把你关在外面，我根本不认识你。" 阿米莉亚一边说着这话，还是一边向门边走去，尽管她还是警惕地盯着它。

 

       "让我进去！"

屋里屋外，一片寂静。

       门外的女孩可能意识到了什么，换了一副哀求的语气，"求求你，这真的对我很重要，我已经等了这么、这么久......"

       不知是什么力量的驱使，阿米莉亚把手放在门把手上。冰冷的感觉让她打了一个激灵。"好吧。希望这值得我花时间...... "她喃喃自语道。

       虽然她只拉开了一点门，但一阵风夹着打开的门，门向后摆动，砰的一声撞在墙上。一阵闪电闪过天空，在云层间飞舞。在那一刻，阿米莉亚看到了一些......相当奇怪的东西。

"你...是谁？" 阿米莉亚愣住了。不敢相信自己的眼睛。站在她面前的是一个完全复制的自己。她似乎是在照镜子。她每天在浴室镜子里看到的那双闪亮的棕色眼睛就在她面前。柔软的棕色发卡从她的肩膀上落下，她的右手甚至有同样短的无名指。

阿米莉亚的心一下子跳到了嗓子眼，她下意识地想把门赶紧关上。门外的女孩急忙把脚伸进门框。"等等，等等！"。听我说完。“嗨，我是卡桑德拉！我是卡桑德拉。我可以进来谈一会儿吗？求你了，我今晚无处可去，我真的希望你能让我留下来过夜。"

两人僵持着，门外的女孩拼命用脚顶住门，不让它关上，"我知道这让你一下很难接受，但如果你能让我进去，我会给你解释一切的。"

阿米莉亚犹豫了一下，然后，她重重地叹了一口气，松开手，招手让那个被雨淋湿的女孩进来。卡桑德拉面带微笑，蹦蹦跳跳地走了进来。看起来她们的性格完全相反；阿米莉亚沉默寡言，善于观察，而卡桑德拉似乎无忧无虑，总是快乐地冒着泡。

"哦，我忘了说，你可以叫我卡斯。我所有的朋友都这样叫我。" 她瘫坐在沙发上，好像她已经拥有了这个地方。阿米莉亚皱起了眉头。这个动作完美地复制了她的动作；这让她想起了自己许多从学校回家的下午，随手把书扔到桌子上。

阿米莉亚又叹了口气，走到另一张椅子上，问她："那你告诉我，你是怎么知道我的？又是怎么找到我的地址的呢？"

卡斯的眼睛闪闪发亮，就像星星一样。"嗯，我在这个网站上发现了你的照片! 我很惊讶，你和我竟然长得一模一样！然后，我就做了一点点小小的调查，就找到你啦! 我住的地方学校放假，所以我决定来见你。我的意思是，如果能见到另一个自己，那不是很好吗？这样我就可以告诉我家里所有的朋友，我见到了另一个我！"

卡斯说得非常快，不是很好理解，但阿米莉亚明白了其中的要点。是这样。嗯？听起来似乎很有道理。卡斯看起来是个不错的人，要不就让她多呆几天吧。

"什么？你一个人走这么远的路就为了来见我？"阿米莉亚睁大了眼睛。卡斯大声地笑了起来，仿佛这是最有趣的事情。"为什么不呢？我为什么不想看看另一个我的生活是什么样的？你不觉得这很酷吗？"

"好吧，卡斯，算你幸运。我今天也不用去上学，所以你就留下来吧。" 阿米莉亚心里想，有人能陪她度过寂寞的日子，也不错吧。卡斯兴奋地尖叫起来，拥抱着阿米莉亚，就像他们已经是最好的朋友一样，尽管他们才见面不到十分钟。

"来吧，让我们开一个正式的欢迎会！"

---------

已经有六天了。两个女孩每天都有很多乐趣，参观周围所有的地方，晚睡晚起，想吃什么就吃什么，想去哪里就去哪里。卡斯问了她很多很多问题，有关于她个人生活的，也有关于她周围的一切。阿米莉娅觉得卡斯已经对她的生活了如指掌了。

"嘿，阿米，我去趟洗手间，马上回来！" 卡斯一边往外走，一边叫道，她轻轻地关上了门。 房间里的灯光闪烁了一下，然后又稳定下来。阿米莉亚注意到，这盏灯一整天都在不停地忽明忽暗。今天又是一个坏天气--这也是她们今天待在家里的原因。

这天气让人奇怪地想起了什么。阿米莉亚透过窗户往上看，冰冷、沉闷的天空似乎在闷闷不乐，把眼泪滴满了地面。雨水在大风的吹拂下，似乎像小颗粒一样落在窗户的玻璃上。

她向后一靠，关上手机，把它放在桌子上，动作迅速。她闭上眼睛，坐在那里，思考过去一周发生的一切。

她忽然想到一点，卡斯是怎么找到她的？她不认为她曾在互联网上留下过她的地址......虽然她在社交媒体上有那么多粉丝，她一直很小心，不在网上暴露太多个人信息......

就在这时，卡斯回来了。"我回来了，"她断断续续地说，然后瘫坐在地上，拿起她的手机。

"嘿......卡斯？" 阿米莉亚不确定她是否想问这个问题。

"怎么了？"

"我能问你一些事情吗？" 停顿了一下。

"当然，任何事情！" 卡斯慢慢地放下手机，直直地看向她。他们的目光接触了几乎整整一分钟，阿米莉亚开始不安起来。从第一天起，她就注意到卡斯有一种异常强烈的凝视。她的棕色眼睛比阿米莉亚柔和的淡褐色眼睛要尖锐得多。

"你......你到底是怎么找到我的？我不记得我在哪里留下过我的地址..."

卡斯从她的眼睛里读出了这种不信任。她沉默片刻，忽然笑了起来。"嗨，傻瓜，我应该早点告诉你！来，到这个房间来，我给你看看。" 她站起来，向阿米莉亚招了招手。

阿米莉亚松了一口气。如果卡斯没把它当作什么大不了的事，那么也许这只是她过度活跃的想象力又在作怪了。她站起来，跟着卡斯来到了另一个房间。

在那个房间里，有一面巨大的镜子。它像一幅巨大的画一样挂在床的上方。床并不小，两边都有小桌子，每张桌子上都有灯。右边有一个壁橱。

卡斯已经在床上，仔细研究镜子。当她看到阿米莉亚跟着她时，她把她拉到床上，盯着镜子，一只手伸出来轻轻地触摸着反光玻璃的原始表面。 "你看到了吗？这是我们的倒影。我们看起来一模一样。现在再仔细看看。" 她把阿米莉亚推近镜子。阿米莉亚，她的鼻子离镜面一英寸，皱起了眉头。她又开始直起身子，但卡斯的手停留在她的脖子上，坚定而不屈。阿米莉亚可以看到她脸上露出阴险的笑容。"你看到这个了吗？这面镜子......它会带你到别的地方去。"

卡斯用力一推，把阿米莉亚推到了镜子里。镜子似乎在她周围移动，包围着她，把她包住，把她拉近。阿米莉亚尖叫起来，向后扭动，试图把卡斯的手从她身上拿开。但她碰到的不是肉体。那是一面坚硬、冰凉的镜子的表面。而卡斯就在另一边。

阿米莉亚尖叫着，敲打着玻璃的光滑表面。她试着踢它，打它，抓它；做一切她能做的事来试图打破它。但没有任何效果。而在镜子的另一边，她隐约听到卡斯冷冷地说："对不起了，阿米，看你这么绝望，我都对我所做的事有点内疚了。不过，你知道，住在这里的感觉太好了。我相信你不会理解的，你的一生都在被呵护着。你不知道那些在......不幸的环境中长大的人的生活是什么样子的。"

阿米莉亚试图用眼泪和卡斯讲道理，但卡斯摇了摇头，露出狰狞的笑容，"我也很遗憾，我选择了你。如果你没有那么好心，我就不会像现在这样感到良心不安了。但事已至此，我也没什么后悔的。"

卡斯跳下床，冷冷地与阿米莉亚挥手告别。这时，阿米莉亚开始对着透明玻璃无助地哀嚎，她不再试图逃跑。她知道没有希望了。

"再见，阿米莉亚。认识你真好，这段时间我过得很愉快。"

咔嚓一声。灯光熄灭了，传来门关闭和锁滑落的微弱声音。

（大部分由机器翻译）