Jake arrived home, put away the groceries, and got ready to make his favorite meal: beef stir-fry and coconut rice. He opened a cupboard and pulled out the bottle opener. Opening the can of coconut milk was easily the most awkward part of making this meal for any left handed person like him. He put the rice to cook in the microwave; he had neither the counter space nor the money for a steamer, he was barely getting by paying his living expenses every month and could not spend much more. In fact, his bathroom mirror had just broken the day before and buying a replacement had drained his wallet.
After having cooked his meal, Jake sat down at his dinner table, poked his fork into a sliver of beef, brought the juicy meat up to his open, salivating mouth, and the doorbell rang. Grimacing, he got up and opened his front door to let two men take one large yet thin box into the room. One of the men handed him a pad on which to sign that he received the delivery. Jake signed and handed back the pad to the man who flashed a smile that inspired more apprehension than comfort. The man turned around, his long black hair leaving wispy trail behind it, and walked out of the apartment, closing the door as he left.
Jake went back to his meal and started eating again, yet by the second bite, he did not feel hungry anymore. He felt empty on the inside, yet not hungry. he felt pulled towards the box, like having no bathroom mirror was much more important than eating the delicious coconut rice on his fork. He laid the box down on the floor, and attempted to pull what laid inside out. As it did not come out easily, Jake put more and more force into it. finally, it gave way, causing Jake's arms to spread out far and his head dived down to smash into the black emptiness in front of it. Due to the concussion, he fainted.
When Jake woke up, he had a heavy migraine, the world fuzzed in and out, and his ears were ringing with the worst noise he had ever heard in his life. More importantly, his stomach felt like he hadn't eaten in two days. Curiously, on his table was everything as he had left it before fainting, except his fork was on the right side of the plate, which he most definitely did not leave it on. His mind steadily clearing as he ate, Jake noticed that every thing is his house was flipped from right to left.
This was good news to him: now, instead of being a left handed person in a world where only around 10% were left handed, he was a lefty in a world where 90% of the people are like him. In most stories where someone goes through a mirror, they are right-handed and that is used against them to identify them, but to Jake, this was heaven. It usually takes a while for people to notice another's handedness, so unless the people of this world knew they were in a mirror world, they wouldn't pay attention.
He flipped the mirror, which was on it's backside to check for any cracks. Miraculously, the glass had taken less damage than his skull and was in pristine shape. A bit too pristine in fact, as this mirror was way more than what he ordered: it was framed in an ornate gold design with lions and eagles on it. It felt like it would fit better in a palace, not in this crappy apartment. Jake still decided to hang the mirror on the bathroom wall, where it barely fit. No sooner was he done than the door bell rang.
On the other side of the door was the delivery man who had brought the mirror. informing him that there had been a mistake in the delivery, he tried to step into the house, but Jake blocked him. The man had no replacement mirror and Jake did not want his most likely ticket back home to be taken from him. To this, the man answered only with his eerie smile and left. Scared the man would come back to steal the mirror, Jake chose not to leave for the remainder of the day.
At supper, When Jake was a few centimeters from putting his food in his mouth, the doorbell rang. It was the same man, this time with a replacement mirror. Finding no way to refuse him this time, Jake let him in. The man changed the mirrors while looking like he could just barely contain his laughter, then left. Effectively, he left Jake to feel like he had just made the worst mistake of his life and to cold food.
Having no reason to stay home, Jake went out. It was silent, way too silent. There was not soul walking down the sidewalk and even an empty car in the middle of the road. It was in drive gear, but out of fuel. The lawns still looked properly mowed, there was simply no one around.
Maraltus, stared down at the body near his feet. The boy had resisted and had almost gotten out of the illusion, but in the end succumbed to panic. Maraltus loved panicked souls. When he had found a boy living alone, he rejoiced and put a plan in motion. If the boy had continued to prevent him from entering his house, he would have eventually awoken and Maraltus would have given up. Demons are not the most patient after all.
