It’s still Halloween which means a little “creepy” is just what the doctor ordered. This story requires some imagination and probably could be more. Hopefully, it gets a few hairs on the back of your neck to rise. The unknown can be a fun. Enjoy!

***

The moment is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. Look up tonight and you will see fire in the sky. We’ve reported all week how the Mutatio meteor will create quite the fireworks show tonight. Set your watch, the curtain is up in two hours. Here to provide a scientific background for tonight’s events, we have Dr. Tess Moreland. Dr. Moreland, thank you for being with us tonight. We are all very excited for the sights tonight. What else can you share about the meteor?

“I’m always happy to provide some atmospheric insights. This is actually one of the most unique celestial events we will ever witness. The Mutatio meteor was part of the Leviathan asteroid which NASA has been tracking for the last decade. It’s the largest asteroid to within any noteworthy proximity to Earth. Don’t worry, it doesn’t pose any sort of threat, but the Mutatio meteor is a sizable chunk that broke from Leviathan.”

Well that makes it sound very much like a Hollywood-made end-of-the-world scenario.

“It does, but I guarantee it’s nothing that dramatic. The meteor will ride on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, continuously shrinking in size, before eventually burning up nothing. That’s what will create the fireworks show you mentioned earlier.”

Fascinating. Now, why is it called Mutatio?

“‘Mutatio’ is Latin for transformation. Because of its size, when the meteor hits Earth’s atmosphere, it will cause a number of disruptions to any satellite-based communications. It’s all pretty standard, but we will be treated to quite the electrical storm. Who knows what else could happen!”

There you have it. Get the popcorn ready.

***

“You smell that?”

“Seriously, can you go five minutes without farting?”

“Not what I’m talking about, this time. No, can you smell the ozone? The sky is burning tonight.”

“It’s making my hair stand on end. This static is insane. That meteor better not make me miss any shows tonight.”

***

There was a loud pop and the power flicked off and on. Heather was upstairs stepping out of the shower and then she was also down in the kitchen but not feeling quite like herself. She stopped stirring and pulled the spoon from her tea. The reflection in the spoon’s convex silver did not look entirely familiar. Heather’s hair was blasted about as though she had received an electric shock, and her eyes seemed to be set slightly too widely apart. The spoon fell from Heather’s hand as she stumbled back from the counter. Looking down, her terror grew with the realization she was naked from head to toe. Heather bolted from the kitchen and headed for the stairs, still unsure how she had gotten downstairs in the first place. She darted past the den where the television’s glow illuminated her sister and brother-in-law casually watching a show.

***

The show was okay, but reality programming was not Mick’s favorite. All the vapid people stupidly miming sane human thought to milk however much fame they could from a brief run, he felt it brought out the worst in people, something the world did not need help with. His wife was a ravenous consumer of the swill, but at least she did not feel the shows were actually good. Erin consumed the dramatic circus that played out each week to validate her own life was pretty darn good. Mick gave her a quick look of loving amusement and then focused his attention on the beer sitting on the coffee table. As he leaned in to snag it, he saw a flash of skin cross the doorway. His attention fixated on the doorway and the staircase beyond, bewilderment growing as the mass of skin turned out to have arms, legs, and hair, and it darted up the stairs.

Erin sensed Mick’s sudden distraction, “What is it? Hey, what is it? You’re catching flies.”

“I’m pretty sure I just saw your sister run up the stairs, naked.”

There was an extended pause before she responded, “Heather? What?”

“Someone just ran upstairs naked, and I don’t think there’s anyone else here, right?”

“I sure hope there’s not! What? My sister? I’m so confused right now. What are you even talking about?”

They were both staring at the doorway in awe, an unexplainable sense of uneasiness creeping in. Mick stood up, determined to investigate, just as another figure walked through the doorway. It was his sister-in-law again, but Heather had somehow completely changed into a long maroon dress in a matter of seconds. Her face was also horribly swollen and her hair lay matted flat against her head. Heather held a smile that was a cross between pained and menacing. She strode by Mick and assumed his former place on the couch.

He could feel terror slither across his bones as he slowly backed out of the room, forgetting the woman he vowed to have and to hold until death sat on the couch quivering next to what appeared to be her sister. The newcomer was still facing forward with the matted hair pasted to her ballooned cheeks. As if cued, Heather slowly turned her head to face Erin while the rest of her body remained perfectly still. The horribly crooked smile on Heather’s face radiated insanity and diabolical intent.

Finally, the smile cracked and a voice that sounded muffled as though her mouth was stuffed with cotton croaked out, “Ha, sis.”

Mick felt paralyzed by the rampant dread cementing him in place, and he could only watch in heartbreaking helplessness as his wife’s face exhibited the purest fear he had ever seen, as if a scream was even too scared to come out. After what seemed like minutes, Mick’s voice found its footing and broke the haunting silence, “Heather? Wha-, what happened? Are you okay?”

The head unnaturally rotated away from Erin to face him with eyes that were nary black slits above the distended cheeks. Heather’s muffled voice bubbled forth once again, “I fine. What you talk about?”

Just then, Mick felt a presence behind him and found enough bodily control to turn around, immediately regretting the decision. Heather stood in the doorway or, rather, filled the doorway. Her head had returned to normal, but her body had ballooned to a massive size, as if three or four people had merged into one.

“Excuse me, hon, can I squeeze past?”

He reflexively stepped aside though he was still unsure what he was looking at. The matted hair, bubble-faced woman remained on the couch as she was eclipsed by the super-sized doppelganger. Both Mick and Erin were beyond words and thought. Then, the power went out again.

***

Still feeling a little dazed, Heather wrapped herself in a towel and looked in the mirror. Her green eyes radiated against the canvas of her pale skin. Every freckle and blemish was familiar in its presence. Despite everything being in its appropriate place, Heather could not scratch the itch growing more present in her mind. Was it a lack of sleep or something she ate?

A commotion downstairs resonated through the bathroom door and drew Heather’s attention to thudding footsteps pounding up the stairs. The door shook violently as the footsteps’ owner crashed into it at full speed. Heather instinctively went to the door and cracked it open. Just outside on the landing lay a naked woman. The woman’s eyes were closed and her breathing steady, indicating she was probably working through the shock of running into the door. As Heather surveyed the woman from her bathroom vantage, she noticed a mark on the inside of the woman’s left calf. It was dark brown and shaped like an arrowhead. The strangest feature, however, was that she had an identical one on the inside of her left calf. It had been there since birth.

Heather’s brain worked feverishly to process how the woman lying in front of her had the same birthmark and, upon continued inspection, looked more and more familiar. The unravelling mystery held her attention so well, she did not notice the man limp up to the woman. He was lopsided in stature with a shrivelled leg and humped back, as if Quasimodo had leapt from his book. His labored breathing wheezed loudly, and finally broke her stunned reverie. Heather raised her gaze from the woman to the man. His sudden appearance and startling personage forced her to release a slight yelp. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, uselessly hoping the sound could be contained. The man heard and turned two bulbous eyes to her and smiled a wet grin as he moved to speak.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, ssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssss.”

***

“Throughout our lives, there are moments, many moments, where we see ourselves differently. The type of person we want to be, the worst version of ourselves, or anything in-between, they’re always part of us. The other night, something happened, and those parts of ourselves were peeled away and given life. It’s as if we’re looking into a funhouse mirror with distorted caricatures looking back.”

“What does that mean for us now, Doctor?”

“I don’t know what it means for you. When I first gained consciousness, I immediately knew I was the best part, and the rest were fat needing to be trimmed. That’s how I spent my night.”

“…Doctor, are you saying?”

“Sometimes the face on the other side of the mirror is more real than the one looking into it.”