Chapter 1: 1 – When the Night Comes [One-Shot]

I currently sitting at my desk, facing my computer and playing an FPS game solo queued because none of my friends were playing it.

We are at the edge of the match, T 15-15 CT. This is literally the match point, the last round and whoever wins it will win the match. And by the way, I'm on the T side.

"Fyuuhh." I closed my eyes and breath out, breath in. Trying to collect my composure so I'm not tripping over and gain back my focus and concentration. It's pretty tiring you know playing 24 rounds all straight.

"Alright, let's do this." As the red outlined timer goes to zero and it changes its color to white, we began our last round.

———————

"Goddamn it..." I sighed in frustration as I pull the earphone off my ears.

"I can't believe I missed that shot." I still bemoan over my lack of accurate shots. I was using AWP at that time and the enemies were down to three while I survived with one of my teammates. So it's basically 2 vs 3. And then that happened, where I, missed the prolly easiest shot I've ever got. He was literally standing there, not noticing me at all, and focused to aim his gun at the other side of the map.

A bit of tremor confuse me and deranged my aim that which made me miss that shot.

After that of course he would likely know where I was based on the sounds of my missed shot, and then you know the rest...

"Just if, just if it hits him." It could change the whole game, situation, and the outcomes would likely be on us to.

Oh well, whatever happens, happens. But then again, "aargh just if, just if oh god." I can't get over my own fatuity.

But I'm glad my teammates weren't toxic at that time, they just typed "gg" and "nice try" without using any slurs. At least my mental health wasn't gone jitter.

I then quit the game and turned off my computer as I got off my desk and lay on my bed tirelessly. It's really worn me out to the extent of exhaustion.

The ticking sounds of the clock caught my attention, I looked at my wall clock and sees the needles shows it at 23:58.

I drag back my eyes to the ceiling and closed them. "It's about the time, huh?" I muttered as I appease my disquiet.

To tell you the truth, I've been experiencing the hell of a mystical, spiritual event lately. It is when the time on 00:00 when the day changed, it began to happen.

At first, I feel my hearing sense go numb as I hear a dissolute sound. But then, it gradually faded away as I hear faint voices around me.

The voices, the laughs, the silent, the hushed, they are hovering around me. I had yet to open my eyes, waiting for the minute to pass.

I counted the clicks on the clock, if it gets 60 times, then it must be a minute has passed away.

Click

It was the last click, now it was midnight past one minute and I opened my eyes gently and blinked it several times after I felt my vision quite blurred. It was sometimes a normal thing that happened when we closed our eyes for quite some time.

The ceiling greeted me again, nothing changed as nothing happened in those changing times. But I knew, something had changed.

I get up and take a look at my mirror that was hanging on the cupboard near my desk. I was standing steady there, right in front of it. The mirror has a big glass that is enough to reflect my whole body. But yet, I didn't see my reflection there. Instead, I see someone else, someone else with the opposite sex as me, someone else with a different identity, someone else with different looks, and someone else with a different personality.

"We meet again, huh?"

Someone else in different realms.

"Looks like it is." I said, with a thin smile.

She looks wistful and quite gloomy as ever.

"Again, you'll be accompanying me through the night?"

"Sure." I picked up my chair and sit in the front of the mirror.

Her pigtails fluttered in the air as she looked around from the mirror, and inspected what was around her.

"Nothing new, huh? I'm quite bored with this setting."

"Well, it can't be helped. I can't always change my room decorations and setting as much as you want. It's pretty tiring after all."

She puts her eye at me. Well, I said eye because the other one was covered by her bang, so there was one that was visible to me. I returned my gaze to her, I don't know what she wants to do. She was quite peculiar and well, her personality can't be predicted.

Her eye's lid throbbed, couldn't resist it anymore, and then closed by itself as she quickly look away from me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just uttered what I feel but it somehow sounded like I hate it and wanted you to change it." She said with a hushed in her voice.

See? Her personality can be changed in the flash, just like how you flipped your palm. She's weird but in a good way. No, maybe unique was the right word for her.

"Nah, it's okay. I understand it."

She peeked from the corner of her eyes and then turned around back to face me.

"Anyway, today I played an FPS game again with my online friends. It was fun and all until, well, I fucked up the game, and we lost it." A bitter smile adorned my face as I remembered that event that was minutes away before

"Ah, I know it. You said something like 'Goddamn it' and 'missed shot'. Stuff like that."

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I raised my eyebrow, "you heard it?"

She nodded. "Yes, but just a faint of it. Because at that time I was still asleep..."

"You seem taken so much interest in that FPS game, is it that fun?" She asked with her eyes in wonder, seeking the answer from me.

I smiled. "Yes, I like it because It's an online game. For me, an online game is more fun than an offline one because you are matched up with no bots but real people. And you can play it competitive or just for fun in casual."

"Online? Offline? What was that?" Her head tilted in confusion upon hearing those strange words.

"Hm... I don't know how to explain it. To put it simply online is where you used internet connectivity so you can be connected to the people around the world that also used the internet. While offline is you're not connected to the internet, hence you can't be connected and play with other people."

Wrinkles on her face creased as she tried to understand what I'm saying. "I still don't quite get it." She said, giving up for comprehend it.

I pulled a small laugh. "It's okay, it is indeed quite hard to be grasped. Much easier for understanding it if you tried it than just from an explanation."

She nodded docilely. 

That's how we're spending our time together. Chatting around and telling our stories. Though, actually, it was always me the one who comes up with the stories, mainly from my daily life and told those to her.

Well, it can't be helped because she was caged and restrained within that thin glass. She doesn't have much story to be told inside that mirror.

She sees what the mirror reflected, she feels what's in the mirror, and she hears what's in the front of the mirror. Sees and feels the same things every day must be boring and stultify. I tell her those stories to give a different insight into her world that just circled within inside that mirror.

"Anyway, did you dream when you were asleep?" I come up with another topic in my mind.

"... Dream?" She takes a while for answering it.

"It was all black for me with deafening sounds. I didn't see anything, nor feel something other than cold. That all the same when I closed my eyes and the next thing I know after opened them you was there greeted me." Her eyes turned down melancholic.

"I see... I'm sorry for asking that." It was a mistake for me for asking it to her. That was definitely something she doesn't want to bring up and remembered.

She shakes her head. "You don't need to apologize. At least from that, you know how grateful I am for you always showing up for me and accompanying me every night." She smiles, a sincere smile for her upright feeling. And I smiled at her candid words.

I peeked at the wall clock. The time flies while tuned in to our conversation, it's 4 AM in the early morning, dawn. And soon the sun will rise to bring new light for the new day, with the newborn, tired souls bringing another hope to their lives.

And until then, she will soon disappear. Not much time left.

I looked back at her, she noticed my gaze and smiled gently with her hands she puts down between her thighs.

"So, it's almost the time huh?" As if she can read my mind, those words are spoken from her small mouth.

"Yeah."

"Again, thank you for tonight. I can't say how much I feel grateful for you." A heartfelt smile carved on her face, showing her pure gratitude.

"It's no problem at all. I'm also happy for you always listening to my random stories."

Slowly, I can see her sprite fade away and become translucent as I can see the object behind her.

I think this is the time now.

I get up from my sit and reach for my school bag that was lean on the side of the cupboard. She was bemused by my sudden action, but soon enough she will know as I pull a plushie out of my bag.

I come back to my chair and again, she was surprised by what I held. A cat plushie colored in white. She then look into her hand that also holding the same plushie as mine because the mirror reflected it.

"This is..." She twiddles the plushie in her hand in bafflement.

"It's a plushie." I said as I moved to plushie closer to my cheek. She did the same and then rubbed her cheek on the soft plushie's fur.

After that, I pulled it away from my cheek and hold it on my chest, slowly going to wrap and hug it.

She looked well pleased by it as she imitated what I'd done. She was in the mirror, and the mirror reflected what was on in. That's how it works and why I did it. Otherwise, she couldn't do it by herself. She needs me to touch and feel the object around the mirror.

"Thank you..." Her pale fingers comb the plushie's fur as her face looked down on the plushie in her embrace with woe, and then her sprite faded away to nothingness, leaving me alone.

Maybe that was the first time I have seen her smiling with such a joy, it was truly beautiful and a sincere one. An honest glee through her face.

Looking at her gratified face, I can't help but wish I can show her the beauty of the world. I wonder if somehow I can show it to her, sometime.

I drag my eyes to the clock.

05.00

The clock said it was dawn already and I haven't had my sleep yet. I put down the plushie in my hand on my desk and tug my body to my bed as I heard the dreamland call for me.

Good thing today is the weekend, so at the very least I can sleep for the long I want.

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