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**The Cat and the Mirror**
Dust swirled in the pale light that streamed through a small attic window. A boy sat in the corner, alone, in the vast, gray room filled with forgotten things. His clothes were tattered, his face smudged with dust, and his eyes held a sadness that had not faded in years. He looked out the window, hoping—waiting—for something.
And then, it came.
A black cat slipped through the attic’s crooked rafters with quiet grace. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it padded silently toward the boy, who smiled softly at its familiar presence.
“You’re back,” he whispered, reaching out a cautious hand. The cat rubbed its sleek head against his fingers before jumping onto his lap, purring. It was the only company he’d had in what felt like forever.
### **The House Below**
Downstairs, in the house beneath the attic, a woman stirred in the kitchen. She felt it before she saw it—the shadow moving across the doorway.
“Oh, it’s you again,” she said, chuckling as the black cat hopped onto the table. “You always seem to appear when I least expect you.”
Across the room, her husband scowled. “That blasted creature is always sneaking around,” he grumbled. “It’s a nuisance, Marie.”
Marie only smiled as the cat delicately placed something in front of her: a small, ornate key. She picked it up, examining its intricate design. “Where did you get this?” she murmured. But the cat only stared, its unblinking golden eyes watching her expectantly.
Something about the key tugged at her memory. She had seen a chest in their bedroom—her husband’s old, sealed trunk that he kept locked and never spoke of.
Against her better judgment, she slipped upstairs, key in hand.
### **The Chest and the Mirror**
The trunk creaked as she opened it. Inside, buried beneath layers of cloth, was an old silver-framed mirror. The moment she touched it, the surface rippled like water, and a sensation of cold dread washed over her.
The whispering began.
Dark, creeping voices coiled into her mind, speaking in tones that made her skin crawl.
*”Come closer.”*
*”Stay with us.”*
Marie staggered back as the cat leapt onto the mirror’s frame. It let out a sharp yowl, and suddenly, the mirror glowed with an eerie blue light. The reflective glass shimmered and… opened.
Beyond its surface lay a different place: the attic—but not the dusty, gray attic of their house. No, this one existed in between. Its air was colder, the shadows darker.
The cat, moving with urgent purpose, slipped through. As if in a trance, Marie followed.
### **The Boy in the Attic**
When Marie stepped through, she gasped.
The boy.
His wide, sorrowful eyes met hers—eyes that felt… familiar.
Before she could speak, shadows slithered along the walls, whispering hungrily. The evil presence within the mirror had sensed her. It wanted more—more souls to keep trapped in its cursed domain.
Marie turned to flee, but the cat arched its back and hissed, eyes glowing fiercely. The shadows recoiled in fear. Taking his cue from the cat, the boy reached toward Marie with desperate hands.
“You have to take me with you!” he cried. “I don’t have much time!”
Something in her heart told her it was true. She grabbed his hand, and the attic trembled around them. The spirits shrieked in fury.
### **The Truth Revealed**
As Marie and the boy stumbled back through the mirror, the glass behind them cracked violently, sealing shut with a resounding boom. A final wail echoed as the darkness was sucked back into its prison.
The boy collapsed, gasping for breath like someone who had been drowning for years.
That was when Marie saw it—the way his face shifted, reforming, aging.
And suddenly, her husband lay before her, pale and shaken.
She staggered back. “James?”
His eyes were wet with disbelief as he looked up at her. “You saved me.” His voice trembled. “I’ve been trapped for so long.”
Memories flooded his mind—his past self pulled into the cursed mirror by the spirits, his soul separated and imprisoned in that empty attic space. And all these years, an imposter had taken his place—a creature of the mirror pretending to be him.
The truth was horrifying.
The entity had planned to consume Marie and their daughter next. And if not for the cat…
They turned. The black feline sat calmly, licking its paw.
“Who… what are you?” Marie whispered.
The cat only purred, then leapt onto the now-dormant mirror’s frame. For a moment, its yellow eyes flickered with something otherworldly. Then, with a final stretch, it disappeared through the glass—just as the mirror returned to a simple, ordinary reflection.
### **Epilogue**
After that night, they never saw the cat again.
The mirror was locked away, its power sealed. The false James was gone. The real James, shaken but alive, found himself re-learning his own life—a life that had been stolen from him for so long.
And though their home remained peaceful, Marie never stopped watching the shadows.
Because sometimes, when the rooms were quiet, and the wind rattled softly against the attic door…
She could swear she heard the distant, echoing purr of a black cat, standing guard over their family still.