She first noticed on a Monday morning.
It was a small, menial thing, almost hidden in the corner of her vanity. She thought it might've been a smudge, quite possibly created by a misplaced lipstick or the swipe of a distracted makeup brush. Maddy thought nothing of it and vowed to clean it later, when she wasn't scrambling to head to work.
She'd take care of it...eventually.
The odd thing though, was that smudge also followed her to work. Without realizing, when Maddy looked in the shared doctors' mirror, she saw the same exact smudge in the same exact corner. It was uncanny and weird, but smudges always happened at work. Well, more than a smudge, but still, it wasn't uncommon. Maybe it was a sign that she really did need to clean her vanity and God was trying to throw another hint her way.
Yeah, that was probably it.
She noticed next on a Wednesday night.
Maddy had tried to clean her vanity, really! She had done her due diligence and used all the chemicals available in her and Minjae's house, just to get her space as clean as possible. She even made sure that she had her day free to dedicate to cleaning, so that she could tackle multiple things at once. Minjae had tried to coax her out of tiring herself but Maddy had been insistent. If she didn't address it now, she wouldn't get to do it ever.
The smudge that had followed her for over two weeks now, and had gradually gotten bigger, was her last hurdle. It wasn't even a smudge anymore, it looked like a giant, dirty rag had wiped through a quarter of her mirror. She was absolutely baffled that it could grow so big, especially since she and Minjae weren't that messy to begin with. Maybe things got a little too steamy now that they were happily married? Or they threw something that could've spread a stain?
She's trying to wrack her brain while wiping at the mirror, brow furrowed in concentration. Could it be that the vanity itself was in bad shape? It wasn't exactly new when she bought it, it had been loved before, so maybe it was starting to need some fixing up?
"Maybe..."she huffed a frustrated sigh, continuing to wipe at the mirror. Geez, was it going to come off? She's using the strongest chemical at their disposal, so why isn't it coming off??
After a half-hour, just when Maddy thought she'd made a semblance of progress, the smudge has traveled to over half of her mirror, laying all her attempts to waste. Tired and sweaty, the brunette settled in the seat of her vanity, panting lightly. Seriously? Was this not going away?
She stared in frustration at her now-distorted reflection: one-half in her bedroom and the other...
Wait. That wasn't right. Her other half should show her room but all smudged up.
Why then did it show...something else?
She notices for the last time on a Sunday afternoon.
The smudge has practically consumed her vanity. It's covered every inch of her mirror, clouding the once-image of her and Minjae's room. Maddy can no longer see anything that used to be reflected: not her makeup, not their bed, not their closet, nothing. The worst part?
She sees someone else that's not her.
At least...she thinks so. This smudged version is her in all sense of body and face, even with the cloudiness, Maddy knows that that's her. But the eyes....those aren't her eyes.
Maddy has done everything to cover up the vanity. At first she would look away, then she would start covering it with a sheet—which would mysteriously slide down by the next day—and then she even tried to smudge it up even more, to Minjae's worry. But nothing worked.
The most harrowing part was that Maddy was now seeing the smudged version of herself in other mirrors. It wasn't even her vanity anymore, she would see smudge Maddy in the clinic, on her way home, walking by buildings, even in the bathroom.
Maddy wasn't safe from herself.
She tried to subtly ask Minjae if he was seeing anything, if he noticed something now that the smudge had grown. But, to her growing anxiety, he hadn't noticed any changes. It was just a dirty vanity. Even Luna, when she visited during odd hours, told Maddy that it was "an old-ass vanity that needed to be replaced anyway."
Yeah, right, it just needed to be replaced.
Maddy took a shaky breath as she entered the bathroom to cool herself off. She's been starting at her vanity for the last half-hour and it seemed like the image of herself was growing the longer she stared. Almost like it was going to crawl out and—
The sound of a scream turned her eyes to the large mirror in their bathroom, her green eyes going wide. She was looking at herself again, but this was absolutely terrifying.
Smudge Maddy was staring right back at her.
Somehow, this other version of her was wearing shredded clothing, her left knee cut up and steadily bleeding. A chunk of her hair was missing, maybe singed or pulled off. Her entire complexion was pale and gaunt, like she'd been surviving on little to nothing.
Maddy is absolutely bewildered at this morbid image of herself, moreso at how smudge Maddy is staring her down, eyes mixed with jealousy and despair. Maddy glances down at her matching sweats and hoodie, partly in fear but also to break away from the not-her version.
Another scream brings her eyes back up and she sees smudge Maddy standing right in front of the mirror. Smudge Maddy has her hand raised to the glass, mouthing the same words over and over:
HELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELP
When Maddy wakes, she's met by a pair of brown eyes staring down at her. "Minjae?" she recognizes, blinking slowly. "What happened? How did I—"
Minjae has rosy cheeks and clear skin, always wearing a matching set of clothes on their off days. He always wakes her with a kiss and a smile, offering a reassuring touch and something more.
He looks uncomfortably pale, blood stains on his cheek and clothes. The clothes look like they've seen better days, slightly torn and matted. He hovers over her, not touching her in the slightest.
She scrambles up to a sitting position, her breathing already accelerating. "Where am I?" she says louder, green eyes darting to and fro. This isn't their house. It looks like what's left of a condo, or the skeleton of it. A makeshift tent is propped up around them, shielding them from the elements above. Several decrepit buildings surround them, looking as though they'll tumble at any second.
She turns to her right and sees a pile of glass shards, reflecting her same green eyes back at her. She freezes.