The scream shattered the silence; deafening, raw.

A face blurred in the gold-framed mirror, which hung on the plain wall in a long corridor. The air felt still, almost expectant, as the image flickered into focus. Grey-green eyes stared intently at her. Dark hair with flecks of grey became clearer. A softly rounded face, with a tender mouth and slender nose. There was a hint of stubble.

A face blurred in the gold-framed mirror hanging on the plain wall of a long corridor. The light around it shimmered unnaturally, as if the very air were breathing. It beckoned as it flickered into focus. Grey-green eyes stared intently at her. Dark hair, threaded with silver, framed a softly rounded face with a tender mouth and a slender nose. There was a hint of stubble. A voice whispered, low, broken, desperate, but the words slipped past her understanding like water through fingers. Her heart clenched. She knew that voice. Then, just as quickly, the face disintegrated into a jumbled mash of pixels. Gone. The corridor grew darker, as if the mirror had taken its light with it.

A face blurred in the gold-framed mirror that hung crookedly on the plain wall. At first, it was only a shadow… then it began to beckon: slow, deliberate. Its features flickered into focus: eyes wide with warning, or was it an invitation? It was hard to tell. Then, just as suddenly as it had formed, the image shattered into a jumble of pixels, as if the mirror itself had glitched.