It was after school. We had finished our tasks for the Easter festival early and didn’t have a Literature Club meeting that day. After leisurely packing up and exiting the building, I saw Itsumi leave the salon.
“Itsumi, let’s walk home together,” I called to her. But she didn’t respond. I thought the noise from the sports clubs had probably drowned out my voice. Itsumi continued walking and entered Building 2.
“Itsumi?”
Itsumi didn’t turn back. She proceeded forward, and I followed her.
Building 2 has very little access to sunlight and its hallways are always dark in the evening. The dim, green glow of the emergency exit is the only light in the building. Students hardly ever go to Building 2, since the only classrooms there are for science experiments, home economics, and other courses that only meet infrequently. It’s usually quiet. But the real reason students don’t go to Building 2 is because of the rumors about the mirror.
The mirror…There is a massive mirror at the end of the hallway. It’s not just an ordinary mirror. Our academy received it as a gift from English nuns after the end of the war. It is enormous: 8 feet in height, 5 feet in width, and etched with Corinthians 1, Chapter 13, Verse 12:
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For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;
Then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part;
Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Every school has their “seven wonders,” or seven interesting aspects, but most of the rumors about our academy have something to do with this mirror. The Bible verse etched in the mirror has inspired whispers such as, you can see who you were in your past life in the mirror, or that it will show you your true self, or that it will tell you when you’ll die.
Some students fear it, and plenty of others want to stand in front of it as if it were some sort of Ouija board. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve heard someone go around the school bragging that she was “a nun in the Sengoku Period.” I figured Itsumi was curious about the mirror and was finally going to see it for herself.
Itsumi turned in the hallway. The sound of her shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor became distant. I turned the hallway and followed after her.
However.
Itsumi had vanished.
I stood there with a dumbfounded expression on my face as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. A dead-end. I could only leave from where I’d come in. But Itsumi was gone. It was as if the mirror had swallowed her up.
I wasn’t just seeing things. It wasn’t a dream. I’d seen her with my own two eyes and heard her with my ears, and I had followed her right to the mirror.
I don’t believe in unscientific or supernatural things. However, I know Itsumi disappeared. This is an indisputable fact.
I had no choice but to accept it. Something was happening to Itsumi, and Diana and her mystical dark powers had something to do with it.
Shortly after that, Itsumi was checked into a hospital. She had come down with pneumonia…an illness that affects the chest.
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Itsumi seemed to have regained her energy after she was released from the hospital. But her face looked gloomy and somewhat bitter.
It wasn’t the same Itsumi as before.
When it came time for the Easter festival, I still felt like something was off. I ran around the school that morning, finishing my final preparations. I had to find a way to hide all of the Easter eggs, give the children baskets, and announce the start of the egg hunt. I was only able to take a break when I saw the guests filing in through the gates.
At that point, I was ready to call the bazaar a success. I let out a sigh of relief. Itsumi was supposed to read the Bible aloud in the church after the egg hunt was over, so I started looking for her.
I found Itsumi sitting next to the flower bed, staring out into space. “Itsumi, could you come test the microphones?” I asked. A white lily-of-the-valley gently swung in the breeze with the other flowers.
“What, a mic test? What was that for again?”
“The Bible reading. You do it every year.”
“Oh…yes, that’s right.”
Itsumi unsteadily rose to her feet. Her face stiffened, and her steps grew heavier with every step she took towards the church.
“…I can’t do this,” Itsumi finally said, her voice shaking.
“What?”
“I won’t go to the church. I’m frightened.”
“Itsumi, what are you talking about?” I pulled on her hand, thinking that she was joking.
“Stop it!” She twisted her body and forced her hand free. She held her head in her hands and started to shake.
“I…I can’t go. I don’t want to read the Bible!”
“But why? Every year you read the Bible in front of the cross.”
“Oh, the cross!” Itsumi’s cheeks turned white right before my eyes. “I don’t want to look at a cross. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to find someone else to do it.”
Without giving me a chance to stop her, Itsumi ran off.
Why was she scared of the church, the Bible, the cross?
I entered the church alone, unsure of what had happened.
The painting hung directly in front of me. God and The Devil who Fears God with His Servant. The servant…the beautiful woman identical to Diana.
I felt uneasy and ran out of the church. Itsumi wasn’t there. I ran through the school grounds and searched for her. The area was packed; it was almost time to announce the winner of the egg hunt. I pushed my way through the crowds and searched the classrooms, the salon, and the courtyard. She wasn’t anywhere. The only place left was the gymnasium. Just as I headed over, Diana came from behind the gymnasium holding Itsumi in her arms.
“Itsumi!” I screamed in a panic, dashing over to her. Her body was limp.
“Wh-What did you do to Itsumi!”
“Who, me? I didn’t do anything,” Diana answered calmly.
“Well, then why is Itsumi…” Then I noticed a faint red mark on Itsumi’s neck.
Was it blood? Lamia. Witch. Vampire. Servant of the Devil…Those horrifying words swirled around in my head. Diana covered Itsumi’s neck with her cardigan as if trying to hide it from me.
“She seems sick. I’ll take her to the salon so she can get some rest. Come on, Itsumi, it’s going to be all right,” Diana cooed. She started walking back towards the salon, Itsumi in her arms.
It was as if the servant of the Devil was bringing a corpse down into Hell.
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Just a few weeks later, Itsumi was dead.
At the sight of the body, I went into shock. Screams filled the air, but I was fully convinced. It all made sense to me now. Diana controlled Itsumi with her sorcery and used her as she pleased, until she finally drove Itsumi to commit suicide. I gazed at the lily-of-the-valley in Itsumi’s hand, then at the Eastern European beauty who came from where they bloom. Masses of schoolgirls broke down in tears. But only one girl stood with a satisfied grin.
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That was the chain of events that I personally witnessed. I am fully aware that my story may seem unrealistic. But I swear that these are the facts.
In summary:
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It may be hard to believe. However, this is the undisputable truth behind the Itsumi Shiraishi incident.
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(The End)
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Sonoko, thank you for reading.
Up until today, you stuck to reading and criticism and never wrote short stories or poems. We must commemorate this as Sonoko Koga’s debut work. It was logical and coherent, just like you. Yes, I do mean that in a good way, of course.
But I was shocked.
Did Itsumi’s hair and fingernails really grow as quickly as you said? Is it true that she disappeared in the hallway? Are you sure you weren’t just seeing things?
I also noticed that Itsumi would often stand in front of that mirror. It’s so striking and large and we received it from an English convent over half a century ago, so it only makes sense that people will spread all sorts of rumors about it and say that it is one of the “seven wonders” of our school—but you say Itsumi was swallowed by the mirror. Is that even possible?
I was surprised to hear someone as logical as you say such irrational things.
Sonoko. You know I was looking for a short story, not a fairy tale, right? I just wanted to make sure.
All right. So, you’re telling me that you actually saw Itsumi’s hair and nails grow quickly, that she was scared of the cross and the Bible, and then suddenly disappeared…This is what you are claiming, correct? Even though you used to scoff even at horoscopes.
How very interesting.
No, no, I’m not doubting you. I’m just a bit confused. But you say that you saw it…so it must be the truth.
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Oh my, it looks like the thunder is even closer. It’s unsettling. I hope the downpour doesn’t trap us in here.
Now, this will be the final reading from this group. Shiyo Takaoka. Please make your way to the reading corner.