I see her.

Everywhere.

The alarm clock buzzing rattles me to an alerted, but sleepy state. I reach over lazily to slap the machine into quietness, shuffling on the bed as I struggle to reach that awaken state. I reach up to rub at my eyes, blinking them rapidly until the world around focuses and fuzzy shapes become recognizable objects throughout the bedroom.

“Mornin’ Hayden” that voice says to me. Her voice.

I roll over and see her. I shoot out of the bed, stumbling backwards as I fall flat against the closet door. My heart instantly begins to race into a frenzied panic, my eyes scanning the room as I fail to see her form anywhere. As quickly as she appeared, she was gone. I compose myself, shaking my head as I let out an exhausted laugh. “Only a dream, Hayden. You’re fine.” I tell myself as I get my bearings and stand on my feet.

I walk into the bathroom as I blindly look for the light switch to illuminate the darkness. The cold tile stings at my feet, my attention drawn towards the medicine cabinet as it lay open. I pace myself over to the sink to shut the cabinet and once the door slams back into its place, an image standing behind me draws my attention away from the mirror. I turn to look. No one. “Lylah?” I call out to the quiet hallway. No response. I turn back and turn on the sink, splashing warm water in my face to hopefully snap my mind into functioning properly.

I shake the excess water from my hands as I look for a towel to dry my face with. I take one off the side of the sink and begin to pat dry my face. Folding the towel neatly and returning it to its home on the side of the sink I glance back into the mirror. I leap back and stumbled to the hard tile in shock, as I discover that my reflection was nowhere to be found across that smooth glass surface. It had been replaced with her.

“You lookin’ real jumpy, Hayden. Aren’t ‘cha happy ta see me?” her voice calls out to me.

I scramble backwards along the floor until my back hits the wall. I don’t dare to look up at the mirror, I don’t dare move. My shaky hands move to feel the bandages that cover my shoulder, flashbacks of the bites that removed the flesh that once laid upon the meaty form jolt through my body. I crawl towards the sink where the mirror sits quietly above. My cautious pace is halted by the water heater kicking in downstairs. “Fuck…” I hiss under my breath, slowly resuming my journey towards the sink.

I reach up and use the sink as leverage to pull myself up with, my gaze not once looking into the mirror. I can’t. I feel numb, my palms clammy and sweating at the thought of what would happen if I looked up to see her again.

“Tha’ hair of yers…ain’t cha tired of it?” she calls out again.

“Why do you care? Leave me alone…please, River.” I plead with her. Looking up to the mirror I see myself again.

For a few moments I close my eyes. I try to push out the thought of her in my head, the mocking voice and visions of my hell that I had with her. For the time being, all is calm. Without hesitation I open the drawers to the cabinet inside the bathroom, pulling out the scissors from my first aid kit.
Snip. Snip.

(( This is something I have been working on for weeks. Editing, then deleting, retyping, deleting once again. It's not perfect. But I will include more later. ))