It was a typical Thursday night for Brayden. The young man was walking home from his afterschool job. He tutored his peers and underclassmen to both build up some savings for college. It didn’t hurt that it made his applications to Yale and various scholarships look more impressive.

  While walking between the streetlights, Brayden observed a woman scrambling down the street in the other direction. The woman wore a trench coat thrown over pajamas and one bunny slipper. After noticing Brayden, the disheveled woman ran up and grabbed him by the face.

  “THE DOCTOR IS GOOD! THE DOCTOR IS GOOD!! THE DOCTOR IS GOOOOD!!!” the woman cried out in a begging tone with a face full of tears and snot.

  Before Brayden could say or do anything, the woman ran off into the night. He quickly decided that whatever nonsense that was is someone else’s problem. He put that encounter behind him and headed home.

  If only he had truly put that encounter behind him. It would have spared him from what was to come. Instead, as he laid in bed that night he thought of that woman and what the phrase she uttered meant.

  ***

  Everyone thought that the queen bee needed to have long blonde hair and blue eyes, but that it is simply not so. Those were so passé. You need to be unique, to be original, to be better. Or at least that was Beverly’s opinion. Beverly was the undisputed queen of Tomás de Torquemada High, and her shoulder length chocolate brown hair was her crown.

  Some may consider all the time she invested in her hair a waste, but your hair was the first thing you saw of a person from three directions and had a profound impact on the fourth. While her routine took up most of the hot water, her siblings and mother understood the cost of perfection. Even if they say differently, she knew what was in their hearts.

  While thinking about all this, Beverley stepped out of the shower. She walked up to the mirror and took in the message revealed by the steam, “The Doctor is Good”. She rolled her eyes and wiped away the message thinking it was a prank by one of her siblings.

  She was less amused by that same message being written in her specially ordered Liquid Lust lipstick across her bureau mirror.

  “MOOOMMM!!!!” she shrieked across the house.

  After a series of ever approaching thumps, her mother burst into the room.

  “WHAT?! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Selena, her mother, asked.

  “Look what they did.” Beverly said while gesturing at her mirror.

  “BRAYDEN! SUSANNAH! GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE1” Selena yelled to her other children.

  This time two series of thumps approached the room.

  “What’s happening mom?” Brayden asked.

  Right after him a little girl in rabbit footie pajamas came in rubbing her eyes, “Wuh happen mama?”

  “One of you defaced your sister’s mirror and I want to know who.” Selena said while looking at her two children.

  “Mama my awms are tu scwawmy to weach dat high.” Little Suzie said while shaking her heading back and forth flapping her rabbit ears around.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Mom why would I care enough to sneak into her room and/or prank her.” Brayden said with a shrug, not even bothering to look at his supposed offense.

  “Well, it wasn’t a ghost. So, you guys are going to clean it after school and daycare today.” Of course, she had no way of knowing that it was indeed a ghost.

  “Mom!” Brayden cried out.

  “Brayden, I don’t want the hear it. You did it and you are going to clean it.” Selena told her son while making a shushing gesture.

  “Mama how I help? My awms awe scwawmy and showt.” Suzie asked while tearing up.

  “Suzie to be honest, you are just going to watch and hand things to Brayden.”

  “Mom you’re just going to let them get away with it?!” Beverly cried out.

  “Listen no one’s happy. That’s called being a grown-up. Now you two get to the bus. I have to drop off Suzie at daycare. Suzie, go put on your laid out clothes.” Selena said before walking out of the room, leaving Beverly and Brayden glaring at each other.

  ***

  Beverly went about her day with a belly full of anger. Her sibling had not only wasted her Liquid Lust lipstick, but they had also prevented her from showing her subjects her full glory. She knows naught which was the worse offense.

  The anger had drained from her body when she was powdering her nose and saw what was carved on the door, The Doctor is Good. Unnerved, she quickly wrapped up her business in the stall and started to flee the room. Only to stop short when she saw that same message carved over and over again into the room spanning sink mirror.

  A teacher quickly rushed into the room when she heard the resulting screams.

  “What’s going on in here?!” the teacher harshly asked the teenager curled up on the ground with a face covered in snot and tears.

  “Mirror…Mirror” Beverly whimpered while pointing at the mirror.

  “Mirror? What’s wrong with the mirror?” the teacher asked in confusion.

  “HOW CAN YOU NOT SE…” Beverly shouted whipping her head up only to stop when she saw a completely unmarred mirror.

  “What? How did that…” Beverly started before trailing off.

  “Honey, do you need me to call your mother?” the teacher asked in a compassionate tone.

  Hearing that potential embarrassment bomb Beverly quickly pulled herself together, “Sorry Ms. Gretchens, I think I’m just a little dizzy from skipping breakfast. I think I just need to splash my face with some cold water and get a banana or something from the cafeteria.”

  “If you’re sure. Just let me know if you need anything, my door is always open.” Ms. Gretchens told the young woman before leaving the lavatory.

  “Ok Beverly, get a hold of yourself. You’re acting crazy and queen bees do not act crazy.” Beverly told herself in the mirror while cleaning her face with cold water. Only to jump back when she saw a figure lurking its periphery.

  She quickly decided she was cleaned up enough and quickly fled the room.

  Beverly spent the rest of her day pretending that everything was normal, and that figure had followed from the bathroom.

  That task grew harder while walking from her job at the mall. Every shadow seemingly hid a danger, and every sound hit her like a gunshot. The darkness grew closer and closer, slowly gaining on Beverly’s ever quickening pace.

  This situation quickly reached a climax when all the streetlights suddenly cut out. The resulting screams could have woken the dead or summon something worse.

  As the darkness was about to drown Beverly, a sound rang through the night.

  *CAW*

  The darkness fled like it was trying to outrun the devil and maybe it was. With its departure the streetlights came back to life.

  Beverly turned to see her savior and saw a crow looking back.

  *CAW*

  With that the crow left the scene.

  Beverly quickly collected herself and rushed home before anything else could happen.

  Artifacts:

  [Disparate Unity]

  Materials:

  [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]

  [Empowerment (Remnants)]

  [Frankenstein’s Lightning (Remnants)]

  [The Black Wasp Jackal’s Face (Remnants)]

  [Emotive Fire]

  [Emotive Ice]

  [Time Seed]

  [Olivia’s Friendship (Remnants)]

  [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]

  [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]

  [Various Utility Artifacts]

  [Various Articles Of Clothing]

  [Death Dogtags]

  [Leech Muscles]

  [Leech Teeth]

  [Chimeric Essence]