Don't Say Her Name

It was late afternoon, and the golden rays of sunlight were turning a vivid color of orange, casting a warm glow over the room. Leon was flipping through the TV channels, trying to find something to watch. He sighed, letting his head rest back against the couch.

Leon asked his childhood friend Gael how he had been since he noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the tired expression on his face. Gael lowered his phone and replied that he was all right, but Leon doubted it.

Gael turned to look at Leon, curiosity evident in his eyes. “What do you think about urban legends?” he asked. Leon groaned with a sigh, “They're just stories.” Gael's expression grew serious, lowering his voice, “What about Bloody Mary?”

The way he asked was if he didn't want to be heard. Humoring his childhood friend, Leon countered with ‘What about her?'. Gael locked eyes with the other male, exhaling a shaky breath.

“Do you want to try summoning her?”

Leon furrowed his brow, pushing himself up from the couch, feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Gael hopped up, clasping his hands together with a grin that lit up his face.

Leon shook his head, walking to the half bath in the front of the house. He just wanted to get this over with so he could put his friend's curiosity to rest. He went into the bathroom, shut the door, and left the lights off.

Looking deep into the swirling darkness, he said Bloody Mary three times and waited. Leon waited, both hands braced onto the sink.

Honestly, he didn't know what to expect. Was it supposed to be a bloody hand reaching out of the mirror? A woman in white covered from head to toe in blood. Or was the mirror supposed to shatter? Any sign would be appreciated at this current time.

After all, he was just testing out an urban legend...

It was nothing but a story.

His childhood friend asked him if he was sure that he didn't see anything, and Leon shook his head. “Not a damn thing,” he told him. Gael pouted and began to gather his things, saying he was heading home and would see him tomorrow. Leon nodded and walked his childhood friend to the door. He shut the door behind his childhood friend and wondered why Gael was so adamant about playing that childish game? Leon turned off the TV and went to go shower before bed.

When he walked into his room, he couldn't help but feel a chill go down his spine. As he brushed his teeth, he could have sworn he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

Maybe it was just his imagination, or he was tired. That was until he heard a faint whisper close to his left ear, causing him to back out of the bathroom with a hand over his ear. Heart pounding into his ears, Leon jumped when knocking on the toilet caused the entire thing to rattle.

Reaching a shaky hand inside the bathroom, he cut out the light and shut the door. He sat down on his bed, picking up his cell phone from the side table. Pressing the button on the side, he watched as its screen flickered.

Was something wrong with the LCD? Sighing, Leon placed it back down.

Maybe he just needed some sleep. This whole Bloody Mary thing was messing with him more than he thought. Leon's own imagination was playing tricks on him, causing him to hear and see things that weren't there. He cut off the lamp and crawled into bed, deciding to get some sleep.

Leon closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep.

He awoke at midnight to an eerie silence; it was almost suffocating. Leon glanced over at his TV, seeing an image of a woman on the dark screen.

He rubbed his eyes, looking again to see, well…nothing. Leon got up, deciding to use the restroom since he was awake. When he flicked on the light, he noticed that the mirror had fogged up.

Wiping off the mirror, he saw a womans reflection. Could she be Bloody Mary? She spoke to him, the words coming out in a whisper: You called for me, didn't you?. Leon began to panic, watching as the mirror began to crack and drip with blood. The air was tense, filling with the presence of this ghostly woman.

The lights flickered, and her voice spoke to him in all directions.

The bathroom door slammed shut, locking Leon inside. When he tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge. He cursed under his breath, backed away from the door, and ran his shaky hands through his hair. Leon slowly turned his head and saw Bloody Mary reaching out to him. He panicked, trying to scream, but she lunged, grabbing him and pulling him inside. The glass shattered, falling into the sink and floor.

When his parents arrived home tired from their night shift at the hospital, his mother walked down the hall to Leon's bedroom, knocking on the door and calling his name. When his mom stepped inside, she saw the bathroom light on and shattered glass on the floor.

Rushing into the bathroom, she expected him to be in the bathtub or slumped against the sink. Leon wasn't anywhere inside when she looked at what was left of the mirror.

His mom saw the silhouette of a figure burned into the wood. She trembled, eyes tearing up, knowing exactly to who it belonged to.

Gael was sitting at home playing a game on the computer when his cell phone rang. He cursed aloud, pausing the game, and reached over to answer it.

The caller ID indicated that Leon was calling.

Gael grinned, answering it, and asked if he had experienced anything paranormal yet. He thought he would get a witty response, but it was a bunch of whispers talking all at once. All of them were saying the same thing and kept getting louder. The lights in his room flickered before going out. Gael cursed, jumping and rolling backward in his computer chair.

He trembled, licking his lips as one of the voices singled itself out from the others as he gazed into the dark reflective surface of his computer screen. It was Leon's voice; Gael was sure of it.

Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Blood Mary.

He put down the phone, his hand unsteady. Gael noticed a shadow reflected on the computer screen. The shadow moved across the screen and along the wall, taking the shape of a woman who walked toward the mirror in the room and appeared to be reflected within it. The glass started to crack, with drops of blood forming at the tips of its sharp fragments.

Gael stood, walking towards the mirror, locking eyes with her. There was a wide grin on her face.

Bloody Mary pressed a finger to her lips before reaching out to him. Gael was frozen in place, not a sound escaping his lips. Grabbing him she pulled him closer to the mirror. He resisted pulling back against her cold grip. When another arm reached out along with hers, Gael went lax, noticing that it belonged to Leon. He was pulled into the mirror, its glass shattering to the floor, and his silhouette burned into the wooden frame.