I suddenly woke up from a dream.

The small clock on the bedside table ticked, and the pointer pointed to midnight 12 o'clock.

Just now, I had a dream.

But was it just a dream?

Mom's fierce and crazy roar, the pain of the wounds on her body tearing apart, the overwhelming fear in the depths of my soul...

Everything was so real.

Even that malicious woman's face was exactly like Mom's, without any difference.

The streetlight outside shone in through the window, reflected by the mirror in the room, creating eerie shadows.

The light in the room was warm orange, but the world in the mirror was a dark and mysterious one.

Although I was a little scared, there was an invisible force compelling me to walk towards the mirror.

An ordinary mirror, with an old wooden frame and many strange patterns on it.

This mirror has been in this room for four or five years.

But I recently felt that there was something abnormal about it.

I can't pinpoint exactly what's wrong, but at this moment, I saw that my face in the mirror was pale with heavy dark circles under my eyes.

The bloodshot eyes seemed to carry a hint of cold laughter.

How could I, a 15-year-old boy, become like this?

Could it be that I saw wrong?

I rubbed my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror again.

My facial features seemed to have become more childish, but there was a chilling aura, with a pale face like a dead person, and the corners of my mouth slightly curved, forming a cold smile.

I'm absolutely sure that I didn't smile!

The person in the mirror...

Could it be that it's not me?

Realizing this, I was instantly horrified.

An intense feeling of fear made me instinctively close my eyes, not daring to look at the mirror again.

Except for the still ticking clock, there was no sound in the room.

My ears were buzzing, and my legs couldn't help but go weak.

Would a pair of hands suddenly reach out from the mirror and pull me in?

The terrifying thought flashed through my mind, and I quickly hurried to the side.

This time I clearly saw that my figure had already moved away, but the shadow in the mirror still maintained the motion of closing its eyes, half a beat slower.

That really wasn't me!

"Oh my god!"

I screamed and ran back to bed, covering my head with the blanket.

Each sound of the alarm clock seemed to strike at the core of my heart, and time passed unbearably slowly for a few minutes.

Nothing happened.

I breathed a sigh of relief and began to doubt whether I had just seen things wrong.

Lately, I have been having nightmares all the time, which often makes me mentally confused.

"Da da da..."

The sound of marbles rolling on the floor.

The string in my heart tightened once again, and the deadly thing was that the sound stopped in front of my bed.

Is it standing here?

Although I couldn't see it, there was a sense of oppression in the surroundings that made me dare not even breathe.

The air seemed to solidify, and it was terrifyingly quiet.

"Who, who are you, what, what do you want..."

I was very scared, and I still kept my head covered with the blanket, feeling a strong sense of suffocation.

I seemed to be fainting.

"Knock! Knock!"

Someone suddenly knocked on the door twice.

"Jiabao, you're not asleep yet?"

Mom's voice came from outside the door.

I seemed to have caught hold of a life-saving straw and quickly uncovered the blanket.

"Mom, please come in quickly!"

"Having nightmares again? If it doesn't get better, let's go to the temple tomorrow and ask for a peace talisman."

Mom brought me a glass of cold water.

My mind gradually calmed down.

Mom sat on the edge of the bed, just like when she used to put me to sleep, she gently patted my back.

Under her comfort, I slept until dawn.

The next day, I was mentally confused and felt light-headed, but I still had to go to school.

The high school entrance examination was approaching, and I couldn't afford to not even be able to attend high school.

I walked downstairs slowly, and suddenly the old lady selling cigarettes, alcohol, and groceries at the entrance of the community called out to me.

"Jiabao, why do you always walk on tiptoes?"

Only ghosts walk on tiptoes!

I was instantly frightened, and my hair stood on end again.

"Did you hurt your heels?"

The caring gaze of the old lady was piercing, and I ran away as if my life depended on it.

The old lady's husband's surname is Zhao, he used to be a Taoist priest, but after meeting her, he gave up his life as an ascetic and started living an ordinary life.

I don't know why I'm afraid of her, I can't even dare to look directly into her eyes.