Anna sat in front of the makeup mirror, shaking from nerves. And dread. Her stage makeup was macabre. The shadows from behind her and the tinted lights of the mirror gave her a ghostly look, like she was one of the walking dead. A human shell, inhabited by an evil spirit.

“15 minutes, ladies,” the stage manager called. Anna jumped, shocked out of her reverie. Looking around, she realized the other dancers were there as well, in slightly different versions of her own eerie costuming.

She swallowed before turning back to the mirror. 15 minutes… her time was almost up. Mirror-Anna was there, as always, smiling a deadly grin that was more of a snarl. 15 minutes before she took over. It was a deal she’d made so long ago…

Anna had tried to break it off so many times. It was all in vain; she was two people now. Anna, the weakling, the nervous one, and Mirror-Anna, the demon, the soul-stealer. But it was the price she had to pay.

The beauty that I’m faking lets me live my life like this…