Chloe awoke violently struggling for breath and clutching at her throat. She had suffered from another nightmare and her phone was ringing beside her. She checked to see that it was just her best friend, Seb calling. He was clearly just checking to see why she wasn't at work that day. Nonetheless, she flicked her hair from her face and answered it just the same.

"Seb, hi. What's up?"

"You're late for work is what's up. Jeez, Chlo... Did you sleep in or something? The dragon is breathing fire as we speak."

Chloe yawned. "Well, the dragon will have to chill... I'm home on doctor's orders. I need to catch up on sleep."

"Doctor's orders? You don't sound sick."

"No, but I saw my therapist." Chloe refused to tell him about her hallucinations. Sure he wouldn't judge her, but the fact that she was having them regardless was not something that she wished to brag about.

"Did you tell her about your dreams?" he asked..

"I did."

"...and her response was for you to sleep more?" Chloe could hear Seb chuckle under his breath. "I don't know who's crazier... You for needing to see a therapist or your therapist for telling you to sleep more after you've told her about your nightmares. Okay, get some sleep... I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Dude! You forgot? Seriously, why are we even friends?"

Chloe mentally kicked herself. How could she forget her best friend's birthday? "Oh, I remembered it was your birthday, Seb! I was just kidding."

"Haha! Some joke. I'll be round about six. You better have something good planned after what I did for yours. Sweet dreams!" there was a humor to his tone which she adored most about him. But he hung up before she could reply.

Chloe got out of her bed remembering the birthday surprise that he had cooked up for hers months ago. She certainly owed him big time for that one. He had surprised her with a VIP pass to see Ed Sheeran in concert because, apparently, he knew the doorman.

She would have loved to have gone back to sleep but she had a mission to plan the best birthday surprise. She hurried to shower and got dressed. She then returned back to her bathroom and rubbed her hand to clear the blurred mirror.

Lost in thought, she brushed her teeth staring at her reflection as she did. As usual, her reflection continued to brush its own teeth. She spat her toothpaste in the sink and took her eyes off the mirror for a second.

Though her reflection continued to brush its own teeth. She saw this in her peripheral vision and glanced back up at the mirror. It must have been her imagination because once again her reflection was mirroring her actions.

She breathed a sigh of relief and took one of her prescribed tablets. Her goal was to go one day without hallucinating over her reflection. She wasn't crazy. She knew she wasn't.

Those stories that her grandmother had believed in were nothing more than fairy tales. There was no alternate dimension on the other side of the mirror.

Chloe spent the entire day struggling to organize the best birthday surprise for her friend. He was an introvert so that eliminated a party. The man was frustrating. He had everything that he wanted so that eliminated ideas for a present.

Finally, she gave in and decided on Netflix, beers and take out. She would even let him decide what to watch. If he had a problem with it, it was his own fault for being difficult.

By the time five o'clock rolled around, she had ordered the pizza for half past six, purchased the beers and prepared the television.

She finally had a little time on her hands, so she pulled out a beer from the fridge and sipped while heading to her bathroom to ensure that she looked at least presentable for company.

That was when she saw it. Her reflection was banging against the glass of the mirror as if it were an entirely separate entity trying to smash open a window.

Chloe dropped her beer on the tiles making it shatter on impact and spill beer all over the floor. "No, no, no!" she groaned as she watched her reflection attempt to claw its way through the glass.

She closed her eyes, wishing for the hallucination to pass. Maybe it was the alcohol affecting her medication.

With her eyes closed, she heard the doorbell ring. That would be Seb. Of course, he would be early. He was always early.

She opened her eyes. Her reflection was normal again but there was still the mess of beer and the shattered beer bottle on the black tiled bathroom floor. Nonetheless, she backed out the bathroom slowly and raced to open the door to Seb, doing her best to maintain her own composure.

The first thing that came from Seb's mouth once the door was open was. "Damn, you look like you've seen a ghost... you didn't forget me, did you?" His large grin crept up to his dark eyes. They were almost as dark as his shortly cropped hair.

Chloe shook her head and forced a smile. "Nope, of course not. I set up Netflix, the pizza will be here at six-thirty and there's beer in the fridge... Can you give me a moment?"

She raced back to the bathroom to clean up the mess without giving him the chance to reply.

"Gee, Happy birthday Sebastian!" he called out to her as she gathered the dustpan and swept up the glass. "Wow... What happened in here?" he had followed her to the bathroom and was standing right behind her.

"Never mind what happened in here. I dropped my drink, that's all. Happy birthday, Seb."

"You're drunk already?"

"No, I'm not." Chloe had finished sweeping up the glass and was now sponging up the beer with a towel. She poured the shards into the bin and then stood up to face him. "I'm sorry that Netflix probably isn't the birthday that you had planned but I just have a lot on my mind, right now."  She was doing her best to avoid full eye contact with her reflection.

Seb noticed the prescription bottle on the sink. "You know you shouldn't be drinking while taking those. It'Lol mess you up."

Chloe nodded and led him out of the bathroom. "I wish you were a little more extroverted, I was going to throw a party."

"And I'm glad you didn't... because I wouldn't have gone. But seriously, are you sure you're doing okay? Therapy? Antipsychotics? I'm worried about you, Chlo."

Chloe led him over to the couch and handed him the remote control. "Why don't we talk about me on a day that isn't your birthday, shall we?"

"Because this is what best friends are for... Correction, this is what I'm for." Chloe sat down on the couch and Seb sat beside her. "Have you been hallucinating again?"

She stared at him cautiously. "How did you know?"

"You always get this way just after the anniversary of your grandmother's death. Don't think I haven't notice every time around my birthday you see your therapist again because you start having these episodes. It's common with PTSD patients."

"Now I'm beginning to sound like your father, aren't I?"

"It's common after people witness traumatic events. Are you sure you're okay?"

Chloe smiled at him, doing her best to convince them both. "I'm fine, Sebastian. I promise."

"Great! Now, let's get a start on our bingeing."

They focused their attention on the television and Chloe smirked to herself. Seb's father had fought in WWII so Seb was used to seeing people experiencing manic 'episodes'. She had often wondered why he had picked a job for an advertising company, as opposed to becoming a doctor or something. He was really wasting his potential.

As Seb decided on some science fiction movie, Chloe thought that she heard something smash in the bathroom. Believing that it was nothing more than her hallucinations running wild she chose to ignore it.

That was until Seb stared at her. "Did you hear that? I think there might be someone in your bathroom." He paused the movie as he spoke.

"No, that's impossible." Chloe got to her feet and headed to the bathroom with Seb following close behind.

She opened the bathroom door and immediately brought her eyes to the glass in the mirror. It had been smashed. Some shards had fallen into the sink. She closed her eyes, willing for the sight to pass. There had to be some mistake. She had to be imagining the sight.

The feeling of Seb brushing past her shoulder as he stepped into the bathroom, forced her to open her eyes again. He was examining the shattered mirror. "It has to be the humidity... maybe it's too high or something."

He didn't seem convinced by his own theory. He scoured the bathroom looking for a possible intruder. Nobody was there.

"Come on, Seb. I'm just unlucky... mirrors shatter around me all the time." Chloe turned to leave the bathroom but Seb lingered behind.

"Hey, Chloe? Did you cut yourself earlier? There's a little blood right there." He pointed to a few small drops of blood in the sink. They looked fresh.

Chloe shook her head softly. "No, I didn't. That can't be my blood." She refused to step further into the bathroom, nor back away. Something was certainly going on and it wasn't just one of her hallucinations.