She had to call someone about this, but with her strange vision, and no witnesses to believe what she saw was real, she had to be careful who to call. Right now, she had one option.
John and Ruth.
She sighed as the ring tone droned on. It's not like they were awful or annoying people, they were just passionate about something that neither Jamie or Annette understood, or didn't believe in. Their almost obsession with the strange, the paranormal, was odd to her. Annette would always playfully make fun at them, nicknaming them the "Loony Twins", but they were all still friends. Ruth was friends with both Jamie and Annette since high school, and they got along very well. Out of the three, she was the one who did the most study. Even during their lunch break, she would always at least bring a textbook with her. She was bright and beautiful, like a cute librarian. It's really when John arrived and the discussion on the paranormal was brought up did both Jamie and Annette saw something click between them. John was quite into science-fiction and the ideas and theories that people create, though he wasn't one to speculate and believe these false rumors. He just liked the ideas they brought up. His height was almost level with Jamie's, which meant he was shorter than both Annette and Ruth, and he would always, always carry some gadget that beeped or flashed a light or something. Maybe now she would figure out if it did do something or it was just a fancy prop.
It didn't take long for the call to catch both of their interest, considering that they were now roommates of their own, and they drove to Jamie's apartment.
As Jamie opened the door, Ruth immediately waved hello, as John was pulling out that remote gadget thing that beeped and flashed a light from his pocket.
"Nice place you have here, I can see why you chose it, Jamie. How have you been?"
John cut to the chase, which Ruth honestly was fine with, she wasn't that great with small talk. "So, any strange occurrences since being in this apartmart? Any odd marks, or stains of a unearthly colour in the corners of the apartment?"
"No, John. Look, do you actually want to know, or do you want to make up fantasies of what it could be?"
John went quiet and nodded.
"Okay... When I was unpacking, this mirror just... arrived, like it was part of the unpacking, but I can't remember ever getting it. Maybe I bought it? Maybe my mother did? I don't know. But when I looked at it, the reflection wasn't the same. Everything in the reflection changed, it didn't look like my room, it was all strange and ...abstract. But the weirdest part for me was... well, I looked like a clown. An actual clown. A true professional one too, it looked like the makeup was so good that it could have been a second skin. After a while, the reflection faded, and... everything was back to normal"
Ruth was concerned that Jamie might have some sort of mental breakdown. She held Jamie's hands in support for her, no matter what the problem. John was thinking about what it could be, it could all just be an elaborate prank with a TV monitor fitted into the mirror frame. Even so, it would be difficult to find out who would have done it. Annette was definitely out of the possible suspects, but maybe it was a joint collaboration with another friend. Even then, a clown? Definitely not Annette.
"We'll see what it is, don't worry. It might just be a joke mirror at a novelty store or something. We'll have a look"
Ruth couldn't help but notice that Jamie's nose was a bit redder than usual, and a bit lumpier. "Jamie? You have a... a, um..."
"A what?"
"A bit of a pimple"
Jamie felt her nose. It didn't feel like a pimple, but it certainly didn't feel right.
"Do you want me to-"
"No, no. It's fine. I'll go check it out in the bathroom. Go wild trying to figure out that mirror. Made me look like a regular circus freak"
As Jamie left, Ruth and John entered her bedroom. John did a brief observation of the room, trying to pinpoint what this could have been. It sounded like a prank or a hoax of some sort, but there wasn't anything that would prove him wrong. There was no skylight, so it couldn't have been Jamie seeing things due to any heat problems. The mirror's frame was way too narrow to fit anything else than a mirror inside it, so it couldn't have been a monitor of some sort. It didn't seem like anything was creating a reflection of anything outside of the apartment or in another room of the apartment. Just looked like a regular mirror.
Ruth was looking around with him, as well as admiring the place that Jamie has. It was bigger than their apartment. Maybe it could have been stress that could have given her this vision of her as a clown? That would definitely shock Annette. But that would be incredibly unlikely. There was a faint hum coming from the center of the room, under the mirror. ...or was it above the mirror. Couldn't have been the mirror itself. Ruth moved back to the mirror itself. Finally, she saw the reflection change.
"Hey, John! Take a look at this!"