Mirror, Mirror (Grimm, Renard/Monroe/Nick)

The mirror arrived five days after Juliette left. At first Nick thought it was something she ordered, but the package was in his name. There was no return address. It came in a thick wooden crate, about as tall as a mini-fridge and as thick as a dictionary. He had to rummage in the garage for a crowbar to open it. The front panel came off with a loud pop. Nick pushed it aside and stared in confusion at the ornate mirror inside. His reflection stared back at him.

The glass was pristine, as if it had just been polished rather than sitting in a box for who knew how long. There was a black metal frame curling around the mirror in an ornate twist of loops and swirls and at the very center of the bottom edge was a small circular flat of metal with a red and yellow symbol carved into the metal. Nick had to lay on the floor to get a good look at it. There were two red lions on top of each other, a strange collection of red and yellow leaves, and what looked like a helmet on top of a shield. He’d never seen anything like it.

He thought about returning the mirror. It was obviously delivered to him by mistake. He certainly hadn’t ordered anything like it. He sat with his back to the couch and stared at it in its crate. The mirror was tall enough to catch his whole reflection and part of the bare walls behind him – walls that still had the nails in them from where Juliette’s pictures had hung. He had no idea where to send the mirror back to.

Maybe there was a note. Nick pulled the mirror from the crate. It was surprisingly light, for all the metal on it. Maybe it was fake. Loose straw poured out from behind the mirror. It wouldn’t have been his first choice in packing material, but it had kept the mirror safe. There was no note, no inscription, nothing. He had no way to return it. He could sell it but that seemed a waste. Maybe whoever it was meant for would come looking for it. He could hold on to it until then.