4. IV. The Vanity: Knowing yet arrogant.

“Alright, you can come out now. I’m sick of putting up with your bullshit!”

Ben stalked into his garage with vengeance, planning his confrontation exactly ten minutes after his parents had safely left for work. The quiet slumber of his house ate at him, the silence loud in his ears as he traversed through the chilly air to the mirror.

Ben had told himself that he would be brave. Reaffirmed to himself that he wouldn’t let the entity (he spitefully refused to use his name) get under his skin anymore. And as the apprehension grew in his stomach, Ben recalled how warriors of the past went into battle without fear. Granted, most of them had weapons and armor. So considering the fact that he was sporting a worn down T-shirt and a pair of alphabet kitchen magnets in his pants, Ben felt his slight nerves were justified.

Knuckles tap once on the wooden desk of the vanity, and then he’s waiting. “Are you coming out or not?”  He asked impatiently. Theory clashing against theory inside his head, the pitfalls of his hopes regarding the effects of the magnets desperately low as he realized just how unlikely it was to work. The passage from his class was likely completely unrelated to actual monsters, or a freaky reflection with an attitude problem.

But he couldn’t just do nothing.

Ben plopped onto the dirty ground, determined as he watched his own moss eyes stare back at him. His fingers twiddling with the magnets in his pocket as he waited.

And waited.

Until finally, a familiar, arrogant, laugh pierced the air. Ben’s eyes narrowed sharply.

The reflection before him morphed into the image of a dark-haired boy. Those wisps of curly hair the same as the other night, the eyes just as honey gold. They stared back him menacingly.

Ben thought demons were supposed to be ugly. It was giving him a complex about his own average features.

“Look who grew some balls…pretty bold of you, demanding attention from me.” Cassius grinned, his eyes wild. “Or maybe you’re just that stupid.”

Rising to his feet, Ben yelled back at his reflection like a lunatic. “What’s wrong, mad that I’m not scared of you anymore?”

“Oh Ben, Ben, Ben… lying to yourself isn’t cute~. All that talk with no backbone, do you really think whatever you have planned is even worthwhile? But I’ll admit…you’re awfully curious, bad trait to have Benny boy, you know what they say right?”

His grin was gutting, the slits in his eyes blown wide as they peered at him—mocking. The light behind him flickered, swaying the embers in Cassius’ gaze more vibrantly.

Ben decided then that he hated him.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Ben finished dryly. His fists shaking against the magnets as his knuckles turned pale. At the rate he was going, he'd end up running back inside to huddle under his covers before he could even come up with a retort to the blow to his ego. "You’re the one assuming I’ve gotta plan, doesn’t that mean you’re in just as much danger with your curiosity?”

Cassius laughed. "Maybe if we were playing on equal grounds, I’d give that little reply some credit. But, blondie, I hate to break it to you…” Cassius leaned toward the glass separating them and Ben unconsciously leaned back. "But you're just an insect. Don't try to step on my toes, okay? You’ll get crushed."

Ben stared at the boy in the mirror. The thing was sickeningly confident, and it made his blood boil. But those hooded eyes showed no traces of ignorance or stupidity. They made him feel like a helpless child, they stared right through him. He gripped the useless magnets tight like a safety blanket.

He wanted to throw them at his jeering face.

"Bugs can be poisonous, for one." Tyler taught him that. “And for two, it’s a little hard to step on a stupid mirrors toes, it doesn’t have any.”

Cassius’ sneering visage fell away, replaced by a look so unmoved, that he resembled a stone statue. "Whoever said the mirror was a factor?"

Ben paused, confusion painting his brows. Why wouldn’t the mirror be a factor…?

"Anyhow…your friend, the tall one. Why couldn’t he have lived here instead? He’s smart, strong—he’d have been way more fun than you." Cassius lamented with faux disappointment, but those devilish yellow eyes were full of mischief. "You're only a little boy who's just lucky that he's survived this long. Haven’t tripped and died yet, the world does have miracles."

Ben frowned, fear replaced by irritation. The mirror was an asshole.

And it was just his luck he repeated fears he already had regarding his friends; that he was the weakest link.

But Cassius’ next words made his previous irritation turn to ice, ruling out his decision to ignore him with overbearing ease. "That little brunette you had over, what was her name again? She’d be fun to toy with, imagining her screaming in agony… it’d be adorable.” The boy in the mirror struck gold, and Ben knew he knew it too. Highlighted by the way his lips bared his teeth in a wicked grin as the cracks in his composure fell away to prying eyes. "Don't you agree? Maybe I should pay her a visit. ‘Cross that small lil street. Yellow house…isn’t it?"

"Don't touch her!" Ben yelled, the rest of his composure slipping away like ash.

Cassius cocked his head to the side, nonchalant, but he never seemed more closed off. Foreboding in his games."But Benny-boy, how could I? I thought the mirror was a factor."

He was playing a game. A game that Ben wasn’t sure he could win.

“…” Ben looked down at his feet, regretting going into the garage now. The magnets felt useless.

Just like him.

“Just… tell me what you want already..”

For the first time, Cassius actually looked genuinely interested in whatever Ben had to say. "Well, look whose suddenly being considerate. But it doesn't matter what I want."  He laughed again, but this time it sounded hollow. Like mist, almost depreciative. "Not yet anyway, soon though. Maybe you’ll get your answer next time, now be a good little boy and run along."

The dismissal left Ben feeling nothing but anger, regret, and hopelessness. With a shout he threw his collections of magnets at the mirror. The clatter as they hit doing nothing to calm his nerves as they did nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sitting innocently aound the base of the mirror where they fell as Cassius vibrated with ghoulish laughter.

The name Cassius fit him perfectly. He was empty, void of any redeemable qualities. Ben felt like he knew it too.

Maybe, he was proud of it.

Storming out the garage with tears in his eyes, he was silent all throughout dinner. Picking at his food despite his mother’s worries.