Rivalry Read Free Page A

Yeah...sure.”
    Afterward, we moved into the living room to watch the movie. The room contained a large, plush sofa and two easy chairs, one on either side. The fireplace occupied one side of the room, and a pleasant warmth radiating from the banked coals kept the temperature comfortable. I noticed the mantle had a few old family photos, obviously grandparents and great-grandparents, but strangely, there were no family photos of Doug, Mike, or Sharon.
    I turned and whispered to Doug. “No family photos?”
    Doug glanced at his parents, watching the end of the evening news. “We had some, but they...tend to break a lot. So they are packed away.”
    “ In that junk room?”
    “ No, in my parent’s bedroom. Mom keeps them in an album.”
    Doug and I watched the movie from the couch, while Doug’s dad sat in his chair and joked with us, laughing and enjoying the action. Sharon sat in the room with us, too, but she wore a pair of headphones, listening to a book on tape while knitting. I hadn’t seen the movie before, but after a little while, I began to feel disconcerted; it took me a while to figure out why, but eventually I noticed that every so often, I felt like one of the people on the screen would glance in my direction. I don’t mean towards the camera - I mean right at me. At first I thought I was just a little freaked out by the cabinet incident, so I got up, got a glass of water, and sat down on the couch at a slightly different angle to the television.
    The moment I sat down, both the characters on screen looked right at me for a moment. The action didn’t stop, everything seemed normal, but it was incredibly unnerving all the same. I’d heard how some portrait paintings make you feel like you’re always being watched, but to have it happen through the TV was far weirder.
    I turned to Doug. “Does something seem a little weird to you?”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Do the actors look...a little funny? Like they’re looking at the camera a lot?”
    “ I don’t know what you’re talking about - hang on, I bet this part is going to be awesome!”
    I finished my glass of water and I got up to put the glass away, glancing over my shoulder as I crossed the room. The characters on the screen followed me with their eyes as I walked from one side of the room to the other.
    Eventually the movie ended, and while Doug and his dad laughed and talked about their favorite moments, I just stared at the screen while the credits rolled past.
    “ Hey, Owen? Didn’t you like it? I figured it’d be right up your alley,” Mike said.
    “ Oh, yeah - sorry, I was just spacing out for a moment. It was pretty cool. Thanks for renting it for us!”
    “ You’re welcome, it was my pleasure! When I was your guys’ age, we didn’t have VHS, so we’d always bike down to the local theater and try to get in to see a Lee Marvin or Bronson movie.”
    Sharon took her headphones off for a moment. “Hey, why don’t you guys wash up now, and then you can stay up as long as you want. Owen, do you need anything?”
    I shook my head. “Just a washcloth I guess.”
    I unpacked my bag while Doug cleaned up and brushed his teeth. I had borrowed my dad’s old shaving kit to hold all my toiletries, and I slipped my little signal mirror into it before I went into the bathroom. Sharon had left me a washcloth, and I scrubbed my face and brushed my teeth staring at the blank wall above the sink. There were four small holes forming a square at head height, and the faint outline marking where something used to hang on the wall. Doug’s parents must have unscrewed the mirror from the bathroom when they moved here.
    Alone and curious, knowing something was in the house, I spat and rinsed, then slipped the mirror out of my kit, holding it up in front of me so I could see myself in its reflection.
    I wasn’t alone in the room. A pair of dark eyes, a glimpse of long, disheveled black hair, and a hand held up in greeting appeared over my