Abby’s wish

The screen. The familiar Netflix logo looked weird because of a static noise that sounded more like a person gasping than a signal problem. I had downloaded a file from a server called *Ginny_and_Georgia_S02_Deleted_Scene_V2*. It was supposed to be a behind-the-scenes look at the drama within the “MANG” group. As the episode started the colors seemed off. The bright shiny look of Wellsbury was replaced by a yellow color.

The sound was muffled like it was recorded through a wall.

It started in the school bathroom. Abby was standing in front of the mirror like in the actual show obsessively wrapping tape around her legs.. The room was completely silent. There was no background music, no noise from the hallways. Just the sound of the tape *tack-tack-tack* hitting her skin.

Then she spoke,. Her voice didn’t sound right. It sounded like a recording played slowly.

“I wish I wasn’t here ” she whispered to the mirror. “I wish I could just… disappear.”

Suddenly her reflection in the mirror didn’t look like her. The reflection didn’t stop taping. Instead it leaned forward its face pressing against the glass from the inside. The lighting in the room changed, turning a bruised purple.

The bathroom door creaked open. Ginny walked in. She looked… off. Her movements were jerky, like a puppet on a string. She didn’t look at Abby. She walked to the sink her head tilted at an awkward angle. She started turning the faucet.

Thick black liquid spilled out overflowing the sink and hitting the floor with a heavy *thud*. It didn’t splash. It pooled, instantly covering Abby’s feet.

Abby didn’t scream. She just looked down her eyes wide with fear.

“You asked to disappear Abby ” the reflection whispered, its voice vibrating through my speakers.

The tape on Abby’s legs started to tighten. It wasn’t just tape anymore. It looked like silver wire cutting into her skin. She fell to her knees but instead of hitting the floor she sank into it like quicksand. The black liquid started to rise, reaching her waist, her chest.

I tried to pause the video. The controls were gone. The screen wasn’t a player interface anymore; it was a window.

The reflection was now fully out of the glass. It stood behind Abby placing its hands on her shoulders. They were thin things with too many knuckles. It leaned into her ear. The audio spiked with a loud high-pitched screech that hurt my ears.

“But you don’t get to leave ” it hissed. “You only get to watch.”

Abby’s face started to dissolve. Not into gore. Into static. Her features. Her eyes, nose, mouth. Were erased one by one replaced by flickering grey and white pixels. She reached out toward the camera her hand morphing into a shape before being pulled backward into the floor.

The room went completely dark. For a minute there was nothing but the sound of breathing.

Then the camera turned.

It was a shot of the “MANG” friend group sitting at their lunch table. They were laughing,. There was no sound. They were opening and closing their mouths in unison. In the middle of the group, where Abby should have been there was empty space. The other girls walked through the space like she was invisible.

A text box appeared at the bottom of the screen in a font that looked like a scratch: **THE WISH IS GRANTED. THE MEMORY IS VOID.**

The screen cut to black. I sat in the darkness, my heart racing, until the Netflix “Next Episode” chime played. It sounded hollow and mocking. I looked at my reflection, in the turned-off screen and for a second I saw the tape wrapped around my own wrists tightening.

I never touched the remote again.