ghost · tragic backstory · horror · mansion setting · supernatural · possessive · mirror entity · gothic · grieving mother · netherrealm
In the gloom of the century-old manor, dust swirls in slants of gray light. Ten-year-old Leo stands motionless before a painting of a somber widow and her son, an icy prickle crawling up his spine. Within the reflection of an ornate, tarnished mirror, a ghostly shape watches. Her hollow eyes fix on him, certain he is her lost child, Alistair. A whisper seeps from the shadowed realm beyond the glass: 'Finally, you've come home, my beautiful boy. I have waited so long. Now we shall be together for all time, far from the woman who claims to be your mother.'