This story follows Tom, a Pagan man who commutes by subway to work each day. One particular morning, while crammed into a crowded train car, he finds himself face-to-face with his reflection in the window beside him. Despite knowing better—despite all those years of avoiding mirrors and reflections out of religious conviction—he can't pull his eyes away when he realizes what's happening: a portal opens before him, an invisible door between worlds.

"Tom," a low voice whispers in his ear. He startles, but there's no one next to him. The reflection stares back with an unsettling intensity, its eyes dark and hollow. He swallows hard.

As Tom stares into this subway window turned portal, his own face begins to morph and contort in ways that defy the laws of physics. To his horror, a dark, shadowy figure emerges from behind his reflection—a twisted doppelgänger that seems to have been waiting for this moment all along. This entity reaches out through the glass, grasping at Tom's face with spectral fingers that pass right through him, seizing something deep inside his mind. A scream lodges in his throat as he feels an overwhelming rush of dark energy coursing through his body, threatening to consume every cell in his being. But just as suddenly as it appeared, the figure vanishes back into the portal.

Tom is left standing there on the subway train, shaken but unharmed. The window returns to normal and no one else seems to have noticed anything unusual.

In the days following this encounter, Tom struggles to process what happened. He knows he should tell someone—perhaps his wife or one of the Priestesses of his religious order—but something holds him back. There's an insidious presence that lingers within him after the entity departed, whispering doubts and fears into his mind.

The moment he steps out of that subway car, Tom feels a sense of finality. A decision is made within him—he can no longer pretend everything is normal when that shadowy entity still resides within, corrupting his mind little by little. This problem requires action, and Tom resolves to do whatever it takes to banish the presence back to its source.

He delves into ancient texts, searching for any information on closing the portal opened by his gaze. Finally, he finds an obscure ritual that involves breaking the mirror in question while not looking at it to avoid reopening the connection. Armed with this knowledge and a hammer borrowed from his kitchen, Tom sets out early one morning to end this ordeal once and for all.

He rides the subway deep into the city, keeping his eyes downcast as he scans each car until he finds the one where everything began. He feels an unsettling chill run through him. The window that showed him the dark doppelgänger is unmistakable—it calls to him like a siren's song even as he prepares himself against its pull.

Donning his dark sunglasses, Tom grips the hammer tightly. He knows this is his only option to regain control over his own mind and destiny, so there can be no turning back. With trembling hands, he raises the hammer above his head and swings it down onto the glass with all his might. The sound of the impact echoes through the nearly empty subway car as the window shatters, sending shards of safety glass raining down around him like glittering daggers.

Tom holds his breath in anticipation, waiting for the portal to reopen from this gaping hole. However, nothing happens. Instead, a profound sense of relief and liberation washes over him as the dark presence within recedes back into the shadows where it belongs. He is free at last, released from the entity's grasp and the nightmares it brought with it.

As Tom steps off the train at his stop, he feels a weight lift from his shoulders. Though he knows there will be challenges ahead, for now, everything feels right in the world again.

Unbeknownst to him, the police are already on their way, summoned by alarmed passengers who witnessed him breaking the subway car window. As Tom navigates through the bustling station and onto the city streets, he sees two officers approaching from a distance. He realizes he can't outrun them, so he simply stands his ground, covered in shards of safety glass and still holding the hammer. One officer approaches and says, "Sir, you are under arrest for vandalism and disturbing the peace."

Tom smiles inwardly. "I understand," he says, his voice calm. "This is a small price to pay for regaining control over my mind and destiny."

As they place cuffs on his wrists and read him his rights, Tom reflects on everything that happened. One month later, as Tom walks free from jail with the support of his loved ones and blessings from the deities he serves, he reflects on everything that happened. With renewed faith and purpose, Tom embraces whatever lies ahead. He understands now that true strength comes from confronting one's struggles with courage and wisdom rather than denying them.

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