I stared in the mirror, mouth agape as my face changed from a grown woman to a child of about twelve. She’d forgotten to change the maid uniform with me, so it was sort of hanging there, the skirt falling way past my knees.

“Steve?” Angela placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“How…how long am I going to stay like this?” My voice came across as a mere whisper, I saw Meredith smirk behind Angela in the mirror.

“Until you can change yourself back,” Angela smiled and ran her fingers through my hair, straightening it out. It felt good.

“How do I do that?” I whispered back, still staring wide eyed into the mirror.

“You’re not allowed,” She said firmly, turning me away from the mirror to face her and Meredith. I shot a fearful look over toward Meredith who was now much taller than me and leaning against the tub, one hand on the rim for support. “Let’s talk about your name. You don’t look like a Steve. What do you think you look like?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, taking a quick glance back at the mirror. I think what scared me the most in this moment was how quickly I became comfortable with the role Angela had just forced me into. It felt right, it felt like it was meant to be. It was like…being wrapped in a blanket and held tight. “I can’t really…can you help me?”

“Of course I can, sweetie,” Angela took me by the hand and led me out of the bathroom. We walked down the hall with Meredith in tow until we came to the living room where the large black sectional couch still sat in front of a massive fifty inch OLED television. It was probably outdated tech by now. We sat down on the couch together, and Meredith sort of leaned over us, putting her weight on the back.

“What about Stephanie?” Meredith suggested. “I like that name.”

“She doesn’t look like a Stephanie,” Angela bit her lip. “Have you ever seen a Stephanie with black hair? What about…Margaret?”

“This isn’t the 1800’s,” Meredith said, rolling her eyes. “I lived through them once, let’s not bring it back in style.”

“You loved the 1800’s,” Angela said accusingly. “You still want to wear those stupid dresses and you know it.”

“I like the renaissance dresses better,” Meredith laughed. “I’m a sucker for anything with a bodice.”

“Charlotte?” Angela suggested, looking at me.

“Still outdated,” Meredith informed her. “You need a baby name book or something. Or I could look online.”

“Oh my god,” Angela turned toward her. “You still have that phone? I told you to get rid of that thing.”

“And you’re not my keeper,” Meredith sort of spat back. “I like taking selfies.”

“If you need to see yourself, why don’t you go look in the mirror?” Angela made a motion toward the wall just beside the television where another full length mirror hung. One thing I’d noticed cleaning this place for a decade was the abundance of mirrors. They had a LOT of them.

“That’s not what mirrors are for, and you know it,” Meredith shook her head. I looked back toward Angela who was deep in thought, no doubt still trying to figure out what my name should be.

“Steve,” Angela said, taking both of my hands in hers and staring directly at her. “Think hard, say the first thing that comes to your mind. What do you think your name is?”

“My name is…” I stopped and thought for a moment. This was a hard one, come on, think. “Jasmine, my name is Jasmine.”

“That’s good,” Meredith nodded. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“Are you sure?” Angela smiled. “That’s what you want it to be.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I do.”

“Jasmine is a beautiful name,” She nodded. “From now on, that’s you, unless you want to change it, of course.”

“You know,” Meredith said, stepping around the couch and standing over us. “I’m really surprised you haven’t asked us any questions, you know like, what the hell is happening? Who we are? Why you just spent eleven years cleaning a house…”

“I guess it wasn’t that important to me,” I shrugged. “I could ask you who you are, and you could tell me, but would it mean anything to me?”

“That’s not a bad point,” Angela chuckled. “But you do need to know what’s going on and what you’ve been dragged into, because you’re one of us now. Not intentionally, and I’m sorry about that but it did happen, so we need to address it head on.”

“Can we get her some clothes first?” Meredith suggested.

“Oh can’t you make me clothes?” I asked. “Like you made this dress?”

“I didn’t make the maid uniform,” Angela explained. “I had it already, I just…put it on you, sort of. Um, I’m not really artsy so I don’t make clothes. We have to actually go shopping.”

“That’s a good idea, actually,” Meredith suddenly extended a hand, which I took and allowed her to pull me off the couch. “I’ll take her shopping real quick, get her some actual clothes.”

“That’ll really help,” Angela nodded. “I have a few things to get done around here. The house, well, you know it hasn’t been lived in for like a decade so I need to check the plumbing and make sure all the utilities are still turned on. Can’t really live without our Netflix, can we?”

“Forget Netflix,” Meredith shook her head. “I need Hulu, I’m still watching The Good Doctor. Okay, come on, Jasmine.”

I stood up and followed her, though I couldn’t tell if I was doing it on my own or if I was doing it as a part of her command. I wasn’t sure it mattered. Instead of leading me to the front door, she led me to the full length mirror near the television and pressed a hand to it.

“You’ve probably noticed all the mirrors,” She said. “Angela doesn’t like phones because she thinks the selfie cameras are going to replace mirrors. They’re made of a hyper conductive material that allows is to travel from point to point. Today we should be able to pop out in the dressing room at the Target in town, really easy. Just go ahead and put your hand on top of mine.”

“We’re…going to travel through the mirror?” I asked incredulously.

“Hand on mine,” She repeated. I didn’t ask any more questions, I placed my smaller hand on top of hers and shivered a bit as the air around us grew cold, then gradually warm again. It wasn’t a sudden feeling of movement, nothing much happened really, but in the mirror I saw the room behind us fade away and was suddenly replaced by what I could only describe as a concrete bunker with a few well lights mounted in the ceiling shining down and creating pools of light throughout an otherwise very dark space. I spun around and stared at the white concrete walls in a panic, where were we? This wasn’t a dressing room at target. I immediately looked to Meredith who was staring down at me with a very cold, very composed look on her face.

“Go to the center of the room and kneel,” She told me, no emotion whatsoever. I obeyed. My body obeyed. It didn’t have a choice.

“You know,” She said as I dropped to my knees wincing as they made contact with the cold concrete. I straightened my skirt out so I was at least covered. “Normal girls, mortals, I mean, they could tell you what to do, they could give you commands and you would be inclined to follow them, but your body wouldn’t just go on autopilot. Angela and I, and others like us, our voices carry a bit more authority. We’re meant to influence mortals, we’re meant to cause change. I like this, because I can tell you to do literally anything, and that submissive nature of yours will go right along with it.”

For the first time I noticed she was holding something, what was it? Something long…it was a switch, like the kind you use on horses. Oh god, what was she going to do?

“Meredith…” I said weakly, trembling as she moved toward me.

“Shut up,” She growled. “Shut your mouth. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you. Don’t move, don’t talk, kneel here and take it. Take it like the weakling you are. I don’t care what Angela says, you’re not one of us, you might be immortal, but it was an accident, it was a mistake. After I get done with you today I’m going to leave you in this room, she’ll never find you, and then you can spend all eternity wishing you hadn’t matched with her on that dating site.”

Before I could contemplate what she’d said, she struck me. The switch came down across my face, sending me hurtling across the floor. I tried to scream, but per her command, I couldn’t even open my mouth.

“Get back to the center!” She screamed. Her voice echoed across the room, bouncing off of the concrete walls. “Kneel!”

I obeyed. I took up the kneeling position again, only to be struck again, three more times, this time on the arm, then the back, then my bare feet. I screamed internally, my eyes watered. She didn’t relent, she kept hitting me, over, and over, and over. She kicked me, her pink tennis shoe connected with my chest, knocking the wind out of me and knocking me over. She screamed at me to kneel. My body felt broken, but it still obeyed her command. Again, and again, the switch came down. It struck my upper lip, I felt a pool of blood forming. I felt the warmth running down my face. Oh dear god no, no, no, this couldn’t be happening.

“You’re pathetic!” She screamed with absolute hate and vitriol saturating her words. “I wish I could just let you die."

I heard the switch swing again, singing as it came down toward my body, I cringed, and began to sob, expecting the worst, but it never came. The impact never connected with me, I knelt there, my eyes closed tight, my body shivering. There was no sound; you could have heard a pin drop. What was happening? I opened my eyes, my arms were raised, both of them. They were grasping Meredith’s wrists, keeping the whip in the air just above my head. I’d reached up and grabbed her wrists. I’d stopped it from happening. No, I hadn’t stopped it, she was stronger than me. She’d stopped as soon as I grabbed her wrist. I stared up at her, making eye contact and trembling like never before. There was dead silence for a least a minute before she withdrew her hands and towered over me. I slowly, and carefully stood from my kneeling position in front of her, barely coming up to her chest.

“I am NOT the worst thing that you’re going to face,” She said to me, her face stone, her arms suddenly folded. “I will not go easy on you. I am NOT Angela. I’m going to tell you the truth whether you like it or not. You did good today, you defied me and stopped my arm, but you have a long way to go, and not enough time to get ready. Straighten your dress, we’re going shopping.”