No, mirrors are not a paranormal portal to a dark dimension. They're mirrors. They reflect light. The issue is when you think you're looking into a mirror that isn't really there.

The mirrors in your home? Probably fine.

Dirty mirrors with smudges on? Probably fine.

Mirror on a wall where you know what's on the other side? Definitely fine.

But if you see a clean mirror in public, on a wall that you can't get behind, stay away from it. Do not look at it. Do not look at the thing pretending to be you. That is not you.

I can't say for certain who is orchestrating this, nor do I know why businesses and public bathrooms are agreeing to it. But more and more establishments are building identical bathrooms next to existing ones. I know this because I am one of the contractors who keeps being hired for this. I have built 3 bathrooms so far, each of which we were told to pay meticulous attention to detail and to build an exact mirror image of an existing bathroom.

At first, it didn't seem too strange. The places probably just needed space for more toilets - Perhaps they were getting a lot of customers. The first job was for a generic public restroom in my local town centre. The second job was in a restaurant a couple of miles away. The third was for the university of a neighbouring city. The fact that each of these separate and very different locations had the exact same request was unsettling, but it was money. Why wouldn't we accept?

A few days into the third contract, I was in my local town centre, purchasing some supplies for the job. I needed to use the bathroom, so I made my way to the public ones. They're a little hidden through an alleyway, the type you definitely wouldn't use at night. When I got there, I noticed that the bathroom I had helped build was simply not there. They had filled the doorway back in with bricks and cement. It was as if it was never there.

I figured they had realised that having 2 identical bathrooms was silly - They had probably got some people in the knock down the shared wall between them, to turn it into one larger bathroom facility. But, no. Once I was standing inside, it was the exact same size as before. The shared wall, the one with the mirror across, was still there. They had hardly even cleaned the place up, it was all as filthy as ever. All except for the mirror. The mirror was crystal clear.

It didn't make sense. This would indicate a terrible, terrible job had been done. However, we had been paid on time and didn't receive any complaints. As far as my team and I are aware, we did everything perfectly fine. I couldn't understand why they would hide it away. But it wasn't my job to understand - We got paid, and it's up to the client what they do with the work once we leave.

We collect 50% of the payment upfront, and the other 50% when completed. Once we were done with the third contract, we had to chase up with the restaurant. They still had not paid us the second half and hadn't even been in contact to tell us why. I made my way down the same day we completed the university bathroom. The restaurant wasn't too busy, as it's not a very popular place. I had been surprised when they needed double the bathroom capacity.

As I made my way up to the counter, I noticed that the new restroom we had built was not labelled as such. The door was still there - They had not hidden it like the public restroom - But a sign on it read "Supply Closet. Staff Only." Nobody was at the counter yet. No staff were in sight, just 2 customers who weren't even paying me any attention. So, I pushed the door gently open, and...it was not a supply closet. It was the bathroom we had built.

I stepped in slowly. Something about the whole situation felt odd. This was the second place trying to hide our work. As I stepped into the centre of the room and looked towards the mirror, I noticed no reflection. I stepped slowly towards the sinks and stood in front of them, staring. It was as if I was waiting to see myself. But I wasn't there.

I reached out, and my hand went right through. There was no mirror here at all, this was a cutout into the next room. For some reason, I felt I had to prove that to myself, as I climbed through into the original bathroom, and stood facing away from the "mirror".

My only explanation was, again, perhaps that they decided the knock down the shared wall to simply expand the room. I figured they must only be halfway finished. This explanation was short-lived as I turned back around, and saw my reflection looking back at me.

By this point, confused was an understatement. I wasn't scared, either. I was unsettled, but more than anything I just didn't understand what was going on. I reached out, and sure enough, my hand met my reflection. At this point, I began to wonder whether the mirror was slide-away for any reason, like a secret passage between the rooms. That was until I realised my hand hadn't felt the cold touch of a mirror's surface, but the warm and soft feeling of another person's hand. My face dropped. My eyes glazed over with fear. I don't know how terrified I looked, because my reflection had stopped copying me. He smiled.

His hand clasped around mine as I tried to pull away. Our fingers were interlocked, as he began to slowly climb through. I truly think I'd have been done for, had it not been for the door swinging open at that point.

"Oh hey, I thought I saw you come in! You're here because we didn't pay you the other half, right?"

My reflection returned to normal, and I backed away from the mirror. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I couldn't take my gaze off myself.

"You like the mirror?"

I was able to look at him as he continued to speak to me.

"We didn't want the new bathroom, I can't really get into details about why we got it. We were forced to and threatened by a third party. They even gave us the money to pay you - Maybe it's some legal loophole for them to get a tax write-off somehow, I won't pretend to understand it."

I was able to find words somewhere in my head, "So, you have the money?"

"Well, that's the thing. We were already in debt, business hasn't been great. We've spent it all. But we will get you the money, I promise."

"It's okay, keep it."

I walked out of there without turning back, despite being pretty sure I could hear the manager shouting me.

I do not believe these things in the mirrors to be human. I don't know how, I don't know why, but someone is trying extremely hard to allow these to mimic us without being noticed. Right there, in front of your eyes, something pretending to be you, and you wouldn't even bat an eye. For whatever reason, it is important that they be allowed to copy people, and this is the best that they could come up with.

So next time you find yourself in front of a spotlessly clean mirror, don't touch it.

They don't like to be noticed.

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