The late afternoon sun streamed through the wide windows of Velvet Strand Salon, scattering warm gold across polished floors. It was unusually quiet — no blow dryers, no chatter — just soft jazz drifting through the stillness.
That’s when Evelyn walked in.
Her hair was a tangled storm: matted, dull, uneven, as if months had passed since she’d cared for it. And her expression matched — tired, faded, almost hollow.
“Hi there,” Rosa, the lead stylist, greeted her. She had seen every kind of client: the heartbroken, the tired, the hopeful. But something about Evelyn felt… heavy. Wrong, even.
“I just need a change,” Evelyn whispered. “Something lighter.”
“You came to the right place,” Rosa said, guiding her to the chair.
A Transformation Begins
Rosa’s hands moved with practiced grace — detangling, trimming, shaping. With every snip, dull strands fluttered to the floor like shed weight.
“What made you come in today?” Rosa asked gently.
Evelyn hesitated. “I… don’t recognize myself anymore,” she said. “I hoped that if I looked different… I might feel different.”
Rosa smiled, but her mind shifted uneasily. Because beneath the mess, Evelyn’s hair was perfect — unnaturally smooth, almost metallic when the light hit it.
Probably the conditioner, she told herself.
But then—
Her comb snagged on something hard at the base of Evelyn’s skull.
“Hold still,” Rosa murmured.
A small metal disc — the size of a coin — sat embedded beneath the skin. Not a scar, not surgical. Seamless. Deliberate.
“Something wrong?” Evelyn asked.
Rosa forced a steady voice. “Just a tangle.”
The First Flicker
When Rosa finished, Evelyn was transformed. Her hair fell in soft, glossy waves, glowing under the salon lights. Even her posture looked lifted.
“You look incredible,” Rosa said.
Evelyn stared at her reflection — and for a heartbeat, the mirror image flickered. The reflection smiled even though Evelyn did not.
“What was that?” Evelyn whispered.
Rosa swallowed. “Probably the bulb.”
But she wasn’t so sure.
That night, unable to shake the feeling, Rosa searched Evelyn’s name online…
and found a missing persons report.
Evelyn Hart, 32. Missing for six months.
Last seen the night of a mysterious power outage.
“No further leads.”
Rosa’s blood ran cold.
The Return
The next morning, Rosa arrived early. The salon was dim, shadows long across the floor.
That’s when she saw it — a silhouette in the mirror.
A woman standing behind her.
She spun around. No one.
The bell chimed.
Evelyn walked in. Same coat. Same tired eyes. Same tangled hair.
“Morning,” Evelyn said with a small smile. “Hope I’m not too early. I just found this place last night.”
Rosa froze. “You… weren’t here yesterday?”
“No?” Evelyn blinked.
In the mirror behind her, Evelyn’s reflection smiled — too wide, too slow — completely wrong.
The Breaking Point
As Rosa began brushing Evelyn’s hair again, she saw the implant — only now it pulsed, faintly glowing beneath the skin.
“Evelyn,” she whispered, “I think you should see a doctor.”
Evelyn’s voice changed. Flat. Cold.
“You shouldn’t have said that.”
The air thickened. The mirrors along the walls rippled like water. Rosa stumbled back as her own reflection refused to follow her movements.
Evelyn’s reflection stepped forward — out of the mirror — its smile stretching unnaturally, eyes shimmering silver.
The real Evelyn went limp, like a marionette with cut strings.
“It wasn’t broken,” the reflected Evelyn said, voice metallic and layered.
“You shouldn’t have tried to fix me.”
The Vanishing
Rosa bolted, bursting out into the street. Behind her, mirrors cracked — one after another, a chain reaction like shattering ice.
Before the police arrived, everything fell eerily silent.
They found the salon empty.
Every mirror coated in fine metallic dust, like vaporized glass.
Rosa was gone.
But At Night…
Locals swear that if you walk past Velvet Strand Salon after dark, you’ll see her:
A woman standing motionless in the dim light, staring into a cracked mirror.
Her scissors glint like silver teeth.
And her reflection… never quite matches her movements.
Waiting.
Watching.
Ready for the next client.