Ecko's not normal. Everyone says so, and usually not in such a nice, polite manner. Being different often begets ridicule and cruelty, which means 'Freak' is the most common term used to describe her. She, herself, knows that she's different, a bit odd perhaps. Even the manner in which she became a member of the Roberts family had been strangely unorthodox. Over the years, she's learned to keep her head down and do her best to get through the days unnoticed and unmolested. Most times she's successful, and even manages to go weeks at a time without uttering a single word to anyone outside of her family. After all, no one really wants anything to do with the crazy girl that talks to her own reflection anyway.
The thing is-she sometimes sees things in the mirrors that have no business being in there, things that only she can see. She knows exactly how that makes her look, so she does her best to hide it when she's around other people. She tries to avoid looking into any and all mirrors until she's in the privacy of her own home. But once there, she spends an inordinate amount of time locked away in her room, simply staring into the mirror, watching raptly as the magic unfolds. Remarkable scenes play out beneath the surface like clips from a movie. Scenes full of mysterious people and fantastical creatures on unfamiliar, alien worlds.
But then she meets a girl that lives on the other side of the mirror- a girl who looks just like her. A mirror version of herself that she calls "Other Ecko." She thinks she's finally found a friend, someone that will surely understand her. She soon learns otherwise. Her name is not Other Ecko, it's Samara. She is not a nice girl, and she does not wish to be friends. She wants nothing more than to come through the glass and take everything that Ecko has for herself. In fact, she'll stop at nothing until she's stolen or destroyed everything that Ecko loves.
Samara can also see things in the mirrors that shouldn't be there. She can certainly see her, that other girl with the pampered, pretty life. She watches Ecko constantly, at first out of her own fascination and then because her tyrannical father forces her to do so. She learns quite a bit about Ecko and the wonderful world of plenty in which she lives. But, the more that she learns, the hungrier she becomes for the privileged life that Ecko lives, a life full of luxuries that she, herself, has been denied. The more she learns, the angrier she becomes. As her rage grows, so does her hatred.