Chapter 3

The automatic doors of the supermarket slide open with a soft whoosh, and I step inside, greeted by the cold blast of AC and the faint smell of fresh bread from the bakery section. Normally, this is a relaxing place—bright lights, familiar aisles, and people minding their own business. But today? I feel like I'm walking into a battlefield.

My skin still tingles with the phantom pain from my run-in with that creature from the mirror world. I don't know what's worse—the fact that I nearly died last night, or the fact that I healed by absorbing dead animals. Yeah, that's not normal.

Whatever. I'm not thinking about it right now. I need to get groceries, and more importantly, I need to buy some tuna for my new best friend: the neighbor's cat. He doesn't know it yet, but we're practically soulmates now. Tuna is just the beginning of our blossoming relationship.

I grab a basket, trying to focus on the mundane task of shopping. It's almost comforting in its normalcy. Like if I can just get through this, I'll be back to my regular, non-weird life. Sure, Liang Wei. Keep telling yourself that.

I head straight for the pet aisle, determined to find the fanciest tuna money can buy. After all, that cat scratched me, sure, but he also delivered me a buffet of dead mice, and that—apparently—helped me not die.

I spot the premium tuna cans at the top shelf, with their gold labels and ridiculous price tags. These cans are fancier than anything I eat. I'm talking gourmet. I reach for one, ready to spoil my feline savior, when…

"Get the buy one, get one free deal."

The voice in my head interrupts.

I freeze mid-reach, staring at the can in confusion. Wait. What?

"Seriously, two for the price of one. Better value."

I blink, lowering my hand slowly. This can't be happening. Out of all the times you could've chimed in, you're choosing now? To lecture me about…grocery deals?

"It's smart shopping. Don't be reckless."

I glance to my right, and sure enough, there's a buy one, get one free deal on the cheaper tuna cans. Is this real life right now? I'm standing here, arguing with the voice in my head about grocery savings. This can't be my life.

"Are you seriously giving me bargain advice? I'm not taking tips from the same voice that dragged me into some nightmare world with killer monsters!"

"Well, someone has to help you make better financial decisions. Look, just grab the deal."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not taking bargain bin tuna for my hero cat! I'm buying the fancy one."

"Fine. Go ahead. Waste your money. But when you're broke, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Shut up!" I snap under my breath, too annoyed to care about how crazy this all is.

Except...I didn't just think it. I said it. Out loud.

Very loudly.

The whole aisle goes dead silent. My heart drops into my stomach as I realize...everyone's staring at me. The moms with their kids, the old man picking out cereal, the cashier stocking shelves—they're all looking at me like I've just lost my mind.

Oh. My. God.

Panic kicks in. My face turns bright red as the embarrassment creeps in, fast and hard. What do I do? What do I even say? My only instinct is to escape, but I don't even know how to do that without making it worse.

So I do the most logical thing: I crouch down and start crawling. Yep, crawling. I shuffle on my hands and knees, trying to stay low and avoid eye contact with everyone. If I just stay down here, maybe no one will remember the crazy girl who yells at imaginary voices in the tuna aisle.

Just gotta grab my tuna and go.

I crawl over to the cheaper cans—the buy one, get one free deal—because let's face it, I've lost this battle. I might as well grab the bargain tuna. I snatch them off the shelf and make a quick exit, crawling to freedom.

"Told you." The voice in my head is insufferably smug. "Smart choice."

I groan internally, still crawling. This is my life now.

I make a mad dash for the checkout counter, clutching the two bargain tuna cans like they're some kind of prized treasure. As I approach the cashier, I'm already bracing myself for the side-eye of the century. The moment I drop the cans on the conveyor belt, I feel it—the piercing stare.

The cashier, a girl about my age with perfectly winged eyeliner and an expression that screams "I'm too cool for this," slowly scans the tuna, her eyes flicking up at me, then back down, then back at me. It's like she's trying to figure out if I'm going to start screaming at the grocery items next.

I swallow hard, my face still burning from my earlier tuna aisle incident. I avoid eye contact, staring intensely at the packet of gum next to the register instead. The silence between us is suffocating.

"It's your fault," I hiss under my breath, hoping the voices in my head hear me loud and clear.

"You're welcome." The voice responds, annoyingly smug.

The cashier hands me the receipt without a word, but her eyebrow raises ever so slightly. I mutter a quick "thanks" and bolt out of the store like I just robbed the place. Can this day get any worse?

When I finally get home, there's a small victory waiting for me: the cat. He's lounging by the gate, looking like he owns the place, flicking his tail lazily like he knew I'd be bringing him his fancy meal. Of course.

"Hey, best boy," I whisper, crouching down and opening one of the tuna cans. The cat eyes it, and me, with mild suspicion, but once he smells the good stuff, he starts devouring it.

I pet him while he eats, half-expecting him to scratch me again. But, surprisingly, he just lets me pet him. "Oh, now you're friendly?" I mutter, stroking his fur. Maybe the tuna's working its magic.

"You should return to the mirror world," the voices suddenly chime in, cutting through the peaceful moment like a chainsaw.

I pause mid-pet, blinking. Did they just say…?

I burst out laughing, almost choking on my own breath. "Yeah, right! That's a great joke," I whisper back, hoping my neighbors can't hear me talking to myself like a lunatic. "What, do you think I'm crazy or something?"

"Yes." The voices answer in unison. Straight. No hesitation.

I narrow my eyes. "No! No way. I'm not that crazy yet. You think I'd willingly go back into that death trap?" I shake my head. "Not happening. Not unless I have a death wish or something. Which I don't."

The voices don't respond, but I can feel their silent judgment hanging in the air. I roll my eyes and scratch the cat's ears, feeling a tiny sense of normalcy returning, even if my life is anything but normal at this point.

When the cat finishes his meal and wanders off, I decide to head inside. My bed is calling to me, and after the day I've had, sleep sounds like the best escape I can get right now. I slip into my room, throw myself onto my bed, and bury myself under the covers, the world fading away as I sink into the mattress.

Screw the mirror. I'll deal with everything else tomorrow.

For now, I'm sleeping like a baby—no creepy monsters, no voices, no worries.

I wake up to the sound of… voices.

"Good morning, Liang Wei!" they chime in, cheerful and way too energetic for this early in the day.

I blink my eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Weirdly, their greeting doesn't even faze me. Oh, yeah, the voices in my head. Totally normal. I've already had a full day of "what the heck" yesterday, so why not just roll with it at this point?

"Morning," I mumble back like it's the most casual thing ever, rubbing my eyes as I get out of bed. My muscles are a little stiff, but at least I'm not in burning pain from those weird acidic wounds anymore. Small victories, right?

I drag myself into the bathroom, splash some water on my face, and glance at the mirror—the normal one, thank God. The one that doesn't suck me into a horror world. The voices stay quiet for once, letting me go about my routine in peace, brushing my teeth and pulling my hair into a messy ponytail. It's a miracle I still look human after all the chaos I've been through.

I head downstairs, the smell of congee and fried dough sticks already wafting through the air. My mom's bustling around the kitchen, and my dad's reading the newspaper at the table, looking like he hasn't moved since last night. My younger brother, Wei-Lin, is busy playing some mobile game, barely noticing me as I plop down at the table.

"Morning, sweetie," my mom says without looking up from the stove. "You're up early."

"Yeah… couldn't sleep," I lie, reaching for some fried dough. Not because of monsters or bloodthirsty tattoo powers or anything. Just normal teenage stuff, right?

My dad grunts a hello from behind his paper, while Wei-Lin gives me a half-hearted nod, too absorbed in leveling up his game character. Typical morning at the Liang household.

I grab a bowl of congee, spooning some into my mouth, half-listening to the chatter around me. The voices in my head are surprisingly silent during breakfast, letting me enjoy the mundane moment. It feels almost… peaceful. Like nothing's wrong. Like I'm just a normal girl having breakfast with her family, with no secret mirror dimensions or creepy voices hanging over my head.

After I finish eating, I grab my backpack and say a quick goodbye to everyone before heading out the door. The fresh morning air hits me as I step outside, and I feel a little better. I've survived weirder things at this point.

As I make my way to school, the city hums around me—cars honking, people rushing to work, kids biking past me, all completely unaware that their world could possibly have some weird mirror realm attached to it. Lucky them.

I'm almost at the school gates when the voices decide to pipe up again.

"Are you ready for another exciting day, Liang Wei?" they ask in that chirpy tone that makes me question if they're being sarcastic or actually trying to be friendly.

I sigh. "Depends. You gonna make me yell embarrassing stuff in public again?"

No response. Typical.

I shake my head as I walk into the school grounds, blending into the crowd of students. Just another day, right? What could possibly go wrong this time?

I step into the classroom, feeling the usual buzz of chatter and the rustling of textbooks. My eyes scan the room for Mei Ling, and sure enough, she's already at her desk, twirling a pen between her fingers and looking as bored as ever. As soon as she sees me, though, her expression changes.

"Liang Wei!" she calls, waving me over. "What's with the bandage? Did you get into a fight or something?"

I freeze for a second, my left hand twitching involuntarily. Crap. The entire thing's wrapped up like I just survived a bear attack, but what am I supposed to say? That I got slashed by a human-shaped nightmare monster in some parallel mirror world? Yeah, that'll go over well.

"Uh, no! No fight," I stammer, waving my bandaged hand around like it's no big deal. "I just, um, had a little accident at home. Totally normal stuff."

Mei Ling raises an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "An accident that wraps up your whole hand? You didn't, like, fall into a blender, did you?"

I laugh awkwardly, scratching the back of my head with my good hand. "Nah, nothing that exciting. Just… slipped while making noodles."

"Making noodles?" she repeats, clearly doubting my stellar noodle-making story.

"Yup. You know how clumsy I am," I add, trying to keep my cool. The last thing I need is her finding out about the creepy glowing tattoo or the scars underneath.

Thankfully, Mei Ling doesn't push it. She just gives me a weird look and shrugs, letting the topic drop as I slide into my seat next to her. Crisis averted—for now.

The morning classes drag by, as usual. I'm only half paying attention, sneaking a ghost story under my history textbook. It's a pretty good one too, about a haunted temple that eats people who disrespect it. Classic. While I'm reading, the voices in my head pipe up now and then, commenting on the plot or adding creepy little details.

"That's not how ghosts actually haunt places," one of them says, sounding almost insulted.

"Oh yeah?" I whisper back under my breath, making sure Mei Ling doesn't hear me. "So how do they haunt places, oh wise one?"

"Depends on the spirit," the voice replies, smug. Great. Ghost-snob voices in my head now.

Just when I'm getting really into the story, Mr. Zhang, our history teacher, calls out, "Liang Wei!"

My head snaps up, eyes wide. Oh no. I didn't even hear the question. Everyone's staring at me, and I can already feel the heat creeping up my neck. Oh no, oh no, oh no—

"Can you tell us the year the Qin Dynasty began?" Mr. Zhang asks, arms crossed like he's expecting me to crash and burn. I barely even remember what topic we're supposed to be covering right now. Downfall imminent.

Except—wait. One of the voices whispers in my head, "221 BCE."

I blink. "Uh, 221 BCE?"

Mr. Zhang raises an eyebrow but nods. "Correct."

What. Just. Happened.

I stare down at my desk, half in disbelief. Did the voices just… help me with history?

"You're welcome," the voice says, sounding way too proud of itself.

Suddenly, I'm grinning like an idiot. I actually answered something correctly in class! For once, I'm not the disaster student who has no idea what's going on.

Mei Ling gives me a look, nudging me with her elbow. "How'd you know that? You weren't even paying attention."

"Lucky guess," I mutter, trying to keep my cool.

But inside, I'm feeling a little too excited. Maybe having weird voices in my head isn't so bad after all.