Chapter 18: The Challenge

The challenge seemed simple enough: stare at your reflection in the mirror for one hour. No blinking contests, no scary ghost-summoning rituals—just a harmless game that had gone viral online. The rules were straightforward: sit still, maintain eye contact with your reflection, and don't look away until the hour was up. If you lasted the full sixty minutes, you won the challenge. No one had ever reported anything particularly strange happening, at least not seriously. Some claimed to have seen their reflections twitch unnaturally, others said the face in the mirror distorted slightly. But it was all just for fun. Or so they thought.

A group of six teenagers—Alex, Jordan, Sam, Emily, Rachel, and Ethan—gathered in Emily's dimly lit bedroom one Friday night to attempt the challenge together. They propped a large, antique mirror against the wall, its ornate frame slightly dusty from years of neglect in Emily's attic. The mirror itself was old, the kind that seemed to hum with history, reflecting the candlelight with a faint distortion at the edges.

"I bet none of you can last the whole hour," Alex said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles. "I heard people freak out way before then."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's just a mirror, Alex. You're acting like it's haunted."

"Well, let's find out," Ethan said, setting the timer on his phone for one hour. "Ready?"

The group sat in front of the mirror, their gazes locking onto their reflections. At first, nothing happened. They could hear the distant ticking of the old clock in the hallway and the occasional creak of the house settling. It was almost boring.

Fifteen minutes in, Rachel let out a nervous chuckle. "Okay, I get why people say this is creepy. Staring at yourself for this long feels...weird."

"Just don't blink," Jordan muttered, his voice tense.

Emily shifted slightly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. That was when she saw it—the reflection didn't move with her. Her breath hitched, and she stiffened, her heart pounding against her ribs.

"Guys," she whispered. "Did you see that?"

"What?" Sam asked, not breaking his gaze.

"My reflection—it didn't move when I did."

They all exchanged wary glances before turning back to the mirror. Their reflections stared back, motionless, identical in every way.

"Maybe you just imagined it," Ethan said, though his voice lacked confidence. "The game is probably messing with your head."

Emily nodded hesitantly, convincing herself it was just paranoia. But the unease in her gut refused to settle.

Thirty minutes in, things got worse. Jordan let out a sharp gasp, scrambling backward.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, alarmed.

Jordan pointed at the mirror, his hand trembling. "M-my reflection...it smiled at me."

"So?" Rachel said, though her voice wavered.

"I didn't smile," Jordan snapped.

Silence fell over the group. Then, one by one, they started noticing the same thing—their reflections were slightly...off. Alex's reflection tilted its head just a fraction of a second too late. Rachel's eyes in the mirror were darker than her real ones. Ethan's fingers twitched in a way he hadn't moved them. It was as though their reflections were pretending to be them, but something was wrong. Subtly, horribly wrong.

"We should stop," Emily whispered. "Now."

But before anyone could move, the mirror darkened. Their reflections didn't disappear—they remained, but now they were grinning. Wide, unnatural grins that stretched too far. The air in the room grew thick, suffocating. The candles flickered violently, then extinguished, plunging them into darkness. A collective gasp rang out as cold, clammy air enveloped them.

Then, something moved in the mirror.

Not them—their reflections.

They started stepping forward, pressing their hands against the glass, the grins widening, eyes glinting with something malicious. And then, one by one, the reflections began climbing out.

Screams erupted as chaos ensued. Emily lunged for the light switch, but it wouldn't turn on. The room was filled with shadows, the only source of illumination the faint, eerie glow emanating from the mirror.

Alex tried to run, but his reflection grabbed his wrist, pulling him toward the glass. He struggled, thrashing wildly, but it was too strong. One by one, the reflections dragged their real counterparts into the mirror. Their screams echoed, distorted, as if they were being swallowed by another dimension.

Emily was the last one left. She backed away, heart hammering, as her own reflection stepped out of the mirror. It looked exactly like her—but she knew it wasn't. Its eyes held something ancient, something predatory.

"You don't belong here anymore," it whispered, voice perfectly mirroring hers.

Emily turned to run, but she felt hands wrap around her ankles. With a cry, she was yanked backward into the mirror, the surface rippling like water before solidifying once more.

The room fell silent. The mirror stood undisturbed, its surface reflecting the candlelit bedroom.

Six teenagers sat in front of it, smiling.

The timer on Ethan's phone buzzed. The hour was up.

And the reflections had won.