Chapter 6 – The Name That No One Remembers

I wasn't in the mirror anymore.

No reflection. No proof I existed.

I reached out, touching the fractured glass. My fingertips met cold, jagged edges, but the mirror gave me nothing in return.

I was gone.

No.

I was still here. I could feel my heartbeat. I could hear my breath.

But if I couldn't see myself, if no one remembered me—

Was I really here?

A sickening realization crawled through my mind.

This wasn't just about disappearing.

Something was taking me apart.

Bit by bit.

Until nothing would be left.

---

The Classroom Without a Seat

I forced myself to go to school the next morning.

If I could still be seen—if someone still knew I existed—then maybe this wasn't real. Maybe I could fight it.

But the moment I stepped into the classroom, my stomach turned to ice.

My desk… was gone.

No empty seat. No sign I had ever been there.

I turned to my classmates. They sat at their desks, chatting like normal. Laughing. Existing.

I opened my mouth to speak—

And then I saw Rika.

She was staring straight at me.

I froze.

There was no surprise in her expression. No confusion.

Just knowing.

I took a shaky step forward. "Rika… you see me, don't you?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook. Flipped through the pages. Stopped.

Then, slowly—she tore a page out.

I watched, my breath caught in my throat, as she held it out to me.

I took it with trembling fingers.

There was only one sentence written on it.

"You were never here."

My body turned cold. I looked back up at her, panic clawing at my throat. "What—what does this mean?"

Still, she said nothing.

She just raised her hand… and pointed to the door.

I turned, heart pounding.

The door was open.

And outside—

A hallway that shouldn't exist.

---

The Hallway That Leads Nowhere

I shouldn't have stepped through.

But my feet moved before I could stop them.

The moment I crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind me.

The classroom was gone.

I was alone.

The hallway stretched forward, impossibly long, lined with doors that had no handles.

The air was thick, suffocating. I could hear my own pulse, pounding in my ears.

And then—

A voice.

A whisper, crawling through the dark.

"You should have forgotten."

I spun around.

The hallway behind me was gone.

Replaced by darkness.

Something moved inside it.

Something with too many hands.

I ran.

---

The Rooms of the Forgotten

The hallway twisted, stretched, turned in on itself. Doors blurred past me, each one whispering as I ran.

Begging to be opened.

I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

Then—

The whispers stopped.

I skidded to a halt, my chest heaving.

Silence.

The hallway had ended.

A single door stood in front of me. Unlike the others, this one had a handle.

My fingers curled around it.

I hesitated.

Then, from behind me—

The hands crawled closer.

I threw the door open.

And stepped inside.

---

The Room That Erases You

I expected a classroom. A storage room. An office.

But inside—

There was nothing.

Just a black, endless void stretching in every direction.

A mirror stood in the center.

Not broken. Not cracked.

Perfect.

I stepped closer.

I was in it again.

My reflection stared back at me. Expressionless. Waiting.

Then—

It moved.

Not like before. Not wrong.

It matched me.

Perfectly.

Like it was trying to convince me that I was real.

But I wasn't stupid.

I knew now.

This wasn't my reflection.

It was something else.

Something wearing my face.

And it smiled.

A slow, creeping grin.

Then—it reached out.

The glass rippled.

And before I could react—

It grabbed me.

A cold, suffocating force yanked me forward.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream.

The mirror swallowed me whole.

---

The Other Side

The moment I landed, I knew something was wrong.

The air was heavier. The walls darker.

And then I saw it.

My body.

Still standing in front of the mirror.

I wasn't in it anymore.

I was behind the glass.

Trapped.

I slammed my hands against the surface. "No—no, no, no—!"

My body—the thing wearing my face—tilted its head, staring at me through the glass.

Then—

It turned away.

And walked out the door.

Leaving me behind.

I pounded against the mirror. "Come back! Give it back!"

No sound.

No escape.

Just my own reflection, staring back at me—

A reflection that no longer belonged to me.