Chapter 16: The Mirror’s Bargain

Evelyn's breath hitched.

The figure in the mirror tilted its head, its lips curling into an unnatural, knowing smile.

"You don't belong here anymore."

Its voice was hers but wrong. Hollow, like an echo of something long dead.

Evelyn staggered back, but the walls closed in. The mirror stretched, its surface rippling like liquid glass. The thing inside reached forward, fingers pressing through the surface.

Evelyn's stomach twisted.

It wasn't just pretending to be her.

It was waiting for her to give up. To let go.

And the moment she accepted it

It would become real.

The whispers in the hallway intensified.

"Let it in."

"You've been forgotten."

"Trade places... it's easier."

Evelyn gritted her teeth.

No.

She wouldn't disappear.

Nathaniel's Discovery

Nathaniel's heart slammed against his ribs as the imposter across from him gave another too-perfect smile.

It knew.

It knew he was watching.

But Nathaniel had learned how to hide his fear.

Slowly, he leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the table.

"You look tired, Evelyn."

The thing blinked, its expression shifting just a fraction of a second too slow.

A mistake.

Evelyn never let her guard down.

Nathaniel pushed a little more. "Maybe you should get some rest. You've been acting… different."

The thing pretending to be Evelyn didn't blink.

Then, slowly, its lips parted.

"Do I seem different, Nathaniel?"

A test.

A trap.

Nathaniel forced himself to shrug. "No, just tired. Maybe I'm the one acting weird."

The imposter watched him.

Then, it nodded.

"Yes… maybe you are."

And in that moment, Nathaniel realized something terrifying.

It wasn't just pretending to be Evelyn.

It was learning.

And soon, it would be perfect.

The Mirror's Decision

The thing in the mirror stepped forward, fully emerging now.

Evelyn felt something shift like a thread snapping.

The world around her flickered.

Her memories blurred.

She couldn't remember the sound of her own voice. The scent of rain on pavement. The way her father used to hum old songs when he thought no one was listening.

The Hollow was erasing her.

And the reflection

It was becoming her.

The moment it touched her, it would take everything.

Evelyn forced herself to move.

She grabbed a jagged piece of a broken picture frame from the wall.

And when the thing in the mirror lunged

She swung.

Glass shattered.

The world split apart.

And Evelyn fell into the darkness.

Shattered Reflections

Evelyn plunged into the void.

Cold, endless, suffocating.

She expected to hit the ground but there was no ground. No air. No sense of up or down. Only falling.

Then

Hands.

Not one. Not two.

Dozens.

They clawed at her arms, her legs, her face grasping, pulling. Dragging her down.

And as she struggled, a voice slithered through the darkness.

"You are not real."

The hands tightened.

"You are only what we remember."

A face flickered before her.

Her own.

But wrong.

Its eyes were hollow, its skin cracked like old porcelain. It smiled a twisted, broken version of her own expression.

"I belong out there now. You belong here."

No.

Evelyn fought, kicking, clawing, screaming.

The shadows rippled.

The hands began to slip.

A light split through the void.

And suddenly

Evelyn wasn't falling anymore.

Nathaniel's Last Chance

Nathaniel didn't sleep.

He watched. Studied. Waited.

The imposter moved through town like it belonged. It greeted people, answered questions laughed in all the right places.

But it wasn't perfect.

Not yet.

There were cracks.

Little things, slips in the act.

Nathaniel followed it back to Evelyn's apartment, standing in the shadows as the lights flickered on inside.

Then movement.

He saw it through the window.

A reflection in the mirror.

The real Evelyn.

Or… what was left of her.

She wasn't moving.

She wasn't alive.

And the imposter smiling back at the glass

Was getting stronger.

Nathaniel's breath caught in his throat.

If he didn't act soon… the real Evelyn would be gone forever.

The Return

Evelyn hit the ground hard.

Her vision blurred. Her head pounded.

But she was alive.

She pushed herself up, eyes darting around. The room was familiar.

Her apartment.

But something was wrong.

The air was too still. The shadows stretched in ways they shouldn't.

And then she saw it.

Herself.

Standing by the mirror.

The imposter turned slowly.

"Oh… you're back."

Its smile widened.

"That's unfortunate."

Evelyn's fingers curled into fists.

She was done running.

This thing stole her life.

Now, she was taking it back.