The Unseen

Kaelen stood frozen, staring into the mirror. The figure in the reflection was distorted, an eerie version of himself, its eyes black voids like the woman's. Its mouth moved, but no sound emerged.

The reflection began to move on its own, acting independently of him. It raised a hand to its chest, where a pulse of dark energy rippled beneath the skin. Kaelen could feel the echo of it, the pull from within his own body, like an invitation.

"You see it now," the entity said, stepping closer to Kaelen. "It's always been inside you, inside all of us. We are part of it, just as it is part of us."

Mira stepped forward, her face full of determination. "Kaelen, snap out of it!"

Her voice broke through the fog that had settled around his mind. He blinked, feeling the presence retreat just for a moment. He glanced at her, his pulse racing. "I—I don't know what's happening to me."

But Mira wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the reflection in the mirror, and her face was filled with dread.

"There's something... wrong," she said, taking a step back.

Kaelen turned to look at the mirror again, and this time, he saw it more clearly. The reflection wasn't just him anymore. The entity had made itself at home in the glass, its black eyes staring out of his own face. He could hear its voice in his mind, whispering, coaxing him.

You are already ours.

Kaelen reached forward, his hand trembling, and touched the surface of the mirror. The glass was cold, and yet as soon as his fingers made contact, the world around him rippled, as if he were merging with the reflection itself.

This is the beginning of the end. Embrace it.

The walls of the ship shuddered again, and Kaelen felt the signal press in on his mind with greater force. His chest tightened. The air grew heavier.

The signal wasn't just a voice anymore. It was a presence—a force trying to make itself real inside of him.