Chapter Nine: The Mirror of Fears

The stone door pulsed with a dull, rhythmic thump — like a giant heartbeat.

Nina reached out hesitantly.

The moment her fingers brushed the cold surface, the world around them snapped and twisted like a whirlpool.

She stumbled back — but it was too late. 

The ground beneath her feet vanished.

She was standing alone.

The hills, Chris, everything — gone.

Just endless darkness.

A soft voice whispered from the blackness:

"You can't run from who you really are."

Nina turned frantically, searching for a way out.

Instead, a spotlight of silver light flared before her, revealing… herself.

But it wasn't quite her.

This version of Nina wore a mocking smile, her eyes hollow, filled with bitterness.

"You no fit save anybody," the doppelganger sneered. "You dey hide behind Chris. Always depending on people." 

Nina clenched her fists. "Lie! I dey fight!"

"You dey fight, but you dey fear," her mirror-self said, stepping closer. "You dey fear say you no good enough. Say dem go abandon you — like dem always do."

The words stabbed deep into her chest.

Memories of being left behind, forgotten, passed through her mind like knives.

Her legs trembled.

The fake Nina stretched out a hand.

"Give up. Rest. No more fight."

For a split second, the temptation was real.

But then — Nina felt the amulet under her shirt, pulsing with gentle heat.

She remembered Chris's promise.

"We go survive. Together."

She gritted her teeth, stepping back.

"I no be failure," she said, voice shaking but growing stronger.

"I strong. And I get people wey believe in me."

She grabbed a rock from the ground — it gleamed like crystal — and hurled it at the mirror-self.

The fake Nina shattered into a million pieces of light. 

The darkness screamed — and cracked. 

The clearing reappeared around her.

And Chris — crumpled on the ground a few meters away, struggling with his own nightmare.

Without hesitation, Nina ran to him.

Chris was trapped in a vision too.

In front of him stood his younger brother, Eli —

a boy with bright eyes and a huge grin.

But this Eli's eyes were full of accusation.

"You fail me," the boy said.

"You dey promise to protect me — but you dey too weak."

Chris bowed his head, guilt flooding his chest.

The memory of the fire… the night he couldn't save Eli… it crushed him every day. 

"I try…" he whispered.

"You lie!" the ghost screamed. "You dey selfish. You think say you fit fix everything — but you dey only bring pain!" 

Chris knelt there, broken. 

Until a hand touched his shoulder.

Real.

Warm.

He looked up.

Nina stood over him, fierce and determined. 

"This no be real," she said firmly. "E dey feed on your guilt."

Chris blinked, confused, struggling to separate truth from illusion.

"You no kill your brother," Nina said. "Accident fit happen to anybody. You human."

She squeezed his hand.

"And you no dey alone again."

The ghost of Eli flickered… then faded into mist.

The ground steadied. 

Chris gasped, feeling the crushing weight lift slightly from his chest.

Together, he and Nina stood — and the great stone door swung open with a grinding sound.

On the other side: a winding path leading even deeper into the strange world.

Chris squeezed Nina's hand.

"You save me," he said softly.

"You save me first," Nina replied, smiling. 

Side by side, stronger than before, they stepped into the unknown.

The first trial was over.

But greater challenges — and darker enemies — waited ahead.