Chapter 6: The Mirror That Remembers

They didn't speak the next morning.

Not because there wasn't anything to say—but because they were afraid to give their fear a voice.

Rin hadn't slept at all. She just sat in Maren's living room, sketching the same thing over and over: a mirror. A large one. Oval. Cracked in seven places. Every time she redrew it, the cracks grew deeper.

Elior stood by the window, holding the latest letter in his hand.

> "The third is near.

The mirror waits."

Maren finally broke the silence. "Do you know where it is?"

Elior looked up. "I think so."

He reached into his bag and pulled out an old map of Greyhollow—something he had found months ago in a box of his father's things. Near the edge of town, tucked behind the industrial district, was a faded dot labeled:

GREYHOLLOW GLASSWORKS – Closed 1974

"That's where they used to make mirrors," he said. "It was shut down after an accident. A fire. Three workers died. They say the factory was cursed."

Rin's voice was a whisper. "Or something inside wanted out."

---

They arrived at noon. The sky was clouded over, casting the old factory in dull silver light.

The building looked like it had been forgotten by time. Cracked windows. A roof partially caved in. Vines snaking up brick walls like scars. A faded sign barely readable:

G. G. GLASS CO.

The gate was locked, but Rin found a hole in the chainlink fence.

They stepped inside.

The air smelled like rust and soot.

As they walked through the shattered remnants of the factory floor, Maren pointed to the far side—where a line of enormous antique mirrors leaned against the wall, half-shattered and covered in dust.

"I think we're close," she said.

Elior nodded. He moved closer to the largest mirror—the one in the center.

It was taller than him by at least two feet, its frame carved with curling roses and vines. Seven cracks webbed out from the center, like a spider's broken web.

But there was no reflection.

Instead, the surface rippled—like water.

Rin stopped dead. "It's active."

Maren looked over. "How do you know?"

"Because it's looking at me."

The three of them stepped forward slowly. The closer they got, the more distorted their reflections became. Their faces melted. Eyes vanished. Mouths stretched open in silent screams.

Elior turned away. "This is wrong. This mirror doesn't show what's real—it shows what's buried."

Then, suddenly—

The glass shimmered. A shape appeared behind the cracks.

A boy.

No older than them. Curled up in the dark. Pale skin. Hollow eyes.

He looked up—slowly—and whispered:

> "Help me."

Maren gasped. "Did you see that?!"

Elior nodded. "He's trapped inside."

Rin took a step back, fear on her face.

"I know who that is."

---

His name was Noah Lorne.

He had disappeared two years ago.

People said he ran away. That he was strange. Obsessed with mirrors. He once told Rin in class that his reflection spoke to him at night.

No one believed him.

And then, one day, he was just… gone.

No note. No trace.

But now they knew the truth.

Noah didn't run away.

He was the third key.

And the mirror had taken him.

---

"We have to pull him out," Maren said, stepping closer.

Elior reached for her. "Wait. We don't know what's inside that thing—"

But it was too late.

The mirror shattered—not physically, but in sound.

A piercing crack rang through the air, and the factory trembled.

And suddenly—

Everything went black.

---

Elior awoke in a place that felt like a dream and a grave at the same time.

No sky. No walls.

Just an endless hallway of mirrors stretching in every direction.

Each mirror showed different versions of himself. Twisted. Broken. Dead.

Maren and Rin stood beside him. They were pale. Shaking.

"I don't think we're in the factory anymore," Maren whispered.

A voice echoed through the corridor:

> "He is here.

But not whole."

They followed the sound, deeper into the hallway, passing mirrors that whispered their worst memories, their worst fears.

Rin paused at one.

It showed her as a child, clutching her dead brother's body, crying while no one came.

Maren reached out to touch her shoulder, but the mirror cracked, and a hand reached out from it, grabbing Rin's arm.

"Let go!" she screamed.

Elior lunged forward and pulled her free.

The hand vanished.

The mirror behind it bled black.

They ran.

And at the end of the hallway—

A door of silver.

Rin touched the handle.

And it opened.

---

Inside was a single mirror. Clean. Polished. No cracks.

And Noah.

Sitting in a chair.

Unmoving.

His eyes were open—but empty.

Maren knelt beside him. "Noah. Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond.

Elior looked around the room. "There's no exit."

Rin stepped up to the mirror.

And whispered: "I'll take your place."

Elior turned. "What?! No!"

But she looked at him sadly. "He's been in here too long. If we don't give the mirror something, it won't let him go."

Maren's voice cracked. "Rin, no—"

But Rin smiled gently.

"This is what I was marked for. This is my gate."

She knelt beside Noah, touched his hand—

And the mirror flared with light.

Noah gasped.

And Rin disappeared.

The room shattered—

And they were back in the factory.

Noah fell to the floor, coughing, eyes wide with terror.

Elior looked around. "Rin…?"

But she was gone.

Only the mirror remained.

Cracked in eight places now.

And a new letter, fluttering on the floor.

He picked it up.

> Three locks undone.

Four remain.

The price of memory is grief.

One soul traded.

The mirror is satisfied—for now.