Chapter 11: The glass between us
The reflection took one step forward, and Kael swore the world tilted sideways.
It wore his face like a mask. But the smile—that smile didn't belong to him. It was too wide, too smooth, too… pleased. Like it had been waiting for this moment. Waiting for him.
Kael stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own boots. His hand tightened around the anchor shard in his pocket, but it was no longer pulsing.
Dead. Just like the air.
He couldn't breathe. Not properly. Not without gasping.
A part of him screamed, Run. Get out. Leave. But the rest of him? Frozen. Trapped in a surreal horror movie that forgot to tell him he was the star.
"No no no—this isn't happening," he whispered. "This is not happening. You're not real. You're not me."
The reflection tilted its head.
"You left me behind."
Its voice was not a voice. It was inside his head, reverberating like a thought he didn't want to remember.
Kael backed up so fast he nearly slipped. His palms scraped against the cracked subway tiles. He didn't care. His whole body was shaking now.
Mara jumped between him and the reflection, raising her bat. "Oh, hell no. I don't care if it looks like you, I'm about to send this freak to mirror hell."
"Don't engage!" Echo barked. "It's not just a copy. That's a mirror breach manifestation. A real one."
"I gathered that!" Mara snapped, but her grip tightened.
Juno moved like a whisper to Kael's side, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "Breathe. You're still here. You're still real."
Kael wanted to scream at her. He wanted to tell them all that he didn't feel real. That the reflection had stolen something from him—something vital.
But the words wouldn't come.
"You forgot," the reflection said. "But I didn't."
And then it smiled wider.
"RETREAT!" Echo shouted. "Now. Pull him back!"
Renji threw a shimmering ward between them and the mirror. A curtain of rune-light flared, temporarily halting the creature.
Noelle rushed in, yanking Kael to his feet. He was limp, barely walking, but she hauled him anyway.
They ran.
****
Back at the bunker.....
Kael sat on the floor of the medbay, hoodie off, knees pulled to his chest, eyes locked on the far wall. He hadn't said a word since they returned.
Ziv hovered nearby, uncharacteristically quiet. Mara sat on the counter, chewing a protein bar like it offended her. Renji was redrawing wards around the room.
And Echo… Echo hadn't spoken once.
Noelle leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.
Noelle's POV...
She'd seen broken people before.
People who had lost homes, families, memories. Victims of the cult. Survivors of gate collapses. People torn apart and stitched together wrong.
But Kael wasn't broken.
He was splintered.
She could see it—like glass beneath the surface, ready to crack. Not because he was weak. But because he had no idea what he was.
And now, apparently, neither did they.
He hadn't told them everything. That was obvious.
But what scared her more was the possibility that he genuinely couldn't.
Echo finally broke the silence. "He's not just mirror-born."
Everyone turned.
Renji frowned. "You sure?"
Echo nodded. "That thing wasn't a mimic. It was a fragment. A piece of him—separated. Preserved. Alive."
"Like a soul shard?" Mara asked.
"Worse," Echo muttered. "Like a memory that gained a heartbeat."
Ziv cursed softly.
Noelle glanced back at Kael.
He was still staring ahead, unmoving. But a single tear slipped down his cheek.
And Noelle realized something in that moment.
He wasn't just scared.
He remembered.
She walked over and crouched beside him.
"Hey," she said softly. "You're not alone. Not anymore."
Kael blinked. Slowly.
Then looked at her.
And for the first time since the breach, he whispered, "I think it lied."
Noelle frowned. "What did?"
Kael's fingers curled into his sleeves.
"That thing. The reflection. It said I left it behind."
He looked down.
"But I don't think I ever left."