The silence after choosing "MEMORY" was louder than anything Lira had ever heard.
The ticking clock was gone. The rustling of trees outside... gone. Even the buzzing light in her room seemed to hum with a quieter, heavier tone.
She sat at the edge of her bed, fingers wrapped around the cold flip phone like it might slip away if she let go.
Her mind kept replaying the last message on the screen.
"Now you know who you replaced."
But she didn't know. Not really.
Or maybe... she wasn't ready to admit it.
She looked up at the cracked mirror on her wall.
Her reflection was there this time... shattered into broken fragments, but still there. Only now, it wasn't trembling like her. It wasn't scared.
It stared back at her like it already knew the ending.
Lira turned her face away.
She didn't want to see it anymore.
---
The school looked the same.
The hallways, the classroom, the noise. The voices. But everything felt like background noise. Like she was watching a memory rather than living in it.
Reva was already in her seat, arms stretched out over the desk. As soon as she spotted Lira, her eyes lit up.
"There you are! You look like you just crawled out of another dimension."
Lira sat down quietly.
Reva leaned closer, narrowing her eyes. "You okay? You seriously look like you haven't slept in a week. Did you get dragged into some weird dream again?"
Lira closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her breath.
"I don't think it was a dream," she whispered.
Reva blinked, then laughed. "Oh wow, we're going full mystery mode now? Alright, spill it, unless you're gonna tell me you've been living someone else's life."
Lira looked away, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Wait..." Reva held up a finger. "That actually sounds like something you'd say in one of your journal entries. Are you writing poetry again?"
"No," Lira muttered. "I think I've been... living someone else's choices."
For once, Reva didn't have a witty comeback.
She just stared at Lira for a few seconds, her smile fading slightly.
Then, softer: "Hey... if you're in some kind of mess, I'm not letting you drown alone, okay?"
Lira managed a small nod, unsure how to respond.
Reva tapped the desk gently. "Cool. Just don't turn into someone else overnight or something. I kinda like the Lira I've got."
That made Lira smile, even if just for a second.
But as she looked toward the window, her own reflection looked back, slowly blinking out of sync.
***
Lira didn't remember how she ended up in the library.
She wasn't planning to go there. She didn't even feel like moving at all. But her feet had a mind of their own, guiding her between shelves like they were following a thread only they could see.
The air smelled like old pages and dust. A place untouched. Forgotten.
And at the very end of the last row, something caught her eye.
A book. Thick, worn, nameless. Its spine cracked, the cover faded beyond recognition.
She reached out, slowly. The moment her fingers touched the fabric, something twisted in her chest.
Like a faint bell ringing from somewhere far away.
She opened it.
The first page wasn't printed. It was written in shaky red ink.
"If you're reading this, then you're the one they called Lira."
She froze.
"You're not the first to carry that name. And you won't be the last."
Her breath hitched. Her hands began to tremble.
She turned the page.
A photo was tucked between the pages. Black and white. Faded.
A girl standing in front of an old house. Her hair longer. Her posture straighter. Her eyes... too sharp to be mistaken.
She looked like Lira.
But not quite.
Lira flipped the photo. On the back, a line was scrawled:
"My real name isn't Lira."
She let the picture fall onto the floor.
Her mind was spinning. Her throat dry.
And then...
"Looking for hidden answers?"
She turned sharply.
Reva was standing behind her, arms crossed, eyebrows raised with that familiar spark of curiosity. "You've got that look on your face again. Like you just opened a portal."
Lira didn't answer.
Reva walked closer and peeked at the book in Lira's hand. "What's this? Secret diary? Forbidden spellbook? Don't tell me you've been time traveling without me."
Lira looked at her, voice low. "I think this book belonged to someone like me."
Reva blinked. "Wait, like... another Lira?"
"I don't know. But it feels like... it's written for me. Like someone knew I'd find it."
Reva stared at her for a moment, then gave a half-smile. "Okay, that's either really cool... or really creepy. Or both."
She nudged Lira's shoulder. "You sure you're not writing this stuff and sleepwalking to read it later?"
Lira shook her head. "I'm serious."
"I know," Reva said, her voice softening just slightly. "I can tell."
There was a brief silence. Not heavy. Just... uncertain.
Then Reva added, "You know, sometimes I dream I'm someone else too. Like... I wake up and forget what my name is. But everyone still calls me Reva."
Lira looked up. "What happens in those dreams?"
Reva scratched the back of her neck. "Usually nothing. But sometimes... there's this voice. It says, 'Don't remember too much. Or you'll be replaced.'"
Lira felt her chest tighten. "Replaced by who?"
Reva shrugged. "That's the scary part. The voice never says."
The bell rang before Lira could say anything more.
Reva tapped her temple. "Hey. Even if you get replaced, make sure they're not boring. I've got standards."
Lira laughed. A weak, tired laugh. But it was still real.
She looked back at the photo on the floor, and her smile faded.
The girl in the picture...
...was smiling too.
But her eyes looked dead.
***
The streets looked ordinary. But everything felt... wrong.
Lira wasn't even sure where her feet were taking her anymore. She just kept walking, past the bakery, the old bookstore, across an intersection she didn't remember ever crossing before.
Then she stopped.
In front of her stood an old house.
Worn walls. Peeling paint. Faded curtains behind dusty windows. The air around it was still, as if time had stopped moving here long ago.
She didn't know this place. And yet, her entire body recognized it.
Something heavy settled in her chest. Not quite fear, not quite sadness.
More like grief... for something she didn't remember losing.
The gate creaked as she pushed it open.
She stepped in.
Leaves crunched beneath her shoes. The porch groaned under her weight. And the door?
It wasn't locked.
It slid open with a whisper.
She stepped into silence.
No echoes. No buzzing lights. No ticking clocks.
The air inside was thick with dust, like the house hadn't breathed in years. And yet... nothing about it felt abandoned.
There, in the middle of the room, sat a small wooden box on a table.
Lira approached it slowly.
Her hands were cold as she opened the lid.
Inside was a faded ID card.
She pulled it out.
A photo of her face stared back.
But the name wasn't hers.
Name: ALINA R.
Birthdate: The same.
Address: Somewhere she didn't know.
Lira's heart thudded.
Her fingers trembled as she flipped the card.
A line had been scratched in with a shaky pen:
"If you're reading this, it means you're the last one."
She stumbled back. Her breath came out shallow.
Her head spun.
What did that mean?
The last one... of what?
She turned to leave.
And stopped.
At the gate... standing perfectly still... was Reva.
But not the Reva she knew.
There was no smile on her face. No tilt of the head. No curious glint in her eyes.
Just silence.
She didn't blink.
Didn't wave.
Just stared.
Lira's flip phone buzzed in her pocket.
She opened it with shaking fingers.
One message:
"Don't approach her. She doesn't know she's not Reva."
Lira looked up again.
Reva hadn't moved.
But now, there was a smile creeping slowly onto her lips.
And it didn't reach her eyes.
***
Lira took a step back from the gate.
Reva was still there, standing completely still. Her smile lingered, but it was the kind that made Lira's stomach twist. It felt rehearsed. Not... alive.
Her phone buzzed again.
Nothing new. Just the same message.
"She doesn't know she's not Reva."
Lira turned and ran.
She didn't look back until the streetlights were far behind her, until the air felt lighter, until she could finally breathe.
But the image wouldn't leave her.
Reva... no, that version of her, standing by the gate. Smiling like she'd been watching her all along.
---
That night, Lira didn't sleep.
She sat on the floor of her room, surrounded by pieces of a life she couldn't quite claim.
The nameless book.
The ID card.
The photo.
The flip phone.
Her own reflection in the mirror.
It all felt like fragments from a story she was never meant to read.
She opened the book again, flipping past the familiar pages. Something near the back caught her eye.
A new line.
One she hadn't seen before.
"You replaced someone who chose to be forgotten. But memory can't be destroyed. Only locked."
"The key: the first place you were forgotten."
The first place?
Lira tried to think.
Not the house. Not school. Not the library.
Then...
A room.
Sterile white walls.
Fluorescent lights.
A chair in the center.
A mirror that wasn't a mirror.
She had seen it before. In flashes. In dreams. Or... something deeper.
It wasn't just a room. It was a start.
Or maybe... an end.
She stood.
The flip phone sat quiet beside her, but somehow, she knew it was waiting.
She grabbed her bag and stuffed everything inside, book, card, photo.
And then...
The phone buzzed.
A soft tone. Not an alert. Not a message.
Just a hum.
She flipped it open.
"11:11. Go to the waiting room."
No address. No map. Just that.
And somehow, she knew exactly where to go.
---
The school was empty at night.
Her footsteps echoed through the hallway. The overhead lights flickered slightly. Lockers lined both sides like silent witnesses.
At the end of the corridor, just past the counseling room...
A door was open.
Only one.
Light spilled through the crack.
She walked toward it.
Inside was a single chair.
And someone was sitting there.
Their back to her.
Lira stepped closer, cautiously. She barely breathed.
"I'm here," she said, her voice quiet.
The figure didn't respond.
Then... slowly it turned to face her.
Lira froze.
She was staring at her own face.
But not quite.
This version of her looked older. Paler. Eyes heavier, like they hadn't slept in years. Like they'd seen too much.
"Finally," the other her said. "We need to talk."
***
The version of her sitting in the chair didn't blink.
She looked like Lira. Same eyes. Same voice. But quieter. More controlled. Like she had spent years in silence and had only just remembered how to speak.
Lira stood near the doorway, her fingers gripping the strap of her bag.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
The other her tilted her head slightly. "I'm you… the part that stayed behind."
Lira felt a cold ache bloom in her chest.
"I don't understand."
"You will," the other her said. "Soon."
She stood up, slowly, like her body had forgotten how to move. She wasn't threatening. Just... inevitable. Her presence filled the room like fog.
"Have you ever felt like your choices weren't really yours?" she asked. "Like something else was guiding your hand before you even thought to reach?"
Lira nodded. Just once.
"That's because you're living through someone else's echo. You're a reflection. But the reflection was never meant to last."
Lira's voice cracked. "Then what am I?"
"You're what was left... when I chose to forget everything."
The lights flickered above them.
The flip phone in Lira's pocket buzzed again.
She took it out. The screen glowed with a timer.
00:11:01
A soft chime echoed through the hallway.
The other her stepped closer. She wasn't angry. She wasn't afraid.
She looked... tired.
"There's only enough space for one of us," she said. "At 11:11, only one can continue. The other will be... reclaimed."
"Reclaimed by what?"
The answer never came.
Instead, the flip phone vibrated harder in her hand.
A new message appeared:
"Choose."
Two options lit up on the screen:
STAY
SURRENDER
Lira looked up at the version of herself standing across the room.
"What happens if I choose to stay?"
The other her smiled faintly. "Then I disappear. And everything you've remembered... becomes your burden."
"And if I surrender?"
"You go back to where you started. You forget. But I wake up."
Lira's thumb hovered over the screen.
00:11:45
She closed her eyes. She thought of Reva. Of the photo. Of the house. Of every version of herself that might've existed, and might still be waiting.
She thought of the first time the phone rang.
Of the first time she looked in the mirror and didn't move in sync.
She opened her eyes.
00:11:59
She made her choice.
Pressed her thumb down.
The screen went black.
When she looked up...
The other her was gone.
The room was empty.
The chair sat still.
The light buzzed overhead.
She turned toward the mirror on the far wall.
Her reflection stared back at her. In perfect sync.
But it didn't smile.
Because deep down, she knew...
The version that vanished didn't truly leave.
It simply stepped back...
waiting for the next time the clock hit 11:11.
***