Page 1
The archway loomed higher with every step, like it was watching them approach.
Elira squinted at the twisting columns. "Why does it look like someone braided science and nightmares together?"
Kael didn't answer. Again. Rude.
The path led into a vast courtyard where everything whispered—walls, stones, even the air.
Elira stopped. "I feel like I'm walking into a library full of ghosts."
Kael nodded. "You are."
Awesome. Library card: fear.
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Page 2
They stepped inside.
The temple was circular, its walls covered in mirrors, each showing flickering images—some familiar, some not.
One mirror showed Elira as a child, building Lego towers with her dad.
Another showed her family sitting around the dinner table—except she wasn't there.
"They know what you miss," Kael warned.
"They're pushy little guilt-mirrors," she muttered, avoiding eye contact with every surface.
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Page 3
They reached the center chamber.
A pedestal stood alone, glowing faintly. Atop it: a crystal, deep red, shaped like a heart—but not a Valentine heart. More like… an actual human one.
It pulsed slowly.
"The Heart of the Door," Kael whispered. "It binds the seams between worlds."
"Cool," Elira said. "Let's grab it and run before the temple throws us a final exam."
She stepped forward.
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Page 4
As soon as her fingers touched the crystal—
Every mirror shattered.
The temple screamed. Not metaphorically—actual high-pitched howling filled the air.
Kael grabbed Elira's arm. "You triggered the Echoes!"
"What are those?!"
The shadows in the mirrors crawled out—tall, wavy figures made of broken reflections.
Elira stuffed the heart into her pocket. "I think I just stole the temple's soul."
"Run now, guilt later!" Kael shouted.
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Page 5
They sprinted through the echoing halls, the reflective creatures right behind them.
One reached out, and Elira saw its face—her face—twisted and sad.
It whispered, "You don't belong anywhere."
"I already knew that!" she yelled, kicking it square in the knee.
(Spoiler: Echoes don't like that.)
They burst out of the temple, onto the misty causeway.
Kael snapped the beacon disk.
Light exploded.
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Page 6
Back in the In-Between, the sky split.
A glowing rift tore open above the causeway.
And through it—Mira, Rhys, and Toby stumbled out.
"Elira!" Mira yelled, running forward.
Elira froze. "M-Mom?"
The family collided in a huge, messy hug.
Even Kael looked like he had dust in his eye. (Just one. Very suspicious dust.)
"I knew you were alive," Mira whispered, gripping her daughter's face.
"Technically not dead. Slightly traumatized," Elira muttered, smiling.
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Page 7
"Dad, what is this place?" Elira asked.
Rhys looked around grimly. "A mistake I made a long time ago."
Kael added, "One that's waking up."
Rhys opened a small case. Inside were tools glowing with the same symbols as the door.
"We have the Heart," he said. "Now we seal the seam."
"But it won't like that," Kael warned.
"It?" Toby asked.
Everyone went silent.
Then the shadows started to move.
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Page 8
From the forest below, a mass of darkness rose—huge, shifting, impossible to fully see.
Elira backed up. "Okay. That's new. And horrifying."
"It's the Hollow," Kael said. "It lives between worlds. It feeds on broken doors."
"Why is it always feeding?" Elira shouted. "Can't one evil monster just be a chill vegan?!"
Nope.
The Hollow shrieked. The world trembled.
Time was almost out.
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Page 9
They raced toward the old platform.
Rhys handed Elira a small rod. "This will activate the seal when placed in the pedestal."
"Why me?"
"Because the door opened for you. Only you can close it."
"Oh, cool," Elira said. "No pressure. Just the fate of reality."
She climbed the platform, wind roaring around her.
The Hollow came closer, tearing through trees.
"NOW, ELIRA!" Kael shouted.
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Page 10
She slammed the rod into the pedestal.
The ground cracked.
Light shot into the sky.
The Heart of the Door in her pocket grew warm, then hot—then vanished.
A wave of light exploded outward, swallowing the Hollow in brilliant silence.
Everything stopped.
No sound. No air. No fear.
Just…
Stillness.
Then the world breathed again.
The In-Between began to fade.
And so did they.
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