My hand froze in midair. A cold shiver ran
down my spine. Why was the black cloth
over the mirror moving? Why did l feel
watched?
For a moment, the silence was unbearable
-- like the room itself was holding its
breath along whith me. A soft sound, like
deep, slow breathing, came from the
mirror. It felt like something behind it was
waiting... for me.
"Not again," l whispered.
I help my breath and lifed the cloth.
Nothing.
But not really.
The room in the mirror wasn't mine. It
looked the same... but something was
missing. There was no light. No life. Just
a figure standing in the corner -- the
shadow l had seen in my dream.
It was there.
And now l saw it clearly -- it wasn't just a
shadow. It was a distorted version of
myself. With hollow eyes. With lips curled
into a too -- wide, too--sharp smile.
"i am you," it said without moving its
mouth. The words echoed straight into my
mind.
"What do you want for me?" I asked, my
voice shaking.
"Coose," it said." "Stay... or come."
"Come where?"
"To the other side."
Before l could respond, the room began to tremble slightly. The walls seemed to pull
in the light. The mirror started to pulse.
So did my heartbeat.
"Do you see now?" the shadow asked.
"Here, you are free. There, you are trapped.
Do you really think this world is
real?"
I took a step back.
But nothing looked normal anymore. The waindow was gone. The door had melted
into the wall. And l couldn't cover the mirror again.
ONly one choise. One path. Stay... or face
it.
I felt her breath by my ear:
"Now I know who you are. Now I know
where to find you."
My blood froze.
That voice--too close, too real--was no.
longer just in my ear. It was inside me.
I turned, but the room had changed. The
corners stretched unnaturally high,
melting into shadows that pulsed like
lungs. The walls seemed to breathe. The
mirror... it was no longer reflecting
anything. Just a vast blackness. Moving.
Something behind it... was waking up.
"I never wanted this," I whispered.
A low, guttural laugh answeres. "But you
chose this. Or did you forget already?
The shadows thickened. My feet sank
slightly into the floor, as if the ground had
softened. I tried to step back--but there
was nowhere to go. The door was gone.
The window was just a smear of
darkness.
And then l saw it.
A second mirror.
Smaller. Oval. Floating in the air.
And in it--I wasn't me. The reflection
smiled. But I wasn't smiling. She blinked
when I didn't.
She moved first.
"Time to decide," the voice whispered
again.
"Her or you. There's always only
one.
My throad tightened. I could hear my
heartbeat in my skull, I didn't know what
the rules were. I didn't even know what I
was choosing between anymore.
But I felt it.
One step forward--and might lose
my self.
One step back--and I might never wake
up.
I froze
My body didn't respond. My kness
trembled, but something held me in place
--like gravity had twisted itself around me.
"Don't think. Choose," the voice
whispered.
This time, it was closer.
Not coming from any one directiom--it
was everywhere.
I turned... or maybe I only felt like I turned.
I couldn't tell anymore if I was moving, or
if this place was moving me.
The mirror swelled again, like it took a
deep breath the glass. But now--it
wasn't inviting me.
It was judging me.
And then I heard something that didn't
belong to me.
My voice.
"You're not ready," it said.
My reflection.
Speaking without me.
She smile--cold superior.
Then turned her back on me... and began
to walk away, deeper into the mirror, into a
world I couldn't see.
"Wait!" I shouted.
I hit the glass--nothing. No crack. No
sound.
Just cold. And silence.
Then the ground beneath me spilt open.
A thin, black fracture spread under my
feet like a living root, splitting, stretching,
deepening--
And then.. I fell.
No scream.
No panic.
Just a fall--wightless, directionless,
selfless.
And the last thing I heard, as everything
broke into darkness, was the voice again:
"Now the choise begins."
The words echoed through the darkness
like a slow, steady heartbeat.
And then--
Light.
A dim, pulsating glow appeared beneath
me, revealing ground. Not real ground--
stretched over bone.
I stooped up.
Someshow, my body still listened, though
everything inside me was breaking apart.
There were no walls. No sky. Just fog --
thick and breathing--curling around my
feet like it was tasting me.
Then I saw it.
A single wooden chair.
And in it... someone was sitting.
I couldn't see their face. Just long, dark
hair and arms resting on the sides,
unmoving.
The air around them shimmered, like heat,
but it felt cold.
I walked closer.
Each step made a squelching sound
beneath me, like stepping through
something alive. The fog parted slightly
with every. breath I took, and silence...
it never left.
Finally, I stood in front of the figure.
And stopped.
It was me.
But not as I was.
This version of me looked tired, older,
bruised by something no one else could
see. Her eyes opened slowly -- and they
were mine. But hollow. Like all the light
had been drained.
Stay
Take
No explanation. No guidance.
Just a feeling. A weight in the air.
I looked into her eyes -- my own eyes--
and she whipered without moving her
lips:
"You don't get both."
I looked down at the words.
STAY.
TAKE.
My hands tremblet.
"I don't understand," I whispered.
But deep down.. I did.
One meant comford. Illusion.
The other -- truth, no matter how much it
hurt.
I closed me eyes.
Then I stepped forward--
and chose.
The ground cracked.
A scream--mine, but not from my mouth.
And then--
Silence.
I reached out.
One word vanished.
The other burned beneath my feet.
And everything changed.