**Chapter Thirteen
Silence Between Two Faces**
Since that night, everything in the house changed.
A strange smell lingered in the hallway — something like burnt metal.
The mother could no longer sleep.
And every time she drifted off, she saw the same nightmare:
Her daughter standing in front of the mirror, smiling…
then turning around with a face that had no features.
In the morning, Nour was making tea as usual,
but her movements were too precise —
as if she were learning how to behave like a human.
Her mother watched in silence until she finally spoke, her voice trembling:
"Nour… do you feel alright?"
Nour lifted her eyes slowly, then smiled.
"Better than ever, Mom."
But the mother noticed something:
Nour was now using her left hand.
Her real daughter had always been right-handed.
She froze.
A silent scream tore through her chest but never reached her lips.
Nour stepped closer, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"Don't worry… I've simply returned to my rightful place."
Then she looked at the hallway mirror and whispered:
"Isn't that right… me?"
Her reflection moved its lips—
without her moving.
The mother stumbled backward, heart pounding wildly.
At that moment she wasn't sure anymore if her daughter stood in front of her…
or behind the glass.
Inside the mirror,
the real Nour was running through an endless maze.
Glass reflected her face from every direction —
but she no longer felt afraid.
She was searching for Niyar.
His voice grew weaker, as if something were dragging him away.
"Nour… don't stop… Don't let it see you afraid…"
His voice echoed from every direction, but it sounded different now —
closer, and filled with pain.
She turned into one of the corridors and found him there.
He was sitting on the floor, shadows swallowing his legs.
His face was pale, but his gray eyes still shone with life.
"Niyar!"
"You're late… The being is waking."
"What being?!"
"The mirror, Nour. It was never an object. It's a living entity.
Born from us… from human fear of their own reflection.
Every time someone looks at themselves with fear — they feed it."
She knelt beside him, trying to pull him away,
but the shadows clung to him fiercely.
"Don't try… I was the first to look into it. Centuries ago.
I'm not entirely human anymore, Nour."
She stared at him, shocked.
"You were… someone else's reflection?"
He gave a sad smile.
"I was the original. But I looked too long.
The mirror kept a copy of me…
and I became its prisoner."
Her tears fell onto his hand —
and the entire world trembled.
The ground cracked beneath them,
and the screams of trapped faces rose like a storm.
Niyar squeezed her hand weakly.
"Listen to me, Nour… If you want to return,
you must destroy the link between you and your reflection."
"How?!"
"You must look at her clearly…
and choose which one of you deserves to stay."
Then his voice faded, leaving only an echo:
"Only one of you can be real."
In the real world,
the mirror in Nour's room began making a strange sound —
heavy breathing.
The glass pulsed like a beating heart.
The mother stood in the hallway, desperately trying to call someone — a doctor, anyone —
but the phone wouldn't work.
Lights flickered violently.
Suddenly, she saw Nour's reflection speaking…
while the real Nour's body stood motionless.
The reflection said clearly:
"You tried for so long, Nour…
But this time, you won't get out."
And at that moment, inside the mirror world,
the real Nour saw the exact scene from the other side.
Her reflection smirked with confidence.
Nour screamed with all her strength:
"You are NOT me!"
The mirror shook violently,
sparks of light bursting between the worlds.
The air grew heavier,
voices overlapped,
and the mother collapsed in terror as she saw two Nours,
each trying to cross the glass.
One Nour crying and screaming,
the other laughing.
Then—
their voices merged into one.
Silence.
A blinding white explosion filled the room.
When the mother opened her eyes,
the room was still.
The mirror lay shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces —
each shard reflecting a different face of Nour.
A single girl lay on the floor, unconscious.
The mother approached her slowly, fear trembling in her bones.
The girl opened her eyes.
Gray eyes.
She smiled softly.
"Mom… everything is over."
But her voice wasn't exactly her daughter's.
There was a faint echo behind it,
as if two people were speaking at once.