Chapter Eighteen: The Final Door
The apartment was silent, save for the sound of rain gently tapping against the windows.
Nour held a small flashlight in her hand and walked slowly down the long hallway.
Each step echoed strangely, as if the floor answered her with a faint groan.
She stopped before the closed door at the end of the corridor—
the door she had never opened since the beginning.
Cold air seeped from beneath it, as though an entire night awaited her beyond.
She placed her hand on the handle and hesitated.
She whispered to herself in a trembling voice:
_"Everything began here… and now it returns."
---
She opened the door slowly.
The room was completely dark, except for moonlight slipping through the cracks in the curtains.
And in the center of the room…
stood the original mirror, covered with old gray cloth.
Nour stepped closer and pulled the cloth away gently.
The mirror looked larger than she remembered, its edges cracked, the glass breathing softly.
When she looked into it, she did not see herself.
Instead, she saw fragmented scenes:
faces of people in the streets, mirrors shattering, reflections moving on their own.
Then she appeared—
her other reflection, brighter and more beautiful, but with cold eyes.
_ "At last… you came,"
the reflection said with a calm smile.
"I knew you wouldn't endure staying there for long.
The world doesn't want you, Nour. The world wants me."
Nour stepped back, her heart pounding wildly:
_ "Who are you, exactly?"
"I am you… but without fear. Without pain.
I am what you tried to hide every time you looked at yourself."
---
The reflection raised her hand,
and all the small mirrors in the room began to tremble as if preparing to explode.
_"You're the one who opened the door, and I'm the one who will close it.
But only one of us will remain on the right side."
---
At that moment, Niyar was cutting his way through the void,
darkness thick around him like smoke, each step opening a path only for a thousand mirrors to close behind him.
The white girl—the one he had seen before—appeared again.
_ "You're nearing the final boundary, Niyar.
But time is running out. If you cross after the mirror closes, you'll disintegrate."
Niyar lifted his head, his voice steady despite the pain:
"I won't let her face it alone.
Even if I'm the one who ends."
---
She extended her hand, and in her palm lay a piece of glowing glass.
"This is an echo of her light.
It will be your path to her world… but remember,
every entry has a price."
Niyar took it without hesitation.
Suddenly, a massive mirror opened before him,
reflecting his face—but with red eyes.
He stepped inside—and the light vanished around him.
---
Nour now stood before the original mirror,
the other reflection approaching her with calm steps.
"Every human has a reflection,
but you're the only one who set yours free."
---
The mirror began to crack again,
and countless voices poured out—screams, cries, and intertwined laughter.
Nour placed her hand over her heart, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Maybe I was afraid… but I was real.
You're beautiful because you're flawless…
but beauty without pain… isn't life."
---
The reflection screamed sharply, and the mirror shook violently.
"You don't understand! The world can no longer endure your weakness!"
---
Suddenly, the light went out.
Then, from the heart of the void,
Niyar emerged.
He appeared behind Nour, his hair drifting like a smoky shadow.
His voice was low but firm:
"Enough.
The mirror doesn't want someone perfect,
but someone who knows they are incomplete."
Nour turned to him in shock:
"Niyar? How did you come back?"
He smiled faintly.
"I never fully left… I was on the other side of your fear."
---
He raised his hand, and the glass shard he carried began to glow,
piercing the light spilling from the original mirror.
The reflection screamed:
"No! If you do that, the two worlds will become one!"
---
Niyar looked at Nour and said:
"You must choose now…
you or your reflection.
Only one will remain."
---
Nour closed her eyes and heard the rain intensify outside.
All her memories rushed through her mind—pain, loss, guilt, loneliness…
Then she whispered:
"I don't want to erase her… I want to reconcile with her."
She opened her eyes and extended her hand toward the other reflection.
"Come… we won't fight anymore.
I won't run from you, because you are a part of me."
---
The reflection hesitated, then touched her hand.
Light flooded the room—
the mirror's glass began to melt like ice,
and the two images merged into a single body.
Nour collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily,
but her face looked different—clearer, more alive.
Niyar stepped closer slowly and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You closed the door, Nour… but at a cost."
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes:
"What is the cost?"
He smiled a half-sad smile and said:
"I'm the one who was meant to remain behind the mirror."
---
Before she could speak, his body began to fade gradually,
as if the light were gently pulling him toward the other side.
She reached out to him, crying out:
"Niyar! Don't go!"
But he gave his final smile and said softly:
_ "I'm not leaving… I'm only a reflection of your light."
---
He vanished into the glow,
leaving behind only the scent of rain and the echo of his voice.
Nour sat alone before the glass that had turned to ash and whispered,
staring at her still-trembling hand:
_ "Perhaps the mirrors have ended…
but his reflection will remain within me."