Chapter 22: Escape
Edward stopped, making a gesture as if listening.
"Our mother, Amy, was pregnant with twins back then.
But when I was born, I was a bit... deformed.
Our father, Dr. Dan, who was obsessed with perfection, considered me a disgrace and abandoned me the night I was born."
Her tone was calm, as if she were telling a story about someone else.
"I died, but my resentment kept me here, turning me into a vengeful spirit trapped in a mirror.
For many years, I could only watch my sister through the mirror, watching her live the life that should have been mine.
Watching her being harshly criticized by father, bullied by classmates, watching her live less and less like herself."
"Until one day, she saw me too.
She was scared, but she didn't scream.
We started talking, and I told her my story. She felt sorry for me, even felt guilty about it."
"So, you made a deal?" Edward interjected.
"She was the one who suggested it." Alan's lips curved into a complex expression, a mix of mockery and sadness. "She said she was exhausted, she didn't want to face any of this anymore. She wanted me to live for her, to fight back, to do all the things she was too scared to do. And she could hide in the mirror and find peace."
After listening, Edward's face showed a perfectly timed expression of shock, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath: "So that's what happened... No wonder you've changed so much—you're her twin sister, Alan."
Alan stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Connor, you're a terrible actor." She mercilessly called him out. "Your performance is worse than the lead in a middle school play. From the beginning, you knew something was off with me, didn't you?"
Caught red-handed, Edward wasn't embarrassed—he just rubbed his nose: "Was it that obvious?"
"Your gaze is way too intense, not like you're looking at an ordinary classmate, but more like you're studying an interesting specimen." Alan hit the nail on the head.
Just then, an extreme chill assaulted them from behind!
The mastermind, who'd been hiding in the shadows, finally launched a sneak attack.
The shadow on the main mirror in the center of the hall suddenly swelled, transforming into a giant, pitch-black ghostly claw made of countless twisted human faces, silently grabbing at Alan's back!
It could sense that this girl's soul had a fatal attraction to it.
"Watch out!"
Edward reacted even faster. He didn't turn his head—only a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"Telekinesis!"
An invisible, powerful force instantly erupted, and the menacing ghostly claw stopped abruptly less than two feet from Alan, as if it had hit an invisible wall, frozen in mid-air.
The shadow struggled violently, emitting angry roars, and the entire mirror world trembled with it.
"Is that all you've got?" Edward turned around, a faint, mocking smile on his face.
He raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers toward the trapped shadow.
"Purification."
Gentle and pure holy light surged from his palm, like a miniature sun. But for the shadow, this light was the most lethal poison. The holy light transformed into countless glowing threads, coiling around the shadow, and then began to tighten.
"Ah ah ah—!"
A terrifying, inhuman shriek echoed throughout the space. The shadow, immobilized by Telekinesis, could only watch as its body was burned and disintegrated by the holy light bit by bit. Black smoke continuously billowed out, and the tormented human faces that made up its body dissolved one by one, emitting sighs of relief.
The demon roared, cursed, but it was useless.
In the face of absolute power, all struggles are futile.
Alan stood by, witnessing it all. She watched the man, with just a lift of his hand, manipulate a powerful demon capable of terrorizing the entire town, and that casual confidence shook her to her core.
Finally, the screams stopped.
The massive shadow was completely purified—not even a trace of resentment remained. In mid-air, only a fist-sized, crystal-clear diamond-shaped crystal remained, emitting a faint glow, slowly descending.
Edward reached out and caught the crystal; it was cold to the touch, with a texture like the purest glass.
He weighed it in his hand, then looked at Alan, spreading his hands: "Alright, mission accomplished. Now the problem is, how do we get out?"
Alan's gaze, however, was fixed on the crystal in his hand. Her breathing was rapid, and her eyes sparkled with unprecedented desire.
"That thing..." she murmured to herself.
She looked up at Edward, her eyes filled with uncontainable excitement and ambition.
"Let me absorb it."
"Absorb?"
"Yes!" Alan's tone became firm. "As long as I absorb it, we can get out, and even... freely travel through all mirrors, no longer bound by anything!"
Edward looked at the burning flame in her eyes and understood what she meant. This wasn't just a key to escape, but an opportunity for her to completely transform.
Without hesitation, he directly tossed the crystal to her.
"Then what are you waiting for?"
Alan reached out and steadily caught the diamond-shaped crystal.
The crystal was cold in her hand, yet it pulsed as if with some kind of life, glowing faintly in her palm. Her eyes were intense, the look of someone who'd seen the stairway to a throne, filled with undisguised ambition and desire.
Edward crossed his arms, watching her casually, as if enjoying a show about to begin. He didn't rush her, nor did he question her; that complete trust was more encouraging than any words.
"Aren't you afraid I'll lose control?" Alan looked up, her gaze fixed intently on him.
"Afraid?" Edward smiled. "I'm only afraid things won't be interesting enough. Besides, even if you do lose control," he extended a finger, pointing at Alan's forehead from a distance, "I'll pull you back."
Alan's heart skipped a beat—it was the feeling of being truly seen.
She said no more, her eyes narrowed, and her five fingers gripping the crystal suddenly tightened.
"Crack—"
A crisp shattering sound rang out, and the hard crystal broke in her hand, turning into countless sparkling motes of light. These motes didn't scatter, but as if drawn by some fatal attraction, they formed a brilliant river of light, surging wildly into Alan's body.
"Ugh..."
Alan let out a muffled groan, her body trembling uncontrollably. A vast, unimaginably powerful Mirror Source energy violently surged within her, attempting to tear her soul apart. She gritted her teeth, her eyes instantly turning pitch black, like two bottomless voids.
At the same time, the entire mirror world began to violently shake. Decaying walls peeled off in chunks, the ground cracked into deep crevasses, and the ghostly flames on the ceiling flickered wildly, as if they could extinguish at any moment. This false world, constructed from the demon's resentment, was heading toward collapse after losing its core.
Edward stood still, unmoved. Invisible Telekinesis formed a barrier around him, deflecting all collapsing debris. He watched Alan, who was undergoing transformation, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.
This girl's willpower was far stronger than he'd imagined.
That violent energy was enough to destroy any ordinary vengeful spirit, but Alan endured it. Her body floated up, her slightly wavy long hair moving without wind, and the aura emanating from her body oscillated wildly between the two extremes of madness and calmness.
Finally, all the light converged into her body.
The world fell silent.
Alan slowly descended back to the ground. She opened her eyes, and in her pitch-black pupils, a magnificent world composed of countless mirrors was reflected. She raised her hand, looking at her pale palm, and gently clenched her fist.
"Snap."
With a soft sound, a full-length mirror next to her shattered into dust without warning.
She'd succeeded. She was no longer a vengeful spirit dependent on a single mirror—she'd become the Queen of all mirrors.
"How do you feel?" Edward asked.
"Better than ever." Alan's lips curved into a confident, soaring smile. She turned to look at Edward, a hint of playfulness in her eyes. "But this place is about to collapse—we need to go. Hold onto me."
Before her words finished, she grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him toward the depths of the void.
The surrounding scenery changed rapidly, countless broken mirror fragments streaking past them like meteors. Edward let her pull him, curiously experiencing this strange sensation of spatial travel.
"Where are we going?"
"Home." Alan's voice came clearly.
Before her eyes, a mirror emitting a soft glow appeared. On the other side of the mirror was a cozy and tidy girl's bedroom.
This was it.
Alan didn't slow down at all, pulling Edward, and crashed straight through.
The feeling of passing through the mirror was strange, like passing through a cool waterfall. The next second, the world spun, and the two tumbled out of mid-air, landing heavily on the soft carpet.
This was a classic rich girl's room, with pale pink walls, a white vanity, and cute stuffed animals piled on the bed. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the blinds, casting streaks of light in the air. Everything seemed so peaceful and beautiful, a stark contrast to the gloomy and terrifying mirror world they'd just left.
Due to momentum, Edward was pinned beneath Alan, and Alan, to steady herself, placed her hands on either side of his chest.
The two were stacked together in an extremely compromising position.
Edward could even smell the lingering chill of the mirror world in her hair, mixed with her own unique scent like a black rose. He could feel the softness and warmth of her body, and the rapid beating of her heart in her chest.
Alan was also frozen.
She looked down, meeting Edward's amused eyes. Those eyes were like a deep night sky, making her heart race, and a blush uncontrollably spread across her cheeks. It was her first time being this close to a guy, close enough to see his individual eyelashes.
The atmosphere, for a moment, became incredibly awkward.
Just at this silent moment, where you could almost hear heartbeats, a timid voice, tinged with disbelief, sounded from the full-length mirror they'd just emerged from.
"What... are you two doing?"
The voice was soft, yet it exploded like a bomb in their ears.
Edward and Alan both froze simultaneously, their movements suspended in that moment, as if someone had hit pause.
The two slowly, and very stiffly, turned their heads to look at the large full-length mirror.
In the mirror, Maria's pale and delicate face was clearly visible. Her eyes were wide open, filled with shock, confusion, and a hint of undeniable... hurt.
She just quietly watched her "sister" on top of Edward, watching the intimate distance between them, her lips trembling slightly, but unable to say another word.
"Uh..."
Even with Edward's thick skin, he felt his scalp prickle at that moment.
This scene was way more intense than fighting a demon just now.
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