EPISODE 7
The hallway remained completely dark.
Elizabeth could still hear the rain outside tapping softly against the windows, but inside the house every sound felt distant, muffled beneath the heavy silence surrounding the mirror.
Her phone screen dimly illuminated the hallway.
The reflection was still there.
Standing exactly where she stood.
But something was wrong now.
The reflection was breathing.
Elizabeth froze.
She could see its shoulders moving slowly up and down inside the glass while her own body remained perfectly still.
A cold pressure tightened around her chest.
Then the reflection smiled.
Not widely.
Not unnaturally.
Just enough.
A tiny movement her real face had not made.
Elizabeth stepped backward immediately.
The phone nearly slipped from her hands.
The reflection did not move with her. It remained standing near the mirror as though it no longer required her movements to exist.
Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears.
No… she whispered.
The figure inside the mirror tilted its head slightly.
Watching her.
Studying her.
Then Elizabeth noticed something even worse.
The reflection’s eyes were no longer looking at her.
They were looking past her.
Toward the living room behind her.
Elizabeth turned instantly.
The room was empty.
But she heard movement.
A soft creak somewhere near the kitchen.
Her breathing became uneven.
The house suddenly no longer felt familiar.
Every doorway looked darker than before.
Every corner felt occupied by something silently waiting out of sight.
Her phone vibrated again.
Another message appeared.
Do not look away from it for too long.
Elizabeth slowly lifted the phone again.
The reflection was closer now.
Not much.
Only a single step.
But Elizabeth knew with absolute certainty she had not seen it move.
A sharp crack echoed through the hallway.
The mirror surface trembled slightly.
Then a second crack spread across the glass.
The reflection did not react.
It simply continued staring directly at her.
Smiling slightly wider than before.