EPISODE 12
THE OTHER ELIZABETH
The darkness inside the hallway breathed softly.
Elizabeth couldn’t see anything now.
Not the staircase.
Not the mirror.
Not even her own hands.
Only the sound remained.
Slow breathing somewhere nearby.
Then
Her phone screen flickered back on by itself.
One message waited on the screen.
DO NOT LET HER REPLACE YOU.
Elizabeth’s throat tightened.
Who? she whispered.
The flashlight suddenly turned back on.
For one second
She saw someone standing at the end of the hallway.
A woman.
Same height.
Same hair.
Same face.
Elizabeth’s face.
Then the flashlight died again instantly.
Elizabeth stumbled backward.
No…
A soft laugh echoed through the darkness.
Not from far away.
Right beside her.
You always panic first, her own voice whispered.
The hallway lights flickered weakly back to life.
The house looked different now.
Older.
Rotten wallpaper peeled from the walls.
Dark stains spread across the ceiling.
The air smelled damp.
Dead.
Elizabeth turned slowly toward the cracked mirror.
And froze.
Her reflection had returned.
But it wasn’t copying her movements.
The reflected Elizabeth stood completely still.
Smiling.
Watching her.
Then the reflection slowly raised one finger
And pointed behind her.
Elizabeth spun around violently.
Nothing there.
When she looked back at the mirror
The reflected version was gone.
Another message appeared on her phone.
SHE CAME BACK FIRST.
Heavy footsteps echoed upstairs again.
But now there were two sets.
One moving normally.
The other dragging slowly across the floor.
Elizabeth backed toward the front door desperately.
She grabbed the handle.
Locked.
She twisted harder.
The door wouldn’t move.
The house groaned loudly around her.
Almost like laughter.
Then came a voice from upstairs.
Her own voice.
Mom?
Elizabeth stopped breathing.
Another voice answered softly.
Lizzie…
Her mother.
Again.
But this time
Something else answered too.
Another Elizabeth.
Crying.
Please don’t leave me here…
Elizabeth felt panic rising violently inside her chest.
The voices upstairs sounded real.
Too real.
Then the staircase creaked.
Someone was coming down.
Slowly.
Elizabeth raised the dead flashlight like a weapon.
One step.
Another.
Then she saw herself descending from the darkness above.
Same face.
Same clothes.
Same terrified expression.
The other Elizabeth stopped halfway down the stairs.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Then the copy smiled first.
“You remember now,” it whispered.
Elizabeth stared in horror.
What are you?
The other Elizabeth tilted her head slowly.
I’m the version that stayed.
The hallway lights flickered violently again.
And suddenly
Memories slammed into Elizabeth’s mind.
A doorway hidden behind the mirror.
Cold darkness beyond it.
Her mother screaming.
Two Elizabeths running in opposite directions.
One escaped.
One didn’t.
Elizabeth grabbed the wall for support.
No… no…
The copy stepped lower down the staircase.
You shut the door before I got out.
Tears filled Elizabeth’s eyes instantly.
That isn’t possible…
The other Elizabeth smiled wider.
Behind her skin
Shapes moved slowly beneath the surface.
Faces pressing outward.
Watching.
Waiting.
You left us inside the house.
The mirror behind Elizabeth cracked loudly.
She turned toward it.
The reflection now showed dozens of versions of herself standing together inside the rotten hallway.
Different ages.
Different clothes.
Some crying.
Some smiling.
Some horribly wrong.
All staring directly at her.
The house lights suddenly turned blood red.
Emergency lights.
Just like a warning system activating.
Then every version inside the mirror spoke together:
THE DOOR IS OPEN AGAIN.
The walls began shaking violently.
Pictures crashed to the floor.
Somewhere deep inside the house
A massive door slowly creaked open.
Elizabeth heard something huge breathing on the other side.
The copy on the staircase suddenly looked afraid.
Actually afraid.
It’s awake, she whispered.
A low sound echoed through the walls.
Not footsteps.
Not voices.
Something bigger.
Moving slowly beneath the house itself.
The floorboards bent slightly under Elizabeth’s feet.
Then came a loud metallic bang from inside the walls.
Another.
Closer this time.
The mirror shattered instantly.
Glass exploded across the hallway.
And from inside the broken reflection
A pale hand reached outward.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
Elizabeth stumbled backward in terror as the hands clawed their way out of the mirror together.
And deep beneath the house
Something enormous finally opened its eyes.