Elara never feared mirrors Until they began watching her
It started with a flicker. A blink tha wasn't hers. She had just finished brushing her hair when her reflection delayed, then caught up in a fluid motion like buffering video. She laughed it off, chalking it up to lack of sleep. But the next night, it happened again and again.
By the end of the week, her laughter had died. The girl in the mirror still looked like her same storm-gray eyes, same crooked braid but something about her expression was off. Too still. Too controlled. Like she was waiting.
At school, her her thoughts drifted. Teachers word were muffled Noise, and her friends noticed her distant stares. "You okay?" Mara asked once, eyes narrowing in concern.
Elara nodded. She didn't mention the dreams.
Each night brought her deeper into a place made of ink and silence, with hallways that breathed and voices whispering from behind cracked glass. A shadow followed her, always just beyond the edge of vision.
One night, she woke up with her hand pressed against her bedroom mirror, forehead resting on cool glass. She hadn't meant to move.
Or maybe... she hadn't
She stepped back, heart racing. Her reflection smiled.
She didn't
The chill that crawled down her spine whispered a truth she didn't want to believe something inside the mirror had noticed her.
And it wanted her.