"I'm Eli," the boy said again.
His voice wasn't loud. Wasn't urgent. But it hit Ivy like an old note from a forgotten song—one her soul still knew how to hum even though her mind had no words for it.
She didn't move. Neither did Calla.
But Arlo stepped forward, jaw tight. "You shouldn't be here."
Eli smiled, like that didn't surprise him. "No. But she pulled me through anyway."
Ivy's throat felt dry.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered.
"Yes, you did," he said gently. "Not with your mind. With your heart."
He stepped closer. The ripple mirrors along the wall began to tremble. One cracked at the corner. Another shimmered as though fog were forming inside it.
Eli's eyes were gold, like Arlo's had been when the ripple opened—but sharper. Hungrier.
Calla raised her hand. Her fingers glowed faintly. "Don't come any closer."
Eli laughed, soft and bitter. "You always did hate being second."
The air tightened.
Ivy finally found her voice. "You're not… him. You can't be."
"I'm not exactly who I was," Eli said. "But I am him. At least, the version you wanted back. That's what the ripple does—it pulls what you reach for."
"I didn't reach for you," she snapped.
"Yes, you did," he said again, smiling sadly. "In the mirror. You chose to see the life where we were happy. You reached. The Veil answered."
The mirrors began to rattle now. One by one. Softly. Unsettlingly. Like glass remembering it once was water.
Calla moved to Ivy's side. "If he's back, there's a price."
"I know," Arlo muttered. "Something else has to go."
"Not just something," Eli said calmly. "Someone."
Ivy's heart stopped.
"What?"
"You called me through, Ivy. And to make space in this version of the world, someone else has to be erased."
"No," she whispered.
"I don't make the rules," Eli said. "You do."
Arlo stepped between them. "Take me."
Ivy's voice broke. "No—"
But Eli just shook his head. "Doesn't work that way. The Veil wants equivalence. Not volunteers."
One of the mirrors shattered.
The sound was clean. Sharp. Not like glass breaking—but like a decision being made.
Behind the mirror: a version of Ivy running through a burning hallway, holding someone's hand. Not Eli's. Not Arlo's.
Calla's.
The mirror bled silver.
Ivy stepped back, shaking.
"Stop it," she said. "I didn't ask for this."
"You remembered," Eli said. "That was enough."
"Then forget me again," she whispered. "I don't want to choose between you."
He took one more step forward. His voice was soft now, careful. Almost kind.
"I'm already here, Ivy. And the world's already bending to hold me. You can't undo it."
"Then I'll break the ripple," she said, breathless.
"You can try," Eli said, stepping into the glow of the nearest mirror.
The glass didn't reflect him.
It swallowed him.
And he vanished.
---
Calla grabbed Ivy's arm. "We need to go. Now. Before the ripple resets and takes us with it."
Ivy turned toward Arlo.
He nodded once, jaw clenched. "Run."
They ran.
Up the stairs.
Out the old wing.
Back into the real school, just as the final ripple collapsed in a pulse of pressure and light.
Behind them, the door slammed shut.
And all three locks clicked back into place.
Like it had never opened at all.
---
End of Chapter Nine