Lina turned the black velvet invitation over in her hands again and again. The photograph of Amir still made her skin crawl—how did they even take it?
But now, in the lower corner of the card, barely visible under the shimmer of silver ink, she noticed something she had missed before:
> Location: The Hall of Mirrors
Old Quarter, Block 9 – Building 17
Entrance through the back gate. 11:00 PM. Sharp.
Her fingers gripped the card tighter. This wasn't just a prank. Someone wanted her somewhere. At a specific time. With a threat.
She thought of Amir again.
She didn't have a choice.
---
By 10:45 PM, Lina was already on her way. The streets of the Old Quarter were quiet, unusually so. No one was out. The street lamps flickered like they were about to burn out. Every step echoed too loudly.
Finally, she reached Building 17—a tall, narrow, crumbling structure with ivy crawling up its face like veins. It looked… abandoned. A broken sign hung by a nail, swinging in the wind.
She hesitated.
But the card said the back gate.
She circled around the building. Sure enough, a rusted iron gate stood open, as if waiting for her.
Lina stepped through.
---
Inside, the hallway was dimly lit by old wall sconces. But what surprised her most was this:
She wasn't alone.
At least ten other people stood or sat quietly in the narrow waiting room just beyond the gate—men and women, some older, some younger, all holding black envelopes like hers.
No one spoke.
They just looked at each other, then quickly looked away.
A girl sitting near the corner met Lina's gaze briefly—wide, dark eyes, anxious. She clutched her envelope tightly.
Lina sat near the edge of the room. The silence buzzed with tension.
On the far wall, a single door stood shut. Wooden. Old. With a gold plaque:
> "Hall of Mirrors"
Above the door, a red light glowed faintly.
10:58 PM.
---
Suddenly, the door creaked.
Everyone turned.
An old woman in a black veil stepped out, face half-hidden. She looked slowly around the room and said, in a voice like broken glass:
> "The time has come.
You've been invited…
Now, you must play."
She stepped aside.
The red light above the door turned green.
One by one, the players rose from their seats and stepped into the darkness beyond.
Lina's turn came quickly.
Her hand trembled on the doorknob.
She looked back once.
The door shut behind her.
> And somewhere, deep inside the building, a bell rang once—low and hollow—
as if the game had just claimed its first name.