The fire crackled in the hearth of Gogo Thembi's secluded hut, but Nkosana felt no warmth from it. His skin prickled as he sat silently before her, watching the old woman stir a blackened pot of herbs. The walls of her home were covered in strange charms—bones tied with red string, jars with things that shouldn't move but did, and a mirror… the only mirror, covered with cloth.
"You've seen it, haven't you?" Gogo said without looking up. "The other side."
Nkosana nodded. He had dreamed of it last night. A version of his village twisted by shadow. People with hollow eyes. And himself—laughing with a voice that wasn't his.
"It's calling you," she whispered. "The seed inside you is growing."
"What does it want from me?" he asked.
Gogo finally turned. Her eyes weren't old anymore. They were black, deep, endless.
"It doesn't want *from* you, Nkosana. It wants *through* you."
Before he could speak, the fire roared suddenly. Flames climbed high, and in them… a vision. His mother, standing outside his home, looking up. Then a shadow behind her—one with eyes like his.
Nkosana jumped to his feet. "She's in danger!"Gogo caught his arm. "If you leave now, you might save her body… but lose her soul. The demon watches your every step."
Nkosana hesitated. The mirror behind Gogo trembled, its cloth slipping.
And for the first time, he saw his reflection not following him—but smiling back.