The next morning, Ava woke with a start.
The dream still clung to her mind like cobwebs:
Elira standing in the middle of a burning forest, whispering her name.
Her voice wasn't a scream—
…it was a command.
> "Find me before they do."
Ava sat up, drenched in sweat. Her breath came in shallow gasps. She didn't know whether to be terrified… or determined.
She reached for her journal and scribbled the dream down, trying to keep her hands steady. This wasn't the first time Elira had come to her in sleep—but this time, it felt different.
More real.
---
Rayen picked her up twenty minutes later. He had dark circles under his eyes. "I couldn't sleep either," he admitted.
They decided to return to the storage unit. The place was still untouched—at least, from the outside. But inside, something was off.
There was a stack of papers that hadn't been there before. Neatly tied together, resting on top of the same wooden box Ava had opened earlier.
Rayen glanced at her. "You see this too, right?"
She nodded. "Someone came in here."
She untied the bundle with trembling hands. Inside were journal pages—yellowed, ink faded in parts, but readable.
Elira's handwriting.
> "They call it The Veil."
"It separates what's real from what's hidden."
"They say I crossed it. I think they're right."
"But I'm not the only one. Ava is next."
Ava dropped the pages. "What the hell is this?"
Rayen knelt beside her, flipping through the rest. "Your sister was documenting… something. Something paranormal."
Ava felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "You think she really crossed into something… another dimension or world?"
Rayen met her eyes. "I think Elira was trying to warn you."
---
Later, they visited an occult bookstore on the outskirts of the city. The owner, a silver-haired woman named Lysandra, had been mentioned once in Elira's letters.
She welcomed them quietly and offered tea that tasted like roses and ash.
"You've come about the girl," she said without being told.
"You knew Elira?" Ava asked.
"I knew her shadow," Lysandra whispered. "The part she couldn't understand."
Ava looked confused. "What does that mean?"
Lysandra stood and retrieved an old book—its cover bound in cracked leather.
She opened to a page and pointed to an illustration:
Two young girls, mirror images of each other, one in light, the other in darkness.
> "The Echoed Twin."
"This is an old myth," Lysandra explained. "Some souls are born split. One half stays grounded in reality… the other drifts, connected to things beyond our world."
She looked straight at Ava. "But sometimes, they switch."
Ava felt the air thicken.
"You're saying Elira and I… switched places?"
"Not yet," Lysandra said. "But you're close. The dreams, the whispers, the reflections—they're signs."
---
On the way back, silence hung between them like a storm cloud.
"Do you believe any of this?" Ava finally asked.
Rayen looked at her, expression unreadable. "I don't know. But I believe you're in danger."
She smiled faintly. "That makes two of us."
Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt.
A shadow had darted across the road.
Rayen jumped out with a flashlight, scanning the woods. "I swear I saw someone—!"
Ava followed, heart racing. The trees loomed tall, whispering with the wind.
Then, a voice called out.
Soft. Childlike.
> "Ava…"
They froze.
It was coming from all directions.
Rayen grabbed her hand. "Let's go."
They ran back to the car, doors slamming shut behind them.
But as they drove away, Ava couldn't help looking into the rearview mirror.
And in the middle of the road, lit faintly by the taillights—
Stood a girl.
Wearing the same white dress from the photo in the storage box.
She didn't move.
She only smiled.
---
To be continued.....