Lina kept her hand on Kai's chest. She could feel his heartbeat under her palm, fast and strong. It was real. It was not a mirror. It was not a voice in a wall. It was a living person standing right in front of her.
Kai did not move away. He stayed close, eyes locked on hers, like he was telling her something without words. Lina understood. This is what keeps you here. This is what keeps you real.
The mirror panel shivered again. The words on it flickered.
SAY IT TWICE.
Kai stared at the mirror like he hated it. "No," he said. He said it once. He did not repeat it.
The mirror-Kai smiled again, but the smile looked weaker now, like it had to work harder. It leaned closer to the glass from the inside.
Then it used Lina's voice, soft and sweet.
"Kai, you're tired. Let me carry it."
Kai's jaw tightened. He did not answer. He only tightened his hold on Lina's hand.
Seren stepped beside them. Her eyes glowed silver and wet. She stared at the mirror panel like she could hear something behind it.
"I hear a lot of voices," Seren whispered. "They are stacked. Like pages. Like the mirror is made of people who failed."
Mira hugged herself. Her face was pale. She kept staring at the floor so she wouldn't see the mirror.
Reyon swallowed hard. "So this is the rule," Reyon whispered. "No talking. No looking. No repeating."
Kai nodded once. "And no one walks alone."
Jax stood behind them, shaking. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. His mouth opened, then closed. He looked at Kai like he was begging for a chance to fix what he broke.
Kai didn't look at him yet.
The corridor behind them made a soft sound, like a breath.
Then a voice came, quiet and broken.
"Help."
It was Mira's dad again.
Mira flinched so hard her shoulders jumped. Tears filled her eyes. She squeezed her own arms like she could hold herself together.
Kai kept his hand on Lina's wrist, steady. He reached his other hand out and touched Mira's shoulder, gentle but firm. He didn't speak. He just squeezed once.
Mira took a shaky breath and nodded.
The mirror panel flashed. The silver letters changed.
SAY HER NAME.
Lina's stomach dropped.
It was trying a new trick. It wanted a name again. It wanted them to speak. It wanted them to repeat until something broke.
Seren shook her head fast. "No," she whispered.
Even her whisper made the walls hum.
Seren's eyes widened. She pressed her lips shut and looked scared, like she just made a mistake.
Kai's eyes flicked to Seren, then to everyone. His voice stayed low and careful. "No more whispers," he said. "Not even small ones."
Reyon's eyes went wide. He nodded fast.
Lina's throat burned. She wanted to tell Kai she was sorry she spoke that one word earlier. She wanted to tell Mira she would get her laugh back. She wanted to tell Seren she was brave.
But Lina kept her mouth shut.
The mirror-Kai raised a hand and pressed it against the glass from inside. Its palm matched Kai's palm shape, but it looked too smooth, too perfect.
Then the mirror-Kai did something cruel.
It tapped the glass twice.
Tap. Tap.
The sound was tiny, but it landed inside Lina's head like a command.
Say it twice.
The mirror was not only showing things. It was teaching the corridor a rhythm.
Kai's heartbeat under Lina's hand beat fast and steady.
Thump. Thump.
Lina held onto that instead.
Kai lifted Lina's hand slightly on his chest, like he was reminding her to feel the real rhythm. He squeezed her fingers.
Then he pointed to the floor, right under the mirror panel. There was a thin line of shadow there, like a crack. It was not a normal crack. It looked like a cut made by an old blade.
Seren's eyes widened when she saw it. "Shadowsteel," Seren mouthed silently.
Kai nodded. He had cut something here before, long ago.
Kai moved closer to the mirror panel, still holding Lina. He did not let her hand leave his chest. He took a breath, then raised his free hand.
Shadow rippled along his fingers like dark metal.
Kai did not slice the mirror.
He sliced the air in front of it, like he was cutting a thread.
The mirror panel shuddered. The mirror-Kai's smile froze. The glass flashed bright, then dull.
For a moment, the mirror showed nothing at all.
Just darkness.
Then a new message appeared on the glass, written slowly, like someone was writing with patience.
PAYMENT REQUIRED.
Lina felt it in her head right away.
Mirror Tax.
Her vision blurred for one second. A memory tugged loose like a thread.
She tried to grab it, but it slipped away.
It was small. It was harmless.
It was the smell of her favorite soap.
Gone.
Lina's breath caught. She did not cry, but her eyes burned.
Kai saw it. His face tightened with anger and guilt. He pressed Lina's hand harder to his chest like he wanted to give her something real in place of what the school took.
Seren's eyes glowed bright. "It took a memory," Seren whispered, then stopped, biting her lip hard.
Reyon looked sick. "This school is a thief."
The mirror panel went dark again.
But the corridor did not feel safer.
It felt like the Echo route was learning. Like it was getting smarter each time they refused.
Then the deep voice under the school moved inside Lina's bones again, slow and pleased.
Good.
Lina's stomach turned. She felt it listening like a giant ear under stone.
And then, right beside her, the corridor used Lina's stolen voice again. It was soft, close, and careful, like it knew how to be scary.
"Kai," Lina's stolen voice said, "tell her your true name."
Kai went still.
Lina's blood ran cold.
Because the corridor had not said that before.
It was not guessing anymore.
It knew what mattered.
It knew what could break them.
Kai's grip tightened like iron.
Seren's eyes widened in terror.
Mira made a small, scared sound.
Reyon whispered, "That's… targeted."
And the mirror panel, still dark, lit up one last time with a single symbol that made Lina's stomach drop.
🪞
Then the glass showed Kai again.
Not mirror-Kai.
Not fake-Kai.
A memory-Kai.
Kai on his knees, mark burning, voice forced.
A Council voice above him saying one line Lina never wanted to hear again.
"By Founder's law, swear obedience."
The mirror wanted Kai to repeat it.
The corridor wanted Lina to answer it.
And the seal under the school listened for either one.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.