Elara stared at the girl standing in front of her… the girl who had her face, her voice, her eyes but looked broken, tired, and strangely older.
"This… this isn't possible," Elara whispered, stepping back until her shoulders touched the cold wall.
The other Elara watched her quietly, her expression calm but filled with sadness.
"It is possible," she said softly. "You just don't remember anymore."
The room suddenly shook again. Dust fell from the ceiling. The broken mirror beside them made a sharp cracking sound, spreading new fractures across the glass like lightning.
Elara looked toward the bedroom door and rushed to it. She grabbed the handle and pulled hard.
It wouldn't move.
She pulled again, panic rising in her chest. "Open! OPEN!"
"It won't open," the other Elara said gently. "It never opens when it wants you to stay."
Elara slowly turned toward her. "Stay… for what?"
The other Elara stepped closer. Her footsteps made a dry scraping sound across the floor, like leaves dragging on wood.
"For remembering," she answered.
Elara shook her head quickly. "I've never been here before."
The other Elara gave a small, painful smile.
"You have," she whispered. "Many times."
Elara felt her stomach twist. "That notebook… did I write it?"
"Yes."
"When?"
The other Elara looked toward the cracked mirror. "Different times. Different visits. You always leave… but you never leave completely."
The mansion trembled again. A deep knocking sound echoed from somewhere inside the walls slow and heavy.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Elara flinched. "What is that sound?"
The other Elara's face darkened slightly. "The others."
"Others?" Elara asked, her voice shaking.
"The versions that didn't escape," she replied.
The knocking grew louder, spreading through the walls like something moving behind them. Faint scratching sounds followed, like nails dragging across wood.
Elara covered her ears, fear flooding through her chest. "Why are they knocking?"
The other Elara's hollow eyes met hers.
"Because they know you're still whole," she said quietly. "And the door wants to fix that."
Elara's breathing became uneven. "Fix… what?"
"Every time you leave this house," the other Elara whispered, "the door takes a memory from you. That's how it keeps you coming back."
Elara felt dizzy. Memories flashed inside her mind broken images she couldn't understand. A corridor. A door. A child's laughter. Then darkness.
She grabbed her head tightly. "Stop… stop…"
The room suddenly grew colder. The cracked mirror flashed again.
This time, the reflection showed the hidden wooden door… slowly opening.
The other Elara stepped backward, her face filling with fear for the first time.
"You need to run," she said urgently.
"Run where?" Elara asked.
The floor beneath them split slightly with a loud crack.
"Before it remembers you completely," the other Elara whispered.
Then the mirror shattered.
And from inside the broken glass… a hand slowly pushed outward.