Elara stood frozen in the middle of the room.
The whisper she had just heard echoed again and again in her mind.
"You weren't supposed to see me yet…"
Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear the sound in her ears.
For a moment she couldn't move.
The room felt colder than before.
The air felt heavy… almost as if the darkness itself had weight.
Slowly… very slowly… Elara turned around.
The room was empty.
The door was still closed.
The window was still locked.
The curtains moved slightly with the night breeze, but everything else looked normal.
Yet the terrible feeling inside her chest refused to disappear.
She could feel it clearly.
She was not alone.
Her hands were trembling.
Trying to calm herself, Elara quickly reached toward the wall and turned on the light.
A warm yellow glow filled the room.
Instantly the darkness retreated into the corners.
Her desk stood quietly near the window.
Books were scattered across it exactly as she had left them earlier that night.
The chair was pushed halfway under the table.
Her school bag lay on the floor beside the bed.
Everything was exactly the same.
Nothing looked out of place.
Elara took a deep breath.
"Calm down," she whispered to herself.
"You're just imagining things."
But even as she said those words, her voice sounded uncertain.
Her eyes slowly drifted toward the mirror on the wall.
It was an old mirror with a dark wooden frame carved with strange patterns.
Her parents had bought it from an antique shop years ago.
Elara had never liked it very much.
Something about it always felt strange.
Tonight that feeling was stronger than ever.
For a few seconds she simply stared at it.
Her reflection stared back.
Her face looked pale in the yellow light.
Her hair was messy from sleep.
Her eyes were wide with fear.
But everything looked normal.
There was no shadow behind her reflection.
No strange figure.
Just her.
Elara slowly walked closer.
Her reflection moved closer too.
She raised her hand slightly.
The reflection copied the movement perfectly.
She let out a shaky breath.
"See? Nothing is wrong."
She was about to turn away—
When something changed.
Her reflection blinked.
Elara froze.
She hadn't blinked.
Her eyes were still wide open.
But the reflection had definitely blinked.
A cold wave of fear ran down her spine.
"No…" she whispered.
The reflection slowly tilted its head to one side.
Elara's head stayed still.
Her body refused to move.
The reflection's lips slowly curved into a smile.
But Elara wasn't smiling.
The smile grew wider.
And wider.
Until it looked unnatural.
Terrifying.
Elara stumbled backward.
"Stop…" she said softly.
But the reflection didn't stop.
Instead, it slowly raised its hand.
The reflection pressed its palm against the inside of the mirror.
As if it was touching the glass from the other side.
Elara stared in horror.
Her breathing became quick and shallow.
Then the reflection spoke.
Its lips moved slowly.
But the voice didn't come from the mirror.
It came from everywhere in the room.
"It's almost time…"
The words echoed softly around her.
Elara's heart pounded harder.
"What do you want from me?" she whispered.
The reflection didn't answer.
It simply kept smiling.
Suddenly the light in the room flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then it became steady again.
But something had changed.
The reflection inside the mirror looked… darker.
As if shadows were slowly spreading across its face.
Elara took another step backward.
Her back touched the edge of the bed.
She didn't dare look away from the mirror.
Because she had the horrible feeling that if she did—
Something terrible would happen.
Then she heard a soft sound.
Crack.
Elara's eyes widened.
A thin line had appeared across the surface of the mirror.
A tiny crack.
It slowly spread across the glass.
Another cracking sound followed.
Crack…
The reflection inside the mirror didn't react.
It continued smiling.
Watching her.
Elara's chest felt tight.
She turned quickly and rushed toward the door.
Her hands grabbed the handle.
She pulled hard.
But the door didn't move.
It was stuck.
"Open!" she said desperately.
She pulled again.
Nothing happened.
Behind her—
Another cracking sound came from the mirror.
Crack… crack…
Elara slowly turned around.
More cracks were spreading across the glass now.
Thin black lines crawling across the surface like spider webs.
The reflection stood perfectly still.
But its eyes…
Its eyes were glowing faintly in the darkness.
The whisper returned.
Soft.
Cold.
Right beside her ear.
"Soon…"
Elara felt her whole body freeze.
"…you will belong here too."
Her breathing stopped.
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
But the whisper didn't answer.
Instead the reflection slowly leaned forward.
Closer to the glass.
Closer… and closer.
Then something impossible happened.
The reflection's hand pushed against the cracked mirror.
The glass bent slightly outward.
As if it were soft.
As if it were no longer solid.
Elara's eyes widened in terror.
The reflection's fingers slowly began to push through the surface of the mirror.
First the tips of the fingers appeared.
Then the hand.
The cracks across the mirror spread faster.
CRACK.
Elara stumbled backward.
"No… this can't be real…"
The reflection's hand was now halfway out of the mirror.
Long.
Pale.
And unnatural.
The smile on its face grew wider.
Then the whisper came again.
"I've been waiting for you… Elara."
Elara shook her head in disbelief.
"No…"
The hand stretched further out of the mirror.
Slowly reaching toward her.
The room suddenly felt colder than ever before.
And the lights flickered again.
Elara realized something that made her blood run cold.
The thing inside the mirror