A shiver ran down her spine, though the house was warm. It wasn't the cold; it was a feeling, a prickling unease that settled deep in her bones. Emma stared at her reflection, her dark eyes searching. The candlelight flickered, casting dancing shadows that made the image waver, but it wasn't the shadows that disturbed her. It was the subtle shift in her reflection's expression. A hint of a smirk, a glint of something...malevolent in the eyes.
It just the light," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the storm's roar. She reached out, her fingertips brushing the cold glass. The reflection mirrored her movement, but the smirk remained. Emma snatched her hand back as if burned.
Suddenly, the image in the mirror moved independently. The reflection's smirk widened, and its eyes locked onto Emma's with predatory intensity. A cold voice, not her own, echoed in her mind. "We have so much to discuss, Emma."
Terror seized her. Emma stumbled backward, her heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird. She wanted to scream, but her throat was paralyzed. The reflection raised a hand, its fingers pressed against the glass, mimicking Emma's own. But then, the reflection's fingers began to push through the mirror, the glass distorting and rippling like water.
Emma's breath hitched. This wasn't a trick of the light. This was real
Chapter 2:The Other Side
Driven by a primal fear, Emma turned and fled. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to get away from the mirror, from the thing inside it. She burst out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her, as if that flimsy barrier could contain the horror she'd witnessed.
She raced down the creaking hallway, the old house groaning around her as if in protest. The storm raged outside, mirroring the chaos within her. Emma glanced over her shoulder, half-expecting to see the reflection chasing her, but the hallway was empty.
Reaching the living room, she collapsed onto a velvet sofa, gasping for breath. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of the impossible. Was she hallucinating? Had she finally succumbed to the family madness, a whispered secret that haunted her line age.
A sudden crash from upstairs made her jump. It sounded like glass shattering. The mirror. It was coming.
Emma scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around the room. Her gaze fell on a heavy, antique poker leaning against the fireplace. She grabbed it, the cold metal a small comfort in her trembling hand.
Footsteps echoed on the stairs, slow and deliberate. Emma's grip tightened on the poker. She backed away, her eyes fixed on the doorway, her heart pounding in her ears.
The footsteps stopped. A moment of silence stretched, taut and suffocating. Then, a voice, the same cold voice from the mirror, echoed through the house. "You can't hide from me, Emma. I'm already inside you."
The house plunged into darkness. The storm outside seemed to intensify, as if the elements themselves were in league with the entity. Emma was alone, trapped in a nightmare, with something ancient and evil hunting her.