When Luca woke up, his eyes darted around the room, hoping to see someone familiar. Through his dizzy vision, he caught sight of a figure standing nearby—dressed in white—and the memory of what he had seen earlier crashed back into him. He instantly jerked away from the bed, shouting at the figure, only to realize it was Linet, who had been watching him the whole time.
He cursed himself internally for reacting with such terror just as everyone rushed into the room.
"Are you awake?"
"Are you alright?"
"How do you feel now? Do you still feel dizzy?"
Questions flooded him without giving him a moment to speak.
"I think he's crazy," Linet muttered, eyeing him suspiciously. "He just shouted at me a moment ago. I was starting to wonder if he's in the right state of mind."
"I'm fine. And… what time is it?" Luca asked quickly, trying to avoid their questions.
"It's another day. You've been sleeping since yesterday—and it's already noon," Lyn answered.
"Noon? Oh God… And the— the ghost… Did you kill it? Did you see it? Where is it?"
"Ghost? What ghost? Calm down. You just woke up, son. Don't stress yourself," Mr. Sun Han said, sitting gently on the edge of the bed.
"Papa! Mama! I saw something— I mean it! A ghost wearing a white dress… covered in blood! Before I passed out—please, believe me. There's something creepy in this house!"
He tried to speak clearly, but nothing seemed to convince them.
"Son, are you sure you're okay?" his mother asked softly. "When we came in, you were lying unconscious on the floor. We didn't see anything strange. The only thing we saw was Lyn's nightgown on the floor—there, hanging over the table. We thought maybe you…"
"Mama! Please, listen to me. I'm not a kid anymore. I saw blood. And the mirror— the mirror was swinging on the wall, making horrible sounds… like something from hell. Before I passed out, that creature came toward me. It looked weak… as if something was draining its energy. I swear I'm telling the truth. I saw it with my own eyes. I'm not blind."
His trembling lips and swelling eyes begged them to believe him.
No one moved. No one spoke. They only looked at him with a painful, worried silence.
Alexander entered the room with a plate of food, breaking the tension.
"You haven't eaten anything since yesterday, little bro. Here—eat first. Then we can talk, just the two of us, okay?" he offered with a gentle smile.
Luca's face brightened slightly. At least someone seemed willing to understand him. He devoured the food while the others watched, their minds tangled with questions.
Mr. Sun Han stood up and quietly left the room, his wife following. His thoughts lagged behind him as he walked; his son's words kept replaying in his mind. Part of him didn't believe the story—yet something inside urged him to take the matter seriously.
"What do you think?" his wife asked nervously. "Is he imagining things again like he used to back in Lagan City? Or are we just failing to understand him?"
"I don't know what to believe," Mr. Sun Han sighed. "He is sick… but still, we can't blame everything on that. It's not the first time he's passed out. We should wait until we find some proof."
Meanwhile, Lyn paced restlessly in her room as silence settled over Alexander and Linet. She wanted to believe her brother, but how could she? His health had never been stable. They had relocated here because of him, and it had barely been a week—and now he claimed the house was haunted.
She had only ever seen such things in movies. Never once did she imagine they could happen in reality.
"Alex… do you think there's a chance he's telling the truth?" she asked, approaching him.
Alexander hesitated, then spoke honestly.
"Maybe we should look for proof ourselves. I heard him mention the mirror before I walked in. And you told me yesterday that you dreamed about the mirror too. So… why don't we confront it? See what's wrong?"
"How? It's not easy to consult a non-living thing. And even if Luca saw it moving, maybe he imagined it because he was scared. How do you believe him when we don't even know where to begin?" Linet countered.
"Then let's break the mirror," Alexander suggested. "If it breaks normally, then we have nothing to worry about. But if it doesn't, then we—"
He didn't finish.
The mirror suddenly began swinging again.
A dark shadow appeared within it—staring straight at them.
And in a blink, it vanished.
The mirror fell silent as if nothing had ever happened.
For a moment, none of them could tell whether they were hallucinating—or whether Luca had been right all along.