A boy with black eyes stepped out from the shadows.
His skin was pale like candle wax.
His lips didn't move when he spoke.
But Ahaan could hear his voice—inside his head.
"You're wearing what belongs to me," the boy whispered.
Ahaan took a step back. "I don't understand... Who are you?"
"I was the first," the boy said. "The first Ahaan."
Ahaan's breath caught.
"What do you mean… first?"
The boy tilted his head.
"You read the journal. You opened the orphanage door. You heard the voice. But no one told you the truth?"
He pointed to the broken mirror shard Ahaan found in the box.
"That's your real reflection," the boy hissed. "Look closely."
Ahaan lifted the shard with a shaking hand.
At first, it showed his face.
But then—
The face shifted.
His eyes turned black.
His skin cracked.
And behind the reflection stood dozens of other children—all with his face, but empty eyes.
He dropped the mirror.
It shattered again.
He couldn't speak.
But the boy answered his silence anyway:
"You're one of us.
Made to carry the curse.
Every generation, one is chosen to hold the darkness.
So it doesn't spread."
Ahaan's head spun.
"My dad… he didn't tell me any of this."
"Because he made the deal," the boy said coldly.
"The curse was hunting your family.
So your father offered one thing in return...
A child."
"He offered me."
Ahaan's knees hit the ground.
"No... no, that's not true."
The boy stepped closer. The wind stopped. The garden held its breath.
"When I was five, your father brought me to the orphanage.
Said I was special.
Said I would stop the evil from spreading."
"He gave me to the thing behind the Hollow Door.
It took my voice.
It took my name."
Ahaan's heart raced. He remembered now—
The cold basement.
The voice in his head.
The photos in his dream.
"You've been inside me all this time…" Ahaan whispered.
The boy nodded.
"And now, I want it back."
The trees around them began to twist.
The soil turned black.
The cursed book flew open on its own in Ahaan's bag.
New writing appeared, glowing red:
CASE TWENTY-ONE: The Echo Child
"When a life is stolen, it becomes an echo.
When an echo is worn by another, it becomes a mask.
When the mask begins to crack, both souls fight for the body."
Warning: The stronger memory survives.
Ahaan stood, trembling.
"I don't want to forget who I am," he said.
"Then show me you deserve the name," the boy said.
"Let me in.
We'll see who is stronger."
A sudden wind hit them both.
Ahaan's eyes burned.
Flashes of memory attacked his mind—
Ahaan's 8th birthday... but now the cake said Aman.
His first tooth falling out… in a mirror with no reflection.
His mother's lullaby... except now it was a whisper from behind the sealed door.
"Which memories are real?" the voice asked.
Ahaan clutched his head. "Stop it!"
He remembered something else.
The book.
The warning from Chapter 25:
"Truth is louder than silence.
Speak it. Or be erased."
He looked the boy in the eyes.
And shouted—
"My name is Ahaan."
"I cried when my dad vanished."
"I read the journal because I needed answers."
"I opened that door to save my future."
"You were taken, yes.
But I was born in your place—
And I'm not a mask anymore."
The boy's body flickered.
Like a candle in the wind.
His eyes softened.
"Then take the truth," he whispered.
"Carry my name, but never forget mine."
"I was the first.
Don't let them erase us again."
He stepped back into the shadows.
And vanished.
Ahaan stood in silence.
Alone—but now… not hollow.
The book closed itself.
A final message glowed across its cover:
"Truth accepted.
Host stable.
Chapter continues."
Ahaan looked up at the White Tree.
Its bark cracked, revealing something inside.
A thin wooden box.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a folded paper.
A photo of his dad—holding hands with the black-eyed boy.
And a message on the back:
"Forgive me, my son.
I had to give one life…
To save all others."
Then...