Angelina's mind raced.
The words echoed in her head:
"You can stay…"
"Or you can replace me…"
She couldn't believe what she had heard.
She had always thought ghosts were just scary stories.
But now, she was staring at one.
And that ghost wanted her to take her place.
Angelina's chest tightened.
She looked at the girl, the shadow, the cold air.
The girl whispered again, softer this time:
"Choose."
Angelina swallowed hard.
Her throat felt dry.
Her mind searched for a way out.
She thought about running.
But the door was behind her.
The passage was narrow.
She didn't know if she could escape.
She didn't know if the house would let her.
The girl stepped closer.
Her voice was almost calm.
"Your grandmother didn't choose," she said.
Angelina froze.
"What do you mean?" she tried to whisper.
The girl smiled, and for a moment, she looked almost human.
"She answered," the girl said.
"She spoke.
She didn't stay silent."
Angelina's heart thudded.
"She didn't choose to stay," the girl continued.
"She didn't choose to replace me."
The girl's eyes were cold.
"Her choice was taken."
Angelina's mouth went dry.
The girl stepped closer again, and the air grew colder.
Then she said something that made Angelina's blood freeze:
"Your grandmother tried to trap me."
Angelina's eyes widened.
"Why?" she whispered.
The girl's voice became distant, as if speaking from far away.
"Because she was tired of hearing me," she said.
"She was tired of the whimpering.
She wanted peace."
Angelina's hands shook.
"She found the door," the girl continued.
"She found the place where I was trapped."
The girl's shadow moved across the wall like a wave.
"She locked me in," the girl whispered.
"And she left me there."
Angelina felt sick.
The girl's voice softened.
"But the door was never meant to be locked," she said.
"It was meant to be a bridge."
Angelina's eyes widened.
"A bridge?" she whispered.
The girl nodded slowly.
"Between worlds," she said.
"Between the living… and the trapped."
Angelina's heart pounded.
The girl continued:
"Your grandmother used the bridge as a prison."
Angelina's mind raced.
So the girl wasn't evil.
She was trapped.
But why did she want Angelina to replace her?
Angelina realized something.
If the bridge was meant to be a connection…
Maybe the girl wanted someone to free her.
But at what cost?
Angelina looked around the room again.
The flashlight in her hand flickered.
She noticed something she hadn't seen before.
A mirror.
A tall mirror leaning against the wall.
The glass was old and cracked.
Angelina walked toward it slowly.
She stared into it.
At first, she saw only herself.
But then the reflection changed.
The mirror showed her room…
but darker.
The mirror showed the girl standing behind her.
The girl's face was clearer in the mirror.
Not hidden.
Her eyes were empty.
Her mouth was closed.
She looked like she was waiting.
Angelina's reflection began to change too.
Her skin looked pale.
Her eyes looked tired.
Her hair looked messy.
She looked like a ghost.
The mirror whispered.
Not the girl.
The mirror.
"Choose."
Angelina's breath caught.
She looked at the girl.
The girl's face was still hidden.
But she nodded toward the mirror.
Angelina understood.
The mirror was the bridge.
The mirror was the connection between worlds.
And the girl wanted her to step through.
Angelina stared at the mirror, her heart racing.
She thought of her family.
Her life.
Her friends.
Her future.
She thought of the silence.
The whimper.
The cold.
The fear.
She realized she was not ready to die.
But the girl's voice whispered again:
"Choose."
Angelina's hand shook as she raised it toward the mirror.
She didn't know what she was doing.
She didn't know if she was going to step into the mirror…
Or if she was going to break it.
Her fingers touched the glass.
It was cold.
Like ice.
The mirror rippled.
Like water.
Angelina's reflection smiled.
But she didn't.
Angelina's heart raced.
The mirror whispered again:
"You answered."
Angelina tried to pull her hand back.
But it was stuck.
The glass held her.
The mirror pulled her closer.
She screamed.
But no sound came out.
The girl in the room whispered softly:
"Now you will understand."
Angelina's vision blurred.
The mirror pulled her in.
The room disappeared.
The last thing she saw was the girl's face.
And the girl's eyes…
empty.