The broken mirror exploded across the floor, sending sharp pieces of glass sliding in every direction.
Elara stumbled backward, covering her face with her hands. Her ears rang from the loud shattering sound. When she slowly lowered her arms, her breath caught in her throat.
The hand was still there.
It was pushing out from inside the largest shard of mirror lying on the floor. Pale fingers clawed against the glass surface like it was water instead of solid material.
Elara's legs refused to move.
The other Elara grabbed her wrist suddenly. Her grip felt cold and shaky.
"Don't let them touch you," she whispered urgently.
The hand forced itself further out, followed by another. Then a face began pressing through the mirror surface. The skin looked grey and stretched tight across its bones. Its eyes were wide open, staring directly at Elara.
More knocking sounds echoed through the walls around them. Scratching followed, spreading across the room like something crawling inside the wooden panels.
"They're waking up," the other Elara said.
Elara finally found her voice. "Who are they?"
"Pieces," she answered quickly. "Broken versions of people the door couldn't fully keep."
The creature inside the mirror pushed harder. Its shoulders began sliding through the glass, bending in unnatural angles. The sound of cracking bones filled the room.
Elara screamed and pulled her hand free. "We need to get out!"
The bedroom door suddenly burst open on its own. The hallway outside looked darker than before, the lamps flickering like dying candles.
"Run!" the other Elara shouted.
They rushed into the hallway together. Behind them, glass shattered louder as more hands began pushing through the mirror. The creatures inside let out faint whispering sounds that mixed together like dozens of voices speaking at once.
"Elara… stay…"
"Don't leave again…"
The whispers chased them down the hallway.
The floorboards beneath their feet shifted strangely, bending slightly like the mansion itself was breathing. The corridor stretched longer as they ran, the walls narrowing closer together.
Elara gasped for air. "Why is the hallway changing?"
"The house is trying to guide you," the other Elara said while running beside her. "Or trap you. Sometimes both."
They reached the staircase and hurried down. The knocking sounds inside the walls grew louder, moving with them, following their steps like something crawling through hidden tunnels inside the mansion.
When they reached the main hall, Elara stopped suddenly.
The front door was gone.
In its place stood a long wooden wall covered in peeling wallpaper.
"No… no, it was right here!" she cried.
The whispers behind them grew louder. Footsteps not theirs echoed from the staircase above.
The other Elara grabbed her shoulders tightly.
"It doesn't want you to leave yet," she said.
Elara's chest tightened. "Then where do we go?"
The other Elara slowly turned toward the east corridor entrance.
The hallway that had disappeared earlier…
…was back.
And at the far end of it, the wallpaper was slowly peeling itself open.
Revealing the carved wooden door underneath.