Elara's hand hovered over the carved door handle. Every part of her screamed to stop. Every shadow in the mirrors whispered, "You belong here… you're one of us…"
She swallowed, forcing herself to move. She gripped the handle and pushed.
The door swung open, but instead of a room, she fell through darkness again.
When she landed, she was surrounded by mirrors hundreds of them stretching in every direction. Each one reflected a different Elara: some laughing, some crying, some screaming, some frozen in fear.
"Which one… am I?" she whispered, panic rising.
A voice echoed from everywhere. Her voice. "You are all of them… and none of them."
Suddenly, the mirrors began shifting, melting into each other. One reflection stepped forward pale, hollow-eyed, smiling cruelly. It raised a hand, pointing at her.
"You… are what we've been waiting for," it said. "You came back… and now you're ours."
Elara stumbled backward. Her reflection in the nearest mirror reached out with a twisted grin. The hand in the mirror grabbed hers or was it hers reaching out to the mirror? and a shock ran through her mind.
Memories she had never had flooded her brain. She remembered standing in the mansion as a child, touching the hidden door, disappearing into the mirrors… over and over. Every time she thought she had left, a part of her had stayed trapped.
"No… that's not me!" she screamed, clutching her head.
But the voices wouldn't stop. "You are us… we are you… you can't leave… you've always been here…"
A shadow version of herself stepped from the floor, crawling toward her. Another appeared from the ceiling. Mirrors shattered around her as pale hands clawed from every direction.
Elara backed away, spinning, heart racing. Every version of herself stared, grinning or screaming, reaching for her. She realized the horrifying truth: the door didn't just trap her it was remaking her, blending her memories with every lost fragment. Soon, she wouldn't know which Elara was real.
She screamed, fighting to hold onto her memories the attic, the hidden chest, her birthdays, even the child who had whispered to her earlier.
"Remember! You're still you!" the other Elara shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos.
Elara's vision blurred. One mirror reflected her smiling as a child. Another reflected her crying as an adult. Another reflected a twisted, hollow-eyed version.
She had to choose: hold onto herself… or be absorbed completely.
The carved wooden door appeared again, looming above the chaos. Symbols writhed across it like living veins.
A whisper came from the door, low and menacing: "Decide… or forget yourself forever."
Elara's hands shook. Her breath came in short gasps. The mirrors closed in.
She had seconds left to decide.