Hannah stands in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection with a stone face. At this point, she completely shuts down. She doesn't listen to anyone or think about anything. She simply looks at herself, paying no attention to the schoolgirls who are curious about her behavior.
A rumor has spread around the school again, and Hannah and Jin are the main topic. The youngsters are chatting feverishly among themselves, wondering what the deal is with their latest argument.
— Do you really think something disturbing is going on in this room? — One of the girls pokes a curious look at her friend. — She actually sometimes behaves peculiarly, but I don't believe in ghost rumors.
— There is something wrong with this room. Why is Joseph interested in the girls who live there? First Halsey and now her...
— I think it's a coincidence. He and Hannah didn't like each other from the beginning, so it's not connected.
— But yesterday they came to the cafeteria together! He put his arm around her, so you can't tell me that they are still enemies! — She crosses her arms on her chest in indignation. — The girls in this room are clearly attracted to him...
— So become her roommate and see if Joseph pays attention to you. — Her friend is amused by this theory. — After all, they were putting on a show. Didn't you see the smile on his face? I don't know what's going on, maybe they are planning something, and that's what scares me the most.
Hannah tears her gaze away from her reflection and lifts the corners of her mouth in a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she glances at the gossiping girls.
— Are you curious about what might connect you to Joseph? — He walks away from the sink and directs his steps towards them. He stands in front of them and looks at them carefully. — With him, a secret can connect you.
Smiling under his breath, he moves toward the exit. The schoolgirls look shocked.
— Did you see how heavily painted her eyes were? She highlighted them in the same way Joseph does!
However, her colleague thought of something entirely different.
— Her gaze… Didn't she remind you of someone at that moment?
— What are you talking about? Stop, because you're starting to scare me — mutters the shorter girl and slaps her shoulder to bring her back to her senses. — Let's go because the next lesson will start soon.
*
The teacher discusses the topic, Hannah stares at the notes she wrote earlier. Exams are fast approaching. There is little time left for her to prepare for them decently, but lately, she is having a hard time focusing on her studies. Her thoughts are still far from reality, and because of this, she is unable to apply herself. She's afraid that by doing so, she won't meet her expectations.
— Stop kicking me, dammit! — he yells, furiously throwing his pen against the bench. He glances over his shoulder and pokes the boy with a warning look.
The man stops discussing the topic and focuses on Hannah, who is turning all the way red with anger.
— I understand that December is the most stressful month because exams are fast approaching, but you also need to control your anger — he turns to the girl, who puts on a contrite face.
— She apologizes.
She focuses on her notes again and blinks her eyelids when she gets the impression that the letters are shifting in front of her eyes. She rubs her eyelids and then everything returns to normal.
It's just my imagination, she thinks, taking a deep breath.
She opens her eyes wider as the letters start moving again and eventually form entirely different sentences — words she didn't write.
"It's time to stop, Hannah.", 'You've been discovered, how long are you going to keep this up?', "You've lost your chance."
— I feel bad — she speaks unexpectedly, rising from her chair. She leans over the bench, her hands resting on the tabletop.
— Go to the nurse — the teacher allows her, seeing how pale her face is.
With a quick step, she heads for the exit. She closes the door behind her and only then breathes a sigh of relief. She leans with her back against the wall, and tears gather in her eyes as she stares out the window.
— Let it all end, I beg...
The girl falls to the floor and draws her legs to her chest. She tries to forget everything. She can no longer bear the burden and pain that has been bothering her every day since she arrived at school. Although these symptoms appeared in June, they were mild at the time. Since she met Jin, they have clearly intensified, and she no longer knows who she is herself.
One thing is certain: she is in pain and needs someone's help.
Two days earlier.
With weeping eyes she looks at the boy, who puts a chair in front of her and sits down on it, staring at her intensely. She waits for him to speak, won't let go and won't leave until she dares to tell him the truth.
— I'm not an idiot. You can fool everyone around you, but I'm not one of them. Your eyes betrayed you. I knew a person who had the same look as you. She died.
His direct statement makes the girl begin to tremble with fear.
— Did she die?
— Yes, because no one helped her. And I'm afraid the same thing awaits you. — Joseph is too cruel in his words, but he manages to make her anxious and make her talk. — Do you want this? Are you going to strangle this demon inside you? — When Hannah doesn't answer for a long moment, he crosses his arms over his chest and lowers himself in the chair. He almost lies on it, not taking his eyes off her.
— Did you realize she was coming to see me?
Joseph squints his eyes and looks at her with more interest.
— She? — He repeats and straightens up in his chair to rest his elbows on his knees. He folds his hands and places his chin on them. — Who?
— My sister — she replies. — She has been coming to me since she died. — Her confession makes him raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. Could it be that Danielle is actually dead? — For a short time, we became very attached to each other. Our bond is so strong that despite her death she can't leave me. She comes to me every night. She talks to me.
Joseph massages his forehead, but remains silent. He doesn't intend to interfere with her opinion because he has noticed that this topic has absorbed her so much that she looks as if she is in hypnosis. She looks at one point the whole time.
She undoubtedly needs a person to whom she can tell her secret.
— It only took a short time for me to learn everything about her. I got to know her better than the mother who raised her. — She laughs quietly when she remembers something. — I got to know her habits, I was able to be her! — she adds enthusiastically. — Danielle was surprised when I showed her how well I could pretend to be her. She praised me and said I should take exams for her.
The brunet looks confused. He grins because it sounds scarier than he expected.
— When I came to school the first day, that's when I met Jin. I recognized him because I had seen pictures of him before. From my sister, I learned everything about him. She told me a lot about their relationship. — The 18-year-old opens his eyes wider in amazement. The story begins to get more and more interesting. — In front of him, I pretended that I didn't know who he was. I didn't want him to take me as my twin, which is precisely how he acted. I also didn't want to tell him the truth because I guessed how much I would break his heart. I heard that he loved my sister madly, so I couldn't tell him that she was dead.
Joseph twists his face in a grimace. This is starting to get sicker and sicker, but he has to admit that it's also impressive...
— The next day, when he called me Danielle... then my heart broke. I noticed how much he missed her. He hoped that I was her. — Joseph noticed that, at that moment, her eyes began to shine. — Although she assured me that she would not appear again, she came to me once more at night. She asked me to pretend to be her. She saw that I was doing it perfectly and wanted me to make him happy that way.
The boy wrinkles his forehead, increasingly alarmed by this story.
— She asked me to take care of Jin. She wanted me to do it slowly, so that with small steps I would begin to get closer to him... In my dreams, she showed me scenes from their past. I could feel how strong the feeling between them was. — Joseph is confused when he imagines what those scenes must have been like, since she talks about it with such fervor. — These dreams made me feel like I was actually Danielle. I began to care about him and wanted to get closer to him.
An eighteen-year-old boy starts coughing.
— I got so much into my head that I was Danielle that there were times when I doubted who I really was. There were times when this made me not remember the past. I thought I had actually lost my memory. — Joseph scratches the back of his neck as he realizes how terrible this all sounds. — I recently confessed to her that I was sick of it, that I didn't want to pretend it anymore. I made her angry. She started blaming me for not being able to do such an easy task. Instead of getting closer to him, I started to distance myself from him in recent times.
Joseph is looking at a photo that sits on a cabinet. Hannah notices it.
— After her death, I took this photograph. May was the time when, at her insistence, I lightened my hair. She wanted us to look identical. — She laughs at this memory. — Danielle was a rebel. She always had her opinion and didn't care what others said. Sporadically, she could be very selfish.
The boy was not wrong. He recognized that Hannah was sick. Apparently, she went crazy after the death of her twin sister, with whom she became close in a fairly short time. She tells herself that Danielle is still with her, and not even death can separate them.
The girl needs help; for someone to finally make her realize that Danielle is dead, and she is still Hannah.
Despite everything, Joseph has decided to keep it to himself. He knows how severe the condition is because he witnessed a person in his neighborhood die because of the disease.
No one comes to see her at night. It's all an illusion. Images, voices, it's all going on in her head and she requires care.
— Am I going to die, too? — she asks in a trembling voice, looking at him with fear in her eyes. — Did the person you knew also come into contact with the dark spirit of a loved one?
He was right all along, which is why he intends to help her, since his mother's mental illness led to her eventually committing suicide.