The dawn breaks dull and gray, casting a pale light over the campus as Joy makes her way across the grounds.
The events of last night cling to her like a cold mist, the memory of the twisting reflections and Maya's taunting voice echoing in her mind.
She feels fragile, as if a single word or glance could shatter her.
It's only the third week of her art designs course, but she already feels far behind, distracted and haunted by memories of the past night.
Students pass her, greeting each other with cheerful faces, but she can't shake the sense that shadows lurk in the corners of her vision, watching.
Every step feels like a silent scream, the echo of last night's encounter with Maya reverberating in her mind.
She tries to reassure herself that she's awake, that this is real, but it feels as if reality has become a thin veil, threatening to tear at any moment.
When she arrives in class, she takes her seat in the back corner, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
She just wants to slip through unnoticed, to pretend nothing's wrong.
But her hands are trembling, and she struggles to steady her breath as the professor begins the lecture on Renaissance art.
Her phone buzzes with a message, snapping her back to the present.
It's her friend Emily, who's been worried about her ever since she started hanging out with Maya.
Emily's text: "Hey, haven't seen you all week. Are you okay? Are you… still with them?"
Joy's stomach tightens, guilt mingling with fear.
She wants to explain everything to Emily, to warn her about Maya and the strange forces she feels closing in around her. But she knows Emily won't understand.
How could anyone understand what she's seen?
How could she explain the haunted mirrors, the shadowed corridors, and the way her own reflection seemed to come alive last night? How could she tell Emily that she's not even sure if she can trust her own mind anymore?
The professor's voice drones on in the background, but Joy's attention drifts.
Her notebook lies open in front of her, but the pages are blank, her pen forgotten in her hand.
She's trapped, lost in the memory of Maya's voice, her taunting words echoing through her mind.
Flashback to Maya's voice: "Every step you take brings you closer to us. You can't escape what's already inside you."
The lecture fades, and Joy's surroundings seem to blur and dissolve as she drifts into a waking dream.
The classroom melts away, and she's back in the Hall of Whispers, standing before that cracked mirror. Maya's reflection grins back at her, its hollow eyes glinting with malice.
Reflection (Maya): "Still trying to run, Joy? You belong here, with us. No one else will understand."
The room begins to spin, and Joy feels a rush of panic as the classroom walls morph and shift around her.
The familiar sounds of her classmates fade, replaced by distant whispers and the heavy silence of the dark hall.
She snaps back to reality with a jolt as someone taps her shoulder.
It's her professor, looking at her with concern.
Professor: "Joy, are you all right? You've been staring at the same page for almost twenty minutes."
Joy blinks, struggling to focus, feeling as if she's been pulled out of a deep, suffocating fog.
Joy: (whispering) "I… I'm sorry. I just… didn't get much sleep."
Her professor studies her with a frown, clearly unconvinced.
She notices a few classmates glancing at her, their expressions a mix of concern and curiosity.
She flushes, embarrassed by how visibly shaken she must appear.
The looks her classmates give her are enough to send a chill down her spine. In their eyes, she sees a reflection of her own growing fear—a suspicion that something's not right, that she's slipping away from them, from herself.
After class, she rushes to the library, desperate to find a place where she can be alone, somewhere the shadows won't follow.
But as she walks, she becomes aware of an unsettling sensation, like she's being watched.
She looks around, but the hallway is empty, her footsteps echoing in the silence.
Yet the feeling persists, prickling at the back of her neck.
She quickens her pace, her heartbeat thundering as she glances over her shoulder.
Just as she reaches the library, she catches a fleeting glimpse of a shadow flickering in the corner of her vision—a tall, dark silhouette with hollow eyes.
Her stomach twists, and she stumbles into the library, pressing her back against the door as she catches her breath.
It's happening again. The shadows are following her, haunting her, refusing to let her go.
She tries to shake off the feeling, but the memory of Maya's voice is like a poison in her mind, corroding her sense of safety.
She settles into a corner of the library, burying her head in a book in an attempt to distract herself.
But the words blur, and she can barely focus.
Her thoughts are consumed by last night's encounter, the way her own reflection had seemed to reach out from the mirror, mocking her.
Another message buzzes on her phone, her boyfriend Samuel. She reads his text, heart sinking.
Samuel's text: "You haven't been yourself lately. What's going on, Joy? I'm worried about you." We need to talk. Emily is so worried because you have been avoiding us. Please be safe and come soon.
She types a response but hesitates. How could she explain what she's going through? Samuel is understanding, but this… this is something she can barely explain to herself.
Joy: (whispering to herself)* "I'm losing them… I'm losing everyone."
She leans back, feeling an emptiness settle in her chest.
She used to be close to Samuel before she meet Maya, sharing everything with him but later stopped to do what others are doing and now she feels a wall between them, an invisible barrier made of secrets and shadows.
She feels a pang of longing for her old life, for the girl she used to be before Maya entered her world.
She could almost feel her relationships with people that care's for her unraveling like frayed threads, slipping through her fingers with each passing day.
She's trapped in a world of darkness, and the more she tries to escape, the deeper she sinks.
Her vision blurs again, and she feels her head grow heavy.
She fights to keep her eyes open, but exhaustion pulls her under, and she drifts into a restless sleep.
The Mirror Room
Joy finds herself standing in a vast, empty room lined with mirrors.
Her reflection stares back at her from every angle, eyes hollow and accusing.
She tries to turn away, but no matter where she looks, her reflection follows.
One by one, the reflections begin to move, stepping out of the mirrors and surrounding her.
Their faces are twisted, their expressions a mixture of rage and sorrow.
She recognizes them as fragments of herself—her fears, her doubts, her regrets.
Reflection Leader: "You're losing them, Joy. They're slipping away because you're letting the darkness consume you."
Joy shakes her head, trying to deny it, but the reflections press closer, their voices whispering accusations that echo in her mind.
Reflection 1: "You've pushed away your those people that can help you. You're hiding from them because you're ashamed."
Reflection 2: "Samuel can see you slipping. They knows something's wrong, but you won't let them in. You're leaving them in the dark, just like everyone else."
The reflections reach out, their cold hands grasping at her, their touch seeping into her skin like ice.
She feels herself weakening, sinking beneath the weight of their accusations.
Joy: (whispering) "No… this isn't who I am."
But a voice inside her whispers that maybe it is, that maybe she's become something twisted and broken, a creature of darkness.
The shadows are inside her now, woven into her mind, her heart.
She feels herself slipping away, her own identity dissolving as the reflections close in, pressing against her, smothering her in their cold, empty embrace.
Just as she feels herself sinking into oblivion, a flash of warmth pierces through the darkness—a memory of Samuel arms around her, his voice soft and comforting.
Samuel's voice (memory): "You're stronger than you know, Joy. Whatever you're facing, you don't have to face it alone."
The memory pulls her back, filling her with a spark of strength.
She remembers who she is, who she used to be before the darkness claimed her.
Joy: (screaming) "I am not yours!"
With a surge of determination, she pushes back against the reflections, shattering them into fragments of glass that dissolve into the air.
Return to Reality
Joy wakes with her heart pounding. She's back in the library, the familiar shelves and dim lighting a reassuring sight. She checks her phone—it's almost sunset.
Taking a deep breath, she realizes she can't keep running from the people who care about her.
She needs to face her fears, to reach out and let others in, even if they can't understand everything she's going through.
She sends a quick message to Samuel and Emily, asking to meet them that evening.
She knows it won't be easy, but for the first time in weeks, she feels a glimmer of hope.
The shadows are still there, lurking at the edges of her vision, but she's not facing them alone anymore.
She's chosen to fight, to reclaim her life from the darkness that tried to consume her.
As she stands to leave, she catches a glimpse of her reflection in the library window.
This time, her reflection looks back at her with steady eyes, unbroken and defiant.
Joy: (whispering to her reflection)* "You may haunt me… but you won't own me."
With that, she steps out into the evening light, ready to reclaim her life, one step at a time.