Li An's mind spun, each thought like a broken cog in a machine, grinding against the pull of the unknown. She staggered backward, her knees threatening to buckle beneath her, but somehow she remained standing. The mirror, now devoid of the figure, still loomed before her, its glass surface gleaming coldly in the dim light. It beckoned her like an abyss, a yawning chasm that promised nothing but darkness.
"You're one of us." The words echoed in her mind, a cruel reminder of the reality she had stepped into. She wanted to shake them off, to deny them, but the more she tried to escape, the more their truth seemed to bind her. It wasn't just a reflection anymore. It was a doorway. And she had crossed it.
She wiped her trembling hands against her clothes, forcing herself to focus. Focus, she told herself. The panic was building inside her, suffocating her, but she had to keep her head. There had to be a way out—there had to be something she could do.
But everything around her felt wrong. The room no longer felt like a room. The air was dense, thick with the oppressive weight of something ancient, something that had been waiting here far longer than she could comprehend. The walls seemed to pulse, as though they were breathing, expanding and contracting with each beat of her heart. The once-familiar space had twisted into something alien, and in the center of it all, the mirror stood like a sentinel—silent, watchful, and patient.
Her breath hitched as she realized that she wasn't alone anymore.
The shadows had returned. They were no longer mere distortions in the corners of the room. They were alive now, shifting and swirling around her, crawling along the walls like liquid darkness. They stretched toward her, moving with intent, their presence suffocating.
She reached out instinctively, grabbing the nearest object—a chair, the only piece of furniture that had remained in the room. It felt solid in her grip, offering a brief sense of stability, but the shadows were relentless. The room was closing in on her, the walls folding in like a trap slowly tightening its grip.
Li An's eyes flicked back to the mirror, the surface still gleaming with an unnatural sheen. The warning in the book, the cryptic symbols, the voices—it was all too much. It was too much for one person to bear, for any person to understand. The weight of the house, the weight of the curse, was bearing down on her, and she could feel it, seeping into her bones.
But there was something else, too. Something in the back of her mind, faint but persistent, tugging at her thoughts. The name. Zhang Xian. The man who had come before her, who had uncovered pieces of this mystery only to disappear. His research, his obsession with the mirror, with the door. He had known something. He had learned too much.
Her eyes snapped back to the book, still open on the table. The pages seemed to flicker, as though alive, their edges curling and shifting in the dim light. She moved toward it, her footsteps unsteady but determined. She had to understand. She had to know why Zhang Xian had been drawn here, what he had found that had led him into this trap.
The Revelation
As she flipped through the pages, her eyes caught on something—a sketch. A drawing of a door. It was crude, almost childish in its execution, but the symbolism was unmistakable. The door was surrounded by symbols—runes, much like the ones in Zhang Xian's notes, but these were different. These were older. Older than anything Li An had ever encountered in her years of research. The runes seemed to pulse with energy, glowing faintly, like the heartbeat of the house itself.
She traced the drawing with her finger, her skin tingling as she did. The door in the sketch was not just any door. It was a portal—something that could transcend space and time, leading to... something else. But what? Where did it lead? The question gnawed at her, and she could feel her resolve hardening. She wasn't going to walk away from this. Not now.
The text beneath the drawing read:
"To pass through the door is to lose your place in this world. It is to embrace the void. Only those who have seen the truth may return, but not all will."
The words made her blood run cold. She had seen the truth. She had opened the door. And now, she was caught in a space between worlds, where the rules no longer applied.
She looked up at the mirror again, its surface now calm, unyielding. The shadows had stopped moving, as if waiting for her next move. The mirror had never been just a reflection—it had always been the key. The door Zhang Xian had sought to open. The trap he had fallen into.
And now, it was her turn.
The Choice
Li An stepped closer to the mirror, her heart racing in her chest. She could feel its power now, like a magnetic pull drawing her in. The glass was cold to the touch, but it didn't feel like glass. It felt... alive. She placed her hand on the surface, the sensation jolting through her body, as if she were touching something that had been waiting for her. She could hear the faint whispering again, the voice that had followed her from the moment she entered this house.
"You've come this far."
The voice was soft, almost soothing now, as though it were comforting her. But Li An knew better. This was no comfort. This was a warning.
She stepped back, a burst of clarity cutting through the fog of her fear. She had no choice. Zhang Xian's fate was sealed the moment he had crossed the threshold. And now, it was her turn to make the same decision. To step through, to face what lay beyond. Or to turn away, to break the cycle... and risk being trapped forever.
But how could she walk away now? She had come too far. The answers she sought—the truth about Zhang Xian, about the house, about the curse—were all on the other side. There was no way out except through.
The Mirror's Grip
The mirror pulsed again, its surface rippling as though it were breathing. A low hum filled the room, vibrating in the air, sinking deep into Li An's bones. The shadows swirled around her feet, twisting like snakes, urging her forward. She could feel the pull of the mirror, stronger now, as though it were alive, waiting to claim her.
Her hand hovered over the surface, trembling. For a moment, she hesitated, a deep instinct telling her to stop. But then, the voice returned—stronger now, insistent.
"Step through, Li An. Step through, and you will see. You will understand."
The words were a command, not a suggestion. She could feel it, a force beyond comprehension, beyond logic, beyond reason. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, everything was still.
And then, she stepped forward.