Chapter 1: The Faded Reflection
Lena found herself staring at the old mirror in the attic of her childhood home, a relic of forgotten years and fading memories. She had never given it much thought before, just another item to be tossed away. But something about its tarnished frame, worn smooth by time, caught her attention that day. As she gazed into the mirror, her own reflection began to shift, blurring like the ripples of a pond disturbed by a stone.
The attic was silent, the only sound the creaking of the wooden beams above her. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, but when she looked back into the glass, the image staring back at her was not her own. Instead, there was a figure, cloaked in silver, standing in a strange, sunlit forest.
Her heart raced. The reflection smiled. "Come," it whispered, the word barely audible, as though the mirror itself was speaking.
In a flash, Lena reached out, her fingertips brushing the glass. And just like that, the world around her vanished.