The silence didn't last long. It never did in that house.
A faint hum began to crawl along the walls soft, like a heartbeat hiding under stone. The twins shivered at the same time.
Papa… one whispered, eyes still glowing faintly red.
Eli turned sharply to them, his voice gentle but tense. What did you see?
The youngest twin's lips trembled. She clutched her brother's sleeve. She… she wasn't bad, she said. She was cold. She said she wanted to come home.
Valo knelt, her hands trembling as she cupped their cheeks. "Who, sweetheart?"
Both twins turned to the same spot on the wall where the mirror had been. The lady in the red, they said together.
The sound of their voices, overlapping in perfect harmony, sent a shiver through Eli's spine. The words echoed too long in the air, like something else was repeating them under their breath.
The lady in the red, the echo murmured again only this time, it came from behind them.
Eli spun, shielding Valo and the twins. His pulse hammered in his ears. Valo, don't move.
She froze, tears still shining in her eyes. Her voice came out as a whisper. Eli… it's following the sound.
The hallway darkened. Lamps flickered and cracked. The workers in the distance called out, but their voices distorted, breaking into static like a broken recording.
Then the floor breathed.
Dust rose from the cracks, curling like smoke around Valo's ankles. The scent of burned glass filled the air. Eli extended his hand, pulling Valo close. Hold onto me. Both of you, close your eyes.
The twins obeyed instantly, clutching their father's shirt. Valo pressed her forehead against Eli's shoulder, whispering through shaking lips, it's her, Eli… the same feeling from the garden… the same cold.
Eli's jaw clenched. The red in his veins began to glow again, brighter now almost desperate. He drew a circle with his hand, threads of dust rising into a storm around them.
The twins opened their eyes at once. She's inside the light, they whispered.
Eli's circle cracked. A face flickered inside it burned, smiling, and wrong.
The wall exploded outward in a silent burst of dust, throwing them all backward. Valo screamed as she fell but Eli caught her before she hit the ground, pulling her and the twins against him. His arm burned, the red lines pulsing like veins of fire.
When the smoke cleared, the hallway was spotless again. No dust. No cracks. No mirror.
Only a faint reflection shimmered on the floor not of them, but of someone else standing perfectly still where the mirror used to be.
Valo's breath came out in gasps. Eli… please tell me you see it too.
Eli didn't answer. He couldn't. Because the reflection was smiling and in that reflection, the twins were already gone.
Eli's breath froze in his chest. He grabbed Valo's arm, pulling her back from the reflection. Valo, don't move!
Her heartbeat was wild against his hand. She looked down and whispered, Eli… they're not moving with us…
In the reflection, their two children stood perfectly still, no blinking, no breathing, just staring up at them with pale eyes that didn't belong to them.
Ethan? Sam? Eli called out, voice breaking. But only one of the reflections smiled.
A soft crack sounded under their feet, like glass straining not to break. Then a whisper seeped from the reflection, low, calm, and wrong:
Papa… we're right here. Why can't you come in?
Valo's hand flew to her mouth. No, no, that's not them, she whispered, shaking her head. That's not our boys.
Eli crouched, his reflection mirroring him a second slower, like a delayed recording. Let them go, he said through clenched teeth. Whatever you are, let them go!
The reflection tilted its head. Its lips parted slowly.
They wanted to see me. They wanted to know what warmth feels like after the fire dies.
A hand, small, childlike, pressed from inside the floor's reflection. Then another. The glass rippled as if it were water, and the two shapes began to pull themselves up.
Valo screamed. Eli!
He reacted on instinct, his palm struck the ground, and the glowing red lines shot out from his arm like lightning, forming a blazing circle around the reflection. The air vibrated; heat shimmered.
Stay behind me! he shouted.
The reflection hissed. It wasn't a sound of pain, it was delight. Cracks spidered across the floor. The voice spoke again, but this time it came from everywhere, walls, ceiling, even inside their own heads.
You think light will save them? The fire that burned the mirror came from her.
Eli's eyes darted to Valo. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpoints; her hand trembled as faint orange light flickered under her skin, the same burning pattern that destroyed the mirrors days ago.
Valo, he said softly, don't let it take you again.
But she stepped forward, her body shaking violently, her voice breaking between tears and rage. If it wants me, it can take me. But it doesn't touch them.
The moment she touched the floor, fire erupted, not red this time, but a deep blue flame that moved like water. It swallowed the reflection whole, burning the image of their children, the walls, and every shadow that dared to whisper.
Eli lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Valo as the blast consumed them both.
Valo, stop! You'll burn yourself out!
I can't stop! she screamed, tears streaming down her face. They're calling me, Eli, they're calling me!
The blue fire burst upward, then imploded.
Silence.
Eli opened his eyes to darkness. He was lying on cold stone, Valo in his arms. She was breathing, but barely. Her fingers were burned, her face pale.
And standing a few steps away… were the twins.
Alive. Real. But their eyes glowed faintly red.
Papa? Ethan asked softly. We came back.
Eli's throat closed. He held Valo closer.
Behind the boys, the last fragment of mirror shimmered once.
A handprint pulsed faintly upon it
not small like a child's, but older.
And a voice, soft as breath, whispered from within the glass:
Home… at last.
The mirror cracked itself into dust.
And the house went silent again.