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Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: The Mark Remains

The morning sun streamed through my window, but it didn't bring comfort.

I sat up, sweating, still shaken.

The black handprint was still there.

I touched it—cold, damp, real.

I grabbed a towel to wipe it off.

It didn't fade.

I tried again, harder this time.

Nothing. It was like it had been burned into the glass.

And beneath the print, the four carved words remained:

"The dream has begun."

I didn't know what it meant.

But deep inside, I felt something had changed.

I wasn't just afraid. I was being watched.

Downstairs, my family acted normal.

Breakfast smelled of eggs and toast.

I asked them if they heard anything last night.

They shook their heads.

No one had seen or heard a thing.

When I told them about the handprint, they laughed.

"A nightmare," my mom said.

"Maybe you need more sleep," my dad added.

I returned to my room.

The mirror stood silent.

No movement.

But I avoided looking directly into it.

That night, I couldn't sleep.

Every creak in the walls made me jump.

I kept the lights on.

The handprint still stared at me from the mirror.

I turned my back to it.

At 3:03 AM, I heard it.

A faint knock—three soft taps—coming from the glass.

I froze.

Then again: tap… tap… tap.

Slow. Purposeful.

I turned slowly to face the mirror.

My reflection blinked.

Then smiled.

But I wasn't smiling.

I stumbled backward, heart pounding.

My reflection moved closer to the glass.

Its eyes darker than mine, colder.

Then, its lips moved.

I couldn't hear the words, but I knew they were meant for me.

Suddenly, the light flickered.

The room grew colder.

And then, from the mirror, a voice whispered:

"You let me in."

Before I could react, the mirror went completely dark.

As if the light inside it had been snuffed out.

A deep, scraping sound filled the room—like nails dragging across metal.

Then… a hand appeared from within the glass.

Long, thin, black as ash. Fingers stretched unnaturally, twitching slowly.

It pressed against the inside of the mirror, and the glass began to ripple—like water disturbed.

I couldn't move.

My body was frozen, as if trapped in ice.

Only my eyes followed the hand now pushing through the surface.

An arm emerged. Then a shoulder.

And finally… a figure — tall, pale, faceless, but carrying a presence that did not belong in this world.

It floated toward me, not touching the floor.

Gliding through the air.

Where legs should've been, there was only shadow trailing behind it.

I tried to scream, but my mouth wouldn't open.

I wasn't in my body anymore — I was trapped in a living nightmare.

The entity stopped just inches away from me.

It didn't speak.

It only raised its hand and touched my forehead.

In that instant, a sharp coldness shot through me.

My vision faded to black.

And then...

I opened my eyes.

I was in the same room — my room — but something was wrong.

The air was thick, heavy, like I was breathing through fog.

Everything looked the same, yet... off.

The colors were duller. The shadows darker.

And the mirror — the mirror was no longer a mirror.

It was a window.

On the other side, I saw my world.

The real world.

I saw myself, lying in bed, unmoving.

Peaceful.

Too peaceful.

I ran to the glass, pounding on it.

"Wake up!" I screamed.

But my reflection didn't move.

Behind it, the shadow stood.

Still. Watching.

And then it turned… and smiled at me.

I wasn't in my world anymore.

It had taken my place.

I looked around in panic.

The walls of my room began to shift, melting into the unfamiliar.

Wood turned to stone.

The ceiling faded into an endless void.

I wasn't just trapped.

I was somewhere else now.

Somewhere in between.

A place made of echoes and silence.

And far in the distance, I heard it whisper again, not from the mirror this time,

but from inside my own mind:

"You let me in…

Now you can't get out."

I dropped to my knees. The air was heavy, pressing against my chest like an invisible weight. I tried to breathe deeply, but each breath felt thinner than the last.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me started to tremble.

Not like an earthquake…

More like a heartbeat — not mine.

Alive.

And I was on top of it.

On the wall across from me, something began to form —

A shape.

A face.

Mine…

…but not quite.

The eyes were empty. The mouth hung open, frozen in an eternal scream.

"You opened the door," the voice said from within the wall.

"You wanted me… without knowing."

Now the face started to laugh.

A laugh that didn't come from lips — but from the walls themselves.

And that laughter turned into screams.

Screams with no mouths.

Screams that lived in the walls, the floor, the air.

I covered my ears, but it didn't matter.

I was inside. And this place had no exit.

A light flickered far ahead, deep in the void. The only light.

I walked toward it, not knowing why.

The closer I got, the more I realized it wasn't a door.

It was another mirror.

But it reflected nothing.

Only darkness waiting —

…with open arms.

 beyond the glass, into

a place that didn't feel real.

There was no floor beneath me --just

endless falling, like l had stepped off the

edge of the world.

Whispers swirled around me, voice l

couldn't understand, speaking in a

language that scratched at my mind.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

My lungs burned, yet l wasn't drowing--l

was singin in shadow.

And then... l stopped falling.

I stood on something solid, though l

couldn't see it.

The air was thick, humid, heavy with the scent of ash and metal. Ahead of me, a hallway appeared--narrow, pulsing red, as if were alive.

I walked, one slow step at a time.

Each footstep echoed like it was being

swallowed.

The walls pulsed--breathing.

I reached out to touch one, and it recoiled,

as if in pain.

Then l heard it again.

The breathing.

Heavy. Familiar.

I wasn't alone.

At the end of the hall stood a figure -- tall,

the same shadow l had seen in the mirror.

But now, l could see more:

Its raised a hand and pointed again--

But this time, the hallway behind me

vanished.

There was no turning back.

"You left in," a voice whispered from

everywhere at once.

Now... you stay."

The lights flickered.

The ground shook.

And behind the creature, a door began to

open, revealing blinding light.

And from that light....

A second version of me stepped froward

--smiling.

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