I found Luna sitting cross-legged on her bedroom floor, talking to her reflection in the full-length mirror. Nothing unusual about that—six-year-olds often had conversations with themselves. What made me pause outside her door was the way she was listening.
She wasn't just talking. She was having a dialogue.
"I know you're scared," Luna said to the mirror, her voice gentle but serious. "But Mama and Papa aren't monsters here. They're still good people."
I pressed closer to the door, trying to see her reflection without being noticed. The Luna in the mirror looked identical to my daughter, but something about her posture was different. Sadder. Older somehow, despite having the same six-year-old features.
"They used to be good," the reflection said, and I nearly fell through the doorway in shock. The voice was Luna's, but it wasn't coming from my daughter. It was coming from the mirror itself. "Before Hunger-Damien took them away. Before he made them hungry like him."
