Elara's apartment smelled faintly of rain and coffee when she returned that night. The city was still tense, half of Orvale running on backup generators. The silence between thunder and traffic was unsettling — like the city itself was holding its breath.
She moved through her rooms mechanically, eyes darting over familiar objects that suddenly felt alien. The mirror by the hallway had a faint crack running through it, thin as a scar. She didn't remember it being there before.
She poured herself a glass of water but froze halfway. Her reflection… didn't move.
For a moment, she stood frozen — the kind of terror that doesn't scream but breathes softly in your ear. Her reflection's eyes followed hers a second too late. A glitch? A hallucination?She blinked — and it synced again.
Elara exhaled shakily and reached for her phone. It had been acting strange since the blackout — screen flickering, calls dropping mid-sentence. She tried calling Calen. No signal.
Then she noticed a text notification. No sender name, just a number she didn't recognize.
"Do you remember the last six hours?"
She stared at it, chills crawling up her arms.A second message followed:
"Check your camera roll."
Her hands trembled as she opened the gallery. The most recent photo was timestamped 01:48 AM — during the blackout. It was blurry, dark, taken from inside a car. Headlights illuminated an alley. In the center of the frame was a figure dragging something heavy across the pavement.
Elara zoomed in.Her own face stared back at her.
She dropped the phone, heart pounding, breath ragged. Logic screamed to call someone — anyone — but instinct told her not to. Whoever sent the message knew her too well.
The reflection in the cracked mirror now seemed to smile faintly. She took a hesitant step closer. The air around her shimmered faintly, the way heat distorts vision. Her reflection tilted its head — but she hadn't moved.
Then it whispered.
"You're not supposed to be awake yet."
The lights flickered. The glass rippled like water — and a hand reached out.