The door's warm glow dimmed as they stepped closer, the air thickening with a strange warmth—like someone exhaling slowly in their faces.
The smiling silhouette didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
It just stood there, waiting.
Alex raised a hand. "Who are you?"
The figure answered without hesitation.
"Alex."
Alex's stomach dropped. "That's… my voice."
Leo took a shaky step backward. "Okay, nope. Nope nope nope—!"
The figure slowly lifted its head.
The light inside the room brightened just enough to reveal its face—
Not a monster.Not a stranger.
It was Alex, perfectly copied.Same hair.Same eyes.Same smirk.
But wrong.
Skin too smooth.Eyes too still.Smile too wide.
A perfect reflection in a place with no mirrors.
Sophie covered her mouth. "Please tell me that's not you—"
"It's not," Alex muttered, fists clenching.
The Doppel-Alex tilted its head.
"You left me behind."
The group froze.
Doppel-Alex stepped forward, the warm light bending around it like it didn't want to touch him."You abandoned me when the train first shifted. Remember the door? The one that closed too fast?"
Alex's eyes widened.
He did remember.A split second when he thought Leo had been trapped behind a door.A moment when he almost ran back.A moment he hated himself for.
"That wasn't Leo," the Doppel said."It was me."
"You're lying," Alex hissed, but his voice cracked.
The Doppel grinned.
"I am everything you could have been…if you hadn't moved forward."
Evelyn stepped between them, lantern raised. "We're not here to listen to tricks."
But the Doppel shifted its gaze to her.Its smile changed—knowing, almost tender.
"Evelyn."
Her breath caught in her throat.
"I know what the train took from you," it whispered."I know who you still hear at night.""I know her last words."
Evelyn's grip trembled.
Sophie grabbed her hand. "Don't listen. It's trying to break you."
The Doppel-Alex stepped back into the warm light—and suddenly, more shadows appeared beside him.
Three more silhouettes.
Leo.Sophie.Evelyn.
Perfect replicas.
Standing in a line.
Smiling.
Their voices overlapped in a single chilling whisper:
"We are who you left behind."
The real Leo felt his heartbeat stop for a second. "Oh hell no—"
Sophie squeezed her eyes shut. "This is wrong. This is so wrong."
Evelyn steadied herself. "We're not leaving anyone behind. Not now. Not ever."
The Doppelgangers all lifted their heads at the same time.
Their eyes glowed faintly.
And they said, in perfect unison:
"Then catch us."
Without warning, the four doppelgangers sprinted deeper into the glowing room—and the door slammed shut behind them.
The lantern flickered violently in Evelyn's hand.
Alex stared at the sealed door, jaw tight."They want us to chase them."
Leo whispered, "Or they want us to get lost."
Sophie's voice cracked. "But either way… we have to go, right?"
Evelyn nodded.
"We go."
And as the group pushed the door open again, the warm glow was gone—replaced by a sprawling maze of doors, mirrors, and impossible reflections…
A place built to tear them apart.
A place that already knew their deepest regrets.
A place called:
THE HALL OF MIRRORED GHOSTS.