The moment they stepped inside, the air changed.It was colder, heavier, thick with the taste of iron and smoke.Every reflection on the countless mirrors lining the walls moved independently of them—smiling, frowning, screaming silently.
Alex gripped his fists. "We stick together. No splitting up."
Leo nodded, scanning the endless corridors. "But… which way? Every reflection shows a different path."
Sophie shivered. "They're… mocking us."
Evelyn tightened her grip on the lantern. "It's not just reflections. This place… it knows us. It knows everything we fear, every mistake we've made."
Ahead, a mirror shattered. A figure stepped through.
Not a doppelganger this time. Something older, darker, dripping shadow, a distorted form of every face they'd ever trusted.
It whispered their secrets aloud:
"Alex… the time you abandoned him…""Leo… the choice you didn't make…""Sophie… the lies you told yourself…""Evelyn… the mother you couldn't save…"
The whispers crawled into their minds, growing louder, louder, echoing in every thought.
The floor rippled.Mirrors bent toward them, reflecting infinite versions of themselves—each one screaming, each one falling, each one reaching out.
Alex swung at one of the reflections—but his fist passed through it.The mirror smirked, shattering around him.Sophie screamed as dozens of small mirror shards lunged toward her, cutting the air like blades.
Evelyn swung her lantern in a wide arc. Light shattered a few reflections, but they regenerated instantly, more distorted, more grotesque than before.
Leo's eyes widened. "It's learning… adapting to us!"
And then, a low, rumbling laugh filled the hall.Not from the mirrors…From the walls, the floor, the air itself.
It said softly, cruelly:
"Run, or be consumed.But know this—every step, every choice, every thought belongs to me now."
The group huddled together.Every heartbeat felt like it could tear them apart.Every reflection could be a trap.
Evelyn whispered fiercely: "We survive this together. We control what we fear. Not the other way around."
The mirrors trembled.Shadows writhed.And from the far end of the hall, the shattered doorway of light—where the doppelgangers had vanished—flickered, as if beckoning them forward.
Alex clenched his jaw. "Then we go. All of us."
And, hand in hand, the four of them stepped forward—into the living nightmare of their own reflections.