Chapter Seven: Between Two Mirrors
Nour didn't know when she woke up.
But the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes… was not the ceiling of her room.
The room was completely white—no windows, no door, only smooth walls reflecting a faint gray light.
She sat up slowly, a hand on her chest, struggling to breathe.
The sound of her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear…
until a distant whisper rose, clear, as if coming from inside her head:
"Nour… have you finally awakened?"
She turned quickly.
No one was there.
But when she looked at the wall opposite her, she realized it wasn't a wall at all…
it was a massive mirror, reflecting her every movement.
She stepped toward it cautiously until she was face-to-face with her own reflection.
Except this time, the reflection didn't move with her.
It stood still, staring back with a faint smile—neither warm nor sinister… just empty.
"Who are you?" Nour whispered.
The reflection smiled, and replied in her own voice—only with a strange delay:
"I'm you… but you were late to return."
Nour took a step back, feeling the air tighten around her, something heavy pulling her backward.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
"When the glass shattered, Nour… the world chose."
Her voice began to blend with other voices—many of them—like dozens of versions speaking from the depths of the mirror at once.
"You are the copy.
You are the illusion.
You are the one meant to stay inside…"
"Stop!" Nour screamed.
She struck the glass with all her strength, but nothing happened.
The mirror didn't break—not this time.
Instead, it began to glow… and the reflection moved forward.
The surface rippled like water, and the reflection extended her hand from within, pressing it against the glass.
In that instant, Nour felt a strange heat in her own hand, followed by a powerful pull inward.
She fought back, but the voices grew louder, their whispers filling her skull:
"Leave your place… the world doesn't need two of you."
Suddenly, the force released her and she fell to the floor.
The gray light shifted to a faint red, as though blood seeped through the walls.
Then… silence.
From far away, a shadow emerged, moving slowly.
It was Niyar.
But his face looked different this time—paler, more human, less mysterious.
He approached her with quiet steps, speaking in a soft whisper:
"The boundaries have been torn apart, Nour.
Now you must choose:
to live in this world… or the other."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"What world? I don't understand!"
"The world you were in wasn't real—it was only a long reflection.
This one… is the origin.
Or perhaps the opposite."
Before she could respond, he pointed toward the mirror.
The reflection had changed—she no longer saw only herself.
She saw fragments of her childhood:
A little girl crying before a shattered mirror…
A woman screaming her name through smoke…
A hand holding another child's hand, before disappearing into the glass…
Nour collapsed to her knees, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"I was a child… I saw something that night, didn't I?"
"You saw the truth," he said softly, "and you buried it here."
He stepped closer, his gray eyes glowing faintly in the red light.
"Nour… the reflection you saw is not your enemy.
It is the you that you left behind as a child.
But if you don't face her now… she will take your place entirely."
He paused, then whispered:
"Every human has a mirror…
but not everyone who looks sees themselves."
Before she could answer, everything around her began to crack.
The walls faded.
The mirror fractured.
And the voice of the reflection screamed from the depths:
"I won't return!
This is my life now!"
Niyar grabbed her hand tightly.
"Choose now, Nour!"
But before she could choose…
everything collapsed in a flash of white light
—and darkness swallowed everything.