Winter came to the castle. The Reflection threw a big party in the ballroom. The room was lined with huge mirrors, which gave Vesper a front-row seat to her own nightmare.
The Reflection was dancing with Kieran. They looked like a fairytale couple. They spun around the floor perfectly in time with the music.
But Kieran didn't look happy. He looked worried.
He stopped dancing in the middle of the song.
"What is wrong?" the Reflection asked. She kept smiling. Her smile never changed.
"You didn't miss the step," Kieran said quietly.
"Excuse me?"
"That turn," Kieran said. "It's really fast. You always stumble a little bit on that turn. Every time we practice, you laugh and step on my toe. Tonight, you did it perfectly."
"I have been practicing," the Reflection said. "I wanted to be perfect for you."
Kieran let go of her hand. He stepped back. "But it's not just the dancing. It's everything."
He reached out and touched her arm. He pushed up her sleeve. The skin was smooth and white.
"Where is the scar?" Kieran asked.
Vesper gasped in the mirror world. When she was ten, she had fallen out of a tree and cut her arm. It left a jagged white scar. Vesper hated it, but it was part of her history.
Reflections don't have history. They only have the image. The Reflection had "fixed" the arm because she wanted to look flawless.
"I used a special cream," the Reflection said quickly. "It faded away."
"That scar was deep, Vesper. It doesn't just fade away in three months," Kieran said. His voice was shaking. "And you don't blink enough. Have you noticed? You can stare for ten minutes without blinking. It's... it's scary."
The Reflection's smile dropped. Suddenly, her face looked cold and dangerous.
"I am better than the old Vesper," she said. Her voice sounded metallic. "I am strong. I am beautiful. I fixed everything that was wrong with her. Why can't you just be happy?"
"Because you're not her," Kieran whispered. He looked horrified. "I don't know what you are, but you are cold. When I hold you, it feels like holding a statue."
Vesper saw her chance.
For months, she had tried to be strong like the Reflection. She thought she had to be perfect to get her life back. But she was wrong. The Reflection was fake because she had no pain. She had no fear. She had no mess.
Vesper didn't need to be strong. She needed to be real.
She pressed her hands against the inside of the giant ballroom mirror. She closed her eyes and thought about everything that made her human. She thought about the fear of the dungeon. She thought about the pain of the scar. She thought about how much she loved Kieran, and how much it hurt to watch him.
KIERAN!
She screamed it with her mind. She poured all her sadness and anger into the glass.
The mirror began to hum. It started to shake.