The shattered phone screen went completely static, a dead, flickering gray that filled the silence like a held breath.
Lester and Skye just stared at it.
Then, when all was quiet, an ashtray-gray hand slid out of the cracked display.
Black smoke poured after it.
Another hand followed—twisted, fingers bent at unnatural angles, yet still gripping the edge of the screen as if climbing free.
The rest of it came next.
The paranormal entity known as Mira pulled itself through the broken glass and circuitry in a slow, liquid motion.
Dark markings covered its body—jagged symbols that seemed to shift and crawl across its ash-gray skin.
It emerged on all fours, but inverted: its stomach faced the ceiling, limbs bent the wrong way.
Then its head turned a full one-hundred-eighty degrees to face them.
Its eyes opened.
It tensed, about to pounce—
A sharp flash of light slammed into it from the side.
It froze mid-lunge.
Then it smiled.
"You really are a quick shot."
Lester didn't know whether that was a compliment or an insult.
He pulled a small printed photograph from the back of Robert's casing.
The image on it made him shiver the moment he looked at it.
"Is it contained?" he asked, voice tight.
Skye studied the frozen figure.
"This is an imperfect containment. But it should hold long enough for us to get some answers."
The anomaly remained locked in that impossible position, body still inverted, head twisted toward them.
Because of the way it was frozen, the slight bulge beneath its shorts stood out more noticeably than it should have.
Skye kept Robert trained on it.
"Where are we?"
Mira's smile didn't fade. "You're in your own special kind of hell."
Lester glanced around the empty living room, then at the chandelier's crystal facets still reflecting the ghostly party.
"Why can we see people moving in the reflections… but we can't see the actual people anywhere?"
The entity's voice was almost conversational. "Because you aren't in the same place they are."
Skye took a step closer, careful. "How do we get out of here?"
Its eyes narrowed with quiet amusement. "I'm not going to tell you that."
Skye's tone hardened. "I don't think you understand the position you're in."
The anomaly tilted its twisted head a fraction. "Do I?"
"It's two against one."
Lester corrected her quietly. "Actually… it's three against one. Including Robert."
Mira went still, as if considering the claim.
The markings on its skin seemed to pulse once.
"…I guess you're right," it said at last. "I am outnumbered."
A pause.
"Let me fix that."
Its eyes began to glow.
Every reflection in the room—every mirror, every windowpane, every crystal of the chandelier—stopped moving at the same instant.
The dancing figures turned in perfect unison and looked straight at Lester and Skye.
Then, one by one, they stepped out of the reflective surfaces and into the real room.
The entity's glowing gaze flicked to the printed photograph still clutched in Lester's hand.
A thin spark of flame leapt from its eyes and landed on the paper. Lester hissed and let go; the print fluttered to the floor, edges already blackening.
Mira unfolded itself with unnatural smoothness, rising to stand upright for the first time.
It rolled its neck once, bones clicking softly, and looked at the two of them with open interest.
"Much better," it said. Then its gaze settled on Lester. "Do you know why… I originally approached you because I thought you were part of the Association. You were carrying a camera.
You even said you had it on you all the time."
Its smile widened, almost playful.
"But it was actually the blue-haired one the whole time."
It glanced at Skye, then back at Lester.
"The irony."
The anomaly rolled its neck again, the soft clicks of bone echoing in the suddenly crowded room.
"This whole time we've met," it said, voice calm and almost conversational, "I've just been stunned. Restrained. It's getting quite annoying."
Its eyes glowed brighter.
"So this time… I'm done playing."
It turned its head toward the figures that had stepped out of the reflections. The party-goers stood motionless, waiting.
"Kill the girl," Mira ordered. "Bring the boy to me."
They moved at once.
The speed was inhuman—blurred limbs and faces that crossed the living room in a heartbeat. Skye barely had time to react before the first of them slammed into her.
The rest closed in on Lester like a wave.
There was a short, brutal struggle.
Lester swung, kicked, tried to keep his footing, but there were too many of them.
Robert flew off his neck.
"ROBERT!!!" he screamed.
And before he could catch the strap.
Hands seized his arms, his legs, his shoulders. The floor rushed up. In seconds he was on his back, pinned hard against the hardwood, four of the reflection-things holding him spread-eagled by the wrists and ankles.
The entity walked over slowly, unhurried, and stopped just above him.
It looked down, smiling.
"I've been waiting all night for this."
It reached down, hooked its fingers into the waistband of his pants and underwear, and yanked them down in one smooth motion, exposing him completely.
His cock lay soft against his thigh. Mira's ash-gray fingers traced along the length of it with the tips of its sharp fingernails, dragging lightly enough to raise goosebumps, never quite drawing blood.
It watched his face the entire time, smiling that same unnerving smile.
"All this stimulation and you still won't get up," it murmured, voice almost amused. "I would think you swung the other way… if you weren't so scared of my own thing between my legs."
"And if you dont get hard soon then I will be the one hard."
Lester's breath came short and ragged.
The reflection-things held him tighter. He tried to twist away, but there was nowhere to go.
"Please—" The word tore out of him before he could stop it. "Please, give me time—I'll get hard. Not that anything but that—"
It tilted its head, clearly enjoying the sound of him begging.
Its fingernails continued their slow, deliberate path, circling the head, scraping lightly down the underside.
"Since you really dont want that," it said softly.
I have an alternative to get my nutrients if you cant get hard.
"How."
"I'll just get it straight from the source."
Its hand slid lower.
It cupped his balls, fondling them with deliberate pressure, rolling them between its fingers while its nails scraped the sensitive skin.
Lester's hips jerked involuntarily. A broken sound escaped his throat.
"What—what do you mean by that?" he managed, voice cracking. "What do you mean!"
Mira's smile widened. It leaned down slowly, opening its mouth.
Lester's eyes fixed on the sharp, elongated canines that glinted in the low light—far longer and finer than any human teeth had a right to be.
It didn't answer.
Instead it lowered its head the rest of the way and bit down hard.