The Last Mirror
Sky stared at the mirror in his room for what felt like hours.
His reflection blinked out of sync.
Smiled when he didn't.
Tilted its head, just like the boy in the chair used to.
Sky backed away.
And the reflection stayed still—watching.
---
The next day, he told the others.
They gathered at Jess's house. Her parents were gone for the weekend, and none of them trusted being alone anymore.
They sat in a circle, just like before, but the air between them felt brittle.
Fractured.
"We all saw something," Sky said, voice low. "The mirror. A new one."
Jess nodded. "Mine showed up in my locker. But when I looked into it…"
She trailed off.
Lumen finished for her. "You weren't alone in there."
Max sat forward, fists clenched. "So we find it. We find the real last mirror. And we break it."
"It's not a thing," Nori said quietly. "It's a person."
They all looked at her.
She swallowed. "I remembered something. Back in the attic, during the dream. The boy said someone sat down. Not just once. He said they never got up."
Eli's face went pale.
Jess whispered, "You think one of us is… what? Still part of it?"
"No," Lumen said. "Worse."
Sky stood. "I think one of us is the mirror."
---
A long silence.
The truth felt heavier than the air.
---
That night, they took turns watching each other. No one slept.
At 3:17 a.m., Eli disappeared.
They found him standing in the hallway, staring into nothing.
When Max touched his shoulder, Eli turned—and smiled.
Not his smile.
The boy's.
"You shouldn't have come back," he whispered.
Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
---
He woke hours later, back to normal. Confused. Hollow.
He didn't remember anything.
But on his neck, written in faint white letters, were the words:
"He's learning how to stay."
The group finally understood.
The boy wasn't haunting mirrors anymore.
He was the mirror.
And he was trying to replace one of them.
Not through possession—
Through reflection.