The Mirror That Lied
The rain started at midnight.
Lilith watched it fall through her window, her thoughts spinning like the storm outside. Every word Mr. Haynes said kept echoing in her mind. She didn't leave her. She never left her.
What did that mean?
She paced the room, too afraid to sleep, too wired to sit. Every shadow in the corners seemed to stretch just a little too long, every creak in the floorboards felt intentional.
And then, her phone buzzed.
No caller ID. Just one word on the screen:
"Look."
Her heart thudded. She slowly turned toward the mirror across the room the tall, old one her mom picked up at a garage sale a few years ago. It had always felt…off. Like it saw more than it should.
She walked closer.
The reflection stared back.
Same eyes. Same scar under her chin. Same tired expression.
But then… she blinked.
And the girl in the mirror didn't.
Lilith froze.
She leaned in.
The reflection leaned closer.
Not with her movements,with its own.
And then, it whispered. Lips unmoving. Eyes wide and glassy.
"You left me."
Lilith staggered back, heart hammering.
"No…" she gasped. "That's not..."
"You left me to drown."
The mirror cracked.
Not shattered , just a single split down the middle, like a wound opening.
And behind her own face, just for a second, she saw it...
Lena. Wet hair. Eyes black as night. Mouth open like she was screaming but no sound came out.
Lilith screamed and knocked the mirror over. It hit the floor, hard. The glass didn't break further,but the reflection still stared up at her.
Still moved.
She ran.
To the kitchen. Her hands shaking, she turned on every light she could. Grabbed her mom's phone from the counter and opened the voicemail app.
She needed a voice. A sound. Something real to hold on to.
There was one new message.
Timestamp: 3 minutes ago.
She hadn't heard the phone ring.
She pressed play.
It was static at first.
Then, faint breathing.
Then:
"Don't look at her. Don't talk to her. Don't remember her."
Lilith's knees buckled.
She dropped the phone.
This wasn't just her memory playing tricks. It was something more. Something alive.
And it knew she was starting to remember.
Later, wrapped in a blanket on the couch, she forced herself to stay awake.
She dug out her old sketchpad from a storage box, something she hadn't used in years. Her fingers trembled, but she drew.
Not what she wanted to.
But what her hands remembered.
A dock.
Two girls.
A storm above them.
A shadow in the water.
And a hand reaching up.
The face beneath the water…
…it wasn't Lena's anymore.
It was hers.
Somewhere, deep in the night, Lilith whispered aloud to no one:
"What happened to us?"
And for a moment, she swore the rain answered back.
"You were chosen"