The sharp crack echoed through the crystal hall.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The smiling reflections remained behind the glass—watching, waiting, their unnerving grins fixed in place.
In the back, Maxwell stood frozen, his chest heaving as he stared at his own image in heavy robes.
“Abeg…” he whispered, his eyes wide as he looked at John beside him.
“Tell me this is a dream.” John looked at him, his face deadpan.
“After everything we’ve seen today, you still think this is a dream?” “Just answer me!” Maxwell swallowed hard.
“If I’m dreaming, slap me.” John raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?” “Yes!” SLAP.
The crack of palm meeting cheek was sharp.
Maxwell’s head snapped to the side.
A few nearby students turned, staring in utter disbelief.
Maxwell slowly turned back, touching his reddening cheek.
“…Why did you slap me like you hate me?” John shrugged calmly.
“You asked.” “I asked for confirmation, not punishment!” A brief, nervous breath of laughter escaped a few students.
For one fleeting second, the suffocating fear felt slightly lighter.
Then Maxwell looked back at the glass.
The reflection in the heavy gold robes was still staring at him, smiling wide.
“…Omo,” Maxwell muttered, stepping backward into the crowd.
“This isn’t a dream.” The glass didn’t shatter right away.
It groaned.
Where the first smiling reflection pressed its palm against the surface, the solid crystal began to bend inward.
It didn’t break—it stretched like thick liquid rubber, warping the reflections around it.
“Miss Grace…” the boy connected to the glass whispered, his voice trembling violently.
He tried to take a step back, but his boots felt glued to the floor.
Slowly, the reflection on the other side raised its left arm and curled its fingers into a tight fist.
In the center of the room, the real boy gasped.
His own left arm jerked upward against his will, mimicking the movement.
His wrist locked into place with a sickening snap of tension.
“Why…” The boy stared at his own arm, sheer horror taking over his face.
“No…
why is my body moving?!” Ayomide’s eyes narrowed instantly.
It’s not copying him, Ayomide realized, his pulse quickening.
It’s controlling him.
“Don’t look at them!” Miss Grace shouted, her voice cutting through the rising panic as she grabbed two students by their shoulders and pulled them back from the walls.
“Break eye contact!
Turn away from the glass!” “I can’t!” a girl screamed from the flank.
Her eyes were wide, locked on a nearby pillar as her legs forced her into a stiff, marching stride toward her own reflection.
“I can’t look away!” “Daniel, Godwin, Emma, help me!” Miss Grace barked.
Godwin lunged, wrapping his arms around the girl’s waist and dragging her backward into the center of the crowd.
“I got her!
Daniel, grab her legs!” “This isn’t possible…” Daniel yelled, frantically pushing his glasses up his nose as he grabbed the girl’s ankles, his voice shaking.
“No…
how are they controlling their bodies?!” “At this point, bro,” Godwin grunted, his arms straining, “I don’t think anything here is normal anymore!” Kemi grabbed Adesewa’s wrist so tightly her fingers turned white.
“Bae…” she whispered, her voice breaking.
“I haven’t even started living yet…” Adesewa squeezed Kemi’s hand in silence, her own gaze locked onto the stretching glass.
CRASH!
The bent crystal finally gave way, exploding into thousands of glowing shards.
Students ducked, screaming and covering their heads, but the glittering fragments dissolved into harmless blue mist before touching the ground.
When the dust settled, the space by the pillar was no longer empty.
Standing where the mirror had been was a second version of the boy.
Same face.
Same clothes.
Same build.
It stood perfectly still.
One heartbeat passed.
Then another.
Then…
it slowly tilted its head.
Crack.
The movement went too far—farther than any human neck should naturally turn, resting at a grotesque angle over its shoulder.
Its eyes were dull and empty, utterly devoid of life, yet the wide, unnatural smile remained fixed on its face.
The real boy collapsed to his knees in the center of the hall, pale and gasping for air, as if half his stamina had been drained in an instant.
Ayomide didn’t scream.
He stood near the middle of the crowd, his mind working through the chaos.
Karl said this was our awakening…
Ayomide thought, staring at the empty-eyed duplicate as its neck slowly clicked back into place.
Then this isn’t an attack from the outside.
It can’t be happening without a reason.
But what is it trying to make us do?
Around the endless crystal hall, the reflections continued their bizarre, disjointed behavior.
Some stayed completely still, staring blankly.
Others mimicked their owners with delayed, mocking movements.
And then came the sound.
CRACK.
Another reflection pressed its hand against the glass.
Then another.
Then another.
The students backed into a suffocating, terrified knot in the center of the hall as a realization chilled them to the bone.
It wasn’t just one reflection trying to come out.
It was all of them.