She checked every mirror.
One by one.
Her fingers trembled as they brushed against the cold glass.
Nothing.
No door.
No crack.
No way someone could just…
disappear.
Her breathing turned uneven.
“Joe…?”
Silence.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Colder.
Every mirror reflected her.
tears in her eyes, fear written all over her face- like she was trapped with a hundred broken versions of herself.
“This isn’t possible…” she whispered.
But it was.
Her legs gave up.
She dropped to the floor, right in the middle of the room.
“JOE!”
Her scream echoed- loud…
desperate…
bouncing from mirror to mirror.
“Joe, please… answer me…”
Her voice cracked.
“JOE!! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
The sound came back to her.
Again.
And again.
But he didn’t.
Only her reflection stared back.
Watching.
Waiting.
Silent….
After a while-after crying until her throat burned and her eyes felt empty-she slowly pushed herself up.
Her body was shaking.
But she still turned around.
She started searching again.
The door had to be somewhere.
It had to.
She ran her hands along the walls, pushing at the mirrors, checking every corner, every reflection.
Nothing.
No door.
Not even the one she had entered through.
It was gone.
All four sides were sealed with mirrors-cold, endless mirrors that reflected her fear back at her from every angle.
She was trapped.
Her breath hitched.
“No… no, this can’t be real…”
With trembling hands, she pulled out her phone.
No signal.
No network.
Just a blank, lifeless screen.
Then-
It lit up.
A message appeared.
Her blood turned cold.
“You want to meet me?”
Her fingers froze.
The room felt wrong…
heavier…
then lighter at the same time.
Like gravity was losing its grip.
She looked around, panic rising again.
The mirrors…
they didn’t feel like walls anymore.
They felt infinite.
Her lips parted, shaking.
“…Who are you?” she whispered.
Another message came.
But she didn’t wait.
Something inside her snapped-rage, fear, desperation all mixing together.
“Yes…” she typed furiously.
“Yes, I want to meet you. And I will kill you.”
The message sent instantly.
Silence.
Then the room shifted.
Her feet felt weightless.
Her stomach dropped.
The mirrors no longer looked like walls-
They looked like space.
Endless.
Dark.
Like she was floating in the middle of nowhere.
Her scream broke through the hollow silence- but there was no ground left to stand on.
The next second-everything changed.
The room was suddenly filled with noise.
A loud, chaotic tick-tick-tick echoed everywhere…
like thousands of clocks were screaming at once.
Her breath hitched.
“What… is that…?”
The sound wasn’t normal anymore.
It was too fast.
Too sharp.
Too close.
She looked up-
The ceiling wasn’t empty.
A clock was there.
No…
not just one.
Shadows of clocks…
everywhere.
Their hands were spinning uncontrollably, moving forward at impossible speed.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Faster.
Faster.
Like time itself had lost control.
She staggered backward, but her body felt strange-light, almost weightless.
She lifted her head again-
And saw it.
The ceiling was no longer just a ceiling.
Every single one screaming time.
Her eyes darted to her wrist.
Her watch.
The hands were spinning too.
Forward.
Too fast.
“No… no, stop…” she whispered, shaking.
She grabbed her phone again-
The screen flickered violently.
Even the digital clock on it was racing ahead like it was running from something.
Seconds turned into blurs.
Minutes collapsed into each other.
Everything was moving forward at light speed.
The noise grew louder- a violent, endless tick-tick-tick drowning her thoughts.
She dropped to her knees, covering her ears.
But she couldn’t escape it.
Time wasn’t just passing anymore.
It was attacking her.
The sound grew louder-violent, endless, crushing.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
It wasn’t just noise anymore.
It was inside her head now.
She suddenly felt dizzy.
The room spun around her like it was losing its shape.
Her vision blurred.
“Stop… please…” she whispered, clutching her head.
But it didn’t stop.
Her body swayed, barely able to stay upright.
Instinctively, she grabbed her bag tightly-like it was the only thing anchoring her to reality.
Her feet moved on their own.
Unsteady.
Desperate.
She stepped forward…
until she reached the middle mirror.
The largest one.
It didn’t reflect her properly anymore.
It looked…
deeper.
Like it had no end.
Her breathing trembled.
“No… this isn’t real…”
But her fear had already turned into something else.
Curiosity.
Or maybe desperation.
Slowly…
hesitantly…
she lifted her leg.
Her heart pounded so hard it hurt.
She paused.
Just one second.
Then-
She pushed her leg forward into the mirror.
The surface didn’t break.
It accepted her.
Like water swallowing light.
Her eyes widened in shock as her leg disappeared inside the glowing, impossible mirror world.
The moment she stepped through, everything changed.
A wave of blinding light exploded around her-pure, overwhelming, endless.
It wasn’t just bright…
it was alive.
Her vision shattered instantly.
“Ah-!”
She tried to cover her eyes, but it was too late.
The light pierced through everything-her thoughts, her fear, her very sense of direction.
The sound of the clocks vanished.
The room, the mirrors, the reality she knew…
all of it collapsed behind her.
She staggered forward into the unknown space, but her body couldn’t take it.
The power of the light was too much.
Too pure.
Too heavy.
Her legs gave out beneath her.
Her breath hitched once…
twice…
And then everything went silent.
Her body fell gently into the glowing void.
She fainted-lost in the brightness of a world she couldn’t yet see.
After what felt like forever…
She regained consciousness.
A faint breath escaped her lips as her fingers twitched slightly.
Her eyelids felt heavy-like they didn’t belong to her anymore.
Slowly…
painfully…
she opened her eyes.
Darkness.
Not the endless, glowing void from before.
Something else.
Real.
She blinked a few times, her vision adjusting.
It was…
a basement.
Her brows furrowed in confusion.
“No… this…”
She pushed herself up slowly, her body still weak.
The floor was cold beneath her palms.
She looked around carefully this time.
Old storage boxes.
Mechanical parts scattered across a rusted table.
Creaking shelves.
Dust hanging in the air like it hadn’t been disturbed in years.
Everything looked…
normal.
Too normal.
Her heart didn’t calm down.
It refused to.
Something wasn’t right.
Her eyes caught something on the floor.
A letter.
Folded.
Placed perfectly-like it was waiting for her.
Her breath hitched.
“…Who left this?”
For a moment, she didn’t move.
Then slowly, she reached for it.
But before opening it-
She stopped.
A strange instinct crawled up her spine.
Don’t.
She swallowed hard.
“No… I need answers…”
Clutching the letter tightly, she forced herself to stand.
Her legs were still unsteady, but she managed.
Her gaze shifted toward the door.
Old.
Wooden.
Slightly open.
Freedom…
maybe.
Or something worse.
She walked toward it slowly.
Each step echoing in the silent basement.
Her hand reached for the handle-
But she froze.
Hesitating.
Breathing uneven.
Because deep down…
She knew.
Whatever was behind that door…
Was waiting for her.
But when she finally opened the door-
Nothing happened.
No darkness.
No monster.
No sudden shift.
Everything was…
normal.
She blinked.
Confused.
Slowly, she stepped outside.
A corridor stretched ahead of her.
Quiet.
Still.
Too still.
Her eyes moved along the walls-
They were covered in framed portraits.
Old paintings of noble-looking men.
Sharp eyes.
Serious faces.
Each one watching…
silently.
A chill ran down her spine.
“…A school?” she whispered.
It looked like one.
The long hallway.
The structured walls.
The identical doors lined up perfectly.
Everything about it screamed familiar.
Her heartbeat slowed-but not from relief.
From realization.
“I didn’t go anywhere…” she murmured.
But then her expression changed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked around again.
“No…”
Her voice dropped.
“This… isn’t that school.”
The air felt heavier suddenly.
Like the corridor had heard her.
Like it was waiting for her to understand.
Because everything was normal.
Perfectly normal.
And that’s what made it terrifying.
Elise slowly stepped out of the building.
The door creaked behind her as she came outside.
In front of her, there was a forest area.
The place looked abandoned.
Leaves were scattered everywhere, covering the ground and parts of the path.
She turned back.
The building stood quietly behind her.
Near the entrance, a board was fixed on the wall, partly covered with dust and leaves.
Elise moved closer.
She blinked slowly, trying to see clearly.
With her hand, she brushed away the leaves.
The name became visible-
L’école FMP
She stared at it for a moment.
Then blinked again.
The place was silent.
She again started to walk.
Everything looked normal.
Yet, the cold of the night was enough to freeze the blood.
Her cheeks turned red.
“This… isn’t Paris,” she said softly.
“Paris was so hot…”
Her breath turned into mist in the air, like she was smoking.
She was wearing a normal jeans and a top.
Her hair was messy, falling across her face.
Suddenly- she remembered Joe.
Her blood started to boil again.
Without stopping, she walked forward, through the woods.
Dry leaves cracked under her feet.
The air felt heavier with every step.
Ahead…
she saw it.
A gate.
Half open.
Beyond it- lights.
Faint at first…
then cl earer.
She moved closer.
And then- she stepped through.
Everything changed.
The cold disappeared.
The air felt alive.
The streets…
the buildings…
the distant sounds-
It was like the whole city was welcoming her.”…the whole city was welcoming her.
And somewhere behind her, the school bell rang again.”
______________________________________
“Every mystery leaves a trail. This one left a trap.”