The door burst open on its own.
Kaine didn't wait to understand why he bolted. Out of the room, down the hall, his pulse thudding in his ears. He didn't stop until he was back in his own room, locking the door behind him.
The mirror.
The girl.
Lena.
He didn't sleep. Couldn't. Every time he shut his eyes, he saw her face. Not the way she looked before smiling, full of light but how she had looked in the mirror: pale, empty, and accusing.
At breakfast, Kaine barely touched his food. He could feel everyone watching him like they knew. Even the staff gave him strange looks.
Nurse Marla stopped beside him. "Rough night?" she asked, tone flat.
Kaine hesitated. "The mirror room someone's using it I saw"
"You're not allowed in the west wing," she interrupted coldly. "It's sealed off. That hallway is locked."
"It was open."
She didn't respond. Just walked away.
Later that day, Kaine was pulled aside by Dr. Halbrook. "We reviewed last night's security footage," the doctor said, hands folded neatly. "You were recorded walking down the west wing corridor. Around 2:50 a.m."
Kaine stiffened. "So you believe me?"
Halbrook's brow furrowed. "That's just it. The cameras show you entering… and someone else following you in."
Kaine's mouth went dry. "Who?"
"That's the problem." He slid a still image across the desk.
The figure behind Kaine was a blur. A smudge of shadow shaped like a girl.
"Could be camera interference," Halbrook added quickly. "But you're clearly sleepwalking. You've done it before, yes?"
Kaine shook his head. "Not like this. I was awake. I remember it."
The doctor gave him a tired look. "Reality can bend under pressure, Kaine. Trauma distorts memory. Don't let ghosts from your past trick you."
He didn't say her name but Kaine heard it behind every word.
That night, Kaine woke up standing.
In the mirror room.
Again.
No memory of walking there. No sound. Just the dark.
Only now, the mirror wasn't reflecting anything.
It was black.
Like the glass had turned to oil.
Then slowly, something surfaced like a figure rising from deep water.
Kaine watched, paralyzed, as the shape came into view.
It wasn't Lena this time.
It was him.
His reflection.
But its face was twisted. Its eyes wrong. Its grin wide and unnatural.
Then it stepped forward.
Out of the mirror.
And Kaine screamed.