Chapter 1 : The Rain And The Mirror
It was raining again.
Not the kind of soft, comforting drizzle Aira was used to. This was harsh — angry — like the sky was trying to break something.
She should’ve been asleep. She remembered lying down in her parents’ bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as the storm rolled in.
But now… she was standing.
In the hallway.
Barefoot.
Alone.
The floor beneath her was cold. The lights were off, but she could see — just enough to make out the edges of doors and walls. Something felt… unfinished, like a sentence cut short.
Aira didn’t know why she moved, only that her body had already decided to go to her room. Her own bed, her own walls, her own silence.
She pushed the door open slowly.
The room was untouched. Everything was in place.
Nothing strange.
But it didn’t feel right.
Her eyes were drawn to the mirror.
The one just beside her wardrobe. It had always been there — rectangular, tall, boring. But now… it felt like it was watching.
She took a step closer.
Her reflection stared back — hair tousled, nightshirt wrinkled, eyes wide.
But then it blinked.
And she didn’t.
Aira stepped back.
Her breath caught.
Then, like a whisper in her spine, she felt it —
Someone else was in the room.
Not behind her.
Not beside her.
But with her.
She turned sharply.
Nothing.
But still… she felt the presence. A shape in the dark that didn’t belong. Like ink spilled across reality.
Aira didn’t scream. She didn’t run.
She just… spoke.
“Are you looking too?”
The air grew heavier. A faint sound — like footsteps through wet leaves — filled the space behind her. Then she saw it.
A figure. Tall, thin, motionless. Not a man, not really. Just shadow. As if someone had drawn the outline of a human with smoke.
And it nodded.
That was the moment Aira stopped questioning things. She didn’t even ask what they were looking for. Because somehow, she already felt the same hunger. That aching feeling in her chest — something missing. Something she had forgotten to remember.
They began moving — together.
Room to room.
Cupboard to cupboard.
Drawer to drawer.
Not a word spoken. Not a sound, except the thunder outside and her quiet breath.
Aira whispered, “What am I supposed to find?”
No answer.
They searched her parents' room.
Then the kitchen.
The storeroom.
But always, something kept pulling her back to that bed she had left. The one where she remembered falling asleep.
She returned.
And froze.
Because she was still there.
Lying under the covers.
Face calm. Chest rising and falling slowly.
Her body.
Sleeping.
Aira didn’t move. Her mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out. A chill crawled up her neck and settled in her skull.
She stood in the doorway, staring.
I’m asleep.
But I’m not dreaming.
Am I?
Behind her, the shadow stood silently. Still. Watching.
She slowly took out her phone, hands trembling now.
She called her mom.
It rang.
And then her mother’s voice answered, soft and strange.
“I’m near.”
That was all.
Aira whispered, “Come home. Please.”
But there was no reply. The line had gone dead.
She looked again at her body in the bed.
It hadn’t moved.
It didn’t look scared.
She did.
Something in her gut twisted.
Something was wrong.
And as thunder cracked through the sky again, the shadow behind her took a slow step forward.
Not toward the sleeping Aira.
But toward the one who had woken Up.
🕯To Be Continued....
Chapter 2 : " The Man Who Never Spoke "
