Chapter 56 — “Half-Truths and Hinge Moments”

Chapter 56 — “Half-Truths and Hinge Moments”
Lucas didn’t let go of my hand.

Even as we crept back through the abandoned hallways of the East Building—one eye on the shadows, the other on each other—he kept our fingers laced like it was a lifeline. Which, okay, maybe it was. There was something grounding about it, like no matter what was lurking in the mirrors, at least we weren’t alone.

“I swear this place gets creepier every time,” I muttered, stepping over a toppled chair with a dramatic hop.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “You sure that wasn’t just your gymnastics trauma resurfacing?”

I rolled my eyes. “I quit gymnastics in sixth grade, thank you very much. Because someone—” I nudged him with my elbow, “—said I looked like a breakdancing spider.”

His mouth twitched. “You did.”

“Cruel. Brutally honest, but cruel.”

We reached the junction near the janitor’s closet—aka the portal to hell from last time—and paused. The air was colder here, enough to raise goosebumps on my arms. Lucas noticed. Without a word, he shrugged off his hoodie and draped it around my shoulders.

I blinked. “What, no sarcastic comment about me being weak and fragile?”

“Nah,” he said, voice quiet. “You’ve literally bodyslammed a mirror demon. I’m pretty sure you’re tougher than me.”

Oh.

There it was again.

That warm flush in my chest that had nothing to do with the hoodie and everything to do with the boy standing too close and looking at me like I was the only solid thing in this cursed building.

“Rae.” His voice was softer now, like he was trying not to scare the moment away. “About earlier. Before Lena interrupted.”

My heart started hammering. “Yeah?”

“I meant what I said. About wanting to try. With us.”

I swallowed. “Even with all… this?” I gestured around—shattered glass, flickering lights, probably a ghost rat watching us from the vents.

He reached up and gently tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, the motion so un-Lucas it short-circuited my brain. “Especially because of all this.”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled. “Wow. That was almost sweet. Are you sure you're not possessed again?”

Lucas rolled his eyes but his cheeks tinted pink. “Shut up.”

But I didn’t. Because something inside me surged forward and before I could think twice, I went up on tiptoe and kissed him.

No monsters. No mirror. No interruptions.

Just me, Lucas, and the undeniable spark we’d been dancing around since day one.

It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t perfect—my nose bumped his and I might’ve lost balance a bit—but it was real.

When I pulled back, Lucas blinked, then let out a low, almost stunned laugh. “Took you long enough.”

“You were literally the one stalling last time!”

“Yeah, well. I didn’t want to make assumptions.”

“Assume better,” I said, and he grinned.

We stood there a beat too long—just smiling at each other like a couple of idiots who’d momentarily forgotten they were in a haunted school.

Then, of course, the mirror in the hallway shimmered.

Lucas stepped in front of me instantly, pulling me back. “Stay behind me.”

“You know I hate when you say that.”

“Yeah, but you still listen.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The mirror rippled again. For a second, I thought we’d see Jamie—or his Unself—step through.

But instead, a different reflection appeared.

It was us.

But… not.

This Rae and Lucas looked exactly like we did, down to my messy ponytail and his scuffed sneakers—but their expressions were off. My reflection smirked. His eyes were cold. Cruel.

“Oh no,” I whispered. “That’s us. Our Unselves.”

Lucas’s jaw clenched. “We never saw them before. Why now?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not loving this new plot twist.”

In the mirror, Other-Rae leaned close to the glass, lips curling into a mockery of my smile. Her fingers tapped the surface once, twice, like she was knocking on a window.

And then she mouthed something.

We couldn’t hear it, but the meaning was clear.

Soon.

The mirror shattered from the inside out.

Glass sprayed across the hallway. Lucas shielded me without thinking, arm curling protectively around my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut, heart pounding.

When I opened them again, the hallway was empty.

The mirror gone.

And something was definitely wrong.

Lucas turned slowly. “We have to go. Now.”

“Where? Back to the others?”

He shook his head. “No. Somewhere safer. Somewhere they can’t follow.”

“Home?” I asked, uncertain.

“No.” His eyes met mine, serious now. “Your house.”

I blinked. “Why mine?”

“Because your family’s there. And if they’re targeting people close to us…”

My stomach dropped. “We have to protect them.”

Lucas nodded. “Exactly.”

We didn’t stop to debate. We ran.

—

By the time we burst through my front door, I was out of breath and shaking, Lucas not much better. Mom was in the kitchen, startled mid-stir as we barreled in.

“Rae? Lucas? What—”

“No time,” I gasped. “Lock the doors. All of them. Now.”

She stared. “Why? What happened?”

Lucas took over, calm but firm. “There’s a threat. We’re handling it, but Rae needs to stay here. With you. It’s not safe out there right now.”

Mom hesitated, then—thankfully—nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”

I could’ve cried from relief.

As we helped her check the locks and close the blinds, Lucas kept glancing at the mirror in the hallway. The same one I’d looked in a thousand times growing up. The one that now seemed like a doorway waiting to be opened.

“I’m sleeping on the floor outside your room,” he said casually.

I raised a brow. “Protective much?”

He shrugged. “Just until this blows over.”

“Not even going to ask if you can stay? Just assumed?”

Lucas looked at me, deadpan. “Do you want me to leave you alone tonight with a mirror that might spit out an evil version of yourself?”

“…Fair.”

Later, as night fell and the house quieted, I sat beside him on the floor just outside my bedroom door. The only light came from the hallway lamp, casting soft shadows.

“We should talk,” I said.

Lucas leaned his head back against the wall. “About what?”

“Everything. This. Us. What’s next.”

He glanced at me. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

I nudged his knee with mine. “No, dummy. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I’m scared, Rae.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Not of the mirrors. Not really. But of this. Us. Because I’ve never had something I didn’t want to lose before.”

My heart clenched.

“You won’t lose me,” I whispered.

“You say that now.”

“I mean it. We’re in this together.”

He looked at me, and this time, there was no mask. No sarcasm. Just raw, unfiltered emotion.

And slowly, he reached for my hand again.

We sat there like that, fingers intertwined, while the shadows deepened.

And in the mirror down the hall, something watched us.

Waiting.

Plotting.

Its smile a perfect reflection of mine—twisted just enough to turn the warmth cold.

The camera on my phone lit up on its own.

No hands. No touch.

Just a flash.

Then a new photo appeared in my gallery.

It was me and Lucas.

Asleep on the floor.

Taken from inside the mirror.