Chapter 57 – A Mirror Between Us

Chapter 57 – A Mirror Between Us
The mirror shimmered again, distorting Lucas’s reflection—except it wasn’t quite Lucas. It was him… but twisted. Sharper eyes. Crueler mouth. Same hoodie, but soaked in something too dark to be water.

“Tell me that’s not me,” Lucas whispered, inching closer to me.

I grabbed his sleeve. “That’s not you. It can’t be. The real you has better eyebrows.”

He blinked at me. “You’re complimenting my eyebrows while we’re staring at my evil twin?”

“What else am I supposed to do? Panic? We tried that. Didn’t help.”

Lucas huffed a laugh, but didn’t look away from the mirror.

The reflection tilted its head, then mimicked Lucas’s movement from a few seconds ago—reaching for me. But instead of touching, its hand hit the glass. It sneered.

I shivered. “Is this like Jamie again?”

“No,” Lucas murmured. “It feels different. Like it’s targeting us.”

“Us as in you and me, or just you?”

Lucas didn’t answer.

The lights above us flickered again—once, twice—and then went out entirely. The hallway plunged into a fuzzy twilight lit only by the mirror’s pulsing glow.

Lucas’s hand found mine. He didn’t ask. He just held it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I think it wants to switch again,” I said, throat dry.

“With me?”

I nodded.

Lucas didn’t flinch. “Then it can go to hell.”

I squeezed his hand. “Okay, that was kinda hot.”

“You’re unbelievable,” he muttered, but I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

The reflection—let’s call him Mirror-Lucas—started to pace, moving like a tiger in a cage. He didn’t just look like Lucas anymore. He moved like him. Studied me like him. And that was the worst part.

Because I knew that look. It was the one Lucas gave me when he thought I wasn’t watching. The soft one. The vulnerable one.

Only this version twisted it.

“You see that?” I whispered. “It’s trying to use your emotions. It’s copying how you feel about me.”

Lucas didn’t deny it.

Instead, he turned toward me, jaw clenched. “I don’t know how to stop this.”

“We don’t stop it,” I said, heart hammering. “We outsmart it. Together.”

Lucas met my eyes. “You really think we can?”

I nodded. “I trust you.”

The mirror pulsed again—brighter now. Hot. The air thickened like it was saturated with static.

Suddenly, Lucas staggered.

“Lucas!”

He dropped to one knee, clutching his head. “It’s… it’s trying to pull me in—”

I lunged, grabbing his shoulders. “No. No way. You’re not going anywhere without me, got it?”

His eyes flickered—briefly silver. I slapped him.

“Rae—ow!”

“You were glowing. Don’t you dare start Unself-ing on me now.”

He groaned, but some of the color returned to his face. “Noted. Slaps are your love language.”

“Only in emergencies.”

Before either of us could say more, a new presence entered the hallway—Lena.

She skidded to a stop, panting. “Guys, I got your text. What’s happening—oh, crap.”

“Yup,” I said. “More mirror shenanigans.”

Lena’s eyes locked on Mirror-Lucas. “That’s… disturbing. Is it trying to switch?”

“We think so,” Lucas said through gritted teeth.

She frowned. “Okay, then maybe don’t stand directly in front of it, genius.”

Lucas stepped back without protest.

The reflection mirrored him again—stepping forward with that same haunted grace.

“We need to break it,” I said.

“No,” Lucas said quickly. “What if we trap him in there by not giving him what he wants?”

Lena tilted her head. “So reverse psychology. Love it.”

“But that only works,” I said, “if we don’t engage.”

Lucas stared at the mirror. “Then let’s ignore it.”

Easier said than done.

We turned our backs and started walking—but the reflection didn’t vanish. It pressed harder, banging against the inside of the glass like it was trapped.

Lucas flinched with every thud. I kept hold of his hand.

Then it started whispering.

Not loud. Just enough for the words to bleed through the static in our heads.

“You don’t deserve her.”

Lucas stiffened.

“She’ll never trust you, not fully.”

I turned. “Shut up.”

It smiled.

“She kissed you because she was scared.”

Lucas’s jaw ticked. “It’s lying.”

I stepped forward. “She kissed you because she wanted to. So stop talking.”

The mirror trembled.

Lucas looked at me, eyes stormy. “Is that true?”

I blinked. “Which part?”

He licked his lips. “The wanting.”

I inhaled. “Yes.”

He moved closer. “Even if I’m messed up?”

“You’re not messed up.”

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“Then let’s learn together.”

His gaze dropped to my lips again.

Then Mirror-Lucas screamed—a piercing sound like glass shattering from the inside out. The mirror cracked top to bottom, light bursting from every fissure.

“Get down!” Lena yelled, diving for cover.

Lucas pulled me behind him as the mirror exploded.

Glass rained everywhere—except it didn’t cut. It floated around us, suspended like frozen snow.

In the swirling shards, I saw pieces of all our worst moments. Lucas crying alone in his room. Me standing outside his house and walking away. Us fighting. Him in my body, hating what he saw. Me in his, pretending I didn’t.

And then—I saw something else.

A future.

Us laughing in the rain. Holding hands in a hallway. Me in his hoodie. Him kissing me under a tree.

Lucas saw it too.

When the shards hit the ground, we were both breathless.

“It showed us something,” I whispered. “A maybe.”

Lucas nodded. “And I want it.”

I leaned up, heart in my throat. “Then take it.”

This time, he kissed me first.

And this time, no mirror screamed.

No chaos.

Just warmth. And realness. And the quiet thump of his heartbeat under my hands.

We pulled apart, smiling like idiots.

Then—

Bang.

We spun around.

Another mirror.

But this one wasn’t broken.

It was new.

And this time, it wasn’t Lucas’s reflection inside.

It was mine.

Except my eyes were silver.

And I was smiling like a predator.

“Oh no,” I breathed.

Lucas stepped in front of me. “We’re not doing this again.”

The mirror pulsed.

The silver-eyed version of me tilted her head.

And then—she spoke.

“Your turn, Rae.”