Chapter 66 — “Nowhere to Hide”

Chapter 66 — “Nowhere to Hide”
I couldn’t breathe.

Not because Lucas’s lips had just been on mine—though, let’s be real, that was enough to short-circuit my brain for days—but because of what was staring back at us from his phone screen.

The picture was perfectly timed. Mid-kiss. Mid-vulnerability. And there, in the reflection of Lucas’s bedroom window, was that glistening, warped image of the Unself. Smiling. Watching.

He was here.

Here.

In Lucas’s house.

Lucas shot up from the bed, slamming his phone onto the desk. “That’s it. I’m done playing defense.”

My heart hammered in my chest as I followed him, my mind scrambling. “H-how? How is he even here? The mirrors—”

“There’s one in the bathroom.” His voice was tight, deadly calm. “And probably a few others. I didn’t think—”

Neither did I. Who thinks about a bathroom mirror becoming a horror portal?

“We have to get out of here.” My voice cracked. “Now.”

Lucas was already grabbing his hoodie and phone. “We need Lena.”

“And my mom,” I gasped.

He froze for half a second, glancing at me with that protective, stubborn look he always wore. “I’ll get you both out. I promise.”

I hated how comforting that promise was.

We ran down the stairs like the floor might collapse beneath us. Every reflective surface felt like a trap. Picture frames, windows, even the polished fridge door gleamed with just enough shine to make my skin crawl.

Everywhere we looked, we saw… us.

And him.

When we reached the front door, it swung shut on its own with a heavy slam.

Lucas yanked at the handle. “Locked.”

My pulse raced. “No. No no no—”

A low humming sound vibrated through the house like a tuning fork struck too hard. The mirrors were humming.

Lucas grabbed my hand. “Upstairs. Now.”

“We’re going closer to the mirrors?!”

“Safe room,” he said through gritted teeth. “My dad’s workshop. No mirrors.”

We bolted back upstairs, skidding across the hardwood floor as the humming grew louder. Lights flickered. The air turned sharp and cold, biting at my skin like winter wind.

Lucas flung open a narrow door near the end of the hall, ushering me inside. His dad’s old workshop was as cluttered as I remembered from childhood birthday parties—a maze of half-finished model planes and dusty old tools—but blessedly mirror-free.

He slammed the door shut behind us and jammed a chair under the handle.

And for a second, we just stood there. Breathing. Shaking.

“Are you okay?” Lucas whispered.

I swallowed, my throat raw. “Define ‘okay.’”

He managed a tight smile. “Right. Stupid question.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, my voice shaking. “Lucas… he knows where we live. Where we sleep.”

“I know.” His voice dropped into that low, serious tone that always made me feel weirdly safer. “But listen. That means he’s scared.”

I blinked. “Of us?”

“Yeah.” He stepped closer, gently taking my hand again. “We’re the only ones who’ve fought him. We know what he is.”

“And he knows what we are,” I whispered.

Lucas’s jaw flexed. “Exactly. So now he’s trying to rattle us. Make us panic.”

“Mission accomplished.”

“Rae.” His voice softened. “We’ve been through worse.”

“Have we? Because this feels pretty bad.”

He brushed a stray tear off my cheek with his thumb. “We’ve survived being trapped inside each other’s bodies. We’ve fought our worst fears in that mirror. We survived my Unself nearly killing us. This… this is just another round.”

I hated that he made sense.

My heart still hammered, but the worst of the terror started to ebb under his steady gaze. He always grounded me like this. It wasn’t fair.

I swallowed again. “Lucas?”

“Yeah?”

“If I say something extremely embarrassing right now, will you promise not to hold it over me for the rest of my life?”

His eyes sparkled. “No promises.”

I took a deep breath. “I—I like you.”

A beat of silence. His eyebrows lifted. “Rae, you kissed me. Twice.”

“I know! But that could’ve been adrenaline or trauma bonding or temporary insanity. I’m saying it out loud now. On purpose.”

His smile grew, slower this time. Warmer. “I like you too, Rae.”

I blinked. “You do?”

He laughed under his breath. “God, yeah.”

The tension that had been coiled so tight inside me snapped. And suddenly, all I wanted was to kiss him again. To drown out the fear with something good. Something real.

But then—

BZZZZZZZZZ.

The hum returned. Louder. Closer.

We both froze.

The air in the tiny workshop grew icy.

Lucas’s phone buzzed on the workbench. A new message flashed across the screen.

From Jamie’s number again.

Just three words.

"I SEE YOU."

A loud crack echoed behind us.

We spun to face the far corner.

The polished chrome surface of an old desk lamp—just shiny enough—began to ripple like liquid metal. A hand pressed out from the inside, followed by a grotesque, distorted face.

The Unself.

“Oh my God,” I gasped. “He’s coming through!”

Lucas grabbed a heavy wrench off the bench. “Stay behind me.”

The lamp warped grotesquely as the Unself’s arm stretched through, fingers flexing unnaturally. Its glassy skin shimmered with an eerie light.

Lucas swung the wrench hard, smashing the lamp into shards. The mirror-portal exploded with a metallic scream, glass flying everywhere.

The room went deathly still.

The humming stopped.

But only for a moment.

A new hum began. Louder. Deeper.

The full-length mirror from the guest room across the hall reflected a glowing pulse, even through the crack in the door.

“He’s not done,” Lucas whispered. “He’s moving through every reflective surface.”

I backed toward the corner, breath shallow. “There’s no safe room anymore, is there?”

“No,” Lucas said grimly, stepping in front of me again. “There’s not.”

The door handle twisted violently as the Unself tried forcing its way in.

Lucas shoved his weight against it, using the chair like a brace.

The wood groaned under the pressure.

“Rae—if this thing breaks through, you run.”

“No!”

“Rae—”

“I’m not leaving you again!”

The door shook as the creature on the other side slammed into it again and again.

And then—

The pounding stopped.

The house fell eerily quiet.

Lucas and I stood frozen.

Then—

Bzzzz.

Another text appeared on his phone.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE."

My blood turned to ice.

Lucas read it, his jaw clenched so tight I thought he might snap.

“He’s baiting us,” he whispered. “Trying to wear us down.”

“Lucas…” I said, voice shaking. “What if we stop hiding?”

He blinked, turning toward me.

“What?”

I took a breath. “We keep reacting. Running. Waiting for him to strike. But we’ve always been stronger when we fight back. Together.”

He stared at me for a second, as if seeing me in a whole new light.

Then, slowly, he smiled. “Are you saying we hunt him?”

I nodded. “We’ve faced him on his terms. Maybe it’s time he faces us on ours.”

A glint sparked in his eyes. “Rae Collins, you are terrifying.”

“And you like it.”

He chuckled softly. “Yeah. I really do.”

The tension between us thickened again, but this time with heat, not fear. His hand slid into mine, firm and steady.

We weren’t running anymore.

We were going to end this.

Together.

Cliffhanger Ending:

But just as we took a step toward the door to make our stand, the mirror behind us—one we hadn’t noticed—shattered.

And standing in the glass dust—

Was me.

My Unself.

Smiling.