CHAPTER 2: A Crack In The Mirror
585 Words
ara stared at her reflection.
The bathroom was still. Too still. Steam clung to the mirror in a lazy fog, and the light above her buzzed with a low hum. But none of it drowned out the pulse pounding in her ears.
Her pupils were wrong.
She blinked. Once. Twice.
Still wrong.
For a brief second — not even a full breath — her irises had shifted. Not darker, not lighter. Sharper. Slit-like. Feral. Animal. Then, just as quickly, they were back to normal. Brown. Plain. Human.
She reached forward and wiped the mirror clean with the edge of her towel, then stared again.
Normal.
But her chest still heaved, her skin still tingled like it had been kissed by lightning, and her hands—shaking. Trembling. Like they remembered something her mind hadn’t caught up with yet.
“Elara?” Her mother’s voice called through the door.
She jumped. “Yeah?”
“Breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
A pause. Then: “Come down anyway.”
Her mother’s voice had that tone again. Careful. Gentle, but commanding — the way she always sounded when she was afraid Elara might break.
Elara tossed the towel aside and pulled on her hoodie. As she passed the mirror one last time, she hesitated. The glass hadn’t fogged over again, and this time, when she looked into her eyes, they stared back the same as always.
Still, her stomach churned.
Something was wrong.
⸻
Downstairs, the smell of scrambled eggs and toast filled the air, but the comfort of it didn’t reach her.
Her mother, Liana, stood at the stove, apron on, hair tied back, every movement as precise as always. As if chaos didn’t dare live in her kitchen.
Elara sat down, still clutching her sleeves like armor.
“You didn’t sleep,” Liana said without turning around.
“How would you know?”
“I always know.”
Elara didn’t reply.
Liana finally placed a plate in front of her and sat across the table, hands folded.
“Elara…” She looked tired. “You’ve been… off. These past few weeks.”
Elara stiffened.
“I’ve been having dreams,” she said before she could talk herself out of it.
Liana’s gaze didn’t falter, but her fingers tightened slightly.
“Dreams?”
“Running. Forests. Something chasing me — or maybe I’m the one chasing. And I keep waking up in the middle of the night, my heart’s racing. I’m… I’m changing, Mom.”
Silence.
“You’re a teenager,” Liana said softly. “Your body’s going through things. Hormones. Stress.”
Elara pushed her plate away.
“Don’t give me that. You know it’s not just that. You’ve always known something. You just won’t tell me.”
“I’m protecting you.”
“From what?”
Liana stood. “Eat.”
“I saw something in the mirror this morning.”
That stopped her. Cold.
Liana turned back, eyes unreadable now.
“What did you see?”
Elara hesitated. Her voice dropped. “Not me. Or… not just me.”
Liana’s face paled. Her mouth opened, then closed again.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” Elara whispered. “Because I’m starting to be.”
Liana’s shoulders slumped, just for a moment. Then she whispered, “You were never meant to know.”
And walked out of the room.
⸻
Outside, the wind howled against the house. A storm was coming. Elara could feel it.
Not just in the clouds.
In her blood.
- Writer
