The Boy in the Mirror

Chapter 5: Auren's Eyes

I didn’t sleep.

Even after the mirror went still again and the silver writing faded, I just sat there on the edge of my bed, staring at the place where Noel’s face had been. My thoughts kept circling the last thing I read:

“They’re watching you now.”

I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know who “they” were. But it felt like something around me had shifted. Like I wasn’t the only one paying attention anymore.

When morning came, I went to school with a quiet mind but loud thoughts. I didn’t tell Nimra anything, even though she asked me twice if I was okay. I just told her I was tired. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.

The moment I walked into class, Auren looked up.

“Hey,” he said, casual like nothing had happened.

I didn’t answer. I just took my seat beside him and opened my notebook. My hand was trembling slightly as I gripped my pen, but I kept my eyes down.

“Ethan,” he said again, softer this time. “I didn’t mean to upset you yesterday.”

“Then why’d you lie?” I asked without looking at him.

“I wanted to know if you were still seeing things,” he said quietly. “I didn’t know how else to ask.”

“Maybe try asking,” I muttered.

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I turned to him, really looking this time.

There was something behind his eyes. Not guilt, exactly. Something closer to… caution. Like he was weighing every word before he said it.

I decided to test him.

“What would you do,” I asked, “if someone told you they saw a boy inside a mirror?”

Auren didn’t flinch.

“I’d ask if he was real,” he said calmly. “And if he was dangerous.”

“He’s not,” I said too quickly.

Auren raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

I nodded. But inside, I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

—

That afternoon, I skipped lunch. I went to the library instead — not because I was looking for anything specific, but because the silence there felt safe. Like the walls couldn’t hear me think.

I sat in the far corner, surrounded by shelves and dust and old encyclopedias no one read anymore.

And then, on impulse, I pulled out my phone and typed:

> “Boy trapped in mirror. How to help?”

Nothing useful came up. Just ghost stories. Urban legends. Clickbait articles about haunted houses.

But then I saw something different.

“The Obsidian Mirror Theory — a myth from the lost journals of Lenor Vale.”

I clicked it.

It was an old blog post. Outdated formatting. A few lines of text:

> “Some say there are mirrors that don’t reflect — they remember.

Some say the boy inside them is not a ghost… but a memory trying to become real again.”

At the bottom of the post, there was a date: 2006.

And a name I didn’t expect: Author: Dr. Ellira Knox.

I froze.

That was my school counselor.

I remembered the envelope. The story. The way she’d looked at me when I told her about Noel.

Had she known about this all along?

I took a screenshot and closed the tab, heart pounding.

Then I felt a presence behind me.

“You found it,” a voice said.

I turned.

It was Auren.

He wasn’t smiling.

“You knew about this?” I asked.

He nodded once.

“How?”

His eyes looked darker in the dim light of the library. “Because I’ve seen him too.”