The Echo Man

Episode-thirteen

The silence after the knock was worse than the voice itself. Elias closed the door slowly, his palm flat against the wood, as if holding something back that wanted in.

Ava hadn’t holstered her gun. Her stance was tight, every muscle wired, her eyes locked on him.

“What the hell did he mean?” she demanded.

Elias stared at the door. The mirror isn’t ahead of you. He’s already beside you. The words clung to his skin like oil.

“He’s trying to split us,” Elias said finally.

“Or…” Ava’s voice was low, careful. “He’s telling the truth.”

That pulled his gaze to her. “You think it’s me?”

“You told me yourself,” she said, her jaw hardening, “you don’t trust your own memories. You black out. You lose time. If that voice was right—”

He cut her off, sharp. “If I were the mirror, you’d already be dead.”

“Unless killing me isn’t the point.” Ava’s eyes flicked, unblinking. “Unless I’m supposed to watch.”

The thought landed heavy, pressing cold into his chest. He opened his mouth to snap back—then the burner phone on the table buzzed.

The sound froze both of them.

Ava raised her gun a fraction. “Answer it.”

Elias picked it up, lifted it to his ear. “Creed.”

The voice was distorted, mechanical. But it carried a cadence that made his blood stop moving.

“Stop searching for me,” it said. “You’ll only find yourself.”

Click. Dead line.

Elias lowered the phone, staring at it like it had teeth.

“What did it say?” Ava asked.

He told her. Her face shifted—half disbelief, half fear.

A noise creaked above them before either could say another word.

The floorboards. upstairs. Suddenly they moved. With Elias right behind her, Ava took the lead with her gun raised.

There was a warning groan with every step up the narrow staircase.

No one was in the upstairs. Dust and stripped wallpaper in room after room.

However, there was only one item in the final bedroom, resting on the windowsill. A picture. Elias carefully picked it up. His chest grew constricted. He was the one. Amelia's arm was hooked through Younger's as she stood next to her.

God, that smile of hers. Elias, however, was unable to pinpoint the moment.

Not even a memory. And there was a figure standing in the background, blurred by movement. observing. A man. Elias's height. identical build.

Ava's breath caught. "Are you seeing it?"

Elias didn’t answer. He couldn’t tear his eyes from Amelia’s face. She was staring at the camera like she knew it was there. Like she knew this moment would matter.

“Elias,” Ava pressed. “Look at the back.”

He turned the photo. A message had been scratched into the glossy paper with something sharp. Jagged letters carved deep.

You remember me. You just don’t remember you.

Elias’s grip tightened until the photo bent.

His reflection caught in the cracked glass of the window beside him. For a second, just a second, he swore the reflection wasn’t moving in sync.

Ava stepped back, her voice tight. “Tell me you saw that too.”

Elias didn’t answer. Because he wasn’t sure what terrified him more—

That the Mirror was real.

Or that the Mirror was already inside him.