Whisperglass: The Mirror's Call

Chapter 1: The Shadow in the Mirror

The night was thick with silence.

Crickets chirped faintly in the distance as the full moon bathed the narrow dirt road in a cold, silver light. At the end of the path stood an abandoned house, its roof sagging and its wooden walls leaning like an old man on his last breath.

Amira stood before the door, clutching a weak, flickering flashlight.

"It’s just a story," she told herself. "Just an old village tale to scare children..."

But the words of Mak Timah—spoken in a hushed, serious tone that afternoon—still rang in her ears. A mirror, framed in gold, cursed to trap anyone foolish enough to stare into it too long.

Her heart hammered against her ribs as she pushed the door open. It creaked painfully loud, the sound scraping against the quiet of the night.

Inside, the air smelled of damp wood and forgotten years. Dust floated in her flashlight’s thin beam. Broken furniture lay scattered around, like abandoned memories. In the center of the room stood the mirror tall, cracked at one corner, but its golden frame still gleamed under the moonlight.

Amira’s breath hitched. Slowly, she stepped closer.

Her reflection stared back at her. Pale. Small. Afraid.

She let out a nervous laugh, hoping it would ease the chill crawling up her spine.

"Scared of your own face," she muttered.

But then... her reflection smiled.

Amira didn’t.

Every muscle in her body stiffened. The reflection raised a hand and beckoned her forward.

"Come closer..."

The voice wasn’t spoken aloud. It slithered through her mind, soft as smoke.

As if pulled by invisible strings, Amira took a hesitant step closer.

Without warning, a cold hand burst through the glass, clutching her wrist with a grip like iron!

She screamed a raw, desperate sound but it was swallowed by the darkness. The world twisted around her, pulling her into the mirror.

And then... silence.

Her flashlight hit the floor and rolled in slow circles before dying completely. The house fell back into darkness, as if nothing had ever happened.

But inside the mirror, a new face stared out—eyes wide with terror, lips moving in a silent scream.

Waiting.

The mirror, as it had always done, was simply... waiting.