The town was unnaturally silent.
As Arthur stepped outside, a cold wind brushed past him, carrying a strange scent—wet soil and something faintly metallic. The streets were empty, though he'd memorized their layout earlier. He moved through them with surgical precision, guided not by instinct, but by a calm, methodical calculation.
The forest loomed ahead. Blackridge Forest.
Locals whispered that it had a voice. That it called to people. Most ignored it.
The ones who listened... never came back.
Arthur stepped past the rusted "No Trespassing" sign and into the woods. The air thickened, the trees creaked as though sighing. His flashlight flickered, even with fresh batteries. But he continued, undisturbed.
Then, he found it.
A clearing.
Empty. Still.
Except for one thing—a perfectly upright mirror, nearly eight feet tall, its frame overgrown with ivy. The glass was flawless. Untouched by dirt, wind, or time. It shouldn't have been here.
Yet it was.
Arthur studied it with narrowed eyes. Then, without hesitation, he touched the glass.
It was warm.
The moment his fingers met it, something pulled.
Images flashed across the surface—people walking into the woods, their eyes glazed. A child crying beside a shadow with no face. A man screaming as hands dragged him through the reflection.
Then… his own face.
But he wasn't alone in the image.
Behind his reflection stood something tall, hunched, with too-long limbs and a stitched smile. It raised a hand and tapped the glass—just once.
Tap.
Arthur pulled his hand back.
Then the whisper returned.
"You're not like the others. You see, don't you?"
He said nothing.
Behind him, twigs snapped.
"Arthur?"
Luke stood at the edge of the clearing, rubbing his eyes. "Dude, what the hell are you—"
Then he saw the mirror.
Luke's smile faded. "That's not normal."
Arthur stepped between him and the glass. "Don't come closer."
"But—"
THUMP.
The mirror shook.
Luke froze. "Okay... that thing just moved."
Arthur's eyes remained locked on the surface. "It's not a mirror."
The stitched smile returned. This time, wider.
It was a door.