Kaine stood frozen in the hallway, the silence pressing against his ears like water. The word carved into the door looked raw, jagged and uneven, as if done in desperation. His fingers itched to touch it, to make sure it was real, but something inside him held back.
He retreated to his room and shut the door softly, heart thudding. He didn't sleep the rest of the night.
The next morning, the west wing door was once again padlocked. No sign of the scratched door. No sign of the word.
Like it had never been there at all.
At group therapy, Elara was already seated in the circle, legs folded under her. She watched Kaine with a look that made his skin crawl like she was reading him.
Dr. Halbrook guided the session with practiced calm. "Today's prompt is about fear," he said. "What does fear look like to you?"
The group muttered various answers: shadows, being forgotten, drowning.
Kaine said nothing.
Until Elara spoke. "Fear is seeing something that shouldn't be there… and realizing it sees you too."
Everyone went quiet. Her eyes flicked to Kaine, then away again.
Later, Kaine wandered the halls alone. Most of the patients were in their rooms after lunch. His feet moved without much thought, back toward the west side.
He didn't mean to go there.
But somehow, he was standing in front of the no-number door again.
It was shut.
But the scratches were back.
This time, a mirror leaned against the wall beside the door. Tall. Antique. The kind with ornate brass framing and cloudy glass.
He stepped toward it, his own reflection dull and distorted in the old surface. His face looked tired,eyes sunken, skin pale. He moved his hand. The reflection followed.
But then…
It didn't.
For a heartbeat, his reflection's hand stayed still while his moved.
Then it smiled.
He didn't.
Kaine stumbled backward, eyes wide. The mirror showed only his normal reflection now. Pale. Shaking. But not smiling.
A voice whispered from inside the glass.
"You left her, Kaine."
He backed away and turned to run. But not before the mirror fogged up with a single breath and a name:
Lena.
His sister's name.
The one who died.