Whispers behind Locked Doors

The Doorway to Shadows

Clara couldn't shake the feeling of dread that clung to her as she stared into the dark, warped reflection of the mirror. It was like something in the room had shifted, and she could no longer trust the space around her. The reflection seemed to be alive, pulsing with some unnatural energy. The more she looked, the more distorted everything seemed to become.

Vivienne, standing just behind Clara, whispered in a shaky voice, "Emily said she saw things in the mirror. Things that weren't there. It changed her. It made her..." She trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

Clara took a step back, her heart pounding in her chest. "What do you mean, 'made her'?" She turned to Vivienne, her voice rising with urgency. "What did Emily see? What happened?"

Vivienne's eyes darted to the mirror, and she visibly shuddered. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know everything. But I know it wasn't just a mirror. Emily said it opened a doorway. That it wasn't just showing the world — it was pulling things from it."

Clara's mind raced. The idea of a mirror as a doorway, a portal to some unknown world, made her skin crawl. She stepped closer to the mirror again, her eyes tracing the frame, looking for any clue, any indication of what had happened in this room so many years ago.

"Emily tried to destroy it," Vivienne continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "She said the mirror would show her things — things she wasn't supposed to see. And when she tried to break it, Thomas stopped her. He... he stopped her in a way I can't explain."

Clara's stomach lurched. "What do you mean, 'he stopped her'?" she pressed, her voice tight with fear.

Vivienne's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "He locked her in this room," she said, her words barely audible. "He kept her here for days, telling her that if she didn't stop looking, the mirror would show her things she could never unsee." She paused, wiping her eyes. "And then she disappeared. Just like that. One moment, she was here, and the next, she was gone."

Clara's heart raced as she turned back to the mirror, her reflection now barely visible. The air felt thick, oppressive, and as if the walls themselves were closing in on her. She stepped forward again, her fingers grazing the glass. A cold shock ran through her body. The mirror's surface was unnaturally cold — colder than any glass should be.

"That night, when Emily vanished..." Vivienne's voice faltered. "Thomas said he never saw her again. But I don't think that's true. I think he knew exactly where she went."

Clara's mind was spinning. This couldn't be real. A mirror as a doorway? Thomas keeping his own daughter locked away for days? She had to be missing something. There had to be another explanation.

But the weight of Vivienne's words hung heavy in the air. Could this strange, supernatural theory really explain Emily's disappearance? Or was there something even darker at play?

Suddenly, Clara's hand, still pressed against the cold glass, began to tremble. A subtle shift in the reflection caught her eye — a movement, almost imperceptible. The image in the mirror flickered, like a distorted shadow creeping across the surface.

Clara froze, her heart skipping a beat. She stepped back quickly, shaking her head. This couldn't be happening.

"I think it's showing me something," Clara whispered to herself. Her pulse quickened as she watched the reflection shift again. The room behind her seemed to warp, the dark shadows stretching unnaturally. The mirror flickered, and for a split second, Clara saw a figure in the reflection.

It wasn't her. It was a small child, standing in the corner of the room, facing away from her. Clara's breath caught in her throat. The figure was small — too small. The figure looked like Emily.

Vivienne, noticing the change in Clara's expression, turned to look at the mirror. Her eyes widened in horror. "No," she gasped, taking a step back. "It's happening again. It's showing you... her."

Clara's heart thudded painfully in her chest as she reached out, her fingers brushing the mirror's surface again. The coldness seeped into her skin, and she could almost feel a presence pressing against her. The figure in the reflection began to turn slowly. Clara's breath caught in her throat as the child's face became visible.

It was Emily. Her eyes were wide, filled with terror, her mouth open as if trying to scream. But no sound came.

Suddenly, the reflection shattered, and Clara stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth as the glass split with an ear-piercing crack. The mirror's surface shattered like glass in slow motion, the shards floating in midair before falling to the ground in a storm of splintered fragments. Clara's mind was racing — her heart pounding so loud she thought it might drown out her thoughts.

"Clara!" Vivienne shouted, rushing to her side. "What did you see? What happened?"

Clara's breath came in shallow gasps, her body trembling. She pointed toward the broken mirror, but the reflection was gone. Only the dark shards of glass remained, scattered across the floor like jagged teeth.

"I — I saw Emily," Clara stammered, her voice shaking. "She was right there. She was in the mirror. But... she wasn't real. She — she couldn't have been real."

Vivienne's face drained of color. "You saw her," she whispered. "You saw what she saw. The mirror... it shows us the truth, but it also traps us. Emily never left the house. She's still here. She's *stuck* here."

Clara backed away, the weight of Vivienne's words crashing down on her like a wave. "What do you mean she's still here?" Clara demanded. "How could she still be here?"

Vivienne looked down at the broken pieces of glass, her face pale and strained. "I think the mirror... it doesn't just show things. I think it *takes things.* It traps them. And I think Emily is still trapped in there, somewhere between worlds."

Clara felt her stomach churn. If that was true — if Emily was really trapped in that mirror — then everything she had believed about this house, about the Cartwright family, had just crumbled into dust.

The dark secrets of the mansion weren't just about betrayal or lies. They were about something far worse — something that Clara wasn't sure she could face. But she had no choice. She had to find Emily. She had to save her.

And the only way to do that... was to enter the mirror.