The new room was smaller and colder. The air felt still, like it was holding its breath. The Echo door closed behind them, and the sound of it shutting felt like a final warning.
VOICE PATH: ACTIVE.
The words were on the wall again, written in neat silver letters. Lina stared at them and felt sick.
Kai stood in front of her like a shield. His shoulders were tight. He looked at the words, then looked at Lina, like he was checking if she was still there.
"Say my name," Kai whispered.
Lina swallowed. "Kai Rhen."
"Again."
"Kai Rhen."
"Stay real."
"I'm here," Lina said.
Kai let out a slow breath. He did not relax fully, but his grip on her hand softened a little.
Mira stood close, wiping her tears fast like she was ashamed of them. Seren looked pale, like using "Help" had pulled something sharp out of her chest. Reyon leaned against the wall and rubbed his face with both hands.
"This place is insane," Reyon whispered. "It's like the walls are learning how to lie better."
Seren nodded slowly. "It learns voices," Seren said. "But it also learns what hurts."
Jax stood a little away from them, hands shaking. He looked like he wanted to say sorry again, but he did not know how. Lina did not look at him. Not yet. Her head was too full.
The room had three paths. One was a narrow hallway that went down like stairs. One was a door with an Echo crest. One was a dark arch with no crest at all.
Kai looked at each one very carefully. "We don't split," he said. "We don't run alone. We don't answer voices."
Reyon swallowed. "So we are basically living by horror rules now."
Kai's eyes flicked to him. "Yes."
Lina's throat felt tight. She had already spoken once. She had already fed the seal. She could still feel the deep voice under the school, waiting like a mouth that now knew the taste of her.
Good.
The word still made her skin crawl.
Seren stepped closer to Lina, eyes glowing faintly. "I need you to listen," Seren whispered. "The Echo route is not just sound. It is memory. If it can make you repeat a name, it can loosen the name in your head. Then it can pull it away."
Mira hugged herself. "That's what it tried to do," Mira whispered. "It tried to make me say Lina twice."
Lina's chest hurt. She wished she could hear Mira's laugh again. The hole inside her felt bigger in this silence.
Kai looked at the dark arch. "That one worries me."
Reyon frowned. "Because it has no crest?"
Kai nodded. "No rule. No label. That's where the worst things hide."
Seren stepped toward the Echo door. Her eyes narrowed. "This door is old," she said. "I hear many last words behind it. But the words are… mixed."
Mira's voice shook. "Mixed how?"
Seren swallowed. "Like someone stitched them together."
Lina felt cold. "Like the Veilbound."
Seren nodded once. "Yes."
Kai took a breath and made a decision. "We take the stairs hallway," he said. "Not the crest door. Not the unmarked arch."
Reyon pointed at the stairs hallway. "Down is always bad."
Kai glanced at him. "Up is locked."
Reyon closed his mouth.
They started walking down the narrow hallway. The steps were shallow. The walls were close. The silver lines were dim here, like the Echo was quieter, but it was still listening.
Lina kept her mouth shut.
Then the corridor spoke anyway.
Not loud. Not in her bones. Right behind them, like a person walking close.
It was Lina's voice again.
"Mira?"
Mira froze.
Lina felt her heart punch her ribs.
The voice sounded worried. Soft. Like Lina was turning back for Mira.
Mira's eyes filled with tears. She turned her head a little, like she wanted to look.
Kai grabbed Mira's wrist fast. "No," he said. "Don't look."
Mira shook, breathing fast. "It sounded like her."
"It is her voice," Seren whispered. "But it is not her."
The corridor spoke again, still in Lina's voice, still sweet.
"Mira, come on. I'm scared."
Lina's stomach twisted. The words felt like a hook. Lina wanted to yell, "Stop using my voice." But she could not risk speaking again.
Kai pulled Lina closer, fingers tight in hers. "Stay real," he whispered.
"I'm here," Lina whispered, and even that tiny whisper made the walls hum a little. Lina's eyes widened. She pressed her lips shut hard.
Reyon looked panicked. "Even whispers are bad?"
Seren nodded. "Yes. Sound is food here."
Jax swallowed. "Then how do we talk?"
Kai didn't answer with words. He answered by squeezing Lina's hand twice. Then squeezing Mira's shoulder once. Then pointing forward.
Simple. Clear.
No extra sound.
They kept moving.
Then the stairs ended in a small landing. A mirror panel stood at the side, tall and narrow. Lina tried not to look. But in the corner of her eye, she saw movement.
The mirror showed Kai.
Then it showed Kai again.
Two Kais.
One stood beside Lina, real and tense.
The other stood in the mirror, smiling softly, calm, safe.
The mirror-Kai lifted a hand like he wanted Lina to come closer.
Lina's blood ran cold.
🪞
Kai's flicker symbol.
Seren whispered, shaking, "Don't look in the mirror."
Lina looked down at the floor, but her heart hammered. She could feel the mirror's pull like a magnet.
The mirror-Kai spoke.
It used Lina's voice this time.
"Kai is tired," it said softly. "Let him rest."
Kai's jaw clenched so hard it looked painful. He tightened his grip on Lina's hand.
Lina felt fear hit her like a wave.
Because the mirror was not just copying voices now.
It was mixing them.
Stitching them.
Making new lies that sounded like love.
Seren stepped forward and raised her hand toward the mirror panel. Her eyes glowed bright silver. "No," Seren whispered. "I hear death on you."
The mirror shimmered.
A new message appeared on the glass, written in thin silver letters:
SAY IT TWICE.
Lina's chest tightened. She understood at once. The mirror wanted them to repeat something. Repeat a name. Repeat a vow. Repeat a truth until it broke.
Kai's voice was low and steady. "We don't."
The mirror-Kai smiled wider.
And the corridor behind them spoke again, softly, in Mira's dad's voice:
"Help."
Mira made a choking sound.
Lina's throat burned with the urge to answer, to shout, to fight with words.
Kai squeezed Lina's hand hard, then pressed his forehead near hers again, quick and strong, like a silent anchor.
Lina breathed through it.
She did not speak.
Then Kai did something bold.
He lifted Lina's hand and pressed it gently against his chest, right over his heart. He held it there, steady.
His eyes locked on hers.
Stay real.
Lina felt his heartbeat under her palm. Fast. Alive.
The mirror shook.
The silver letters on the mirror glass flickered like they were angry.
And for a moment, the mirror-Kai's smile faltered.
Because it couldn't copy a heartbeat.
It couldn't steal warmth.
Not yet.
But the deep voice under the school returned in Lina's bones, slow and pleased.
Good.
And this time, Lina felt the seal listening closer than ever.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.