The ground floor hallway was a nightmare.
Moonlight poured through the tall glass windows, but it did not bring hope. It only lit up the pale, wet faces of the reflections blocking their path. There were at least thirty of them standing in the dark.
Lina pressed her back against the heavy iron door of the basement. Her heart was beating so fast it hurt. Beside her, Kai was leaning heavily on her shoulder. He was still shivering, his skin ice-cold. Reyon sat on the floor, looking pale and empty without his shadow. Mira and Seren huddled together, trembling.
"We cannot stay here," Nia whispered. Her hands were glowing with a faint, tired blue light. "The basement door will not hold them forever. We need to move."
"The old chapel," Kai rasped. His voice was weak, but his eyes were focused. "The doors are solid iron. It is a safe room. The reflections cannot break iron."
Lina looked down the long hall. The chapel was at the very end of the east wing. It was a long way.
"Okay," Lina said. She gripped Kai's arm to keep him steady. "We run for the chapel. Do not stop for anything."
They took one step forward.
Suddenly, the reflections in the hallway stopped moving.
They did not lunge. They did not crawl on the walls. They just stood perfectly still. Then, slowly, they parted down the middle, creating a clear, empty path down the center of the hall.
Lina's breath caught in her throat.
Walking down the empty path was the False Kai.
He looked perfectly clean and dry again. His uniform was spotless. His hair was neat. But he was not alone.
Behind him, stepping out of the dark doorways of the classrooms, were more reflections. Dozens of them. They poured into the hallway in total silence. It was an army of stolen faces.
Every single reflection was wearing the face of a student or a teacher. But their eyes were completely dead. And as they stopped moving, every single one of them curled their lips up into the exact same wrong, empty smile.
"You broke the basement door," the False Kai said. His voice was smooth and polite. It echoed softly in the quiet hall. "But you did not break the mirror. The mirror is everywhere now. Every window. Every puddle. Every drop of water."
He stopped ten feet away from them. The army of reflections stood perfectly still behind him, their dead eyes locked on Lina and her friends.
"You brought the boy back," the False Kai said, tilting his head. The movement was too smooth. "That was a mistake, Lina. The cage is open. The water is rising. And now, the glass is empty."
He raised one hand.
All at once, the army of reflections raised their hands, too. The movement was perfectly synchronized. It was terrifying to watch.
"Give me the boy," the False Kai whispered. "Or I will take all of your faces."
Lina looked at the sea of smiling, dead eyes. She looked at her exhausted, terrified friends. She tightened her grip on Kai's arm.
"Run," Lina whispered.
Then she screamed, "Run to the chapel!"
They sprinted down the hall. Behind them, the army of stolen faces lunged forward, their wet feet slapping against the stone floor.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
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Next Chapter Summary for Chapter 124: The group makes a desperate dash for the iron doors of the chapel, but the False Kai uses the academy's mirrors to teleport his army right in front of them.