Elara stood frozen beneath the staircase, staring at the ceiling as dust continued falling around her like grey snow.
The dragging footsteps above her moved again.
Slow.
Heavy.
As if someone was walking while pulling something across the floor.
Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears. Every instinct told her to run outside, leave the mansion, and never return.
But her hands tightened around the leather notebook.
The words inside it kept echoing in her mind.
You will not remember writing this.
Elara swallowed and slowly climbed the staircase. Each step creaked loudly under her weight. The air upstairs felt colder, heavier, almost harder to breathe.
When she reached the top, the hallway stretched in two directions. The footsteps stopped completely.
Silence.
She looked left. Nothing.
She looked right.
A door at the far end was slightly open. A thin line of darkness leaked through the gap.
Elara walked toward it slowly. The wooden floor groaned with every step. The closer she got, the stronger the strange smell returned — wet soil mixed with rotting flowers.
Her hand trembled as she pushed the door open.
The room inside looked like an old bedroom. Torn curtains hung beside cracked windows. A broken mirror leaned against the wall. And in the center of the room stood a wooden chair.
Facing away from her.
Someone was sitting on it.
Elara's breath stopped.
Long dark hair covered the figure's back. The person wore pale clothes, dusty and faded with time. The chair creaked softly as the figure slowly began to turn toward her.
"Elara…" the voice whispered.
It was her voice.
The chair turned fully.
Elara gasped.
The person sitting there looked exactly like her… but thinner… paler… with dark circles under hollow eyes. Dirt covered her clothes, and faint scratch marks ran across her arms like something had tried to pull her apart.
The other Elara smiled weakly.
"You finally came back," she said softly.
Elara stumbled backward, shaking her head. "This isn't real…"
The other Elara slowly stood up. The movement looked painful, like her body was stiff from being trapped too long.
"You left me here," she whispered.
The room suddenly grew colder. The broken mirror beside them cracked loudly, splitting down the middle. Elara turned toward it, and her reflection flickered.
For a split second, her reflection disappeared.
Then it returned… but it showed her standing inside a dark wooden room surrounded by carved symbols.
She spun back toward the other Elara.
"Where am I?" she asked, her voice shaking.
The other Elara tilted her head slightly.
"You're not asking the right question," she replied quietly.
The floor beneath them trembled suddenly. Loud cracking sounds spread across the walls. The bedroom door slammed shut behind Elara on its own.
The other Elara stepped closer, her hollow eyes filled with something between sadness… and warning.
"You should ask," she whispered, "how many versions of you are still trapped behind the door."
A deep thud echoed through the mansion.
From somewhere far below…
Something heavy hit wood.
Like someone knocking from inside a wall.