She was in a hallway.
Dimly lit. Too quiet. The kind that hummed beneath your skin.
The corridor stretched endlessly ahead, with no doors, only mirrors. Tall, thin and strange. They weren't just reflecting her. Not exactly.
She looked to her left.
Her reflection stood still, unmoving even as she took another step.
To the right, another mirror, this version smiled. Not a sweet smile. A chilling, too- wide grin that didn't reach her eyes.
She blinked, heart thudding.
More mirrors appeared as she walked lining the walls like a thousand versions of her were watching. One laughed. Another wept. One was clawing at the glass like it wanted out.
A whisper curled through the hallway.
She spun around.
Nothing.
The a mirror cracked, spiderwebbed right across her face.
She stumbled back.
Behind her, a single black door appeared, which was not there before.
She stepped toward it. Hesitant. Breathing shallow.
"Come closer. Seraphina." Her mother's voice called out. It was weird as her other never called her name in full.
Just as her hand touched the handle, The floor gave way.
Seraphina woke up gasping.
The cold air hit her first. Then the open window.
Wide open.
She was right at the edge, her knees on the windowsill, the night wind clawing at her hair. If she's moved just a little further...
She flinched back in horror, heart racing. . Suddenly she was pulled back. She fell down. Her palms scraped against the stone. Her breath came out in small, broken gasps.
"Planning on flying?" he asked coolly, brows raised. "Or is this your version of a midnight tour?"
The guy then left. Disappearing in the dark hallway.
Seraphina sat down there.
What the hell?
She had no memory of getting out of bed. Just the dream, those twisted mirrors, the versions of herself that felt wrong.
The dream felt oddly real. She looked at the hallway but it had no single mirror present.
She stared at her trembling hands.
Had she really sleepwalked?
It felt impossible.
But the night chill was real. The hallway was real. And the fact that she could've died, was very real.
She sat on the floor for a while, just breathing. Frozen. Mind racing.
Then she glanced at the clock on the wall.
02:20 AM.
Her blood ran cold.
She was outside her dorm past curfew.
A creaking footstep broke the silence.
Sera jerked her head up.
Mr. Derman stood at the far end of the corridor, in his usual black long coat, holding a lantern and a small notebook.
"Miss Nova Dusk." His voice cool. "What are you doing outside past curfew?"
Seraphina stood up, ready to explain her case.
"Report to Reconditioning Hours. Tomorrow. South Courtyard. 4:00 PM."
Then he turned without another word, his footsteps vanishing down the hall like smoke.
Seraphina rushed back to her room before she could get in more trouble. Still dreading her nightmare.
The next day dragged by.
Classes were intense, fast paced and coldly formal. Every lecturer acted like students should already know half the material. Seraphina barely kept up and her lack of sleep from the night before didn't help.
By 3.55 PM, she was rushing down a side corridor lined with shadowy arched windows, her boots tapping urgently against the stone.
Her mind was still replaying last night in jittery loops, waking up at that window, the guy's cold hands pulling her back and the haunting chill of that dream. She had barely said a word all day, still shake. Not like she even had someone to talk to.
She stopped at a hallway fork and stared at the small brass plaques on each archway. Nothing said Reconditioning room.
"Lost?"
Sera turned.
A girl stood behind her, a small leather book tucked under one arm. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose braid that looked like it had been done hours ago and her boots were scuffed like she walked everywhere.
Her tone wasn't mocking, just dry. But there was something in her that made her look and feel friendly.
Seraphina nodded, brushing hair from her face, "Yes. Reconditioning room?"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "That's unlucky."
"Can you point the direction please?"
"Let's go together," the girl said, "Unfortunately, I'm headed there too."
Seraphina blinked, "You were out past curfew?"
"I fell asleep in the library," she said with a shrug, "Got caught sneaking back to my dorm room by Mr. Naden."
"No one woke you up?" Sera asked
"My boyfriend..." She started before she sighed, "Let it be. I'm Elara, by the way."
"Seraphina."
"Nice to meet you," Elara offered.
Sera smiled.
They turned down the stairwell. The Reconditioning room was hidden beneath the classes, down a narrow stairwell lined with ticking clocks. All of them were different, different times, different tick and yet none of them felt right. Sera followed Elara in silence.
At the bottom was a dark wooden door carved with a single word: REFLECT.
Inside, the room looked ordinary at first, dim lights, rows of old fashioned desks, a faint lemon- scented polish in the air. But the second the door closed behind them with a heavy click, Seraphina knew this wasn't ordinary.
A voice cracked from an old gramophone in the corner. "Welcome to Reconditioning Session. Please find your desk. your name will be on it."
Seraphina glanced around. There were twenty desk and only seven students. Each with a single candle flickering beside a nameplate. She found hers near the back opposite this red haired guy.
The second she sat down, the lights dimmed further. Another voice, a recording, but this time it was her voice, saying something she didn't remember ever saying.
"I don't belong here."
The candle flickered.
"What is this?" Sera whispered.
The red-haired boy didn't answer. He was staring straight ahead, his jaw tense. He howled. Turns out he's a wolf.
Elara was at the front. Nowhere near Seraphina.
Then came a sound: a quiet click... click... click, and a series of whispering voices began to drift in from the walls. Real whispers. Soft and intimate, as if people she couldn't hear were standing inches from her.
They said things she didn't want to hear.
"You're not special."
"You're just pretending."
"What if they find out who you really are?"
It wasn't loud. It wasn't painful. But it crawled beneath her skin.
On the desk was a small black mirror and a notebook with her name on the front.
The gramophone crackled again, "Write what you see."
Seraphina stared into the mirror. At first it was her own reflection, tired, tensed. Then, for a blink, the mirror showed her standing at the window again. A different one from last night. Teetering on the edge.
She jerked back in her seat, heart pounding.
The whispers laughed.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to leave. But the door wouldn't open until the hour was up. She closed her eyes not daring to look at the mirror again. She just wrote she saw a desk in front of her.
By the time they were dismissed, Seraphina couldn't tell what had actually happened and what her mind had made worse.
Elara said nothing as they walked back toward the main building. "Next time, bring earbuds. They won't block the whispers, but makes them easier to hate and ignore."
Sera shook her head, "There won't be a next time." The was no way she was going back to that hel called Reconditioning room.
"You know," Elara said brushing her dark bangs out of her face, "Your name's kind of mouthful."
"Elara Nox. One breath. Easy. Seraphina? That's like three syllables from being a royal title."
A small smile formed, "Then just call me Nova," she said.
"Nova?" Elara tilted her head. "That's what your friends call you?"
Sera paused, " It's... just my first name."
"Alright. Nova it is," She said as they stepped in the Lunchroom, "Come on, My boyfriend booked us a table."
Elara led the way through the maze of the buzzing tables.
"He booked?" Nova's eyebrow's shot up.
"You're new," Elara smirked. "This isn't just a lunchroom. It's survival of the socially fittest here. Reserved tables are a thing, unless you want to eat next to the ghost janitor who mutters in Latin."
Fair enough.
Elara guided her to a table by the windows. A small blue rune glowed on the corner, indicating claimed. Elara tapped it with her student ID and the rune dimed.
"Perks of dating someone with access to scheduling Grid" she said, settling into her seat. "He's a nerd. But a silly one."
Nova chuckled, still overwhelmed by the constant magic woven into everything there.
They went to pick their food with their trays. As they sat down and began munching on their food. She was about to ask Elara where her boyfriend was when suddenly a commotion started at the entrance of the lunchroom.
That's when they walked in.
A group of five. Slow. Unbothered. Too loud in their silence.
Three boys. Two girls.
"Don't look at them. They are trouble." Elara warned her in a whisper as she lowered her head.
Nova saw him. The guy from the previous night. He was in the middle of the group. Too cold. Too handsome.
"Nova shift your eyes." Elara warned her in panic.
Nova was stunned as she shifted her eyes.
"Infamous cousins. They are a walking trouble. You see them, walk the opposite way."