The silver door stood before Jason like a warning and a promise. Its seven glowing symbols pulsed softly—each one shaped like an eye, a flame, a tree, a clock, a moon, a bell, and a mask. The symbols hummed with a strange energy that seemed to call out to his bones.
Jason took a deep breath and reached out. The moment his fingers brushed the metal, the door vanished like smoke.
Behind it was a spiral staircase descending into darkness.
Each step he took echoed like a drumbeat. As he descended, the air grew colder, heavier. The glowing music box in his pocket grew warm again. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
After what felt like forever, Jason reached the bottom. A dim light flickered ahead.
He stepped into a room lined with mirrors—hundreds of them, all shapes and sizes. Some were cracked. Some fogged. And in some… he did not see his reflection at all.
Jason walked forward, unease curling in his gut. He passed a tall oval mirror and froze. It showed a boy who looked like him but dressed in older clothes, like something out of a history book. The boy moved, even when Jason did not. He raised a hand—not in greeting, but in warning.
"Turn back," the reflection mouthed.
Jason staggered back.
"Don't listen to him," a soft voice whispered.
Jason spun around. A tall woman stood near one of the far mirrors. She wore a black dress with silver embroidery, and her hair floated like smoke. Her eyes were white, glowing faintly. She did not walk—she glided.
"Who are you?" Jason asked, voice shaking.
"I am the Housekeeper," she said gently. "This house remembers you, Jason. And I was sworn to serve your bloodline."
Jason's mouth went dry. "My bloodline? You mean my family?"
She nodded slowly. "The Millers once held the key to this place. Your grandmother was the last to walk these halls. Evelyn."
"My grandma? She told me stories, but—"
"They were not stories," the Housekeeper said. "They were warnings."
Jason's chest tightened. He remembered the old journal Evelyn once gave him, filled with strange drawings. She'd said, "One day, you'll understand."
The Housekeeper floated closer. "You are not just here by accident, Jason. The house called you. The forest let you in. And your past self—your first self—still walks within these walls."
Jason turned to a cracked mirror. The reflection of the old-time Jason now looked straight at him, a tear running down his cheek.
"What is this place?"
"A maze of memory, trial, and truth. And something darker has awakened inside it."
Suddenly, the mirrors rattled.
From one of them, smoke began to pour. A dark figure emerged—a tall, faceless man in a torn cloak, eyes glowing red.
The Housekeeper stepped in front of Jason. "Go now. Down the hall. The library waits."
Jason ran.
He passed mirrors that screamed. Shadows tried to grab at him. He reached a wooden door with a carved tree on it and pushed through.
The library was vast, endless shelves curving into darkness. A fire burned in the hearth, but the room felt cold.
Jason walked slowly. Books flew open as he passed. Pages turned themselves. Then, he saw a book bound in red leather.
It had Evelyn's name on the spine.
He opened it.
The pages showed memories. Evelyn as a young woman, entering the same forest. The same house. A younger Mr. Rivers beside her—his teacher.
Jason gasped.
Mr. Rivers had been here before.
A voice behind him spoke: "He never told you."
Jason turned. The Housekeeper Spirit floated into the library, her form flickering like candlelight.
"He sealed the gate long ago, with your grandmother's help. But the seal is broken. And now the Shadow returns."
Jason closed the book. "Why me? Why now?"
"Because you are the last of your line. And only you can find the seven pieces of the seal."
She raised her hand, and a glowing sigil appeared—the same seven symbols from the silver door.
"Each piece is hidden in a room. Each guarded by a trial. But you are not alone, Jason. The past walks with you."
The mirror behind her shimmered. Jason saw his younger self again—the past-life version. This time, the boy nodded.
"One day, you will remember everything," the Housekeeper said.
Jason stepped closer to the mirror. The boy inside placed his hand on the glass.
Jason did the same.
The mirror exploded in light.
Jason was pulled into it.
---
He landed hard on cobbled stone. Above him, a sky swirled with stars. He stood in a ruined village, surrounded by stone cottages and wind-blown fields. A sign nearby read: Ashroot - 1781.
It was the past.
The boy—his younger self—stood nearby.
"You must find the first piece," the boy said. "Before he does."
"He who?"
But the boy had vanished.
A scream echoed in the distance.
Jason turned. Shadows raced across the village.
He ran, heart pounding, into the dark.