Echoes of the Damned

Raelyn walked aimlessly, her body screaming for rest, but her mind was too clouded to obey. Her limbs heavy, her expression lifeless. The exhaustion wasn't just physical; it was a soul-deep fatigue that gnawed at her, hollowing her out from the inside.

She didn't know how much longer she could go on. Every step felt like dragging a corpse—her own.

And then she saw it.

A mirror.

It stood unnaturally in the middle of the hallway, tall and pristine, untouched by the decay and chaos of this twisted place. It's silver frame gleamed faintly, an oddity in the oppressive darkness. Raelyn stopped, her tired eyes narrowing at the anomaly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her reflection.

Tentatively, she stepped closer, her breaths shallow.

At first, she saw herself—a gaunt, hollowed-out version of who she used to be. Her skin was pale and sickly, her eyes sunken and rimmed with dark circles. The blood and grim on her face made her almost unrecognizable.

But then the reflection changed.

The woman staring back at her wasn't the broken shell she'd become. It was her—but not her.

This Raelyn stood tall, her posture confident and poised. Her face was full of life, her cheeks glowing with health, her eyes bright with joy. She was dressed in professional clothes, a polished smile lighting up her face. The background behind her wasn't this hellish corridor but a cozy, sunlit home filled with warmth and laughter.

Raelyn's breath hitched.

She watched as the reflection moved, showing a perfect life she could only dream off. In the mirror, she was surrounded by friends and family, their faces glowing with love and happiness. She saw herself at a graduation, proudly holding a degree, her parents beaming beside her. She saw herself at a job she loved, colleagues laughing around her. She saw birthdays, holidays, and moments of pure joy.

Her fingers trembled as she reached out to touch the glass.

"Why...?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Why does she get to have that life? Why is hers perfect while mine is..."

Her throat tightened as tears welled in her eyes.

Suddenly, the mirror began to distort. The edges cracked, fractures spreading like veins across the surface.

"No," Raelyn gasped, stepping back.

The image of the perfect life shattered piece by piece, the fragments dissolving into ash. What replaced it was her reflection again, but this time... it wasn't just her.

The reflection smirked, her lips curling in a cruel, knowing grin. Her eyes were black void, endless pits that seemed to devour light. Blood seeped from the corners of her mouth, her teeth stained with crimson.

The room grew colder, the air thick with the metallic stench of blood.

Raelyn backed away as the mirror darkened, becoming a black, empty void.

And then she saw him.

A figure emerged from the darkness of the mirror. He was impossibly tall, his silhouette sharp and jagged like something pulled from a nightmare. He wore a black hat, tilted slightly forward, and a tattered black suit that clung to his impossibly thin frame.

But his face—or lack thereof—was the most horrifying.

Where his face should have been, there was only a smooth expanse of featureless flesh. It rippled and twitched unnaturally, like something was trying to break through from the inside. His movements were jerky, as though he didn't quite belong in this reality, his body flickering in and out of existence like a glitch in a broken like reel.

Raelyn couldn't breath.

The figure began to move toward her. each flicker bringing him closer. His presence warped the world around him—the walls and floor shifting, melting becoming something horrifyingly alive.

The ground beneath her feet turned to flesh, the once-solid surface pulsating with the rhythm of a heartbeat. She stumbled, her boots sinking slightly into the soft, wet texture. Eyes—hundreds of them—bulged out of the floor, their irises darting wildly in all directions. The walls were no better, now made of sinew and muscle, twitching with grotesque life.

Raelyn gagged as the air grew thick with the stench of rot and decay, the smell clawing its way into her lungs.

The man was closer now, his movements disjointed and wrong. His arms stretched unnaturally long, his fingers tipped with nails that seemed more like jagged shards of glass. His head twitched violently, the featureless face splitting briefly to reveal rows of sharp, glistening teeth before snapping shut again.

Raelyn's legs refused to move.

The eyes on the floor stared at her, their bloodshot scleroses almost pleading. Some blinked, their lashes crusted with dried blood, while others wept black tears that pooled on the fleshy ground.

The figure stopped just a few feet away, his head tilting as if studying her.

"Why... do you run?"

The voice wasn't human. It was layered, guttural, and echoed with a sound like tearing flesh.

Raelyn shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I... I don't want this..."

The figure twitched violently, his head snapping to the side with a sickening crack. The eyes on the floor began to swell and burst, spraying black ichor across the room. The walls convulsed, muscles tearing themselves apart, revealing more layers of writhing flesh beneath.

The man in the hat stepped closer, his hand reaching out, long fingers twitching.

Raelyn screamed and turned, running as fast as her legs could carry her. The flesh squelched beneath her boots, the eyes exploding with every step. Behind her, she could hear the man's jerky footsteps, his inhuman voice echoing with laughter that didn't belong to this world.

The corridor twisted and stretched, the fleshy walls closing in as if alive, trying to trap her. She stumbled but kept moving, her chest heaving with sobs.

Up ahead, a door appeared, its wooden surface starkly out of place in this grotesque nightmare.

Raelyn didn't hesitate. She lunged for it, throwing herself inside and slamming it shut behind her.

Silence.

She collapsed to the floor, her body shaking as she sobbed into her hands. The air in the room was still, but she could feel the man's presence just beyond the door.

For now, she was safe. But the sound of the heartbeat in the walls reminded her that this place wasn't done with her yet.