Bare Reflections Novels & Stories

Everyone’s attention was now on our table. Miles walked onstage as the star of the event. When he stood there, my parents had no awareness whatsoever that he was only fifteen. If Caleb were alive, he would be about eighteen now. They didn’t notice this at all. Instead, they kept lowering their heads, checking their phones again and again. I let out a cold laugh in my heart. Holding Evan’s hand tightly, I shared a small smile with him. Onstage, Miles spoke in a clear voice, "Getting into Sterling University, the person I’m most grateful for is Mom. Without her support and understanding, I would never be who I am today. Mom, come on up!"

"This is a heavy toxin. If he wasn't an Alpha, he’d be dead already." Ricardo turned to me. His eyes were no longer full of love. They were full of a terrifying, cold suspicion. The "Mirror of Malice" was back, and this time, the reflection was deadly. The doctor looked at the group, his eyes landing on me as the one who had served the plates. "Who prepared the food?"

she whispered. Her reflection smiled. Lila recoiled, heart slamming in her chest. “No…” The reflection didn’t mirror her movement. It tilted its head, eyes glowing amber-gold instead of hazel. A cruel, knowing smile tugged at its lips. “Finally,” the reflection said softly, its voice identical to hers but layered with an echo that carried ancient malice. “You’ve woken.” Lila stumbled backward, scrambling in the dirt. “You’re not real—” “Oh, I’m as real as you,” the reflection interrupted, stepping out of the water like it was air. Droplets hung around her like frozen tears. “You’ve been asleep for a long time, Lila. Too long.”

“You opened the gate.” Aria’s heart stuttered. “Who are you?” The reflection tilted her head. “I am what you refuse to see. I am every choice you regret, every darkness you buried.” Kael stepped forward, sword drawn. “You’re not real.” “Oh, I’m very real,” the reflection purred. “I am the part of her that survived every death. The piece Selene couldn’t destroy.” The mirror cracked, the sound slicing through the air. Light bled from the fracture lines like molten silver.

The short shotgun went into the holdall with shells to match. The idols fought them the way locks resist being lifted. Gallus dragged seaward even through plastic. Ghast thinned the air to breathlessness. Abnegazar added weight where it shouldn’t exist. Rathos fogged the lids with heat. The golden coral rattled as Gabe’s sleeve brushed it, rolled a few inches, and stopped with a soft metal sigh—a harmless sea-curio in a room that had run out of harmless. Latches bit. Straps cinched. Another tremor stroked the house. The long mirror over the sideboard rippled once—reflection half a heartbeat late—and went flat. On the cupboard, Nick and Rachel kept smiling, frame angled a hair further toward

I'm securing what I'm owed. The reflection did not agree.

Why was I being tormented in this way? Scarlet leaned impossibly closer. "I know you think this is a dream Margo, but it is not, although I wish it was for your sake. Remember how I begged for you to spare my life at the edge of that cliff, well this is your own cliff, Margo, and just in the same way you shoved me without mercy, I am going to return the favor, by shoving you so hard, when you hit the ground there'll be nothing left to salvage" she said then raised herself until she was staring down at me.

POV Ruby "I can do this. I can do this. I HAVE to do this." I mumbled to myself as I wobbled out of my room. It was late or early, depending on your point of view. I had managed to send them all home a few minutes ago. Mom, Slivia and Cassy all wanted to spend the night but I had argued and Varg drove them home with promises that they would be back in a few hours. I knew that I had to be quick but I needed to see it. To be sure.

I said. Kari didn’t say anything else about the house as I took our bags up, but I could see her mind working overtime. She lay down on the bed, and I covered her with a blanket. I stepped out of the room when my phone started buzzing, and I looked at the caller ID, contemplating between answering it or ignoring it. “Hey,” I said, deciding to answer it. “Hey, yourself,” Raven said. “So, I’m still at the cabin, and I just wanted to let you know that you left your amulet here.”

The Mirror Maw The sea was glass. Not metaphorically—literally. A flat, flawless pane stretching into infinity, reflecting the sky with terrifying precision. The clouds above and below moved in perfect unison. No ripples. No wind. Just silence and symmetry. Sefina whispered from the stern of the boat, “We’re here.” The Mirror Maw. The fifth tide. Jonas leaned over the side, staring down into the reflection. “It’s not water.” Maya joined him. Beneath their boat, their reflections stared up—not delayed, not distorted, but wrong. Maya’s mirrored self didn’t blink when she did. It smiled when she didn’t. Its eyes were darker.