Mirage From The Incredible Novels & Stories

She knew didn’t have time to open the cellar and hide as the footsteps were almost here. 'Jack, where are you? Come quickly…' She cried out inwardly as she looked around “I need a space to hide…. I need space…” Mira thought desperately as looked around. The next second, something unexpected happened. Mira felt like she was sucked into a bag. She opened her eyes which she had closed in fear due to the expected feeling. She found herself in a beautiful green pasture. The weird thing was, if she looked down, she could see her kitchen. She didn’t know if anyone could see her from the kitchen. She decided to take her chance and hide here…. Wherever here was ….

A heavy, metallic thunk. The screen steadied in front of a large, industrial freezer. Mother frowned. “What are you—” The lid jerked open. The camera adjusted. Focused. Filling the screen, crystalized with frost, wide with frozen terror, was my eye. Mira’s tiny, trembling whisper broke through. “Mama… is right here.”

“They’re taking them, stop them!” We tried. My God, we tried. But every time we tore down one winged wolf, two more came through the trees. And then, I noticed something that didn’t belong. Between two thick oaks, the air shimmered. Not like heat. Not like fog. Like… a lie. A line where the forest looked too smooth, too perfect, like someone had painted it and forgotten to add texture. My wolf’s instincts prickled. I stared harder. The shimmer pulsed. And the trees around it… didn’t move with the wind the same way. The leaves didn’t rustle. The shadows didn’t shift naturally. My breath slowed. A sick certainty settled into my gut. Mirage. Part of this forest was a mirage. A cover. A mask.

Everything seemed intact. But the note… The spy wasn’t coming from the outside. They were already here. Inside the warded tent, Mira moved toward the potion cache when she felt it. A shift. A breath that didn’t belong. She spun around—dagger drawn. But she was alone. Or so it seemed. Then her reflection blinked. And smiled. The mimic stepped from the shadows—a perfect copy of Mira, every freckle and line mirrored. But the eyes were wrong. Just a little too dark.

My blood went cold at his words, and my fingers turned numb as I snatched his phone to look. “Play it back and you’ll see it.” He said, now laughing about it, and I did; all that came out of my mouth was "Dear God," as I stared at the sight of Mira running into the water before she began to transform, before she was fully submerged, and a voice could be heard as they captured her footage. “Oh, my God!” I staggered as Alec laughed again, saying I could not possibly believe the video and that it was clearly AI. I didn’t let him finish and asked where he got this and before he could answer, I could see it was from some group.

“You have to tell me why you asked me on a date in the first place.” “Ahh, that deal.” She hummed in response, her palms caressing his chest in soft circular motions. His thumb traced the side of her face. “Do you know why I call you Mirage?” She shook her head. She had always been curious but never had the right occasion to bring up the question. “Do you know what the word means?” “It’s an illusion. Caused by the refraction of light rays. It makes distant objects appear as water or as a mirror.”

[Sixteen years ago, in the city of Lenford…] - A single petal floated in front of his eyes. It was a cherry blossom petal, one that signaled the beginning of the tree’s full bloom in spring. It was the first thing Michael McGregor saw before a girl about his age suddenly walked up to him, her hand tightly gripping the strap of her shoulder bag.

I could see Ian standing where he was from the rearview mirror, looking like a statue that had been abandoned by the world. That night, I had a nightmare. I dreamt of the day my sister passed away. I was kneeling by her stone-cold body while crying my heart out, with Ian and Lucy standing nearby and staring coldly at me. I jerked awake from the dream, drenched in cold sweat.

I had spent over two decades well away from anything close to the Vegas and one stupid mistake lead me straight to my death. I closed my eyes. Tears on my face blending with the water. I was out of options but one. I closed the water and dried myself off. I walked to the mirror and looked at myself. I looked like my mother. Something I have been avoiding all my life. I had her curly red hair. I wiped my tears and washed my face in the basin. The only way I was getting out of this alive was to pretend like I didn’t know who he was and hope he would not know the truth.

Scarlett's mind raced as she recalled the stories she had read, searching for any knowledge that could aid her in this dire situation. Taking a hesitant step forward, Scarlett noticed a dust-covered mirror in the corner of the room. Curiosity piqued, she approached it, her reflection staring back at her with determination. As she reached out to touch the mirror's surface, it rippled like water, revealing a hidden passage behind it. Without hesitation, Scarlett stepped through the mirror, entering a labyrinth of illusions and traps. The maze seemed to shift and change at every turn, disorienting her senses. Scarlett's heart pounded in her chest as she reminded herself that every illusion was