When Will My Reflection Show Who I Am Inside Novels & Stories

My body ached, my feet blistered, but I didn’t lie down. I sat in the dark, staring out the window. Rain trickled down the glass, catching the faint orange glow of a streetlight outside. My reflection stared back at me—tired eyes, damp hair, and hollow cheeks. And behind that reflection, I saw hers. She had a perfect face. She assumed a confident stance. I pressed my palms flat against the table, my nails digging into the wood. Who was she? Why did she look exactly like me? And why did I feel like I had just witnessed something I shouldn’t have?

“To do everything right this time.” She studies me too long — suspicion skimming her gaze. I pretend not to notice. Two can play this game. --- Later, I sit in my chambers, brushing my hair before the mirror. My golden strands gleam under moonlight — but that isn’t what catches my attention. My reflection’s eyes… They shimmer faintly. Like stars trapped in blue glass. I blink — and the glow disappears. “What are you?” I whisper to my own reflection. As if in answer, a sharp ache cuts through my chest — heat spiraling through every vein. I gasp, gripping the nearest table to stay upright.

The mirror flashed. The corridor outside exploded with light. The hunters shouted. The door shook. And in the sudden brightness, I saw something I didn’t expect. Not a rescue. Not a weapon. Not a savior. But a reflection. A reflection of myself. Not Cassie. Not Mary. Not the girl I used to be. But the version of me that the system recognized. The version that the world feared. The version that the system wanted. The version that the spine chose. And in that moment, I realized the truth:

I just have to not be me. *December 25. Christmas. Dad gave me a mirror. I looked in it and didn't recognize myself. Good. I'm doing it right. Dr. Chen says next year we'll try other people. Strangers. People I don't know. I'll be them completely. I'll know them better than they know themselves. I'll be better at being them than they are.* I closed the notebook. Sat in the small chair. Knees up. Ridiculous. Understood.

Nervous anticipation. All mixed together. Slowly I opened my eyes. And froze. The reflection staring back at me… Didn’t just look beautiful. She looked powerful. Confident. Elegant. My lips parted slightly. Shock flooding through my chest. “I… I don’t recognize myself,” I whispered. Tianna smiled softly. “That’s because you’re seeing yourself differently now.” I leaned slightly closer to the mirror. Studying every detail. Every change. Every new feature. The soft glow on my skin.

Which brought me to my current problem. I leaned closer to the mirror, examining my reflection with a critical eye. "I've already exposed so much of myself to him," I whispered to my reflection. "My personality. My sense of humor. The way I think. If he gets really close to Sexy Red now, won't he start putting the pieces together?"

It is mine. My reflection shimmers in the window, shimmers like the city lights, shimmers like the parts of me that should be, that are supposed to be, that are mine. My reflection shimmers, my anger shimmers, my resolve shimmers, my determination shimmers. My reflection shimmers like my anger, like my resolve, like my determination. My reflection shimmers and hardens. My reflection hardens. My face hardens. My face hardens. My face hardens into the certainty of a plan, into the certainty of resolve, into the certainty of an answer, of a truth, of a reaction. “Game on,” I whisper. “Game on.”

Its frame was made of obsidian and carved with symbols she didn’t recognize, shifting, alive, glowing faintly gold. Seraphine swallowed hard and stepped closer. Her reflection waited for her, still, composed, smiling faintly. But the reflection’s eyes… were wrong. They were brighter, sharper. Ancient. Seraphine’s breath hitched. “Who are you?” The reflection tilted its head. “You already know.” “I’m not doing this,” Seraphine muttered, stepping back. “You’re just another illusion. Another test.” “Then why does your heart race when I speak?” the reflection said, voice calm, gentle. “Because deep down, you know this isn’t punishment. It’s a revelation.”

CHAPTER 145 — THE GALA MAYA’S POV There are mornings when your reflection matches your mood — messy, tired, undecided. Then there are mornings when the mirror gives you answers you didn’t know you needed. Today the mirror said, Ready. Dangerous. Beautiful in a way that didn’t ask for permission.

Zach looks at me worriedly and asks, "Are you sure? You look worried." I sigh and say, "Yeah I am; it's just that I don't know how to react if I see them." Zach touches my chin and lifts my face to see his beautiful blue eyes and says, "You are stronger than you think you are. Just be yourself and don't let them dim the fire in you." I smile widely and say, "Thank you, Zach. You always know how to comfort your best friend." We hear the bus coming into our school and Zach says, "They are here already; we need to go down."