Chapter 19: The Red Room
The fall never ended. Elias tumbled through endless blackness until, suddenly, there was no sensation at all—no wind, no gravity, only silence.
And then his feet touched solid ground.
The world around him had changed. The walls were smooth, covered in crimson velvet. The air hung heavy, thick with the scent of iron and roses. A single bulb swung from the ceiling, its red light pulsing like a heartbeat.
In the center of the room stood a mirror. Tall, cracked, and framed by ornate carvings of thorny vines. The reflection, however, wasn’t his.
It was Emily Thornton.
Her lifeless eyes stared at him from inside the glass. Her lips parted, but her voice came not from her mouth, but from all around him.
“You should have saved me, Elias.”
He staggered backward. The floor rippled like liquid, revealing faces beneath the surface—faces of every person he had failed. Grayson’s face surfaced, eyes closed, lips stitched shut.
A door appeared behind the mirror, tall and black. Slowly, it creaked open.
A figure stood in the doorway. It was Grayson. Or something wearing his shape.
“You chose to jump, Elias.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcQxAJGmjf
The thing smiled, teeth sharp and too many for a human mouth.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWt5zcEKBiO
“Now let me show you where you’ve landed.”
The room folded in on itself, stretching and twisting into a hallway lined with identical doors, each marked with his name. Behind each one, a memory waited. A different version of his life. A different version of his death.
The creature gestured toward one door.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagJhvmfz4h
“Pick one. Open it. Live it.”
Elias’s hand trembled as he reached for the handle. But before he could touch it, the walls whispered, voices layering over one another, like a choir of shadows.
“The Red Room has no exit.”
His head spun. His vision blurred. Behind him, the figure closed the door they had come through, locking him inside the maze.
The game wasn’t over. It had just begun.
🔥 Up Next: Chapter 20 — "The Mirror Maze"
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