Shattered Time-Chapter 42: “The Place That Doesn’t Exist”

Kael opened his eyes.

Except... they weren't his eyes anymore.

The world around him shimmered—like glass bending in water. A broken place stitched together with memories, static, and voices that didn't belong to him.

He stood in a hallway with no end.

No lights.

No walls.

Just doors.

All of them labeled the same thing: "Kael."

One door pulsed faint red.

He walked toward it.

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The others whispered as he passed.

"Don't open it."

"She's still inside."

"That's where it all started."

Kael reached for the handle anyway.

---

The door didn't open. It melted.

The frame dissolved into black mist, revealing a room full of hospital beds floating midair, spinning slowly like planets.

On each bed—himself.

Dozens of Kaels.

Eyes closed.

Some bruised.

Some burned.

Some with no mouths.

One sat up suddenly.

Looked at him.

"You're the glitch," the other Kael said. "You're the Kael that didn't forget."

Kael stepped back. "What is this?"

The other him laughed. "The part they deleted. The part they couldn't erase."

---

A figure moved between the beds.

Aya.

But her face was blank.

No eyes. No lips. Just... smooth skin and long hair.

She raised a hand.

Spoke in a thousand voices at once.

"You brought something back from the mirror, Kael."

"It wasn't meant to cross."

"And now it's in you."

---

The beds shattered.

All of them.

Kael fell through a hole in the ground, dropped like a stone, landed in a chair.

Strapped.

Chained.

A needle sank into his neck.

A voice buzzed through speakers.

"Initiate Room 13 shutdown."

"He's remembering too fast."

"We can't let him reach the core."

His body spasmed.

His vision split.

---

Then silence.

Nothing but him, floating in the dark.

Until something started crawling out of his chest.

A shape.

Black. With teeth.

Whispers filled his head again.

"You never left the mirror."

"You just brought it with you."

---

A blinding flash. A sharp jolt.

He woke up in a chair.

The pale man was standing in front of him again.

This time, no clipboard. Just holding a mirror.

Cracked.

"Look inside, Kael."

Kael refused.

The man smiled.

"You already did."

---

The mirror lit up—

—and Kael saw Aya screaming on the other side.

Pounding on the glass.

Burning.

Calling his name.

---

The man turned to leave.

"Welcome to the place that doesn't exist," he said softly.

Kael stared after him.

And whispered to no one:

"I'm going to break out."

And far in the mirror's corner...

His reflection smiled.

But he hadn't.

---