For a few seconds, Sofia genuinely considered pretending she had not heard the girl.Not because she was brave enough to ignore the situation, and certainly not because she had suddenly developed some impressive ability to remain calm in the face of supernatural horror, but because there were moments in life when the healthiest possible response was to look at an impossible situation, decide it was none of your business, and walk away before it learned your name.Unfortunately, this was not one of those moments.The girl on the bed was still crying.And she looked exactly like Sofia.Same face.Same hair.Same tiny crease between her eyebrows whenever she was trying not to cry too hard.Even the way she curled her fingers into the blanket was familiar.Sofia stared at her.Then at Ethan.Then back at the girl.“Okay,” she whispered. “I have several questions.”The girl looked at her.Sofia held up one finger.“First, why do you look like me?”A second finger.“Second, why are you cryi

Sofia stared at the woman standing behind her and, for perhaps the first time in her life, discovered that there was a limit to how many versions of herself a person could reasonably be expected to process before the brain simply filed for resignation.The woman looked like her.Not vaguely.Not “you two could probably be cousins if the lighting was bad” similar.She looked exactly like Sofia, except older by perhaps ten years, with longer hair falling loosely around her shoulders and a thin scar cutting through one eyebrow, and there was something in her eyes that Sofia immediately recognized and hated because it was her own expression reflected back at her—the expression she wore when she was scared but absolutely refused to let anyone know.Except this woman had perfected it.She looked calm.Too calm.And there was blood on her hands.Sofia stared at the blood.Then at the woman.Then at Ethan.Then back at the blood.“Okay,” she said slowly. “Before anyone starts explaining, I wo

Sofia stared at Ethan without blinking once.The room continued groaning behind their backs.Hundreds of hands crawled through broken walls.Yet Sofia noticed only Ethan’s frightened expression.That frightened her more than everything else.“Tell me who died first, Ethan.”Her voice sounded strangely calm somehow.Ethan swallowed before answering her question.“I don’t know how to explain everything.”Sofia laughed softly without feeling amused whatsoever.“That answer usually means something terrible happened.”Ethan looked toward the mysterious girl.Sofia immediately followed his frightened gaze.The girl looked strangely exhausted now.She seemed tired from carrying everyone’s secrets.“Stop looking at her,” Sofia whispered.Ethan finally looked directly into Sofia’s eyes.She hated how familiar those eyes felt.She hated how much she trusted them.Most importantly, she hated feeling betrayed.“Who died first?” Sofia asked again.Ethan remained completely silent for several secon

Sofia couldn’t stop staring at Ethan afterward.His confession remained between them, heavy and uncomfortable.Even the strange room seemed quieter than before.“You promised you’d never replace me,” Sofia whispered.Ethan nodded slowly without meeting her eyes.“And then you replaced me anyway.”“I didn’t mean to.”Sofia laughed bitterly without feeling amused.“Intentions have become your favorite excuse lately.”Ethan flinched slightly after hearing those words.Shen Fei stepped between them carefully again.“We need answers before arguing further.”Sofia looked toward her with disbelief immediately.“Shen, we’re standing above my original consciousness.”Shen Fei nodded slowly without showing much emotion.“Yes, I noticed that.”“Then why are you still calm?”“Because panic would reduce our concentration.”Sofia stared at her for several seconds.“You’re genuinely terrifying sometimes, you know that?”Shen Fei almost smiled before looking away.Ethan suddenly stepped toward the br

For several seconds, Sofia couldn’t move at all.She just stood there, staring at Ethan.Or whatever was wearing Ethan’s face now.The screens around them continued flashing those terrifying words.ETHAN HAS ENTERED THE BODY.Sofia swallowed hard and slowly backed away.“No,” she whispered, shaking her head.Ethan smiled at her, but something felt terribly wrong.His smile looked familiar, yet completely unfamiliar somehow.It was Ethan’s face, Ethan’s voice, and Ethan’s eyes, but none of it felt like him anymore.“You’re scared of me,” he said quietly.Sofia laughed nervously because apparently that was becoming her emergency response.“I am scared of everything here.”“That isn’t what I asked.”Sofia stared at him carefully.“Fine, yes, I am scared of you.”His smile disappeared immediately.“That hurts.”Sofia scoffed and folded her arms tightly.“You have no right complaining about hurting.”Ethan stepped toward her, and she stepped backward.“Don’t come any closer.”He stopped im