The darkness collapsed around Sofia without warning.She reached for Ethan, but her fingers passed through him.“Ethan!”Her voice echoed strangely through everything.There was no answer.Then another voice answered instead.“You should have listened.”Sofia looked upward.The enormous face still watched her silently.It looked exactly like her, except the eyes carried no warmth.No fear.No confusion.Only knowledge.Sofia hated that expression immediately.“Who are you?”The figure smiled.“You already know.”“I really don’t.”“You were taught to forget me.”Sofia looked around desperately.“By whom?”The figure’s smile widened.“Your mother.”Sofia froze completely.“My mother?”“She was afraid of what you could become.”Sofia shook her head.“My mother loved me.”“She did.”“Then she wouldn’t hide something like this.”“She hid it because she loved you.”Sofia clenched her fists.“Stop speaking in riddles.”The figure tilted her head.“You still have her temper.”“That isn’t an a

Sofia stared at the little girl silently.The girl waited beside the black doorway.Neither one moved for several seconds already.Finally Sofia stepped closer toward her today.“Why are you inside my memories? somehow”The girl smiled with frightened eyes nearby.“Because you placed me here yourself. anymore”Sofia shook her head in disbelief quietly.“I never remember creating another person. slowly”The girl pointed toward Sofia’s chest carefully.“You created me before your first breath.”Sofia felt another cold shiver immediately there.“What exactly does that even mean? already”“You chose yourself before anyone could. today”Sofia stared at her completely confused somehow.“Then why did you create me? nearby”The girl looked toward the doorway anymore.“Because someone needed protecting from everything. quietly”“Who needed protecting from everything? slowly carefully”“You did, Sofia, before becoming yourself. carefully”Sofia slowly understood something terrifying there again

Sofia stood completely still in the darkness.She could hear seven different breaths around her.Seven versions of herself.Seven people who should not have existed.And somehow, every single one of them felt familiar.The lights suddenly returned.Sofia immediately looked around the bedroom.The seven girls were still there.The youngest stood closest to her.She looked about eight years old.Another girl looked around twelve.One appeared sixteen.Another looked almost exactly Sofia’s age.The remaining three looked older.They were not arranged randomly.They were standing in a perfect circle.And Sofia was standing in the middle.She slowly looked down at herself.Her hands were shaking.“What is this place?”The oldest girl answered.“Your first home.”Sofia frowned.“I have never seen this room.”“You have.”“When?”“Before you were born.”Sofia stared at her.“That doesn’t make sense.”The oldest girl smiled sadly.“Neither do we.”Sofia looked toward the bedroom door.It was s

The hospital lights remained off.Sofia could hear Ethan breathing somewhere behind her.She could also hear the little girl breathing directly in front of her.Two familiar sounds.Two people she no longer knew whether to trust.“Sofia,” Ethan whispered.She didn’t answer.The little girl reached for her hand.“Come with me.”Sofia pulled her hand away.“Where?”“To the place where everything started.”“I thought we were already there.”The girl shook her head.“No. That was only a memory.”Sofia frowned.“Then where are we now?”The girl looked around the dark hospital room.“Inside another one.”Sofia’s stomach dropped.“This isn’t the hospital?”“It is.”“But it’s also not.”Sofia looked toward the door.The darkness seemed deeper than before.“What does that mean?”The girl smiled.“You are beginning to understand.”Ethan suddenly stepped closer.“Don’t listen to her.”Sofia turned toward him.“Then tell me what’s happening.”Ethan remained silent.“Ethan.”“I don’t know.”The gi

The moment Sofia opened the eighth door completely, everything stopped.The seven doors around her froze in place.The shadows behind them stopped moving.Even Ethan became completely still.Sofia looked at him.He was standing with one hand raised toward her, his mouth slightly open as though he had been saying something, but no sound came out.It was as if time itself had stopped.Only Sofia could move.And the little girl.She stepped beside Sofia and looked through the doorway.“Are you ready?”Sofia swallowed.“No.”The little girl smiled.“Good.”Sofia looked at her strangely.“Why is that good?”“Because people who think they’re ready usually aren’t.”Sofia took a deep breath.Then she stepped through.The world changed immediately.She found herself standing inside a small hospital room.A newborn baby was crying on a bed.Her mother stood beside the bed.But she looked younger.Much younger.Ethan was there too.Except he was different.His face looked softer.His eyes didn’t