My breath catches in my throat.
I stare at the puddle, unable to look away. The rainwater lies still, smooth as glass, reflecting the alley in distorted lines of light and shadow. There is me, kneeling. There is him, crouched beside me.
And behind us—
A third figure.
She stands upright, her posture calm, almost elegant. Her face is identical to mine, yet her eyes glow faintly gold, like light seen through deep water. She smiles slowly, knowingly.
"No…" I whisper. "You said she was gone."
The man stiffens beside me. His fingers curl into his palm.
"I said she was sealed," he corrects. "Not gone."
The reflection moves, though neither of us does. The third me bends closer to the surface of the puddle, her lips moving without sound.
I can still hear her.
You ran for so long, her voice echoes inside my head. Did you really think the rain would erase me?
Pain lances through my skull. I clutch my head, squeezing my eyes shut. "Get out of my mind!"
"She's not in your mind," the man says sharply. "She's in your shadow."
A streetlight above us flickers violently, then steadies. I look down in horror.
My shadow moves a second too late.
When I raise my arm, the shadow's arm lingers, stretching unnaturally before snapping back into place.
I choke on a sob. "What did I do?"
The man stands, pulling me up with him. His grip is firm, grounding, the only solid thing in a world that is unraveling.
"You survived," he says. "That was your sin."
The third reflection laughs silently, her golden eyes narrowing.
You made a bargain, she reminds me. You wanted to live. You wanted the rain to wash it all away.
Fragments crash through my mind—
A night darker than this one.
A mirror already cracked.
Blood mixing with rain on asphalt.
I scream as the memories press harder, sharper.
The alley trembles. Walls ripple like water, and the neon lights bend into crooked lines. People pass the mouth of the alley, but none of them look in. None of them see us.
"We can't stay here,"