#i used a random yokai generator to spook her

[evoblue]

II. the mirror.

Leaving the way she came is no longer an option. She had tried to retrace her steps beneath the red torii but the staircase no longer led back to the city; instead, it appeared to be swallowed by never-ending darkness. Unwilling to risk getting lost in the dark, Blue has no choice but to keep moving forward.

She does her best to avoid drawing attention to herself as she ventures closer to the stalls, hoping to find a way back to the 'normal' world somewhere beyond. With her right palm pressed to her chest, she wills her pounding heart to calm down. She's not sure what beings accompany her in these streets, but she's wise enough to know that they are likely not human. What if they can sense her apprehension?

Suddenly overcome by unease, she looks up to see a large ornate mirror floating a few feet away from her. Its glass is marred with a few cracks and waves of smoke swirling just beneath its dark and tainted surface. What the hell?

Something within her tells her to look away, but the mirror seems to beckon her with a siren song, compelling her to walk closer. Beneath her gaze, the surface shifts to reveal a darkened silhouette; a spectral vision of a girl whose soul and life were long lost — a haunted, monstrous version of herself in a white burial kimono. Her. Dead.

The way you're supposed to be.

As the raspy words are projected into her mind, she gasps and takes an immediate step back. The smoke beneath the surface suddenly materializes outside of it, forming tendrils that reach toward her like arms. Sheer panic overcomes her, a fear for her life she has never felt before.

She bolts without looking back, not caring where she's running, her only goal to get as far away from the mirror as possible.