*Author's Note — The Unstoppable Queen Aish 💫🖤**
Welcome back, my daring little ShadowHearts. We've crossed the echo of whispers and now enter the chapter where reflections become lies and names are no longer safe. If you breathe too loudly, the House might remember you.
Let the candle flicker, hold your breath, and step closer to the mirror.
Because from here on... **your reflection may not be yours anymore.**
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**Short Recap from Chapter 6:**
Aanya and Veer faced the cursed corridor. Whispers called her name, and a hidden letter from Aunt Ira hinted at an unfinished pact. As the House cracked with every breath, Aanya found herself slowly dragged toward memories she wasn't ready to claim—especially the one name that sent the House into frenzy: **Ananta.**
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**Aanya's POV**
The mirror in her room had changed.
It used to be a simple oval, edged with bronze, nothing more than an heirloom. But now... it pulsed.
Like it had veins beneath the glass.
Like it breathed.
Aanya stepped closer, barefoot on the cold wooden floor. Her pale pink nightgown whispered against her knees. Her fingers trembled as they reached for the silver frame.
Her reflection blinked.
But she hadn't.
"You aren't me," she whispered.
The girl in the mirror tilted her head. A smile spread across her lips.
Not Aanya's.
"I remember what you buried," the reflection mouthed.
The air behind her thickened. She didn't need to turn to know it was Veer.
"It's starting again," he said, stepping forward, his voice low but heavy.
His shirt clung to him, damp from the storm outside. His silver ring caught the light of the flickering candle. A scar across his wrist pulsed—a symbol she'd seen before in one of Ira's sketches. The mark of a guardian.
"That's not your reflection anymore, Aanya. It's *hers*."
She turned to him, eyes wide. "Whose? Ananta's?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he stepped in front of the mirror. The glass fogged under his breath. But his reflection... stood still.
"I need you to remember," he said, voice tight.
She shook her head. "I'm scared."
"I know," he whispered. "But the House won't stop until you do."
**Veer's POV**
There was a time when the House had been quiet.
Before Aanya returned.
Before the mirror began to murmur her name.
He'd spent nights guarding her door, his ring burning, the old pact pulling at his skin. The memories came back in slivers—Ananta laughing, Naira's lullaby echoing in the attic, Ira scribbling warnings into forgotten journals.
He remembered holding Aanya's hand by the river. She was eight. She cried when the water turned black. That night, they promised never to speak of the fire again.
But fire always remembers.
"You were meant to take her place," he finally said.
Aanya turned to him slowly. "What?"
"In the mirror. It wasn't supposed to be Ananta. She went in your place. That's why the House is angry."
"I didn't choose this," she whispered.
"No. But someone did."
**Flashback Fragment: The Night of the Pact**
The three girls stood under a moonless sky.
A circle drawn in chalk. Candles flickering.
Aunt Ira chanting.
"To break the curse, one must enter. One must stay. One must forget."
Ananta volunteered. But Aanya was marked.
As she stepped forward, the mirror flared—and pulled in the wrong girl.
**Back to Present**
Aanya fell to her knees, gasping.
"I remember her scream..."
The mirror cracked. A soft giggle echoed.
The Whispering Girl was back.
"I never wanted your place, Aanya. But I took your scream with me."
Veer grabbed her hand. "Don't look at it. Look at me."
Their eyes locked. The air thickened with heat, terror, and something else—
Romance. Regret. Redemption.
"If I could trade places now," he said, his voice breaking, "I would."
She leaned into him, forehead pressed against his chest.
"I don't want to forget anymore. I want to fight. With you."
Behind them, the mirror shimmered.
A second reflection appeared.
Ananta.
Burned, but smiling. Hands pressed to the glass.
"Then come find me. Before she does."
The mirror fogged up, and across it, scratched by invisible claws, was a message:
"NOT ALL DOORS STAY CLOSED."
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**Author's Note — The Unstoppable Queen Aish 💫🖤**
Did you feel that, my sinful little readers? That throb of guilt? That ache of memory?
We are officially *in the House now*, and it's hungry for names.
Ananta's reflection just made her move. Veer's truth is cracking.
And Aanya? She's no longer innocent.
What happens when a reflection wants to *come home*?
Next chapter: **"A Curse Written in Bone"**
It gets bloodier. But it also gets **softer.**
A kiss might break the silence. Or bind it forever.
Until next time,
**Don't look in the mirror unless you're ready to remember.**
— The Unstoppable Queen Aish 💫