Chapter Four: The Mirror That Moved First

“Two subjects detected,” said the thing in the door. Tang placed the unused photographic paper on the chair. It developed by itself. A seven-year-old boy stood outside a burning orphanage, holding a camera, his face cut away. Beside him was a girl whose name badge read XU ZHAOYING. Memory struck Shen: fire, melting glass, and a girl giving him a camera. *Photograph me, Xiaoyao. If a negative remains, I won't be completely gone.* In the mirror, another face emerged where his should have been—the blank cut from the print. As the thirteenth minute approached, the reflection entered the turnstile. Shen followed, Tang gripping his sleeve. The room behind them curled like a burning photograph.