The café buzzed with its usual afternoon crowd, a mix of conversations and the clatter of coffee cups. Emily Hastings sat at her usual spot by the window, staring blankly at the bustling street, holding a cup of herbal tea she had no intention of drinking.
For weeks, the weight in her chest had grown heavier. Nearly a month had passed since her daughter, Sophie, had vanished, one moment playing in the park across the street, the next gone without a trace. The police had come, interviewed everyone, but the theories whispered behind closed doors left Emily feeling more isolated.
Her life had become a fog of sleepless nights, desperate searching, and endless questions. Spiraling deeper into grief, she met Dr. Harper, a psychotherapist recommended by her Primary Care Physician. Initially skeptical, Emily felt a pull toward him; he seemed to offer her something no one else had.
“Hypnosis,” Dr. Harper suggested, his voice calm yet confident. “It might help you access memories buried in your subconscious. Details that could bring clarity.” Desperation pushed Emily to agree.
“Are you ready?” Dr. Harper asked during their first session. She nodded and closed her eyes as he spoke in soothing tones.
“We’re going to walk through that day together,” he began. “I want you to see it as a movie playing in reverse.”
As Emily drifted, she found herself back in the park, watching Sophie swing, joy radiating from her. But now, something flickered at the edge of her memory: a tall man in a dark coat standing by the trees.
“Do you see someone?” Dr. Harper's voice pulled her focus.
“Yes, a man. He’s watching,” she whispered.
“Watching Sophie?”
“I don’t know… maybe.”
The man moved closer, and Sophie, seemingly in a trance, walked toward him until she took his outstretched hand. “No,” Emily gasped. “Sophie, don’t!”
But she followed him into the shadows of the trees.
Emily shot upright on the couch, gasping. Dr. Harper quickly moved to her side. “What did you see?”
“There was a man… Sophie walked right to him,” Emily stammered, overwhelmed.
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “You’re starting to remember. This is good; we’ll figure it out.”
In the following sessions, Emily unearthed more fragments of memory. The man in the park haunted her thoughts. After an exhausting session one night, she found herself staring at Sophie’s untouched bedroom, suddenly drawn to it.
Inside, the faint scent of Sophie’s lavender shampoo lingered as she saw her reflection in the antique mirror. But then, she gasped, Sophie stood behind her, wide eyed. Emily spun, but the room was empty.
The hallucinations worsened. Each night, she caught glimpses of Sophie in mirrors and reflections. Dr. Harper had warned her about her mind playing tricks, but this felt darker.
One night, as she sat before her own mirror, the stillness of the house surrounded her. Sophie appeared, accompanied by the man from the park, who rested a hand on her shoulder. Sophie looked at him blankly, then turned her gaze to Emily, pointing at the mirror.
“What do you want from me?” Emily whispered, trembling.
Sophie’s lips moved silently, and suddenly, Emily realized it wasn’t her reflection she saw, it was someone else’s.
Everything clicked into place. It wasn’t Sophie who had disappeared; it was Emily. She had followed the man into the shadows, searching for herself.
In her mind, another image surfaced: Dr. Harper’s calm smile. He and the man were the same.
Her mind had fractured to shield her from the truth, creating the illusion of a caring therapist. It wasn’t therapy, it was manipulation.
The reflection in the mirror smiled back, a twisted grin that didn’t belong to her but to the other Emily, the one who had taken her place.
As the mirror cracked, Emily finally understood. She had never been the grieving mother; she had been the lost one all along, and now, there was no way back.