The bathroom was quiet again.
Too quiet.
Ita sat on the cold floor for a while, his breathing slowly evening out, but the heaviness inside him didn't fade. It stayed there, pressing against his chest, making it hard to think.
Eventually, he forced himself to stand.
His legs felt weak as he pulled himself up using the sink, his fingers gripping the edge tightly. Slowly, he looked up.
His reflection stared back at him.
Red eyes.
Pale skin.
A faint mark on his cheek.
He barely recognized himself.
For a long moment, he just stood there, staring. The silence wrapped around him like something alive.
"I look disgusting" he whispered.
His voice sounded small in the empty room.
And then,
Something moved behind him.
Ita's breath caught.
In the mirror, over his shoulder,
The stair boy stood there.
That same tall, thin figure.
That same stretched, unnatural smile.
But this time, it was closer.
So close it almost looked like it was standing right behind him.
Ita spun around.
Nothing.
Empty bathroom.
No one there.
His heart pounded harder as he turned back to the mirror slowly.
The ghost was still there.
Grinning.
Watching him.
And then the reflection changed.
For a split second, half of Ita's face in the mirror didn't look like his anymore. The skin looked wrong, like something beneath it was shifting, raw and exposed, like it didn't belong to him.
He stumbled back, his heart racing.
The ghost laughed.
The sound didn't come from its mouth.
It came from everywhere.
From the walls.
From the sink.
From inside his head.
A quiet, cruel laugh.
Mocking.
Like it knew everything.
Like it had seen every moment.
Every tear.
Every bruise.
Every time he begged.
The stair boy tilted its head, smiling wider, as if it was proud of what it was seeing.
Ita's hands curled into fists.
Fear twisted in his stomach.
But something else was rising too.
Anger.
Hot. Sharp. Burning.
"I hate you" he muttered under his breath.
The ghost's smile grew.
Like that was exactly what it wanted to hear.
It leaned closer in the reflection, its eyes empty and deep, its mouth stretching wider.
It looked happy.
Like his anger fed it.
Like his sadness made it stronger.
And suddenly Ita understood.
The worse he felt,
The closer they got.
His chest tightened.
He felt trapped.
He hated this house.
He hated the ghost.
He hated his stepdad.
He hated everything.
The emotions built up so fast it felt like he was going to burst. His hands trembled, his breathing turning uneven again. For a second, a dangerous thought flickered through his mind ,something reckless, something he might regret.
Then,
Buzz.
The sound broke through everything.
Ita froze.
Another buzz.
It came from his pocket.
He reached in slowly, his fingers still shaking, and pulled out his phone.
Kiel.
The screen lit up with a new message.
A dumb sticker popped up first , a cartoon character dramatically fainting with the words: "Math killed me again."
Another message followed right after.
"You alive?"
Ita stared at the screen.
The tightness in his chest loosened just a little.
The bathroom suddenly felt less dark.
Less suffocating.
He looked back at the mirror.
The ghost was still there.
Still smiling.
Still watching.
But it looked… further away now.
Like it couldn't reach him the same way.
His phone buzzed again.
"Oi, answer me. Don't disappear or i might cry you know"
Ita swallowed hard.
Kiel.
For some reason, just seeing his name made everything feel different.
Safer.
Like a rope being thrown to someone drowning.
"My savior " Ita whispered without meaning to.
The word felt strange.
But true.
He wiped his face quickly and stared at the screen, focusing on it, on the messages, on something real.
When he glanced back at the mirror again,
The ghost was gone.
Just his reflection now.
Tired.
Shaken.
But still there.
Still standing.