The sky shattered.
Literally — as if it had been glass under too much pressure, and now it had finally given in, breaking into a million glittering fragments.
But before I could fully process the chaos or even attempt to run from the danger, a voice echoed through the world. A voice.
Familiar… but distant and cold.
"And so, even in the end, she never regretted choosing to love—no matter the price."
That sentence again. That cursed line.
I clenched my teeth, I'd had enough of hearing it. I didn't want to hear it again. I didn't want it to be mine. I covered my ears like a frightened child — but it was useless. The words didn't need sound anymore. They were inside me, threaded through my ribs and lungs, pulsing through my spine.
They seemed soft. Innocent in meaning. But now, twisted and venomous, they crawled through me like a curse.
I wanted to scream.
But before I could— That damn rain again. Sharp, stinging, and far too loud for something that didn't seem to exist moments ago.
Suddenly I was on the street again. It was evening again. The familiar scene from the night before — or was it?
No.
It was wrong. This wasn't just a memory.
It felt too real. Too cold. Too… still.
The wet concrete shone beneath the streetlights. The sour scent of city smog mixed with the dampness of my clothes.
Everything around me seemed paused. The world held its breath, and so did I.
A flickering streetlamp above blinked once, twice. My legs were stiff, frozen as if fused to the pavement.
No sound.
No cars.
No footsteps.
Just my heartbeat and the steady rhythm of the rain.
And then— Light. Headlights, burning bright behind me. Reflections danced along the wet sidewalk.
Too close. Way too close.
But… I thought there wasn't supposed to be anyone here, right?
I turned.
It was blinding white. The headlights pierced my vision like knives.
They were coming right at me. I tried to move. I tried to scream. To call out for help. But my body —
My body wouldn't obey. It was like I'd turned to stone.
So I opened my mouth— Nothing. Only silent breath. As if I didn't exist.
But there was no time left. The car was coming. I knew it and all I could do was desperately raise my arms and cover my face—
!!!
And then—
No more cold.
No more rain.
The world fell silent, and I was floating. Weightless.
Like my body had become a feather, drifting between worlds. My thoughts scattered like stardust.
"Did I die?"
I couldn't tell if I'd thought the words or spoken them out loud. They just were, drifting through the haze.
And then again— A voice.
This time a girl's voice. Soft and calm. Not like the other one. This was the voice of someone present.
When I opened my eyes, the lights were gone. No car. No street.
But someone stood in the distance. A figure.
I couldn't see her clearly — she was blurred by mist, like a dream fading before you can grasp it. But I could feel her gaze. She wasn't just there. She was here for me.
Her silhouette shimmered gently, like moonlight behind thin curtains. Her voice barely reached me, but it echoed in the hollow space where my heartbeat used to be.
"Is this really how you want your story to end, Elena Song?"
I blinked. What did she just—
"Who are you?!" I cried out, my voice sharp and broken, high-pitched like it hadn't been used in years. But there was no reply.
She stood still. Waiting. For what? My answer?
This couldn't be real. It didn't make sense. Nothing did. "What is this?!" I gasped. "A dream? Am I… am I dead?"The last word came out barely above a whisper.
And still, she didn't approach. But at last, she answered. "Not yet," she said gently. "That depends on the choice you make next."
My breath caught. "Choice…? What choice? I-I can't -this isn't -this isn't how things are supposed to go!"
"Aren't they?" she interrupted softly. Her tone had changed — now it was like someone gently scolding a lost child. "Isn't this what you wanted, Elena? A choice? Didn't you desperately wish for a different life? Didn't you want everything to change?"
My chest twisted. "Not like this! I didn't want to die—I didn't want to disappear!"
She stepped no closer, but her words cut deeper. "Didn't you? Didn't you wish to vanish, when everything felt too heavy? Didn't you pray to be forgotten? Weren't you tired of being lost, left behind, unwanted…?"
"Stop it!" I shouted, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. "Was this your doing? Everything I just saw—was that your fault!?"
"I only reminded you," she said. "Reminded you of the things you tried to erase. The feelings you tried to bury."
"I never asked for that!" The silence after my scream felt suffocating. I was trembling.
Tears were mixing with the phantom sensation of raindrops, and yet I stood in a place without storm, without warmth — without anything.
I whispered like a lost child, "It wasn't supposed to end like this… not before I… before I finally found—" My voice broke. The rest of the sentence clung to my throat, too fragile to say aloud.
What was I supposed to find anyway? Hope? A reason?
But the words never came. Because something inside me shattered before they could.
The figure tilted her head slightly, as if hearing the silence inside me more clearly than the words I tried to speak.
"Before you found what, Elena?"
"A reason to live?"
"A place to belong?"
"Someone who made you feel seen?"
Each question landed softly, yet mercilessly. They were knives wrapped in velvet.
I didn't answer. I couldn't. Because the moment I tried to remember what I had found..., what I had to find, my mind splintered again—
A flash of books, warmth, a whisper of someone's kindness, a laughter I hadn't heard in years—
And then nothing.
A void.
I dropped my gaze, clutching my arms. My skin felt too cold for life, too warm for death. "I was just.. maybe I just wanted to exist again," I whispered.
My voice sounded small in that endless, misty space. "Then decide," the girl said, stepping just slightly closer. "Do you want to truly disappear?"
"Or do you want to begin again?"
I looked up. My heart thudded. "Begin…again?"
"Yes- ****##$*** ***$**##."
My chest tightened.
"##$$##$$##$$$ — ..a new story. But it comes with a price."
"What price?" I asked, barely able to breathe.
She didn't answer that. Not directly.
Instead, she raised a hand and pointed behind me.
I turned— And suddenly, I saw it.
A massive open book floating in the darkness. Its pages were glowing faintly, turning slowly on their own. One page was blackened — torn. But the next was blank. Waiting.
"This is where your new chapter begins," she said. "But you won't be reading it."
"You'll be living it.. If you want."
My hands trembled. "I don't understand," I confessed.
"You don't need to," she replied, more gently this time.
"You just need to choose."
The world around us began to fracture again — light spilling in through invisible cracks, as if that book was no longer just a symbol, but a door.
And as I stared at it, as the fog began to burn away and the silence broke into the distant echo of bells and unfamiliar voices—
I realized…
Maybe.. just maybe…This wasn't the end.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity... or a trap.