~ Chapter 14: The Final Edit ~
The darkness wasn't empty. It was filled with the echoes of a million lives. Elias felt like he was floating in a vast, starlit ocean, each point of light a memory that didn't belong to him. He saw a mother holding her child, a soldier weeping over a fallen comrade, a girl tasting a strawberry for the first time. It was beautiful and overwhelming, a symphony of human experience that Vance had tried to silence. And then, he saw his own light. It was a small, flickering flame in the distance. He moved toward it, his consciousness pulling itself back together. He saw the balcony again. He saw Sloane. He saw the man he was supposed to be. “Elias... come back” The voice was faint, but it was enough. He reached out and grabbed the flame. He opened his eyes. He was back in the clinic, the air smelling of ozone and Clara's cheap coffee. Sloane was sitting by his bed, her hand clutching his. She looked exhausted, but when she saw him wake up, her face transformed. “You're alive”...
