The air thickened around Vivian, pressing into her skin, wrapping around her lungs like unseen hands squeezing tighter with each second. The truth—unraveling too fast—felt like it was sinking its claws into her, dragging her into a past she had unknowingly spent her life running from.
"We were you."
The woman's words still echoed, looping in her mind like a cursed melody she could neither forget nor accept.
Sebastian took a sharp step toward her, his eyes dark with concern. "Vivian."
She barely heard him.
Her gaze locked onto the woman standing before her—the reflection of something she had once been, something she had once done.
"Who cursed us?" The words left her lips before she had time to process them.
The man's mouth twitched, his expression unreadable. "You already know the answer."
Vivian's breath hitched.
She did.
It had been her.
Not just in another life—in every life.
It was her voice she could almost hear whispering through the wind, laced with anger, sorrow, regret. It was her hands that had sealed this fate long ago.
A promise.A betrayal.A curse.
It had all come from her.
Sebastian stiffened beside her, as if he, too, had begun to understand. "So, what? We're just—pieces of something broken? Forced to relive this nightmare over and over again?"
The woman's expression softened. "Not broken. Fractured."
The man nodded. "This has never been a dream. Never been a cycle you could just walk away from." He met Vivian's eyes. "It was meant to be finished. But every time, you forget. You refuse to see it through."
Vivian clenched her fists. "See what through?"
Silence.
Then the woman lifted a hand, pointing to the space between them.
A ripple in the air.
And in its center—
A dagger.
Not just any dagger.
The dagger.
The one from the memories. The one that had been held beneath the moonlight, poised for something final.
Vivian stumbled back, shaking her head. "No."
"You've always hesitated here," the woman murmured. "Always chosen to turn away instead of end it."
Sebastian's jaw tightened. "End what?"
The man exhaled slowly, stepping forward, his voice calm but heavy with meaning. "One of you has to die."
A terrible silence followed.
The words sunk into Vivian like ice in her veins, her pulse roaring in her ears.
"No." She shook her head again, panic gripping her. "That's not—there has to be another way."
The woman's gaze was sad, but unwavering. "There never was."
Sebastian stepped in front of Vivian, his body tense as he glared at the two figures. "We're not playing this game."
The man tilted his head. "You always say that, too."
Vivian's breathing turned shallow.
The memories were clearer now.
The clearing. The dagger. The impossible choice.
She had been here before.
And every time, she had failed to choose.
The wind picked up, howling through the trees, pulling at her hair, tugging at her clothes. The dagger remained, floating in place, waiting.
Sebastian reached for her hand. His grip was warm, solid. "Vivian, whatever this is—we'll find another way."
But the woman only whispered, "You don't have time."
The world around them trembled.
The trees blurred at the edges, shadows creeping in, the clearing shrinking.
The past—the curse—was closing in, demanding a choice.
Vivian's fingers twitched. The dagger called to her.
And deep down, she knew.
This time, she couldn't run.
This time, she had to choose.
To be continued...