Dara's breath hitched as Elias took another step forward. He was exactly as she had imagined him—sharp jawline, piercing gray eyes, and the same melancholic expression she had described in her manuscript. But seeing him outside the page, standing in her dimly lit room, was something beyond her understanding.
"You—" Her voice wavered. "You shouldn't be here."
Elias tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "And yet, here I am." He glanced at the unfinished manuscript on her desk. "You wrote me, Dara. And now, I stand before you."
Dara took a shaky step back. "This isn't possible."
Elias let out a small chuckle. "And yet, you always believed in the impossible, didn't you?"
She did. She had always been drawn to stories of magic, of worlds that existed beyond reality. But never, in her wildest dreams, did she imagine she would create something that could step into her world.
Dara's eyes flickered to the page where she had last written. If writing had brought Elias into existence, then could writing make him disappear?
Elias seemed to sense her thoughts. His gaze darkened. "You could try to erase me, but are you certain that's what you want?"
Dara hesitated. The truth was, she wasn't sure. Did she want to erase him? Or did she want to understand why this was happening?
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
Elias's expression softened. "I want you to finish the story."
She swallowed hard. "And what happens if I do?"
Elias didn't answer immediately. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "If you finish it," he murmured, "we will no longer be bound by your words. We will truly exist."
Dara felt a chill run down her spine. "You mean—"
"Yes." Elias's lips curled into a small smile. "We won't just be trapped within the pages. We will be free."
Dara's grip tightened on the edge of her desk. What would that mean? If she finished the book, would Elias and all of her characters gain lives of their own? Would they walk among real people, with thoughts, emotions, and desires independent of her control?
The thought both thrilled and terrified her.
"I don't know if I can do that," she whispered.
Elias studied her for a moment. "You already have the ending inside you, Dara. You've always known how this story should conclude."
She shook her head. "No. I don't."
Elias smiled sadly. "Then let me show you."
Before Dara could react, the room shifted.
The candlelight flickered wildly, the walls blurred, and suddenly—
She was no longer in her room.
She was in her story.
The world around her was exactly as she had written: a vast, ruined city bathed in golden twilight, with towering stone structures covered in creeping ivy. The scent of rain and old parchment filled the air. In the distance, she could see the silhouette of the Library of Whispers—the place where Elias's fate was meant to be decided.
Dara's heart pounded. "This isn't real."
Elias stood beside her, his gray eyes filled with something unreadable. "Isn't it?"
She turned in a slow circle, taking in every detail of the world she had spent years crafting. The ruined city, the abandoned books floating in the air like lost souls, the whispers of long-forgotten stories carried on the wind.
It was exactly as she had envisioned.
Her hands trembled. If this was real, then that meant—
Her characters were real. All of them.
And somewhere in this world, the true ending of her story was waiting.
She looked at Elias. "What do I need to do?"
He reached out, gently taking her hand. His touch was warm, real. "You must finish what you started."
Dara swallowed her fear. She had no choice now.
She had to write the ending.
And she had to do it before it was too late.