Chapter Ten – Be Careful What You Wish For
"Please…"
The word tore out of my throat before I could stop it.
Broken. Small. Pathetic.
"Please, I'm begging you," I cried, shaking so violently my knees buckled beneath me. "I didn't mean— I didn't mean ANY of this. I know I wished to be in my book but not this book. Not this one."
My voice cracked hard. The room swallowed the sound like it was hungry.
"I wrote this when I was a kid," I choked out. "A stupid kid who didn't know anything. I was just trying something new— a horror book because the other orphan kids kept telling me all I could ever write was romance. And I…"
My breath hitched.
"I just wanted to prove them wrong. Writing was my escape. My only escape. I was abused, I couldn't get any home, nobody wanted me and—"
The tears didn't wait for permission. They streamed hot and wild down my face.
"This book was just me dumping my fears on paper," I whispered shakily. "It's been YEARS. I didn't even finish it. I don't know how it ends. I don't remember half of what I wrote— it's like you blurred everything. Erased pieces of my memory so I wouldn't know what to expect."
He stared.
Unmoving.
Unblinking.
And smiling.
My heart cracked in three different ways.
"PLEASE!"
I sobbed harder than I ever had—worse than a widow, worse than a lost child abandoned in the rain.
"Please, I don't want to be here! I take it back. I take EVERYTHING back. I don't want this world. I don't want this story!"
My voice turned into a scream.
"JUST GIVE ME MY MEMORIES BACK! PLEASE!"
He was silent for a long moment. A slow, cruel silence that told me he enjoyed this too much.
Then—
He stepped closer.
Bent slightly.
And whispered with a smirk carved so deep it nearly split his face:
"There's nothing that can be done."
My breath stopped.
"You wished," he continued lightly, almost singing. "And wishes are binding. Especially ones whispered into wells that listen."
He tapped my chin with a single cold finger.
Mocking.
Playful.
Deadly.
"Remember the saying?" he murmured.
My vision blurred.
My stomach twisted.
He leaned in, lips brushing my ear.
"Be careful what you wish for."
Then he chuckled—
A soft, delighted sound—
And vanished.
No smoke.
No shimmer.
No dramatic sound.
He was simply gone.
Like he had never been there at all.
Leaving me alone on the cold stone floor, curled in on myself, arms wrapped around my shaking body. Only a dim golden light flickered overhead—weak, uneven, like it was deciding whether to keep me company or abandon me too.
My sobs echoed off the walls, bouncing back at me harder than I sent them.
I cried until my throat burned.
Until my chest clenched so tight I thought I'd suffocate.
Until the taste of salt and despair made me sick.
"I don't want this…"
My voice trembled.
"I don't want this…"
Silence swallowed my confession whole.
I pressed my forehead to my knees and let out a long, broken exhale. Everything inside me felt shredded. Torn apart. Left in pieces too small to gather.
But then—
shift
A sound.
Soft.
Wrong.
Every muscle in my body locked instantly.
Something else moved.
Not behind me.
Not in front.
Beside me.
Like it had been waiting for the boy—no, the thing—to disappear before it approached.
My breath froze in my chest.
I didn't dare lift my head.
Another shift.
Slow.
Dragging.
Heavy.
Something sat beside me.
The air dipped from its weight.
The stone beneath us vibrated faintly.
I swallowed hard, heartbeat punching my ribs.
"Please…" I whispered again, too scared to look.
"I—I don't want anything else… please…"
Then…
A hand.
Not cold like his.
Not warm like a human.
Something in-between—
Smooth, unnervingly gentle—
Touched the side of my arm.
My body jerked.
I whipped my head up—
Eyes wide—
Ready to face another monster, another nightmare, another impossible thing.
And sitting beside me was something I never expected.
Not in this world.
Not in this story.
Not in any version of my memories.
Something that should NOT exist.
Something that shouldn't know my name—
But did.
Its lips parted.
Its eyes glowed faintly.
And it whispered, soft and familiar:
"Kaia…?"