Keghan didn't know how long he stayed there.
Time lost its meaning the moment Jeyan stopped breathing.
He sat on the road, holding her head, swaying back and forth like a lost child. His tears flowed freely, soaking her hair, her face, her clothes. He didn't care who saw him. He didn't care about the pain raging through his body.
Nothing hurt more than this.
People gathered around them. Their voices merged into a single dull noise.
"Someone call an ambulance!"
"Oh my god..."
"She's not moving."
Keghan wanted to shout at them to leave. This moment belonged to him. This pain was his. They had no right to look at her like that.
A pair of hands gently grabbed his shoulders.
"Son," a man said. "We need to help her."
Keghan shook his head violently. "She's sleeping," he insisted. "She's just tired."
The man froze.
Keghan pressed Jeyan's hand to his cheek. "She worked all day," he whispered. "She always gets tired. She likes to sleep a lot."
Another voice, softer, broke through the noise. "Sir?"
He looked up.
A woman in a uniform stood nearby, her eyes full of something Keghan didn't want to understand.
"We're here now," she said. "Please let us-"
"No," Keghan said firmly. "Don't touch her."
Two paramedics knelt beside Jeyan anyway. They checked her pulse. One of them shook his head slowly.
Keghan saw their faces change.
That was when he knew.
Something in his chest collapsed inward, like a house crumbling.
"She's gone," someone said quietly.
The words felt unreal. They sounded like they belonged to a story, not his life.
"No," Keghan said again, weaker this time.
The woman touched his arm. "I'm sorry."
Keghan laughed.
It came out wrong. Broken. Empty.
"Sorry for what?" he asked. "She's right here."
He shook Jeyan's shoulder gently. "Dear. Wake up. They're being weird."
Her body moved with the shake.
But she didn't wake.
Keghan screamed.
The sound tore out of him, raw and primal, a sound without language, only loss.
They pulled him away then.
He fought. He kicked. He clawed at anyone trying to separate him from her. It took three grown men to hold him back.
"Let me go!" he shouted. "She's alone!"
But Jeyan was no longer alone.
She had gone somewhere Keghan could not follow.
The hospital lights were too bright.
They hurt his eyes.
He sat in a chair, wrapped in a thin blanket that did nothing to stop his shaking. His clothes were stiff with dried blood, not all of it his.
A doctor spoke to him. Keghan nodded when he was supposed to nod. He answered questions when he was supposed to answer.
"Yes."
"No."
"I don't know."
Everything sounded distant, like he was underwater.
Someone handed him a phone.
He stared at it for a long time.
He didn't know who to call.
Jeyan was the one he always called.
Hours passed.
Or minutes.
Keghan didn't know.
At some point, they let him see her again.
She lay on a bed behind a white curtain.
She looked peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Her skin was pale, her lips slightly blue. Someone had cleaned her and arranged her hair neatly. It made Keghan angry.
She didn't look like herself.
He touched her cheek.
Cold.
"I'm here," he whispered. "I didn't leave."
He waited.
She didn't answer.
His mind broke quietly after that.
He replayed everything.
If they had left the cafe earlier.
If they had walked faster.
If he had been on the other side.
If he had noticed the car sooner.
If.
If.
If.
Each thought pierced deeper than the last.
At dawn, the sun rose as if nothing had happened.
That was when Keghan truly hated the world.
The days that followed blurred together.
People came. People cried. People said kind words that felt hollow.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"She was a good girl."
"She's in a better place now."
Keghan wanted to ask where that place was.
He wanted to go there.
At the funeral, he stood beside her coffin, numb.
Jeyan lay inside, dressed in her dream princess ball gown. The sky-blue gown she wanted to wear at their prom.
Keghan placed a small note in her palm: Wait for me, my love.
When the coffin closed, something inside him closed along with it.
That night, Keghan couldn't sleep.
He was on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He could still smell her scent in his room.
Her jacket hung on the chair. Her shoes sat neatly by the door, waiting for feet that would never return.
Keghan's chest tightened until breathing hurt.
"I can't," he whispered into the dark. "I can't do this."
His thoughts turned dark.
What was the point of living in a world without her?
Love had promised him forever.
Forever had lasted one night.
He sat up suddenly.
His heart raced.
"If... if something could hear me," he said aloud, his voice trembling. "If anyone... anything..."
He dropped to his knees.
"I'll pay any price," he whispered. "I'll suffer. I'll bleed. I'll give my life."
His tears fell onto the floor.
"Just bring her back."
The room stayed silent.
Keghan laughed bitterly.
Of course, nothing answered.
He was alone.
He bowed his head, ready to break completely-
When the air changed.
The lights flickered.
A sharp sound echoed in the room, like glass breaking.
Keghan looked up.
Blue light filled his vision.
Words appeared in the air before him, floating, glowing, cold, and clear.
They didn't feel human.
They felt absolute.
__________________
SYSTEM ACTIVATION COMPLETE
SYSTEM NAME: SYSTEM OF ATONEMENT
__________________
Keghan froze.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
"What...?" he whispered.
More words appeared.
__________________
TARGET IDENTIFIED: KEGHAN LENGARD
DESIRE CONFIRMED: REVERSAL OF DEATH
__________________
His breath caught.
"You can... do that?" he asked shakily.
The system didn't hesitate.
__________________
POSSIBILITY: CONFIRMED
COST: ACCEPTANCE OF ATONEMENT
__________________
Keghan didn't understand.
"I don't care," he said quickly. "Tell me what to do."
The blue light pulsed.
Then came the words that changed everything.
__________________
A DESPERATE CHILD IS DYING
CALL FOR SALVATION RECEIVED
ACCEPTANCE WILL BIND YOU TO THE SEVEN NATIONS OF SIN
__________________
Images flooded Keghan's mind-
A child lying inside an ancient circle.
Countless bodies around them.
A hand reaching out.
The pain was sharp, overwhelming.
"What does that have to do with Jeyan?" Keghan cried.
The answer came instantly.
__________________
ACCEPT THE ATONEMENT
REDEEM THE SINS
HER LIFE WILL BE RETURNED
__________________
Keghan's hands shook.
His mind screamed that this was madness.
But madness was all he had left.
"If I accept," he asked quietly, "she'll live?"
__________________
CONFIRMED
__________________
Keghan didn't hesitate.
"I accept," he said without hesitation.
The blue light blazed brighter than the sun.
__________________
CONTRACT SEALED
__________________
The world was torn apart.