In a dimly lit room, the only light came from a computer screen. Its pale glow fell over the empty food containers and crumpled wrappers scattered across the desk and floor.
The room was quiet except for the clicking of a keyboard.
A fat man named Damien sat hunched in front of the screen, typing furiously. His shoulders barely moved, but his fingers flew across the keys, pausing only when he leaned closer to read.
Most of his face was hidden in the dim light. Only his bloodshot brown eyes were clearly visible, fixed on the screen beneath his messy hair.
He barely blinked even when his eyes began to sting.
The real world had stopped mattering to him a long time ago. As long as he could lose himself in a story, he didn't have to think about the state of his room or the life he had let fall apart.
He was so absorbed in the screen that he failed to notice the figure standing behind him. A dark robe covered their body and a hood hid their face. In one hand, they held a knife and yet they didn't move to attack him.
For a moment, the figure simply watched Damien.
There was something almost tender in the way they leaned toward him, as if they had waited a long time to stand this close.
Damien noticed none of it. His eyes moved over the last few lines on the screen and his expression twisted.
He slammed his hand against the keyboard.
"Fuck you, Author… What kind of dogshit ending is this?"
The shout broke the silence as a half-empty cup shook beside his hand, spilling a little of its contents onto the desk, but he didn't care.
"I'm going to find you and beat you to death, you fucker…"
A crooked grin spread across his face as he stared at the ending, too angry to look away but behind him, the robed figure flinched at his sudden outburst. The hand holding the knife tightened and before Damien could say anything else, the blade moved.
He noticed something shift at the edge of the screen's reflection and began to turn but the knife struck him before he could see who was there. It pierced his back and a sharp pain tore through his chest.
"Arghhhhh!"
His body jerked forward as he grabbed the edge of the desk, knocking the cup to the floor, but his fingers wouldn't hold.
For a moment, he couldn't understand what had happened. He tried to breathe but the pain became even worse.
Someone was behind him.
He wanted to turn around. He wanted to get away, but his arms were already losing their strength.
"Who… who—?"
The question came out in a broken whisper. He tried to force out the rest but his breath caught and his body began to slip from the chair.
The robed figure gave him no answer.
***
They said that in a person's final moments, their life flashes before their eyes.
Damien had never given much thought to if it was true but now as the feeling slowly left his body, memories began to fill his mind.
He didn't see the years he spent shut inside his own room. Instead, he remembered a time when he still had somewhere to go in the morning and people he wanted to see.
Back when he had plans for his life, when he believed he could make something of himself and more importantly, when Elena was beside him.
The memories of her hurt more than he expected.
Even after all this time, all he could remember was the feel of her fingers wrapped around his hand. In her final moments, her grip was so weak that he was afraid to hold her too tightly.
"Damien, please… live a life free of regret."
Her voice trembled with pain. She paused to catch her breath but when she looked at him, she still tried to smile.
"Please be happy… I will… I will always be with you…"
He remembered sitting beside her, unable to say anything as he held her hand. There was so much he wanted to tell her but all he could do was hope she would keep talking.
Now, even after so many years, her smile was clearer than it had been in years.
He spent so long trying not to remember that moment but why did it have to come back to him so clearly now?
I'm sorry, Elena.
She asked him to be happy but he hadn't even managed to take care of himself.
His parents came to mind next.
He saw his mother's gentle smile, the one she always gave him when he came to her with something troubling him. His father always stood beside her, looking at him with the same quiet confidence Damien had once taken for granted.
"Damien, we believe in you."
At the time, he hadn't understood how much those words meant because he had heard them so often that he had stopped listening.
Now, he wanted nothing more than to hear them again.
Why did I change so much?
He tried to remember when he began shutting everything out. At first, he only wanted a little time to himself but somehow, that had become the life he lived every day.
There was always been another chapter to read, another reason to leave things until tomorrow.
I wasted it all…
His thoughts grew slower and he could no longer tell if his eyes were open and even the memories were beginning to fade.
I wasted… everything.
He wanted to hold on to Elena's face a little longer, but he couldn't remember her expression anymore.
I guess this is how I die.
That was Damien's last thought as his body became motionless, blood slowly pooling beneath him.
***
The killer stood beside Damien's body, their face still hidden beneath the hood. For a moment, they watched him closely, waiting for something. Their gaze moved over his face, then lingered on the space around him.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, they reached up and pulled back the hood.
The face under it belonged to a beautiful woman.
She looked down at Damien, her lips curved in a smile that seemed strangely out of place in the silent room.
She looked behind her, then around the room, searching for whatever she expected to find and in the end, her eyes returned to him.
"Hehe… Let's meet again, Damien."
A small laugh escaped her as she crouched beside his body, leaning close enough to see his face in the faint light from the screen.
"We will definitely meet again, my love."
She raised the knife.
Damien's blood still coated the blade, but she barely seemed to care about it. Without any hesitation, she turned it toward herself and moved it into her chest.
Her breath caught and her body began to fall beside his. Even then, the smile remained on her face, her eyes fixed on Damien as if she was waiting for him to look back at her.
"We will… definitely… meet"
Her voice faded before she could finish as the computer screen continued to glow over the two bodies.
***
Hey guys!
The first few chapters of my story were quite rough because I was still new to writing when I started. So, recently, in November 2026 (yeah, I know, after so many months 😭), I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore and started editing them slowly.
Don't worry, the story itself will remain exactly the same! I am simply polishing the prose, fixing grammatical errors, and improving the overall writing.
To help you keep track, I will be adding "Edited" in the Author's Thoughts section of every chapter I have finished revising. That way, you will know which chapters have been edited and which ones I haven't gotten around to yet.