The woman I've hunted across this forsaken moon sits in the snow and watches me die.
"I told you," she exhales, tossing the smoking pistol aside like litter. "All you had to do was listen to me. But no. You couldn't even do that much."
My chest is ruptured. My lungs are pierced.
All I can manage is a rasping wheeze.
"I'm… sorry…"
"I'm sorry too. I was hoping things would be different. Like before. Not like this. Are you even in there, Alice? Damn it. I can't tell anymore…"
The snow rages overhead like a storm of wasps.
"I know how it feels to lose. But I wonder how it feels for you to have lost so much. You just can't let go, can you? Even now, you're fighting. I've always admired that about you…"
It's cold. I've lost feeling in my arms and legs.
My chest heaves, fluid splattering my lips.
It's bitter.
"Right in front of you," she sighs, brushing her light brown hair out of her face as the wind howls and kicks up more snow. "It was right in front of you all along. Did you fail to notice? Or did you choose not to see it? Can you even answer that question?"
I'm desperately clinging on but it's a losing fight.
"I know this isn't over. Far from it. But I have to ask. How many times will it take for you to understand? That even if you rip out all the story's pages… You can never change its ending."
It hurts. The lights are flickering out.
"No. No. I know you. There is no limit. You'll go until you break. You'll go until you're shattered. You'll go until there's nothing left of you. And then you'll keep going further still. However many times you fail, you'll never admit you've lost, will you? Well… If you don't, neither will I. I won't quit either. Until the day it all ends, I will never give up on you. You're fading now. You have to die. Goodnight, Alice. I'll see you again soon."
My grasp slips.
The last thing I see is her face.
Watching with a soft smile as I lose hold.