Everything went silent…
as if the world itself had stopped breathing.
I couldn't feel my body anymore…
only a strange numbness spreading inside me.
Somewhere far away…
I could hear Riya's voice—
"No… no… please… stay with me!"
Her cries…
felt distant…
like they were fading away from me.
Darkness slowly surrounded my vision.
"So… this is how it ends…" I thought.
But then—
something strange happened.
I opened my eyes.
I was standing.
Perfectly fine.
No pain…
no blood…
nothing.
Confused, I looked around.
And then—
my heart froze.
Riya…
was holding someone in her arms.
Crying uncontrollably.
I stepped closer.
And when I saw his face—
my world shattered again.
It was me.
My body…
lying lifeless in her arms.
Tears rolled down my face.
"Riya…" I tried to call her.
But no sound came out.
She couldn't hear me.
She couldn't see me.
I wasn't there anymore.
Or maybe…
I was no longer alive in her world.
A deep emptiness filled my chest.
"I saved her…"
I whispered to myself.
"But I lost myself…"
Riya kept shaking my body—
"Wake up… please… you promised… you won't leave me…"
Her voice broke…
with every word.
And for the first time…
I realized something painful.
Changing fate…
comes with a price.
And maybe…
this was mine.
I slowly stepped back.
The distance between us kept increasing.
No matter how much I tried—
I couldn't reach her anymore.
Just then—
a soft, unfamiliar voice echoed behind me—
"Is this really the ending you wanted?"
I froze.
That voice…
was not Riya's.
Slowly…
I turned around.
And in front of me—
stood a shadow.
Not fully visible…
not completely real.
"Who… are you?" I asked.
The figure smiled faintly—
"I am the one who showed you those memories…"
My breath stopped.
"You mean… all those dreams…?"
"They weren't dreams," the shadow said calmly.
"They were choices."
My mind spun.
"Choices…?"
"Yes," it continued,
"You were given a chance to choose— save her… or save yourself."
I felt a sharp pain in my chest again.
"And I chose her…" I whispered.
The shadow nodded.
"And now… you must face the result."
Silence filled the space.
I looked back at Riya—
still crying over my lifeless body.
"Is there… any way to go back?" I asked, desperately.
For a moment…
the shadow said nothing.
Then slowly—
"There is… but every second chance…
comes with a greater cost."
My heart trembled.
"What cost…?"
The shadow stepped closer.
This time...
its face became slightly clearer.
And what I saw…
shocked me to my core.
It was—
me.