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H o l l o w s I n
T I M E
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Sometimes things happen that we can't control. Before we know it, the match is struck, the fire is started, and the ashes are the only evidence we have that it happened. And the only person to blame is yourself.

Muscles burning, sweat dripping, and lungs constricting, it was easy to pretend that nothing was at stake. Easy to pretend we could stop and rest.

But we couldn't, we had to keep going.

In those fleeting moments, when we had fought and found victory, allowing us to carry on forwards, I felt it. It was harrowing, really. In a millisecond, I knew something was wrong.

I ran out into the rain as a thunderstorm warmed, the lightning streaming across the sky as the thunder let out a petrified scream.

The drops of water burned into my skin, cementing themselves where they lay.

And then, without a moments notice, the ground shook.

An explosion had gone off.

For a few seconds, I tried to brush it off. We had planned an explosion to go off, a distraction, so that we could exit without anyone noticing.

But it wasn't right. It was too soon, and too close.

Someone was ruining our plan.

I whipped my phone out, the wind lashing at my face as I prepared to contact Sky and Jameson, ordering for an emergency retreat.

And the building caught fire.

In complete shock, the phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor, becoming buried in the soil on the ground.

The heat was completely unbearable from even a few metres away—I couldn't begin to imagine the severity from inside.

I muttered things, over and over. Somehow, I knew they made sense, I just didn't know what they were. The person beside me, who I had forgotten the identity of in the moment, responded in short gasps of breath.

And then I sprinted.

Hearing shouts from behind me, I swung open the door, watching it go flying in my peripheral vision. I stepped into the shaking building, barely getting my other foot through the doorway before I was blasted backwards by a bout of flames.

Landing outside of the building, I curled up on the floor and shook.

No, this can't be happening.
I wouldn't let it.

They wouldn't die.
I wouldn't let them.

The person who accompanied me wrapped me in their arms, and I felt nothing but safe  in them.

"I've called them," the voice spoke out to me, echoing around my empty mind, "I've called them." It repeated.

I frowned, but let the person soothe me until I was ready.

An army of people arrived soon.

"Wait, wait," I frowned, pushing forward, eyeing the person who had called them in the first place.

"Relax, these are our emergency contacts—set up by Sky—we can trust them." He told me.

Sky? Of course. Not only is she irrevocably invincible, but she's also insanely savvy and prepared. It's almost like she knew this would happen.

I didn't care how Jace knew about Sky's emergency contacts, even if I would be bothered normally, I instead let them do their work.

They had to be alive.

They had to.

But as the flames rose to the top, torching all in it's path, I wasn't too sure.

Taking a deep breath, I knew what I had to do. I'm her Guardian, and as long as I'm alive, she's staying alive.

It's funny, how the world seems to decide your fate, when we're supposed to have all the control over it.

At least if I died now I'd know I chose to.

Once again, Jace screamed after me, but I soon disappeared into the building, the flames embracing me, making it difficult for him to follow me in.

I ran past professionals who all yelled profanities at me.

Some of the flames were distinguished, but not many at all. Going up the stairs was like climbing the stairs to hell.

And then my lungs ceased. I fell, clutching onto the banister for support as I wheezed.

I shook it off, ripping off a section of my dress and holding it to my mouth and nose, to try to filter out the fumes as much as possible.

I trudged up the rest of the steps, stumbling as exhaustion set in. I immediately found the medics and firemen, trying to extinguish the flames and free the bodies inside.

My heart pounded against my chest. I could feel it coming up my throat. I let out a shaky breath, feeling my body tremble.

Instinctively, I gravitated towards a particular room, ignoring the warning shouts that came from behind me.

I would save them.
I would save her.
I'm her Guardian.

I barged in, immediately getting struck by flames. I coughed, the smoke stinging my lungs, piercing holes into them and leaving me breathless.

I stepped into the room, alight by only flames. Thunder shook the building, making it harder for me to contemplate my next move.

People shoved me out of the way, and I uselessly fell to ground, carrying my hope of saving the pair with me.

They were as good as dead.
I knew that.

So, on my knees, I cried.
I curled into myself, trying to hold my heart in place.

I wasn't sure that I'd survive this.
I think I just died in that room, too.

I couldn't watch as the wheeled out the bodies on stretchers.
They were both covered by black sheets.

My heart broke.
And broke.
And broke.

I just couldn't take it.
Couldn't contain it.

Why? Why did you do this? Why them?

I desperately looked for answers where I knew they wouldn't be found.

Until there was no one left but me in the loft.

Having had my chest ripped from within me, I felt nothing. Nothing at all.

I looked up at the room, ignoring the tears that fell. I couldn't feel anything. I only knew how to feel nothing.

And that's when I caught a glimpse of something.
Something so bright it outshone anything I could never feel.

In the darkness, was one last dying ember of love.

I pushed myself up, standing on my two feet with the sudden strength to win a war.

It was overwhelming, how the token was all that was needed to revive me. Yet I still wasn't sure what it was.

I walked over to it, watching it glint as the lightning struck overhead.

Approaching it was like approaching an oracle. I'd start a religion out of this. I could cure diseases with this.

Yet I didn't know what it was.

I bent down, brushed away the ashes, and held the last living reminder of a love so strong, it was burned alive, but never died.

An engagement ring.

And, oh, it was beautiful.
So beautiful.

I stared at it, and the tears that formed weren't out of sadness. Nor happiness.

They were out of hope.

The ring wasn't destroyed, so neither was their love, so neither were they. They were everlasting, everliving, forever in love.

Carrying the ring with me was like carrying  the sun, sky and the sea. I was carrying a true force. A beacon of light.

In the ruins of the place that they had last held each other, last been in love, I looked up through the burnt roof and watched the storm unfold.

You ripped them apart once.
You won't take them now.

I sent the prayer off, enclosed the ring in my tight grip, cried my last tears, and smiled.

There's more to come.

I can feel it.

This is not the end.

Time challenged us, the world challenged us.

But it couldn't only try.

Time has to stop ticking at some point. And somewhere, I knew that it hadn't.

I could feel it.

This is not the end.

_______________________________

So

That's the end of the book

The end of the sequel

The end of 'Hollows In Time'

Thank you everyone who made it to this point (though probably not happy) and I appreciate the love for my author's notes–I mean my chapters

The funeral will be held somewhere between June-September

Just kidding

They wanted to be cremated

...

Too soon?

Too soon

Well

Thank you and I hope you'll recommend your visit to a friend, family member, or lizard

-love lots ❤️

For those confused, I lied.

Most of the epilogue that you just read is similar to the one I posted on the 19th, except it isn't.

On the 19th, I posted a deceitful epilogue, for it was not the one I originally wrote for this book.

This is.

This is the right epilogue, which opens the right door, into the right future.

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