Yandere Stream

Eden turned so quickly that his feet nearly slipped beneath him.

”Mira?”

She stood several yards away, alive and completely real. She wasn’t a memory, a reflection, or a face trapped inside the Forgotten. Mira stood exactly as she had before everything went wrong, wearing the same clothes, holding the same book, and staring at him with the same tired expression she always wore whenever he did something reckless. The only difference was in her eyes. They weren’t afraid anymore. They were certain.

”Eden,” she said again.

He took a step toward her while Luna watched from behind him with a blank expression. Cael stood near Eve, silently crying, but Eden barely noticed either of them.

”You’re alive.”

Mira gave him a small smile. ”Apparently.”

”How?”

”I don’t know.”

Eden moved closer. ”Luna doesn’t remember me. Cael came back. And you’re supposed to be dead.”

”I know.”

”You know everything?”

”Not everything.” She glanced toward the books scattered around them. ”But enough.”

Eden studied her carefully. ”What happened?”

Mira looked toward Eve, who immediately turned away.

”She’s the one who brought me back.”

Eden frowned and looked at Eve. ”You did?”

Eve shook her head. ”Not exactly.”

Mira smiled bitterly. ”She’s trying to be modest.”

”Then explain it.”

Mira walked toward him. ”After Luna became real, the system needed someone else to take her place. Luna became forgotten, but then Cael returned. Now I’m here too.”

Eden nodded slowly. ”So who disappeared?”

Mira stopped and looked directly into his eyes.

”No one.”

The answer immediately bothered him.

”That doesn’t make sense.”

”It doesn’t.”

She looked upward just as a low rumble passed through the room. The ground trembled beneath their feet.

Luna looked around nervously. ”What was that?”

”The story is breaking,” Mira answered.

Eden frowned. ”Why?”

”Because the rules aren’t being followed anymore.”

Eve stepped forward. ”She should not be here.”

Mira turned toward her. ”Neither should you.”

Eve’s expression hardened. ”You know what happens if the story collapses.”

”Yes.”

”Everything disappears.”

Mira nodded. ”Everything except Eden.”

Eden looked between them in frustration.

”Why me? Why does everyone keep acting like I’m supposed to understand something?”

Mira walked closer until she stood directly in front of him.

”Because you were the only one who was never supposed to become real.”

Eden froze.

”What?”

”You were the narrator.”

”No.”

”Yes.”

”I wasn’t.”

”You were.”

Mira placed a hand against his chest.

”You’ve been telling this story the entire time.”

Eden looked down at her hand. ”But I never wrote anything.”

”You didn’t need to.”

She gestured toward the darkness surrounding them.

”You remembered.”

The realization hit him all at once. The First Eden. The blank page. The black book. The First Reader. The Forgotten. Every mystery suddenly connected.

He wasn’t the story.

He wasn’t the character.

He wasn’t the author.

He was the memory of the story.

Every time he remembered something, it became real.

Mira lowered her voice.

”That’s why the dead keep coming back.”

Eden looked at her. ”You’re saying I brought them back?”

”Yes.”

”Then why can’t I bring Luna back?”

Mira turned toward Luna.

”Because you already did.”

Eden froze.

Luna stared back at him with empty eyes while Mira continued speaking.

”You brought her back so completely that the story doesn’t know what to do with her anymore.”

Eden stepped toward Luna.

”Then I can make her remember.”

Mira shook her head immediately.

”No.”

”Why?”

”Because if Luna remembers everything...” She paused and looked directly at him. ”...she’ll remember what she really is.”

Eden stopped moving.

”What is she?”

For the first time since losing her memories, something changed in Luna’s expression. Fear flickered across her face.

”Don’t.”

Eden looked at her.

”Luna?”

She grabbed her head and stumbled backward.

”Don’t make me remember.”

He approached carefully.

”Why?”

”Because I know what I’ll see.”

”What?”

Luna looked up, tears filling her eyes.

”You.”

Eden’s heart tightened.

”What about me?”

”You dying.”

The room became completely silent.

Luna’s voice trembled as memories surfaced.

”I remember the hospital. I remember your mother crying. I remember the machines. I remember holding your hand.”

Her voice broke.

”And I remember you stopped breathing.”

Eden stared at her.

”But I’m here.”

”Yes.”

”How?”

Luna shook her head.

”I don’t know.”

Eve answered instead.

”Because Luna was created from the moment Eden refused to die.”

Eden turned toward her.

”What?”

”When you died at six, Luna was born.”

The words left him cold.

”So she isn’t my love.”

”No.”

”She isn’t my memory.”

”No.”

”Then what is she?”

Eve looked at Luna.

”The part of you that refused death.”

Luna stared at him quietly.

”I loved you before I knew what love was.”

Eden couldn’t answer.

”You were dying and you didn’t want to go. So you created me.”

Understanding finally settled over him.

”That’s why you exist.”

”Yes.”

”And when I came back...”

”You no longer needed me.”

Eden shook his head immediately.

”No.”

Luna smiled sadly.

”You did.”

Then she took a step backward.

”But the story didn’t.”

A crack suddenly spread across the floor beneath her feet.

Luna looked down.

Her body flickered.

Eden’s heart dropped.

”Luna!”

She met his eyes.

”Don’t.”

He ran toward her.

A second later she vanished.

Eden caught nothing but empty air.

”No!”

He fell to his knees.

The room trembled violently.

Mira grabbed his shoulders.

”Eden, stop!”

”She’s gone!”

”No.”

Mira shook him.

”She isn’t gone.”

”Then where is she?”

Mira pointed directly at his chest.

Eden froze.

”She went back.”

”Back where?”

”To you.”

He stared at his hands and suddenly felt it.

Another heartbeat.

Not his own.

Luna’s.

Then her voice whispered inside his mind.

I’m sorry.

Eden closed his eyes.

”Luna.”

Don’t bring me back.

”Why?”

Because if you do, you’ll lose someone else.

Eden opened his eyes and looked around.

Mira.

Cael.

Eve.

”Who?”

Luna didn’t answer.

Instead, another voice echoed through the room.

”Me.”

Everything stopped.

Eden slowly turned toward the far side of the room.

A woman stood there.

She had long black hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. At first she looked ordinary, but something about her felt deeply familiar. Then Eden recognized her.

She was the figure standing behind the six children in the photograph.

The woman smiled.

”I’ve been waiting for you.”

Eden slowly stood.

”Who are you?”

”You really don’t remember.”

He shook his head.

”No.”

She laughed softly.

”That’s the problem.”

The woman stepped into the light.

Eden’s stomach dropped.

She looked exactly like Luna.

Only older.

Much older.

”You’re...”

She nodded.

”I’m the original.”

Mira’s face immediately went pale.

Eve stepped backward.

Cael whispered a frightened, ”No.”

The woman smiled.

”Hello, little brother.”

Eden froze.

”Brother?”

She extended a hand.

”You were the second.”

His eyes widened.

”Second what?”

The woman pointed to herself.

”I was the first child.”

Then she pointed toward the place where Luna had disappeared.

”She was the third.”

Eden couldn’t find the words.

Behind him, Mira whispered Eve’s name.

”Eve...”

Eve shook her head.

”I didn’t know.”

The woman laughed.

”You knew.”

”I didn’t.”

”You forgot.”

Eve’s expression changed immediately.

The woman turned back toward Eden.

”That’s what we all did.”

He stared at her.

”Why did you forget me?”

”Because you asked us to.”

”Why?”

”Because you wanted to be human.”

The answer made his stomach sink.

The woman stepped closer.

”And now you’ve remembered enough.”

She raised her hand.

The world immediately began falling apart.

The shelves disappeared first.

Then the floor.

Then the walls.

Mira.

Cael.

Eve.

Everything faded into darkness.

Eden grabbed Mira’s hand before she vanished.

”What’s happening?”

The woman smiled.

”The final choice.”

Eden looked around desperately.

”What choice?”

She pointed toward the darkness.

”You wanted a life.”

Then she pointed toward Mira.

”You wanted your friends.”

Finally, she pointed toward the empty space Luna had left behind.

”You wanted love.”

Her gaze returned to him.

”And now you have to decide which one of those things you’re willing to lose.”

Eden tightened his grip on Mira’s hand.

”No.”

The woman smiled sadly.

”You still don’t understand.”

She leaned closer.

”You don’t choose who lives.”

Darkness swallowed the last pieces of the room.

”You choose what becomes real.”

Then Luna’s voice echoed inside his mind one final time.

Eden... whatever happens next, don’t choose me.

Her voice vanished.

So did everything else.

Only Eden and the woman remained.

She extended her hand toward him.

”Now...” she said softly. ”...let’s see what kind of person you really are.”