Read I Almost Died, so Now I Only Eat Junk Food :: Reflections of a Ghost

Darkness.

Nico drifted in the void, weightless. Silence pressed against him, thick and suffocating, before it was broken by a whisper.

"Why do you care about her? No one cared about you."

The voice slithered around him, sinking into his bones. Another whisper followed, harsher.

"You're just like the rest of them. You’ll leave her too."

A figure emerged from the shadows, stepping toward him. Elena. But something was wrong. Her form flickered at the edges, like a mirage barely holding shape. Her face was blank, empty, as if she were nothing more than a husk of the girl he knew.

Nico’s hands curled into fists. "You’re not her."

"Does it matter?" The figure tilted its head. "It’s not like you ever cared about me. Don’t pretend you do now."

His jaw tightened. "That’s not true."

"Then prove it."

The darkness melted away as the surrounding transformed into a cafeteria.

It was the psych ward’s lunchroom, the fluorescent lights hummed, trays clattered.

Nico watched as his past self sat at a table with Kai and Aiden, mindlessly eating and playing board games. Oblivious.

And then—

At the far end of the room, sitting by the window, was her.

Elena.

She was barely there. A ghost among the living, staring out at the sky like she wanted to be anywhere but here. The sight sent a strange pang through his chest. How had he never noticed it before? She had been suffering so much.

Nico watched as his past self moved through the room, brushing past her without a second glance. He bumped into her shoulder, and for the briefest moment, she looked up.

Her eyes were hollow. Empty. As if she had already faded away before anyone had the chance to notice she was disappearing.

The memory dissolved. Darkness returned, and with it, the shadow-Elena.

"See? You never saw me," she whispered. "No one did."

Nico’s chest ached. He forced himself to meet her gaze. "I didn’t see you. I should have."

A flicker ran through the shadow’s form.

"I know what it’s like to feel invisible," Nico admitted, voice low. "To feel like no one gives a damn whether you exist or not. But you don’t deserve that." He swallowed hard. "I’ll try harder."

The shadow wavered, but he wasn’t done.

"None of it was your fault, Elena."

The figure flinched.

"I don’t care what that voice in your head tells you, or what anyone else made you believe. I saw your memories. I saw how much your family loved you. And you—" His voice cracked. "You still have so much to live for."

For a long moment, there was nothing but silence.

Then, a single tear slipped from the shadow-Elena’s eye.

And in the next breath—she dissolved into darkness.

The air cracked like breaking glass.

Lines of fractures split through the void, spreading outward, until—

Everything shattered.

A rush of light swallowed him whole.

Nico stumbled forward, disoriented. His heart slammed against his ribs as his surroundings shifted—

Bright, blinding light streamed from an open doorway ahead. And standing before it—

Elena. Aiden. Jonah. Kai.

All of them. Waiting.

Behind them, a screen blinked: 00:00:49.