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Chapter 8 - Chapter Eight: The Girl Who Was Meant to Die

Ayden didn't sleep that night.

He sat on the roof of his house, legs dangling over the edge, the stars blurry above him. His palm still pulsed with the faint sigil of light—but tonight, it felt heavier. Like it wasn't his anymore.

"She was supposed to die," he whispered. "And Kael let her go."

He didn't hate Kael. He couldn't.

But now he felt like a thief… of someone else's destiny.

That's when he heard it—a voice like cracked glass, humming in the wind.

> "You wear her time, boy. But time doesn't forget."

Ayden whirled around.

There—just across the roof—stood a girl.

Long black hair. Thin, pale arms. Her eyes were silver and empty, and her dress looked torn by fire.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She smiled sadly. "I'm what's left of the girl Kael forgot."

---

Flashback – A Memory Kael Locked Away

Rain fell like stars that night, glimmering silver in the alley.

Kael stood above the body of a girl—lifeless, breathless, a broken thread of fate.

But nearby, a boy—Ayden—lay bleeding, dying.

The scales tilted.

Kael whispered, "Forgive me."

And she chose him.

A flick of starlight. A rewrite of time.

And the girl's name was swallowed by the sky.

---

Present – Edenvale Park, the Forgotten One Speaks

"I don't blame you," the ghost girl said, sitting beside Ayden. "You didn't choose this. She did."

Ayden stared. "Are you… dead?"

"I'm between," she said softly. "A soul without a name. A fate without a place."

"Can I fix it?"

"You can remember me," she said. "That's all I ever wanted."

"What was your name?"

She smiled. "Elira."

Ayden blinked. The moment he heard it—pain lanced his head, and stars exploded behind his eyes.

Images flooded in. A girl in a hospital bed. Music from a stolen iPod. Her voice, telling jokes to herself. She had existed.

And now… he remembered.

---

Meanwhile – Kael and Zion

Kael fell to her knees in the forest clearing. "He saw her," she gasped. "Elira."

Zion looked grave. "Then the veil's weakening. Once a forgotten soul is remembered, the balance shifts."

Kael clutched her chest. "If Elira regains form… I lose mine."

Zion looked away. "Worse. If the Void finds her, they can use her as a gate."

Kael stood, panic in her golden eyes. "Ayden's in danger."

Zion shook his head. "No. Elira is."

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