The Heart Eaters vow

Michelle stared at the last page of the novel. She didn't move. She didn't even blink. The final sentence sat there like a cruel joke. Mi-rae was dead. And Seo Ji-hwan—the man who had lived for almost a thousand years—was left behind with the same curse that had taken everything from him. Michelle slowly closed the book. "Why would you end it like that?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She had spent hours reading the story. She had watched Mi-rae sacrifice everything for Ji-hwan. She had watched Ji-hwan push everyone away, even when it was obvious that he cared. And now Mi-rae was gone. Just like that. Michelle shook her head. "If I were her, I would've done things differently." She looked down at the book again. There had to be another way. There had to be something Mi-rae could have done. Something Ji-hwan could have done. "Honestly..." Michelle sighed. "I would've changed the whole ending." The room suddenly became quiet. Too quiet. Michelle frowned. Her phone screen flickered. Once. Twice. Then went completely black. She reached for it. "Seriously?" Before she could touch the screen, the lights in her bedroom went out. Michelle froze. The only light left came from the novel lying on her bed. It was glowing. She stared at it. The pages began turning by themselves. Slowly at first. Then faster. Michelle stepped backward. "What is happening?" A strange symbol appeared across the open pages. She had never seen it before. The room grew colder. Then she heard something. A whisper. So quiet she almost thought she imagined it. "Then change it." Michelle's eyes widened. "What?" The pages stopped turning. For one second, everything was completely still. Then the light from the book became blinding. Michelle raised her hands to protect her eyes. The last thing she saw was the strange symbol glowing brighter. Then— everything went black. just like that