Ava's POV
Silence.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Not the quiet of an empty room. Not even the stillness after battle.
This was deeper. Hollow. Ancient. The kind of silence that carried weight.
I opened my eyes and found... nothing. Just gray. A skyless, landless expanse that stretched in every direction like an unfinished painting.
My body felt weightless. Not like floating—more like falling slowly, endlessly.
I touched my chest.
No heartbeat.
So this is it.
Death.
But not the kind I expected. It wasn’t fire or darkness or pain. It was memory.
Echoes of what I had done. Of who I had loved. Of what I had lost.
A whisper floated past me.
“Still running, Ava?”
My breath caught. That voice. Familiar. Playful. Mocking.
I turned.
And there she was.
Rae.
But not the flick
