Chapter 194: I Can’t Breathe

Eleonore’s POV

“Is it really you?” I asked him as I reached up, my hand ghosting across the pale skin of his face. His smile stretched, wide and open, endearing like something loved and something lost.

“It’s really me, El. I need you to stand up now, okay? I need you to be strong for me and stand up. Come on, you’re a big girl.”

I choked. “I can’t, Bas, it hurts too much.”

“I know it does, El, but you have to. There’s no one else.”

There’s no one else… That's right, wasn’t it? I was here alone, wasn’t I? Always. Always here in this void world alone, decrepit and abandoned, even the sunlight didn’t deem it worthy enough to shine here. Even Bastian… I reached up again, my skin gliding across his, but it wasn’t his skin, was it? He wasn’t… he wasn’t—