Chapter 51:Ben's Anguish

 Ben fell to his knees.

The world around him felt hollow, a distant hum of existence that no longer mattered. The air was thick with the scent of damp wood and burnt-out candles, the remnants of a ritual that had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Ellie was gone.

Not just dead. Gone.

Not in the afterlife, not even lingering as a ghost. She had been erased, lost to a void he couldn't reach, couldn't touch, couldn't even grieve properly.

His chest heaved, his hands gripping his hair as a raw, gut-wrenching sob tore from his throat.

How had it come to this?

His mind, desperate for relief, dragged him back to the moment he had first met her—the woman who had saved him.

—

It had been raining that night, the kind of heavy downpour that felt like the sky itself was mourning. Ben had been sitting in a dingy bar, nursing his fifth whiskey, drowning in the guilt that had never left him since Victoria's death.

And then, she walked in.

Ellie.

She wasn't supposed to be special—just another face in the crowd. But when she laughed, something inside him shifted, like a crack of sunlight in his eternal storm.

"Why do you look like the world just ended?" she had asked, sliding into the stool next to him, as if they'd known each other forever.

He had scoffed, planning to ignore her, but something about the way she looked at him—like she saw right through his broken pieces and didn't flinch—made him speak.

One conversation turned into a night. A night turned into weeks.

Ellie had been relentless, peeling him open layer by layer, forcing him to live when all he had wanted to do was drown in his own regrets.

She had saved him.

And now—now she was gone.

—

Ben clutched his chest as the pain ripped through him, an unbearable void where Ellie used to be. He had never believed in fate, but if anyone had been made for him, it was her.

And he had let her slip through his fingers.

His hands shook as he slammed his fist against the wooden floor. "Come back... please…" His voice cracked, his breath hitching. "Ellie, come back."*

But the body standing before him wasn't her.

The thing inside her watched him, curious, tilting its head. "You loved her a lot, didn't you?"

Ben glared, his eyes burning with unshed tears. "You have no idea."*

The thing shrugged. "Love. Such a fragile thing. It always ends in pain."* It took a step closer, reaching out to touch his cheek, but Ben jerked away like he'd been burned.

"Don't touch me."* His voice was hoarse, edged with fury and devastation.

The thing smirked. "I have her body, you know. Maybe I could… become her."*

Ben's stomach twisted.

"No."* His voice was sharp, filled with disgust. "You will never be Ellie."*

The thing sighed, rolling Ellie's shoulders as if stretching a new body. "Pity. But you'll get used to me eventually… after all, I have forever now."*

Ben shook his head, his heart breaking all over again.

Ellie was gone.

And the worst part?

It was his fault.