The Lottery of Fate

Seraphina vale hated this part.

Not the slow burn, not the tangled politics not even the hero's flawless, suffocating perfection.

No.

She hated this ending.

Her fingers tightened around the edges of the book, the page slightly crumbling under the pressure as her eyes raced over the final lines again, as if reading them differently might somehow change them.

It didn't.

It never did.

|" 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒅 -- 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚"|

Seraphina slammed the book shut.

The sound echoed in her quiet room, sharp and sudden like something breaking.

" Unfair, what the fuck, that damn author "she muttered,  her voice low but filled with quiet simmering anger.

Lucien Drax deserve better.

That thought had come to her slowly, over chapters and chapters of carefully crafted lies, at first she had believed it like everyone else:

The villain was cruel.                                                 Ruthless.                                                                     Dangerous. 

But the more she reads.... The more cracks began to show.

The way he spared a servant who had betrayed him.                                                                             

The way he never defended himself, even        when accusations piled like stones.                     

The way he looked -- no, felt--- like someone who had already accepted a fate  he never choose.

And yet the story called him evil.

" of course the hero wins," she scoffed tossing the book on her bed," perfect Alistair Crown saves the world, gets the girl and everything magically makes sense ".

Her gaze drifted back to the book.

Even closed it felt.... Heavy .

Like it was watching her.

" if i were there," she whispered almost without thinking, " i wouldn't let it end like that, like that damn female mc".

The word slipped out quietly, but they lingered in air, sinking in to silence like ink into paper.

A strange chill brushed against her skin.

" Okay... That was dramatic," she muttered rubbing her arms, " i need sleep " .

She turned off the lamp.

Darkness folded around her room, soft and familiar. She lay down pulling the blanket over herself, trying to ignore the lingering irritation twisting in her chest.

Lucien's final scene  replayed in her mind.

Alone.                                                                          Surrounded.                                                                Smiling faintly as if he accepted it all along.

 That smile.....

Her chest tightened.

" Idiot " she whispered, though she wasn't sure if she meant him....... Or the author.

 The silence stretched.

Then----

A sound.

Soft.

Like  a page turning.

Her eyes snapped open.

The room was still dark, still quiet.

But the book--

The book was open.

Seraphina sat up slowly, her breath catching as she stared at it.

" I.... Didn't open that".

The pages began to move.

Not flipping wildly, not violently.

Just...turning.

One by one.

As if sometimes invisible was searching for something.

A faint glow seeped from between the pages, pale and unnatural, casting shifting shadows across the walls.

Her heartbeat quickened.

" okay.... Not funny" she whispered, though no one was there to hear her.

The pages stopped.

Right in the middle of the story.

A single line seem to shine better than the rest .

|" 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅"|

Seraphina stared at it.

Something about it felt..wrong.

Or maybe ---

Not wrong.

Waiting.

Her body moved before her mind can catch up.

Slowly, almost unwillingly,she reached out and touch the pages.

The moment her finger brushed the papers--

The world broke.

Light exploded around her, swallowing everything.

The room disappeared.                                            The air twisted.                                                          Her body felt like it was being pulled apart and stitched back together in the same breath.

She tried to scream---

But no sound came out. 

Voices echoed around her, distant and distorted.

"..... Lady Evelyn...!"

"....she collapsed---call someone..!"

".... What happened to her---!"

Seraphina's eyes snapped open.

But the ceiling above her was not hers.

The air smelled different.                                           Heavier. Richer. Like polished woods and something unfamiliar.

Her heart pounded as she pushed herself up       --------

And froze.

Hands.

These weren't her hands.

Smoother. Paler. Delicate, like they had never done something real and rough.

A mirror stood nearby.

Almost as if it  had been waiting.

Slowly, as if moving too fast might  shatter something fragile, she turned towards it.

And saw her reflection.

Silver hair spilled over her shoulders.                     Soft features. Calm eyes.

A face she knew.

A face she have seen countless times between  printed page.

"... Evelyn hart, " she whispered, her voice trembling.

The female lead.

The original female lead.

Her breath hitched.

" No....no this isn't----"

A sudden rush of her memories that weren't hers  brushed against her mind ---- faint, distant like someone standing just behind the locked door.

Watching.

Waiting.

The words from the book echoed in her head.

|" 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 "|

Her chest tightened.

Because she knew this scene.

She knew exactly where she was.

And more importantly----

She knew who was about to appear.

A cold dread ----- and something far more dangerous---- curled in her chest.

" I am inside the story."

The realisation settled like a storm about to break.

And somewhere beyond the door----

Footsteps approached.