Next Time There Won't Be A Next Time Novels & Stories

I drive into the dark. And I don't look back. Because I know what’s waiting for us at the end of the road. Everything. And nothing. The screen goes black. And I’m standing in the center. Waiting for the next take. Forever.

Anna felt her throat tighten slightly. “So this is it,” she whispered. Adrian’s voice came through softly. “Yes.” A pause. “This is where systems stop pretending they are infinite.” Anna looked around one more time. The world was still there. But it no longer felt like it belonged to anything stable. Not collapse yet. Not resolution. Just the moment before both became possible. She exhaled slowly. “…what happens next?” Adrian answered quietly. “I think now…” He paused. “We find out what remains when coherence is no longer an option.”

Only time heals–it’s a bitter truth. I don’t know when I’ll see him again. A month. A year. Maybe longer. But I’ll be here. Waiting. The End.

This is the last personal message I would ever written for you when I still have the right to because it will be taken away from me soon. I held his shoulders when he staggered back and he pushed my hands away before walking towards the glass. “They both left us at a time.” I mumbled, shaking my head with Maha’s message shaking me also. “Just one day before…” I trailed off not wishing to even think about that dreadful day, which I don’t want to enter our lives. “Before?” Nakul asked in a whisper. “Six months will finish by tomorrow evening.” I replied and he turned around to stare at me finally with an emotion even though it is of panic.

That was all I could do. The moment I regained consciousness somehow I knew I would not be like what I used to be. When the doctors came and gave me a brief intro about my condition, I decided to put my life as a gamble. Since then, what I was afraid of was not death but rather the grief that my loved ones need to bear. I am just twenty five years old and in the middle of my youthful life.

Katherine broke the hug, wiped her tears and smiled with determination and said 'We have to win, not just for a better future for us but also for the horrible past of those who have suffered on the hands of Earthlings. Alex just smiled and they hugged once again seeking peace in each other's embrace and conveying each other's pain in silence. After that Kaylee left for her room and Alex was again deep in his thoughts he just couldn't forget the smell and the moment of someone watching him in the library kept replaying in his mind

"Because you didn't care. Your attention was always on Piper. You knew your mother treated me badly, but you could not be bothered to intervene." Cole's face went white. "That isn't true, Audrey. I know anything I say now is too late. "Life moves forward. Let's forget the unhappiness behind us. Come home with me, and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you." I stared at him, unable to understand his reasoning, though my voice remained calm. "If life moves forward, that is even more reason I can't go back with you. "I have already found someone better than you."

I whisper. “…no.” “…it’s just getting started.” Leon finally steps back from the door. Turning to me. Serious. Focused. “…we move now.” “…yeah.” “…before it figures out the next step.” I nod. Heart still racing. “…and Leon?” “…yeah?” “…next time…” “…we don’t hesitate.” “…we won’t.” But deep down— I already know. Next time won’t be like before. Because now— it doesn’t need a host. It doesn’t need control. It just needs time. And we just gave it plenty.

The caption underneath read: “Next time we won’t knock. And next time, we won’t miss.” My blood ran cold. The game had just become deadly.

"Not business games this time. Not corporate sabotage. Something permanent. Something final." The camera zooms closer. Her eyes fill the frame. "Next time, one of you won't survive."